Former Aston Villa assistant manager Peter Grant has said he believes the club's fans are "a little bit delusional" in their expectations and warned that the Villans "can't keep making changes."
Grant worked with former Villa Park boss Alex McLeish, but the duo were sacked after their only season at the helm, 2011-12, saw Villa finish 16th in the Premier League with 38 points.
The Scot, a former Norwich manager, said he believed too many changes were being made even then, with the club having sold star wingers Ashley Young and Stewart Downing.
And with Villa -- now bottom of the table and under the management of Remi Garde -- continuing their pattern of recent struggle, Grant said there was a need for "realism" among the support.
"It is still a massive club with the fan base it has, but I thought they [the fans] were a little bit delusional," the Mirror quoted him as saying.
"If there's a realism, you'd realise you haven't got the best players and sometimes you have to accept it.
"We lost so many senior players, and the changes were too much. It was on a downward spiral."
McLeish and Grant were succeeded by Paul Lambert, who brought in younger players but was unable to stop Villa's struggles.
He was replaced by Tim Sherwood last season, with Sherwood making way for Garde after Villa slumped to the foot of the table.
"Paul goes in with a young group and then Tim finds himself with different players to deal with -- and now Remi has got a group who have not played much together," he said.
"They've never got a structure with all the changes, because every manager has different views on different personnel. You can't keep making changes."