Aston Villa could plummet to League One, says Paul Merson
Saturday 20 February 2016 17:26, UK
Aston Villa could suffer consecutive relegations down to Sky Bet League One, according to Paul Merson.
Remi Garde's side are firmly rooted to the bottom of the Premier League, seven points adrift from Sunderland in 19th and eight points away from safety.
And, with relegation staring the club in the face, ex-Villa midfielder Merson claims the current crop of players would struggle to hold their own in the Sky Bet Championship.
"This current Aston Villa side would not finish in the top ten of the Championship next season," the Sky Sports pundit told Soccer Saturday.
"It's a harder league than the Premier League and Villa will be a cup final for all the other teams in the league.
"Aston Villa could be relegated again, down to League One - that is how worrying the current situation is."
Villa's faint survival hopes took a substantial blow on Super Sunday as Liverpool inflicted an embarrassing 6-0 defeat on a side bereft of continuity and spirit.
Asked whether the manner of Sunday's defeat was a resigning issue for Villa boss Garde, Merson added: "Without a doubt. That was the worst performance I've seen from Villa.
Aston Villa would not finish in the top ten of the Championship next season. They could be relegated again, down to League One - that is how worrying the current situation is.
"Everybody has bad performances but that was something else. At 6-0 I turned the game off because it was getting shameful, absolutely shameful.
"That just shouldn't happen. I didn't see any fight. I was pleading with the players to do something, anything - whether it be kicking an opponent - just do something to show the crowd they cared.
"Kolo Toure's goal was the icing on the cake. I thought the Villa players were going to jump on him when he scored, it was embarrassing.
"As a manager, you would leave, particularly if the players aren't playing for you."
