Talks between Aston Villa and former Lyon manager Remi Garde are due to continue today concerning the vacant managerial position.
The Frenchman as supposed to commentate on the Manchester derby yesterday afternoon for his current employers Canal +, but talks between Garde and Aston Villa prevented him from doing so, according to L’Équipe.
Aston Villa announced the departure of Tim Sherwood at around lunchtime yesterday, but the Villains had been looking for potential replacements long before that point, having already contacted Brendan Rodgers, David Moyes and Remi Garde before Sherwood’s sacking.
Since leaving Lyon in 2014, Remi Garde has rejected several offers, including jobs at Newcastle and very recently at Sunderland. The biggest challenge that Garde faces is ensuring that he can bring and much of his favoured coaching staff with him at such short notice.
Bruno Genesio is somebody that Garde played with at Lyon and was his assistant manager during his spell on OL’s touchline, but Genesio stayed on at Lyon when Garde left and is currently part of Hubert Fournier’s coaching staff. Genesio is vital to Garde’s setup but Lyon are perhaps unlikely to let him leave his current position.
Gérard Baticle and Robert Duverne are the other two individuals that Garde most wants in his potential coaching staff at Aston Villa, but the former is currently employed by Lyon still and Duverne is under contract with Metz.
Duverne of course has already worked for Aston Villa under the orders of Gérard Houllier, between September 2010 and June 2011.
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For Aston Villa, Remi Garde has become a priority because Arsène Wenger has pushed them to go for the former Lyon manager. Wenger has reportedly encouraged Chief Executive Tom Fox and Sporting Director Hendrik Almstadt to appoint Garde, the latter individual of course being a former employee at Arsenal.
If Garde decides to accept the Aston Villa challenge, which will surely depend on how much of his coaching staff he can pull together at such short notice, then he will have a rich array of French/Ligue 1 talent at his disposal. Garde is very much considered by Arsène Wenger as a possible replacement for him at Arsenal, but Remi Garde must prove his credentials in the Premier League first.