Villa has cost Randy Lerner £70,000 a day

A report by Forbes, the American business magazine, has further laid bare the sorry state of Villa's finances.

They've calculated Lerner's total outlay since purchasing the claret and blues in 2006.

In total, the club has racked up pre-tax losses of nearly £250million, more than £70,000-a-day.

Villa's accounts, released last Thursday, revealed a loss of £27.3million for the previous financial year.

It is an outlook only likely to get worse with what now appears an almost certain relegation from the Premier League this season.

With eight games remaining, Villa are nine points adrift of safety and suffered their 20th league defeat of the campaign in Sunday's 2-0 home reverse to Tottenham.

Two goals from Harry Kane, either side of half-time condemned Remi Garde's side to another damaging loss.

Fan favourite Garry Thompson, who was part of the last Villa team to be relegated in 1987, believes the club's players have become "too accepting" of their fate.

He said: "You need to show a bit more fight in this situation. In the first-half on Sunday, I thought Spurs were quite poor and we were at least in the game.

"Then go a goal down, everyone thinks 'here we go again'. You sense the players feel it as well. Their heads go down."

A supporters group have, meanwhile, called for 'firmer action' after admitting they made a mistake by cancelling a planned walk out.

The protest, which would have seen supporters walk out in the 74th minute, was postponed after Brian Little was appointed an advisor to the club's board on Friday.

Now they are urging fans to bring banners to the next home game with Chelsea, after stewards in the North Stand confiscated one criticising Lerner and chief executive Tom Fox.