Remi Garde will be named as the new Aston Villa manager, say Sky sources
Monday 2 November 2015 16:48, UK
Aston Villa will name Remi Garde as their new boss with the Frenchman expected to be at White Hart Lane on Monday, according to Sky sources.
The former Lyon coach has a watching brief for Villa's trip to Tottenham for Monday night's Premier League match, live on Sky Sports 1, with caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald on the touchline.
It is understood the 49-year-old Garde is expected to sign a three-and-a-half year deal at Villa Park, with the American owners finally securing a long term successor to Tim Sherwood, sacked after last week's 2-1 home defeat by Swansea City.
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SSNHQ reported on October 27 that Villa's pursuit of Garde had hit a snag over the refusal of Lyon - the club Garde last coached before his sabbatical - to release Gerald Baticle, currently assisting Hubert Fournier at the Stade de Gerland.
It was also understood that Garde wanted to bring Metz fitness coach Robert Duverne to Villa Park.
Sky sources revealed that Lyon were flatly refusing to allow Baticle permission to speak to Villa about a move.
Villa are four points from safety after 10 league matches with their game in hand on Monday night at Spurs.
Sherwood, who was sacked by Tottenham in May 2014, was dismissed from his position at Villa after a run of six straight league defeats.
Garde will become the club's third coach in nine months.
Arsene Wenger confirmed last week that Villa's chief executive Tom Fox, who used to work at Arsenal, had been in touch, adding that he believed Villa chairman Randy Lerner had held talks with Garde.
Wenger signed Garde as a player for Arsenal in 1996 and believes that his fellow countryman would cause an immediate impact at the club.
The Frenchman said: "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."
MacDonald, who will be desperate to end Villa's run of defeats at Tottenham, confirmed the club's interest in securing the services of Garde.
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."
