Remi Garde - Departs Aston Villa

[themossman]

A few things on the warnock/clogging point. As cheltenhamlion says, the route out of the championship is just as likely to be attacking expansive football these days (Bournemouth). There is no evidence garde is lacking in bottle other than vaguely racist preconceptions based on the fact that he's a cerebral Frenchman. (If anything he has appeared to do more to stand up against the high farce going on behind the scenes than any manager since MON.) Notwithstanding all the above he's known as an arch pragmatist. If it was necessary to play anti football to get promoted he probably would.

[mr underhill]

I don't disagree with that but I can't see him sticking around

[oldtimernow]

Gary, we don't know that.  He just might be the very man.  Personally I think he is but, I respect your opinion.

splutters over tea


oops sorry Dave meant the early quote about the balls finding the back of the net

[Steve kirk]

I like Remi and I want him to stay but the clowns at the top are doing their best to make him walk.

[Steve R]

The biggest difference I have seen between championship and premier league is that PL players are bigger and stronger. We will be playing on mostly modern players on pitches every bit as good as the ones we are used to. It is not a division to clog your way out of.

All of which is almost secondary. If we do go down, we will return to a league where even the likes of Bournemouth will have had invested tens of millions in their squad. We will have to come up with the nucleus of a PL squad, playing PL football supplemented by significant close season reinforcement.

I would fancy Garde to deliver his part of the job, but Fox and Hollis? It is going to take a sea change in attitude and competence from them for us to even re-establish a foothold in the top flight.

Puke.

[FrankyH]

Has Garde been quoted as saying he will consider his position in the summer or are the press speculating ?

[dekko]

Has Garde been quoted as saying he will consider his position in the summer or are the press speculating ?

Well he ain't happy - he said this about our lack of transfers and the suggestion that he wasn't given the money promised him when he signed up:

“Maybe it was not as clear when I signed, but it’s something that I don’t want to discuss too much,” Garde said.

“I understand that you cannot carry on doing the same things when you have not been as successful as you have wanted. I cannot say the club hasn’t done everything they could. It wouldn’t be fair. I’m not happy about this situation. I am not stupid and saying we need nobody.

“Some people have to be brave enough to say what have we done wrong in the past and what we should be doing now to stop that and to be better, maybe not in the next months but the next season or in two or three years.”

There was also another quote where he stated that he would still be here in May, and some people are taking it to be him saying 'I will be here until May'.  Its not clear which he meant.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

The biggest difference I have seen between championship and premier league is that PL players are bigger and stronger.

This first point is very much part of our problem this season. We have one of the easiest teams to physically bully I've ever known. When our Director of Sport is looking at the stats on each potential signing, he obviously ignores the height and weight of the players. We need more balance, it's not just passes completed, metres run. Physical strength has been completely ignored.

[PaulWinch again]

Garde has them fighting tonight.

[Irish villain]

Garde deserves better than the shabby treatment the board have given him.

If he walked I wouldn't blame him one bit.

[LeeB]

We must shower him with love till the end of the season, serenede him at the games and let everyone know we're fully behind him.
He's smart enough to realise the mandate of the fans will give him to power to make his changes, and then he will make us great again.

[PaulWinch again]

Good to see he had lots of options from the bench.

[curiousorange]

I think it's notable that usually, the two best footballing sides in the Championship go up, because it's obvious there is a difference in class. The play-off winner is usually the most rugged of the also-rans, which takes into consideration the extra stamina needed for the play-offs. Christ, imagine being a footballing side? I reckon Garde can do it. I was actually impressed with us tonight despite the obvious limitations.

[Des Little]

French flags on Saturday? Show of support?

[myf]

Cut a lonely figure tonight. Didn't see any of the backroom staff on the touchline jeeing up the players or bollocking the fourth official for the horrendous decisions. All I saw was bilic with his arm around the fourth official.  Everything seems to be going against us this year