GERARD Houllier trudged away from Villa Park to a chorus of ‘‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’’ as Villa slumped to a new low – and into the bottom three last night.
If Houllier feared the worst when his greatest ally Emile Heskey conspired against him then his nightmare came true when Villa slid into the drop zone.
The Holte End has been desperate to believe in the French manager’s revolution but they will need more encouragement after yet another depressing setback.
Heskey’s glaring first half miss and his stupid second half sending off proved costly as former Villan Phil Bardsley came back to haunt the claret and blues with the winner.
Wolves’ remarkable victory over Chelsea took them above Houllier’s underachievers on goal difference as Villa fell into the bottom three for the first time since November 2003 under David O’Leary.
Heskey’s two-yard miss at the end of the first half was a source of humour at the interval – but his 70th minute hit into the face of Jordan Henderson was no laughing matter.
Yesterday evening’s match was a far cry from the supposed corner-turning point at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in terms of entertainment and end result.
Both sides were as bad as each other before the break and other than Heskey’s gilt-edged chance, goalscoring opportunities were few and far between.
There was a debate around Villa Park over whether Heskey’s scoop against the bar from virtually on the goal-line from Stewart Downing’s pull back was a worse miss than the legendary Ronnie Rosenthal’s for Liverpool back in the 1990s.
In truth, it might not have been Heskey’s worst miss of the season against Sunderland – at least he made contact this time, unlike with his air-kick in the October defeat at the Stadium of Light.
Unfortunately, the claret and blue battering ram also made contact with Henderson’s face midway through the second period after the Sunderland midfielder provoked him during an ugly flashpoint.
Villa refused to ruin the momentum of a move by kicking the ball out when Asamoah Gyan went down barely injured and Henderson rushed to Heskey and screamed in his opponent’s face.
