Player Ratings: Aston Villa lose to Swansea in Tim Sherwood's last match as manager

I'm not going to lie. Writing Aston Villa player ratings after watching loss after loss is becoming quite a soul-sucking, tedious task. This team finds new ways to lose each week. Despite promising moments and performances to take from each match, Villa continue to end matches with less goals than the other team. And with how disorganized the club is on and off the pitch, it'd be hard to care about this team if relegation wasn't a realistic possibility for Villa.

Alas, we trudge forward with still the majority of this Premier League season ahead of us, living with hope that maybe this team can get it together -- with a new manager coming, too -- and get the results needed to stay up.

So here they are, with ratings on a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. These are the Aston Villa player ratings from Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Swansea at the death, which was also Tim Sherwood's final game as the Villa manager:

GK Brad Guzan, Rating: 5

Guzan definitely made it a point to be safe with his kicking this match, which was fine even if his distribution still sucked. He made a great save on Andre Ayew, but I can't help but wonder about Guzan's decision making for Swansea's equalizer. Everyone who watches the Premier League knows Gylfi Sigurdsson is one of the best free-kick takers out there, so why give him more than half a net to aim at? Why not make him beat you, not just the wall? That just didn't make sense to me. On another note, Guzan is one player who must really feel terrible today because his poor play over the past few months just lost a good man his job. Hopefully the American improves soon.

RB: Alan Hutton, Rating: 5

Hutton quieted the threat of Jefferson Montero decent enough on Saturday. Going forward though, his crossing was horrible when he got forward, even if his energy and commitment to the Villa cause was commendable.

CB: Micah Richards, Rating: 5

Another alright performance from Richards, who has certainly been a battler for Villa throughout this slide. I personally liked how he showed that losing match after match pisses him off and decided to start a little scuffle with the Swansea players. Sure, it wasn't very captain-like and all that. But it proved that he and the players care, and as a frustrated Aston Villa fan, that meant something to me.

CB: Joleon Lescott, Rating: 3

Lescott was just a mistake waiting to happen throughout this match. None of his numerous errors directly resulted in a goal, but his general lack of composure and poor touches just made his teammates and the Villa Park faithful nervy throughout. Then he missed a great chance to equalize at the death. Must be benched under the new manager, because Sherwood's faith in Lescott was another reason he lost his job.

LB: Kieran Richardson, Rating: 4

Look, I respect Richardson as a professional and his versatility makes him a fine squad member. But anyone with two eyes could see he was exhausted towards the end of this tireless match and needed to be substituted for Jordan Amavi, who probably should've started anyways. It wasn't a surprise that Swansea scored from a move in Richardson's defensive area.

CDM: Idrissa Gana, Rating: 5

Gana had another decent outing and certainly wasn't overwhelmed by the Swansea midfield. His ability to tackle and track runs was a big reason why the visitors struggled for rhythm and misplaced so many passes. But Gana was another Villa player that tired and ran out of gas at the end of a match that was always going to need 90 minutes of effort. Still will be a key player for the rest of this season.

RCM: Leandro Bacuna, Rating: 6

Bacuna may have actually been Villa's most determined player on Saturday. What he lacked in quality and midfield experience, he made up for with great effort, which unfortunately wasn't enough on this day. Wouldn't mind seeing him given a run of games based on Saturday's performance.

LCM: Jack Grealish, Rating: 4

Really a disappointing match for Grealish, who hasn't exploded on the Premier League scene like Villa needed this weekend. Jack doesn't seem to have a set position that he can flourish in, which is hurting his ability to just play like the talented teenager he is should. He's thinking too much right now. Villa need to see more of the Grealish that was on display in the FA Cup semifinal against Liverpool -- a Grealish that didn't have a fear in the world.

RW: Jordan Ayew, Rating: 7

His first Premier League goal aside, Ayew was undoubtedly Villa's most sprightly player on Saturday. His constant drive forward lifted his team, especially in the second half when he seemed determined to score against his brother's team. That goal eventually came with a fine header into the bottom corner, and Ayew could've had another if not for poor passing from teammates in good areas. He is a must start for the coming weeks.

LW: Gabby Agbonlahor, Rating: 5

Anonymous for much of the match, but his cross to Ayew was a rare moment of vision and execution by a Villa attacker this season. Regardless of much of the criticism he gets, Gabby is still a player that can help Villa throughout the season, and he proved that again on Saturday.

ST: Rudy Gestede, Rating: 4

Had a few decent spells of strength and hold-up play, but Gestede's overall game was pretty poor on Saturday. He missed a glaring header chance from a corner and rushed his other opportunities to get at goal. While his heading remains a weapon, his overall ability and composure as an attacking player just isn't Premier League quality.

SUBS

LCM: Carles Gil, Rating: 5

Had a few decent moments after coming on but didn't provide a breakthrough. Needs more game time.

RW: Adama Traore, No Rating

Wasn't given enough time to have an impact, which falls on his manager, whose failure to properly use substitutions was yet another reason he didn't make it long as the Aston Villa gaffer.

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