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Sacked Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert was not quite the worst manager in the club's history.

That unwanted distinction goes to Billy McNeill, the last boss to get the club relegated from the top flight almost 30 years ago.

But the claret and blues did have a worse goalscoring record under Lambert than McNeill’s team which went down in 1986-87.

As Aston Villa have tumbled into trouble this season, comparisons had inevitably been drawn between Lambert and fellow Scot McNeill.

Villa dropped out of the top flight back in 1986-87 when, just half a decade after lifting the European Cup, they finished rock bottom in the old Division One.

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Back then it was a 42-game season, but McNeill only took charge of 36 of them after replacing Graham Turner six games in.

To compare Lambert and McNeill we worked out their respective win, points and goals per game ratios from their entire reigns.

McNeill’s tenure lasted just eight months, while Lambert lasted until two-thirds of the way through his third season.

Lambert’s point per game ratio was the same as that of predecessor and fellow Glaswegian Alex McLeish, who was sacked in May 2012 after narrowly keeping Villa in the Premier League with 38 points from 38 games.

Win ratio:

Lambert: 24.75 per cent (25 wins from 101 games)

McNeill: 19.44 per cent (7 wins from 36 games)

Points ratio

Lambert: 1 point per game (101 points from 101 games)

McNeill: 0.91 points per game (33 points from 36 games)

Goals for

Lambert: 0.97 goals per game (98 goals in 101 games)

McNeill: 1.11 goals per game (40 goals in 36 games)

Goals against

Lambert: 1.62 goals conceded per game (164 in 101 games)

McNeill: 1.69 goals conceded per game (61 goals in 36 games)

STATS & QUOTES - Why Paul Lambert had to go: