Tim Sherwood got his team selection, formation, tactics and substitutions all wrong as Villa crashed to a disastrous 1-0 defeat to West Brom at Villa Park.
The defeat leaves Villa seven points shy of the total they achieved in comparable fixtures last term and must call Premier League survival chances into doubt, bearing in mind how close the club came to the drop last time around.
The Baggies started the game on the front foot, Salomon Rondon forcing a spectacular save from Brad Guzan after just two minutes, while both Jonny Evans and Berahino missed chances early doors.
Villa's first chance of the match landed at Carles Gil's feet, he should have nettedfrom 12-yards, but was denied by Claudio Yacob .
Albion took the lead on 39 minutes through Berahino, who pounced on a deflected James Morrison shot to finish past the hapless Guzan.
It was increasingly obvious that Sherwood's two defensive midfielders were failing to link up with his attacking line up, but he chose to remove the mobile Scott Sinclair and replace him with the far more static Rudy Gestede.
After the break Carlos Sanchez had a punt to test Boaz Myhill, but the keeper produced wasn't troubled, while Rondon put Villa's backline under presuure at the other end.
Alan Hutton’s cross bounced off Berahino on the edge of the area, leading to appeals for a penalty, but Carles Gil’s free-kick found Jack Grealish who dragged his shot wide.
Rondon came close to adding Baggies moments lead with a low shot, but Guzan dealt with the effort, and made another save from the Venezulan late on.
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