Remi Garde - Departs Aston Villa

[Rico]

I really don't know what to make of Remi. We've had no new manager bounce, even Billy McNeil managed to win a few games if I remember correctly. We've had no realm improvement from Sherwood and yet I feel sorry for him. He comes across as dignified, but then again so did TSM, but against Liverpool he looked to me as though he'd thrown the towel in too. I know he's working with the worst set of players I can ever remember, I know the board have hung him out to dry in January, but bloody hell 0-6 at home was disgusting! Under most circumstances I would probably want the manager to either resign or get sacked after such a shocking performance and if he did I can honestly say I wouldn't be too bothered, but here's the dilemma he has clearly been stitched up like a kipper by the board. He might be a brilliant coach, he might not. One thing's for sure, we're not going to find out if all he has is this useless bunch of wasters.

On balance I think he'll be off in the summer. I've had a feeling for some time now that it's gonna take a former Villa man to get us back on track.

[brian green]

Agree with everything except the last sentence Rico.  The long and winding road to find an ex Villa manager will inevitably lead to Southgate who is no more than a poor man's Remi Garde.

[Rico]

I know what you mean about Southgate. Probably be Dwight Yorke knowing our board. Maybe Martin Laursen?

[Mister E]

I fear Garde came into the dressing room with the same attitude Houllier did ...

That may well be right. It speaks volumes of the small-mindedness and disrespect of the players that they do not roll with the new manager and new ideas, particularly when they look at the table and the games they've played.
How they can look themselves in the mirror ...

[brian green]

There is the rub Mr E.  They look in the mirror too much and see not a greedy, feckless loser of a professional football player but a Mercedes driving, model cuddling, big house owning, money counting media pundit-in-waiting.

[brontebilly]

There is a lot of truth in what you say Rob.  Gabby, Bacuna, Westwood and other non performers are sitting on long contracts while speculation grows that Garde will leave sooner rather than later.  The non triers can, to coin a phrase, go home and count their money and wait for another manager to rock up who they can take the piss out of.

I am very pro Garde, I remain convinced that he will have a glittering career in the top level of football but after Sunday I begin to suspect that there is no part of him that can handle the dumb insolence of Sunday's team. He is like a sheep dog handler trying to round up a flock of dead sheep.

I continue to wrestle with the question of how the reversion from small but steady improvement in the team imploded back into headless chicken mode in the run up to Valentine's Day.  Bunn fell apart, Richards fell apart, Lescott dismantled himself, Bacuna fell apart, Gueye fell apart, Westwood disintegrated, Okore went mad, Gabby deserted, Gil was like a leaf in a hurricane, Cissoko was shell shocked and the referee gave the slop a good stir with the usual you-cant-get-a-decision-because-you-are-shit performance we have got used to.

It was a day for a manager with a volcanic temper and a tongue like a butcher knife.  Not the sort of manager to patiently rebuild a squad given the time and the money but one to stop the club being humiliated there and then.

To be fair lining up with a flat midfield four of Bacuna, Gueye, Westwood, Veretout was never going to be enough to protect our back four. Doesnt excuse the complete lack of effort or pride but tactically we were at sea. Our bench was piss weak but Bacuna should have been off after 20 or 30 mins for one. Managers arent supposed to sit on their hands.

[ROBBO]

January was the time for Garde to bring in two or three players of his choosing so that he could leave the recalcitrant to play with the under 21s but the club shackled him so what is he supposed to do, I will be interested to hear what he has to say once he has left us I can imagine he has never seen such a badly run organisation before. I'm with Brian he will be a very good manager with a club that supports him.

[passport1]

I think Wenger made the comment at the time of Gardes appointment that there were clearly technical issues at Villa with regard to the way it was run. Nevertheless there were countless coaches on the continent looking for an oportunity to manage in the Premiership so when an oportunity came up it had to be taken.

It was hardly a ringing endorsement

[oswald funkletrumpet]

I like Garde, I just think he is the right manager at the wrong time.

He got stiffed big time in the transfer window and he inherited a lot of shit, but lets be honest it's 2 wins in what 14 games and the team still looks as half arsed, unmotivated and disjointed as it's ever been. For me he has had zero effect since coming in.

I'm going to have to go and shower for a week because i feel so dirty for saying it but when we are in the championship garde aint going to be the man to get us out, it needs a dirty horrible bastard like Pearson

[FranzBiberkopf]

It was a day for a manager with a volcanic temper and a tongue like a butcher knife.  Not the sort of manager to patiently rebuild a squad given the time and the money but one to stop the club being humiliated there and then.

For the first (and only?) time in my life I found myself agreeing with Tom Toss in his column where he was berating Garde for doing nothing, either a positive word or a verbal hammering, during the break in play for injuries.

I feel dirty typing that too.

[Tayls_7]

I think Garde is really struggling with an underlying disharmony within the playing squad. He's made efforts to address this but just doesn't have enough strength in depth to manage it in the short term. I think the length of his tenure will come down to his stomach for the fight and the assurances he gets from the board with regard to the major surgery required and the finances he'll have to facilitate it. I find it incredibly frustrating that we seem to be being brought down from within. I bet he does too.

[aj2k77]

Only a maniac or a Villa man would have the stomach for the fight ahead I fear.

[Tayls_7]

Our players on their PL salaries should be giving nothing less than 100% every single time they play. They should be busting a gut to be selected for the first XI. They will tell you to a man that they do this but the performances this season tell you otherwise. I know teams have to be relegated but our players appear to be so incalcitrant as to be unmanageable. While we concentrate on Lerner's hopeless and neglectful stewardship of this wonderful institution I will be saving a lot of my ire for our feckless, indifferent millionaire psuedo footballers. Garde is utterly exhonerated imo.

[Holte L2]

I like Garde, I just think he is the right manager at the wrong time.

He got stiffed big time in the transfer window and he inherited a lot of shit, but lets be honest it's 2 wins in what 14 games and the team still looks as half arsed, unmotivated and disjointed as it's ever been. For me he has had zero effect since coming in.

I'm going to have to go and shower for a week because i feel so dirty for saying it but when we are in the championship garde aint going to be the man to get us out, it needs a dirty horrible bastard like Pearson

Pearson is a fucking idiot.  His biggest achievement is surviving relegation.  Lambert's done that three times in his career in the Prem.  Do you want him back?

[pbavfckuwait]

The problem Garde has with the disharmony, is alternative options, Gabby was not getting a look in, now Garde what options has he, Richards was shifted to right back from centre half because of lack of options, he was not getting a game there because of Lescot and Okore, midfield the only one where he has an option and a traffic cone would be a better option is Bacuna.
I think when it is impossible points wise to get out of our predicament, some of these tossers are going to have an early holiday, but I still see him going in May, as the amount of money to correct this, is not going to be forthcoming from the toss pots we have controlling the purse, end off.