Tim Sherwood takes over at Aston Villa after Lambert sacking

Tim Sherwood has been appointed manager of Aston Villa, three days after Paul Lambert was sacked with the club in the Premier League relegation zone.

Villa announced the appointment on 14 February. Lambert left the club on 11 February, the day after a 2-0 defeat at Hull City, a fellow relegation rival, left Villa 18th in the table.

A goal drought

Villa's problem this season has been scoring goals. The team have managed just 12 in 25 league games, the lowest total at this stage of a season in Premier League history.

The season had started brightly, with ten points from the first four games, including a 1-0 win at Liverpool, and praise for a new-look defence. But a run of defeats without scoring followed, and the team slipped steadily down the table. The defeat at Hull, which dropped Villa into the bottom three for the first time this season, prompted angry scenes among the travelling supporters.

Lambert's time at Villa

Lambert, who had previously led Norwich City from League One to the Premier League, was appointed in the summer of 2012 after Alex McLeish's contract was terminated. He had been asked to build a younger, cheaper squad, and his time in charge was spent largely in the bottom half of the table.

He signed a new contract running until 2018 only in September. Last summer, the former Manchester United captain Roy Keane joined as his assistant, but left the club a few months later.

Who is Tim Sherwood?

Sherwood, a former Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers midfielder who captained Blackburn to the Premier League title in 1995, was in charge of Tottenham for the second half of last season. He was known there for his enthusiasm on the touchline and for promoting young players.

He is expected to be at Villa Park for Sunday's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Leicester City, and his first league game in charge will be at home to Stoke City next weekend.

Uncertain times

The change of manager comes at an uncertain time for the club. Owner Randy Lerner put Villa up for sale last May, valuing the club at around £200 million, but no buyer has yet been found. Without significant investment, Villa have struggled to compete in recent seasons, narrowly avoiding relegation in each of the last three.

Villa have never been relegated from the Premier League, and are one of the few clubs to have played in every season since it began in 1992. Sherwood's immediate task is to find goals and points to keep it that way, with 13 league games left to play.

He also inherits a run in the FA Cup, in which Villa have reached the fifth round, and which could offer supporters a welcome distraction from the fight at the bottom of the table.