MX23RW : Wednesday, November 27 01:19:05| >> :120:12253:12253:

Aston Villa 'planning for relegation'

Aston Villa chief executive Tom Fox admits that the struggling side are planning for life in the Championship next season.

Aston Villa's chief executive Tom Fox has revealed that the troubled club has begun to plan for the possibility of life in the Championship in the 2016-17 season.

The Midlands side have made their worst start to a Premier League season ever and are rooted to the bottom of the table with a return of just six points from their first 16 games.

Villa have been an ever-present since the Premier League's inception and are second only to Everton in terms of all-time duration in the top flight, with 104 seasons, but face a real possibility of dropping down to the second tier of English football this campaign.

"We have taken significant steps to ensure we can cope financially," said Fox, who revealed that players and backroom staff had paycut clauses in their contracts for the event of relegation. "It is certainly not what we want and it is certainly not a lesson that this club needs to learn to get better but Aston Villa Football Club is bigger than the results in any one season.

"Aston Villa Football Club does not go away if we are relegated.

"We play football next August and we hopefully do it with an organisation that is prepared to compete and to succeed and to come right back up."

Despite planning for the Championship, Fox claimed that the club had "not given up", with manager Remi Garde adding that owner Randy Lerner - who is currently attempting to sell the side - was 'very concerned' by their predicament.

"Of course he is concerned," said Garde. "He is very much concerned. He suffered a lot because of the situation of this football club. He is totally committed to the football club.

"He wants first in the short term that we try to be safe in the Premier League, but then as the owner of the club, he has a longer view, he has to."

Villa travel to a resurgent Newcastle United for Saturday's evening kickoff in the Premier League.

ID:262433: cacheID:262433:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2915:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Remi Garde, Manager of Aston Villa gestures during the Barclays Premier League match between Aston Villa and Manchester City at Villa Park on November 8, 2015 in Birmingham, England.
Read Next:
Remi Garde to be given January funds
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!