tony xia took over as owner from randy lerner two months later. roberto di matteo lasted just four months as manager before being replaced by steve bruce. villa limped to 13th in the championship at the end of that season. they banked on experienced players such asjohn terry to get them up last season but they face a third successive season in the championship after losing to fulham in last month‘s play—off final and, now, financial uncertainty. we can speak to villa supporter dave woodhall from the heroes and villa ns fa nzine. dave, thanks forjoining us. i want to ask you what your immediate reaction was when you heard the news? i think surprise followed by horror. it came so quickly and out of the blue. the last 2a hours it has got worse and worse and you wonder where it will end. where does the blame lie for this? there are obviously many problems, but i think you have to say that the buck stops at the top. tony xia must‘ve known he was gambling and extent of money he had available and what would happen and the must‘ve been an idea of what wou

big problems for this man, the aston villa chairman tony xia.say they'll settle an unpaid tax bill within the next 2a hours. villa reportedly owe the tax man around £4 million and could face a winding up order if they don't pay. mark regan reports on aston villa for bbc wm. two things happened yesterday that put the club in what seems like a desperate situation. they suspended the see you with immediate effect, and it emerged that aston villa were having problems with revenue and customs over unpaid tax. they say both those matters are unconnected but they add to a problem —— a club already in turmoil. tony xia said the club faces financial challenges having not secured promotion to the premier league. the owner is a chinese businessman and is restricted in the amount of money he can take out of china and put into the club. the challenges are still there for aston villa and problems seem to be getting bigger. yesterday their pre—season friendlies were just five weeks away and all these issues will have to be sorted out with their ceo suspended,

chief executive keith wyness was suspended on tuesday amid reports he'd fallen out with owner tony xiawith rules tight on taking money out of china. to the day's news from roland garros now. the meeting between two former champions, maria sharapova and garbine muguruza, didn't quite live up to billing. sharapova — who made her comeback this year after a is—month drugs ban — still not back to her best, and muguruza took full advantage. rhia chohan reports. it had been a while since maria sharapova had been this far. she had not been in a grand slam quarterfinal since returning from her drugs ban, but she could hardly have had a tougher opponent. garbine muguruza, another former champion, was not planning on making it easy. last year's wimbledon winner had not yet dropped a set in the tournament this year and that was not changing in the opener. she took it 6—2. both were well rested after injuries to their previous opponents, but for sharapova, was it a bit too much time away from the clay? muguruza packed a bigger punch, seizing the advantage in the second set. sharapova broke back but

big problems for this man — the aston villa chairman tony xia.y owe the tax man around £ million and suspended chief executive keith wyness yesterday, but that's not thought to be connected to the money owed to hmrc. mr xia says villa will have to make some big cuts after missing out on promotion to the premier league to fit in with financial fair play rules. sergio ramos is continuing to upset liverpool fans. the real madrid captain was blamed for injuring mo salah's shoulder in the champions league final, and has had his say now: saying that salah "grabs my arm first and i fell to the other side" ie, salah fell on the opposite arm so he couldn't have caused the injury. he then added that the egyptian "could have played if he got an injection for the second half." and to wrap things up, he commented on causing loris karius a concussion "after the goalkeeper said that i dazed him too — i am now only missing roberto firmino saying that he got a cold because a drop of my sweat landed on him". the cheltenham gold cup winning horse, denman, has died