Leading Contender:- Remi Garde

DaveAV1 wrote:I believe that any new manager is a risk, sometimes even a good manager just isn't a good fit. However I think Garde is a risk worth taking from what I've read and surely we must try something different rather than just continue along the same failed route.

The issue of his back room staff may be a problem that isn't so easily solved as we think. Yes we can most likely throw money at it and come to an agreement with their clubs. However what we are forgetting is the human element. Whilst footballers and managers are generally accepting of the nomadic nature of their jobs largely due to the huge financial rewards. However coaches are not so financially rewarded and are possibly not as career driven as the managers they serve under. So to uproot their families is a much bigger decision for them, particularly as there no guarantees of how long they may be here. Given that there are three of them to decide only adds to the difficulty. Hopefully everything is resolved and they come and help us back to happier times.

DaveAV1 wrote:It's not a snap descision thing for everyone. People are rarely asked to make up their minds on such a big thing that effects them and their families without a few days to think and indeed sort out other aspects of life involving other people too. When humans are involved it's rarely simple.

achilles wrote:How long did it take Sunderland from sacking their manager to appointing Fat Sam?

It just shows how inept Aston Villa has become at most things to be honest!

banneruk wrote:

achilles wrote:How long did it take Sunderland from sacking their manager to appointing Fat Sam?

It just shows how inept Aston Villa has become at most things to be honest!

Is this the case though?

Maybe OL are happy to let their assistant go but want time to bring in a new one. Therefore if Villa want their man they are going to have to wait. Maybe until the International break which is 2 weeks away (before the next Home game as Sky are reporting??) Just a thought i had??

Is Rémi Garde the right man to replace Tim Sherwood at Aston Villa?

By Martin Laurence for WhoScored?, part of the Guardian Sport Network


Former Lyon manager Rémi Garde.

Thursday 29 October 2015 01.31 AEDT

The departure of Tim Sherwood from his post as Aston Villa boss was inevitable, no matter how many former pros leapt to the defence of a man who had picked up just one point from a possible 27. The blame cannot be placed solely at the feet of the manager, who, it has been revealed, had little say in a number of the players bought in the summer to replace Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph.

Director of recruitment Paddy Reilly and sporting director Hendrik Almstadt reportedly didn’t see eye to eye with Sherwood, and their decision to opt for the risky policy of signing a large number of players without Premier League experience has rightly come under the microscope. Sherwood may have had his hands tied, but that was the path the club chose and he proved incapable of getting results from his players.

The club are, as Sherwood said after the late defeat to Swansea City on Saturday, in a hole. The former Spurs boss wasn’t helping to fill it, having failed to settle on his favoured personnel, let alone system. His decision to chop and change until something worked was far from convincing. Villa have used five different formations already this season, with 17 different players starting at least three times in the league.

The Villa board came to the conclusion that Sherwood didn’t know what he was doing after a slump that culminated in six consecutive Premier League defeats. He was no longer the right man for the job, having had the short-term impact the club so desperately needed, so who is right for Villa now?

The board appear to have made their mind up already, with Rémi Garde the clear favourite to take over at the Premier League’s bottom club. Reports suggest that Garde is very tempted by Aston Villa’s offer. Newcastle and Sunderland – the other two clubs in the relegation zone – have approached the Frenchman in the past but it seems his job will be to keep Villa in the Premier League. The quick conclusion both parties would have wanted is being held up by Lyon, who are reluctant to let his former assistants follow him to England.

The decision to pursue Garde as first choice has received a mixed reaction. Those familiar with the manager’s work think he has what it takes to succeed in the Midlands. Those that haven’t followed the 49-year-old’s career are understandably worried by Villa’s choice of a manager with no experience of managing in England – the policy of buying players with no history in the Premier League has proved dubious and they fear that the manager could also struggle.

Garde is known to have a fondness for English football. During an understated time at Arsenal he became a loyal and trusted figure under Arsène Wenger, who retains great faith in the former France international’s coaching credentials. Hiring Garde represents an opportunity to build bridges between the players at the club. He excelled in helping young French players at Arsenal. Used sparingly on the pitch, Garde was credited with helping new recruits settle quickly at the club. In that sense, Villa’s interest is understandable.

As manager of Lyon, during a time when the club was stripped of their best players and all but forced to put their faith in young talent due to a lack of transfer funds, Garde’s achievements were admirable. In his first season Lyon finished fourth and reached the finals of both domestic cup competitions, winning the Coupe de France. They would go on to win the subsequent Supercup and finish the 2012-13 campaign third. They dropped to fifth in his final campaign, but Lyon’s team rating actually rose year-on-year – from 6.94 to 7.04 – as Garde nurtured an impressive young squad. Lyon did not want their manager to leave but Garde came to the decision that the 2013-14 season would be his last before a sabbatical. It was understood that he wanted to move to recharge his batteries and then relocate to England.

In terms of playing style, Garde favoured a 4-2-3-1 formation in his first two seasons at Lyon, with the team spearheaded by Bafétimbi Gomis. He often switched to a 4-4-2 diamond once Alexandre Lacazette proved capable of forming an effective partnership with Gomis, who is now at Swansea City. Sherwood has utilised both systems this season. Settling on a structured way of playing should be the first task for the next Villa boss.

Developing young players will also be key. It was a vital determinant in Sherwood’s appeal back in February and one that remains important to the Villa board. Lacazette, Maxime Gonalons, Jordan Ferri and Nabil Fekir were given a chance to prove their worth at Lyon under Garde and the have gone on to flourish at the club. Lacazette and Fekir scored 40 league goals between them last season and Gonalons became an ever present in the side, gaining the captaincy and taking on the mantle of the experienced head in a midfield packed with potential.

Villa are obviously a different prospect altogether, but they aren’t a lost cause. While the teams around them have slumped to resounding defeats, Villa have only lost one match by more than a single goal this season – when Alan Hutton scored a freak own goal in a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge earlier this month. Garde would face an uphill task, but not an impossible one.

He remains a risk but no more so than sticking with something so clearly broken. With the Premier League’s repairmen, Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce, otherwise engaged, there aren’t a great deal of safe-bet managers available to Villa. David Moyes has been heavily linked to the job and would be considered among the best options given his vast experience of the league, but he seems keen to stay in Spain for the time being. Nigel Pearson may also tick a number of boxes.

Villa don’t seem equipped to adapt to the “Brendan Rodgers way”, and the evidently eager Dwight Yorke’s credentials boil down to the fact that he used to play for the club. So too did Bosko Balaban. If Villa are to be resuscitated from their current state, they need a long-term vision Putting anyone in charge of such of a task with so few realistic candidates available will always be a risk. Garde may well be one worth taking, with bigger and better offers unlikely to be too far off for the Frenchman.

Remi Garde could be at White Hart Lane admits Kevin MacDonald

By GreatBarrNews | Posted: October 30, 2015
By Ashley Preece


In the frame: Remi Garde could be at White Hart Lane overlooking Aston Villa on Monday.

ASTON Villa caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald has suggested that Remi Garde could be in the stands against Tottenham on Monday night.

Garde has been odds-on with the bookies ever since Tim Sherwood was sacked on Sunday.

Speaking about the possibility of Garde taking over, MacDonald said: "I've been told I need to prepare the team for Monday.

"Whether Remi has been given the position or will be in the stand to watch, I don't know.

"He's got a good pedigree as a coach and obviously the hierarchy think he's the man for the job.

"Arsene Wenger came in with no Premier League experience and he didn't do badly."

danclare82 wrote:"He's got a good pedigree as a coach and obviously the hierarchy think he's the man for the job.''
This sentence pretty much confirms it for me.

Trotters wrote:Yep. But the hierarchy need to ensure they give the "man for the job" the "money for the job" and get him the "Coaches for the job".

The hierarchy also needs to just fuck off asap possible.

NARLA24 wrote:

danclare82 wrote:"He's got a good pedigree as a coach and obviously the hierarchy think he's the man for the job.''
This sentence pretty much confirms it for me.

If he is coming then i should imagine that he will arrive after the Spurs game. He will more than likely be at the Spurs game and be in the Managers position for Tuesday. Just a pure guess on my part.

danclare82 wrote:

NARLA24 wrote:

danclare82 wrote:"He's got a good pedigree as a coach and obviously the hierarchy think he's the man for the job.''
This sentence pretty much confirms it for me.

If he is coming then i should imagine that he will arrive after the Spurs game. He will more than likely be at the Spurs game and be in the Managers position for Tuesday. Just a pure guess on my part.

That is what I think too KMAC has said he'll be in charge for spurs. The time between now and then will be spend getting the coaches i too i'm sure.