Soccer-Lerner says will stand down as Villa chairman

May 27 (Reuters) - Aston Villa's American owner Randy Lerner will stand down as club chairman whether or not he manages to sell the club, he said on Wednesday. In an interview with The Times newspaper, he said he should have moved aside some years ago and that he took responsibility for the team's poor performance over the last few seasons. Lerner, 53, has been trying to sell the club he bought in 2006 for some time and is looking for between 150-200 million pounds ($231.21-308.28 million). "Plan A remains to find a buyer or Plan B (is) find a new chairman," he said. "The club's performance over the last five or so years has left quite a lot to be desired and that falls squarely on my shoulders. "Happily, we've not been relegated but I haven't gotten it nearly right enough." Villa finished one place off relegation from the Premier League, three points ahead of the bottom three teams, but Tim Sherwood's side could still make it a memorable season by beating favourites Arsenal in the FA Cup final on Saturday. That would be their first major trophy success since 1996. Under Martin O'Neill they finished sixth for three seasons running from 2008 but he walked out, claiming insufficient financial backing from Lerner, whose subsequent appointments were far less successful. ($1 = 0.6488 pounds) (Reporting by Steve Tongue; Editing by John O'Brien)