An Aston Villa protest group has said that Remi Garde was "hung out to dry" by club owner Randy Lerner following a lack of January investment in the team.

Garde left the club by mutual consent on Tuesday evening having managed just two wins from his 20 league games in charge to leave Villa bottom of the Premier League table, 12 points from safety.

The fan group behind 'Out The Door on 74' admitted that Garde's exit was "inevitable", but believes that he was failed by those above him at the club.

"Two wins in 20 is always going to leave a manager open to valid criticism regardless of the circumstances and his sacking has been inevitable for a while, whether now or in the summer. Yet, why is it that we find our sympathies turning towards a manager who has undoubtedly failed in his remit?" read a statement.

"He was hung out to dry by Mr Lerner and his sorry band of fools. The January window slammed shut on February 2 with zero investment provided, not a single player joined a squad that had finally shown some mettle but was still woefully short of both consistent quality and numbers.

"Whatever promises had been made to the manager, whatever token efforts were made, he was positioned as the sacrificial lamb and he has been slaughtered for it. The fight visibly drained from him and for Aston Villa our failure to bolster a fatally flawed squad was the final nail in the coffin.

"How many more times must we cycle through managers, players and board members before Mr Lerner finds the winning combination? In our view, he has had long enough. The Aston Villa job is a poisoned chalice because of one man's inability to provide either consistent support, vision or in Remi Garde's case, simply be true to his word. Randy Lerner, bow your head once again in shame."

David Moyes and Nigel Pearson have been installed as the favourites to succeed Garde at Villa Park.