Friday 30 October 2015 22:51, UK
Arsene Wenger expects Remi Garde to be a success at Aston Villa should the Frenchman decide to take on the challenge of keeping them in the Premier League.
Aston Villa are currently four points adrift of safety, having only secured as many points from their last ten league fixtures, and they have been heavily linked with Garde following the dismissal of Tim Sherwood after Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Swansea City.
Sherwood, who was sacked by Tottenham in May 2014, was ousted from his position after a run of six straight league defeats.
Although caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald is expected to be on the touchline when Villa face Spurs at White Hart Lane on Monday Night Football, a deal to bring in Garde - who last managed Ligue 1 side Lyon - could be completed next week, which would make him the club's third coach in nine months.
Wenger confirmed Villa's chief executive Tom Fox, who used to work at Arsenal, had been in touch and he believes VIlla chairman Randy Lerner has held talks with Garde.
"He (Fox) texted me," the Arsenal manager said. "I think they met Remi Garde with the chairman and they made their opinion.
"I don't think Tom Fox knew Remi Garde. I don't think he was here (at Arsenal) at the time, but certainly he got some information from people who knew Remi.
"It's a big challenge for him but it's a big opportunity. You do not get 20 opportunities to come to England and at the moment, in Europe, you find 250 managers who want to come to England."
Wenger signed Garde as a player for Arsenal in 1996 and believes that his fellow countryman would cause an immediate impact at the club.
"Remi is an intelligent man who has some experience in Lyon. He will try to get his ideas through, the ideas he got in Lyon, and hopefully it can work," he said.
"They have five or six French players there who haven't made an impact at all there. Maybe he will give them a chance."
Villa's pursuit of Garde could have been finalised sooner but for a snag regarding his desire to bring Lyon coaches Bruno Geneseo and Gerald Baticle to the club - Lyon's club president Jean-Michel Aulas has said they are going nowhere.
Wenger went on to say: "There are some problems to sort out there with his assistants, who work for Lyon as well. I don't know if he will manage to sort that out or not. Are assistants of Lyon free or not? It doesn't matter, it is a challenge that he should take."
MacDonald, who will be hoping to end Aston Villa's run of defeats at Tottenham, has confirmed the club's interest in securing the services of Garde, with the 54-year-old believing his arrival at Villa Park might not be too far away.
He said: "Obviously, the hierarchy think he is the man for the job. He was a decent footballer at Arsenal, they haven't had many bad players over the years, and he has got a good pedigree as a coach."
However, despite the uncertainty regarding Garde's arrival, MacDonald says his sole focus is to prepare Villa for Monday night's must-win match.
He said: "I've been told I need to prepare the team for Monday. Whether Remi has been given the position, and is there in the stand to watch, I don't know. That is going to be an ongoing thing."
