Tony Morley, the man who struck the most famous cross in Aston Villa history, was in the press room at the KC Stadium on Tuesday night poring over some statistics.

He observed in the matchday programme how his club still holds the fourth highest total of major honours in the history of English football, with only Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal collecting more silverware.

Villa have won seven First Division Championships, seven FA Cups, five League Cups, and of course, in 1982, one European Cup. In the final against Bayern Munich, Morley delivered the ball converted by Peter Withe to seal forever a moment to cherish for Villa fans.

Joe Cole (left) and Christian Benteke (right) look dejected during Aston Villa's defeat to Hull City

Goalscorer Peter Withe (l) and Nigel Spinks (r) pose with the European Cup after beating Bayern Munich 1-0

Paul Lambert is under pressure at Aston Villa with the fans on his back

And what about Darren Bent? Derby have been able to call on £65,000-per-week Bent, who has commanded almost £50m in transfer fees during his career, during a loan spell in the Championship. The England international has scored four goals in five games, after Paul Lambert lost trust with the striker, who cost Villa £24m. Advertisement

Throw in the European Super Cup secured the following season and it is 21 genuine trophies, one ahead of Chelsea. Those positions will surely be reversed by this season’s close.

Two clubs going in opposite directions, much of Villa’s success came many years ago – six league crowns before 1910. Eleven of Chelsea’s honours have come since July 2003.

It does not take the sharpest brain to spot the correlation between that growing trophy cabinet and Roman Abramovich’s enormous investment.

Villa believed they had their own sugar daddy when American Randy Lerner came to town in August 2006.

Initially, they very much did. Lerner pumped in many millions during Martin O’Neill’s reign, signing the likes of Ashley Young, James Milner and Stewart Downing for eight-figure fees.

Three consecutive top six finishes followed and a place among the gilded corridors of Champions League football seemed close, as recently as 2010.

But Lerner felt compelled to run his ship on more streamlined terms, falling out with O’Neill in the process. Still, Darren Bent arrived for a club-record transfer, initially worth £18m, in January 2011 under Gerard Houllier. Even out on loan at Derby County, Villa pick up more than two thirds of his £65,000 per week wages.

Darren Bent fell out of favour at Aston Villa but has scored four goals in five games for Derby County

Aston Villa spent many millions during Martin O'Neill's reign, including on Ashley Young from Watford

The Villa fans present a 'Lambert Out' banner at the KC Stadium on Tuesday night

Overall Lerner is estimated to have ploughed into the club £300million of his own money – racking up sizeable Villa losses. These funds have declined in recent years as Lerner has lost interest, but he has opened the cheque-book on occasions too.

Paul Lambert’s record purchase is £7million Christian Benteke. Tom Cleverley would have been bought for £8m had Everton’s late interest not materialised forcing the loan option. Carles Gil arrived for £3.2m this January.

Frees such as Joe Cole, Philippe Senderos and Kieran Richardson were brought in for this season, and Scott Sinclair’s January move from Manchester City stalled at the £2.5m asking price, before an initial temporary switch was agreed.

Demba Ba’s £80,000 per week wages were not even countenanced, but a £5m bid for Rickie Lambert was made on deadline day.

Lambert’s net spend at Villa stands at £44m, with much dribbled away on European gambles such as Aleksander Tonev, Nicklas Helenius, and Antonio Luna.

That total is more than Everton have paid and recouped over the same period, more than Tottenham. Villa’s failure to sell any players of great significance over this time is key, and Lambert cannot compete with the wages on offer at White Hart Lane. (Steve Bruce’s Hull have a net spend greater than £60m.)

Villa slipped into the relegation zone of the Premier League after the defeat

Dame N'Doye of Hull City celebrates after scoring the second goal of the game

Lerner wants out, make no mistake. After searching privately for many months, he publicly placed the club up for sale last May and, despite claims he subsequently became ‘re-energised’, continues to invite a buyer.

Just who would be interested at the £200m price Lerner wants as Villa dip below the dotted line of relegation remains to be seen.

These are critical times and an asset in the Championship plunges in value, particularly in light of the astronomical domestic television deal struck by the Premier League worth £5.1billion.

Quite when Lerner will study Villa’s utterly rudderless 2-0 defeat at Hull City from his residence across the Atlantic is uncertain. He last attended a Villa match in September, the visit of Arsenal when Lambert’s side had won three, drawn one of their opening four Premier League fixtures.

That was Lerner’s first game in person in two years and it seems unlikely he will be returning to ‘enjoy’ his club any time soon. They have not won in ten Premier League games, failed to score in 15 all season.

Randy Lerney has only been present at one game this season, the 3-0 home defeat to Arsenal

Lerner installed a new chief executive last summer in Tom Fox, drafted from Arsenal, to raise the commercial pull of a club rich in history.

The idea was for Lambert to push Villa up the Premier League table while Fox implemented changes to make the club self-sustainable. That plan is under serious threat.

Lambert faced renewed calls for his head from Villa fans at the KC Stadium, a banner unfurled reading “Lambert Out’ and chants to the same effect. After the game, a group of travelling supporters waited by the team bus to confront the squad.

Villa will remain in the bottom three for ten days at least, with Leicester in the FA Cup next on Sunday. Fox said it was a ‘false narrative’ to blame the manager, but that provided little succour to supporters long starved of aspirations.

Villa are in a downward spiral with a shortage of hope. While this trouble has been a long-time coming, something now has to change, and quick.

ASTON VILLA OVER THE LAST THREE SEASONS (Premier League - only teams present in all three seasons)

WIN PERCENTAGE TEAM WIN% Chelsea 64 Manchester City 64 Manchester United 59 Arsenal 57.43 Tottenham Hotspur 54.46 Liverpool 53.47 Everton 43 Southampton 38 Newcastle United 34 West Ham United 33 Stoke City 31 Swansea City 31 West Bromwich Albion 26 ASTON VILLA 24.75 Sunderland 22.77 Advertisement

LOSE PERCENTAGE TABLE TITLE TEAM LOSE% ASTON VILLA 49.5 Newcastle United 47 Sunderland 45.54 West Bromwich Albion 44 West Ham United 42 Swansea City 40 Stoke City 37 Southampton 34 Tottenham Hotspur 26.73 Everton 24 Liverpool 21.78 Manchester United 21 Arsenal 19.8 Chelsea 15 Manchester City 15 Advertisement

CLEAN SHEET PERCENTAGE TABLE TITLE TEAM CS% Chelsea 43 Manchester City 41 Arsenal 38.61 Liverpool 34.65 Manchester United 33 Southampton 33 Everton 32 West Ham United 30 Sunderland 29.7 Tottenham Hotspur 28.71 Swansea City 27 Stoke City 26 West Bromwich Albion 23 Newcastle United 22 ASTON VILLA 20.79 Advertisement

FAILED TO SCORE PERCENTAGE TABLE TITLE TEAM FTS% ASTON VILLA 42.57 Stoke City 35 Newcastle United 34 Sunderland 33.66 Swansea City 31 West Bromwich Albion 31 West Ham United 30 Everton 23 Southampton 22 Tottenham Hotspur 19.8 Liverpool 16.83 Manchester United 16 Arsenal 14.85 Chelsea 14 Manchester City 12 Advertisement

GOALS PER GAME TABLE TITLE TEAM GOALS PER GAME Manchester City 2.15 Liverpool 2.06 Chelsea 2 Manchester United 1.9 Arsenal 1.85 Tottenham Hotspur 1.58 Everton 1.47 Southampton 1.41 Swansea City 1.29 West Ham United 1.21 Newcastle United 1.18 West Bromwich Albion 1.18 Stoke City 1.06 Sunderland 1.03 ASTON VILLA 0.97 Advertisement

AGAINST PER GAME TABLE TITLE TEAM AGAINST PER GAME Newcastle United 1.63 ASTON VILLA 1.62 West Bromwich Albion 1.5 Sunderland 1.49 Swansea City 1.36 West Ham United 1.32 Tottenham Hotspur 1.3 Stoke City 1.26 Southampton 1.23 Liverpool 1.21 Everton 1.13 Manchester United 1.09 Arsenal 1.05 Manchester City 0.95 Chelsea 0.87 Advertisement

GOAL DIFFERENCE TABLE TITLE TEAM GD Manchester City 120 Chelsea 113 Liverpool 86 Arsenal 81 Manchester United 81 Everton 34 Tottenham Hotspur 29 Southampton 18 Swansea City -7 West Ham United -11 Stoke City -20 West Bromwich Albion -32 Newcastle United -45 Sunderland -46 ASTON VILLA -66 Advertisement