Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner is hurting from the club’s disastrous start to the season, according to Remi Garde, but the American has taken steps to safeguard against relegation becoming financially catastrophic.

Players, manager Garde and his staff, and chief executive Tom Fox will all take sizeable wage cuts in the event of dropping to the Championship, with Sportsmail understanding a 50 per cent drop has been agreed in some cases.

The salary reductions vary in scale among players but are believed to have been written into contracts for all new signings during the summer transfer window.

Aston Villa manager Remi Garde says owner Randy Lerner is hurting from the club's current plight

Frenchman Garde, who is yet to win a game in charge of Aston Villa, says the American is 'suffering'

Nevertheless, slipping out of the top flight at a time when even more television money is set to be pumped into clubs’ bank accounts is a frightening prospect, with the value of Villa poised to plummet. Lerner has not found an acceptable buyer at his £150million pricetag and relegation would inevitably see offers plunge by a third.

Garde remains determined to enact a miraculous survival despite occupying a position no Premier League team has escaped from, of six points from 16 games, beginning at Newcastle today.

The Frenchman met Lerner in New York this week to discuss the club and believes he would stay rather than sell up should Villa go down.

‘He is very much concerned,’ said Garde. ‘He suffered a lot because of the situation of this football club. He is totally committed. He wants first in the short term, of course, that we try to be safe in the Premier League. This is the target.

‘But then as the owner of the club, he has a longer view. He is confident for Aston Villa’s future. He is not saying, “Okay if things are going wrong in the next two or three months, that’s done for me.” Not at all, I can tell you that.’

Fox is overseeing a restructuring of Villa, both on commercial and recruitment terms, by trying to raise revenue aside from the TV money and bringing in the club’s first sporting director.

Aston Villa players and staff are in line for sizeable pay cuts should the club be relegated this season

Vila owner Lerner (right) has taken steps to safeguard against relegation becoming a financial catastrophe

He believes the continuing changes will prove beneficial in the long term, saying: ‘Relegation 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. We’re all in it together. We have taken significant steps to ensure we can cope financially.’

Plans are for Garde to remain in charge even if that is in the Championship. ‘I can’t speak highly enough of his integrity to come to our club knowing that what we are trying to do is a project,’ added Fox. ‘He chose to come when we were not safe in this league. What we are trying to do is put the club back into position long-term.

Jack Grealish (left) and Ciaran Clark can at least muster a smile as the players train on Friday

‘I have nothing but admiration for how he has handled himself since he came in and I am very confident we have a manager who will be with this club for a long, long time.

‘Remi has been absolutely fantastic since he has come in. He is open, he is honest, he is transparent. I know what he likes, what he doesn’t like. He has created an incredible atmosphere with all of the staff at Bodymoor Heath.