Rémi Garde: Ex-Aston Villa manager

villabromsgrove wrote:

GadgetMan wrote:Just saw a few seconds of footage with Remi Garde taking training and he had three guys with him who I didn't recognise. One was possibly Duverne? One was definitely Reginald Ray and the other had the Initials JA? Any ideas?

No idea, but was there any sign of Tony Parks?

What were your thoughts at Tottenham and are you worried?

“No, not worried. I watched already a couple of games. I think It was a tough game because Tottenham are a quite good team in this league. I was happy with the way the players answered to this game. They had a very good spirit. Even when we were 2-0 down they didn’t give up, which is very important We hit the post when it was 2-0. It could have been a draw. Of course there is a lot of work to do but I was not disappointed at all by the players.

Where does the work start, stopping the goals or scoring the goals?

“Football is about scoring goals and not conceding. You have to find the right balance between these two situations. We need to improve in both situations. We will work hard and work out how to do it. We have started already in the last two training sessions. It’s a new start for the team. Each manager has his own view on football. I will try to do my best with my team with the view I have on the players

When did you first hear from Villa, just before Tim Sherwood left?

“No, actually. I had a phone call later after he left the club. All the things were going very quickly because the club wanted to have a new manager. I met the owner and Tom Fox as well. We had very good meetings. I had very good feelings with these two people which made my decision to accept this very difficult mission. I had very good conversations.

Sherwood had a problem with a consortium of people who buy players, do you want to have the say on bringing players in or are you happy with the consortium?

“It’s something we are used to in France. I’m not completely lost with this type of organisation. I think it’s quite normal to have a sporting director, I had one in Lyon. I had a big chairman, a CEO and a chief scout. What is normal is that I will have the final say which is very important for me. I cannot watch all of the games in Europe. I need people to support me. I took this because of the support. It’s not something I will struggle with or fight against. We will have quiet meetings and discussions about how we can improve the team. But I will say what I want and what I need.

So no player will be signed without your final say?

“Yes.

Have you got that in writing?

"That's my problem!

Have you made a list of which players you want in January?

“No, I have been in the club only for three days now. My main target was to meet the player and to give them a lot of confidence quite quickly because as you know we have a little game on Sunday! I was focused only on Sunday. We will then have an international break so I will look around me. There are a lot of issues I need to sort. I will have quite a few long days ahead.

Are you head coach or manager?

“Manager.

What has Randy Lerner said to you?

“A lot of things.

“Since I met him we have exchanged a lot of views and ideas. He came this week and had a chat with the players. It was important for them to hear from the owner.

“He’s the man who runs this club and loves this club. I can tell you that. I have been very impressed by the way he loves this football club. This is why he convinced me to do better with this team.

He convinced Tim, too. What are you going to do better?

“I don’t know. Each manager has his own point of view on the best way to win a game or not to lose. There’s not only one solution. Now the team has lost so many games. They have to change something. What happened before is not my problem. We have to change. I’ve got some ideas. Maybe it works, maybe it won’t. I’ve got some strong beliefs but I’ve not certainties. People who have certainties I’m not too sure about.

Can you keep Villa up?

“I hope so, this is my target, of course. We are four points away from (safety). It’s a big target because there’s only 28 games to go. The players are not so confident (yet) but as soon as we get some good results maybe it will get better.

Did you speak to Gerard Houllier or Arsene Wenger?

“Yes I did.

What did you ask them?

“It was a private conversation. I spoke to Arsene quite often since I left Arsenal.

“These two guys are the most I trust in football. They gave me advice and we exchanged ideas. They are very experienced. They gave me some stuff.

Who will be your backroom staff?

“At the moment I’m coming with Robert Duverne as a fitness coach. I worked with him for a long time in Lyon. Then Reginald Ray, my assistant coming from Bastia.

No Gerald Baticle and Bruno Genesio?

“No. You know a lot of things!

What do you say about fans concerns that you’ve never managed in England before?

“Everybody had to start something in life. I’m not a new manager.

“I have been in football for more than 30 years in every position. As a football player I had the chance to play for Arsenal for three years. I know the country and the way fans in England love the game. This is why I wanted to be back in England. Lyon play in Europe every year. I managed more than 170 games there. Sometimes experience helps you.

Sometimes it’s not only a question of experience. I’ve got nothing against experience. One day I will be a very experienced manager, maybe. This is not the only thing you have to know. I’m only focused on getting to know the players. Unfortunately next week a lot will be away on international duty.

You have signed a three-and-a-half year contract, does that mean you won’t leave if Villa are relegated or do you not think about that?

“I’m confident (Villa won’t be relegated). It’s 28 games to go. If we start winning things will change. I’m sure you follow the Bundesliga, for example. Borussia Mönchengladbach started with five defeats in a row then had six wins. In football you never know. When it is done mathematically, okay you shake hands and then it’s finished. But we can still do it.

Of course I signed a long-term contract but I have not come to prepare for next season in a lower division. I have got respect for all the teams and managers in this country but I’m not here to ask many questions. I’m here to play better football and win games.

Remi on taking time out from the game - and knowing the time was right to get back in

I was working as a pundit for French TV Canal Plus, last season I was involved in Champions League games every week and then some Premier League games as well. Since the beginning of this season I was only involved in Premier League games so I watched a lot of football during this time.

I was not searching. I had three seasons as a manager in Lyon and then I wanted to be back in football, but I was not desperate, I was not depressed because I was not in football, so I did not want to search too much. Of course when you have been involved in the highest level of football for more than 30 years like me you know a lot of people you have a network so people started to know that I wanted to be back in football and there were a few opportunities - or I should say ‘many’ - came and this one was the good one.

Remi on the January transfer window - and conversations with owner Randy Lerner

Yes, we had this kind of discussion, for the moment this is not the priortity but we spoke about that of course. I can’t tell you exactly what we have said altogether because it was a private conversation. But I’m not silly, I know that in January it’s a transfer window. Until then I will have the time to evaluate the team, the players. Not only that we have the time to win game. In January we will have played more than 10 games. I will see if we need something. I think the club will be behind me and the owner particularly.

Remi on developing his football philosophy

You mean in terms of playing football. If you ask people in Lyon they will tell you that we were quite an attacking team, but it was mainly because I had a lot of talented attacking players. I have played under managers who like possessing the ball with technical players. In Lyon this is the culture of the club and i have been growing in this club, so this is the way I see football.

I’ve been playing for Arsenal with Arsene Wenger which was the way as well with a technical and collective game, trying to understand how we can play all together. Of course it is 11 players with individuals but it is a collective game so you have to be smart, to be clever when you play. I like that the team speak the same language on the pitch.

Remi on working with the players he has inherited

After saying that you have to also adapt to the players there are. I need a little bit of time to see what the best way of playing with these players is. I have a strong idea that we can win games but sometimes you haven’t got the players to do that. I don’t know yet to be fair, I need to spend more time with my team. I just want to be a maanger of a winning team, the way we are going to do it I need a little bit more time.

Remi on Jack Grealish and developing young players

Yes, Jack is amongst the very talented young players in this team and in this football club. So of course he will have an important role for Villa. But it is 26 players there are qualities in other players as well.

What is important in football there is two things, the first one is talent, of course if you are not talented you have no chance. But only talent isn’t enough. Talent without hard work, it’s nothing. So I think all these young players you talked about in Lyon, before they played, before they reached the national team, before we reached the Europa League and Champions League, they had a lot of hard training sessions. In modern football young players tend to be very impatient.

Sometimes this is not their fault. This is the fault of the people around them because they are playing one game, two games, 10 games and suddenly they are not good enough to play (loss of form) and everything collapses. Then you have to re evaluate where you are. In football to stay at the highest lefel means a lot of work, concentration to be focussed on football. I’m not saying that for one particular player but it’s a lot of work, especially to be a Premier League player or a French Ligue One player, you need to practice a lot.

Remi on the French connections at Villa, including Jordan Amavi, Jordan Ayew, Jordan Veretout and Idrissa Gana

I know them as football players, yes. As a person, no. Behind a football player there is a person. As a manager I need to understand how they are, who they are, where are their motivations, where are they currently so I need to spend time with as many players as possible. I’ve been in the club only two days so I didn’t have a private discussion with all these players. Of course I know them. I watch a lot of games of Villa so I’ve got quite a good idea of all the players I saw this week.

Tim Sherwood told the press in his last conference that he didn’t think the players were good enough, that he couldn’t turn them into superstars. Do you think you can turn any of these players into superstars and will that be what Villa need to stay up?

You know in football things can change and if I wouldn't have thought that I can change things I would have said 'no, the job is not for me, I can't.'

But the hope is that we can do it. I don’t know exactly what happened with the club before. I was not inside so I cannot judge what happened before. I’m only focused on what will happen from now on.

Of course I haven't got the certainty that we will achieve to stay in the Premier League because the situation is difficult, but I’ve got a strong belief, which is different. I’m not a dreamer, I’m not a magic man , but I come with fresh ideas.

This is maybe why I stopped football in Lyon, because I thought I didn't have the right energy to do that because you need a strong energy. Now I’m ready for that. Where we will be in a few months I don’t know because I told you I’m not a dreamer.

But I came because i think there is some stuff that I want to change. Not because before it was wrong, but because it is my belief and there is not only one way to win games. You can have different strategies. I’ve got some, I believe in some strategies that I will try to put on the field.

Arsene Wenger was very keen for you to come over here. There was obviously the issue with the assistants, but he said last Friday you should take this job. How much of an influence has he been over these last few days?

I made my decision 98 per cent before I read that. I’ve got a lot of respect for Arsene, I had a private conversation with him. I’m very happy that he said that, of course, but you cannot make this kind of decision because someone said that you should. I’ve got big big respect for Arsene Wenger, but I’m not crazy enough to say ‘ok, he said that, then I’ll go!’. Arsene is not sitting in that chair beside me telling me what I have to do. I’m quite an old guy now

Why was it Aston Villa? You said that you had previous opportunities to manage and some of them were in England. What made Villa, when they’re having such difficulties, the club for you.

You mean why Villa and not the other clubs? I think I had a very good feeling with the owner, with the way he wanted to sort it out, to fix this bad situation. I think its very important in a club that, the feeling the way we see the future is shared by the chairman, the CEO, the manager, if not it could be difficult. I loved the way they wanted to make Villa for the future, I agree.

Villa are at the bottom now, how do you personally adapt and cope with being at the bottom and not the top?

I’ve not always been at the top, as a player I was struggling as well some seasons. Not often. You are right it is a a different situation, I think what we need right now is to be more confident. This is my job now, this is my task to give the players more confidence in themselves and between each other it is very important as well. This is a different situation to when you are at the top, but when you are at the top you have the pressure as well to win every game, you need to you have to.

Everywhere in football there is pressure. We have to cope with that and I think if we stick all together we have a chance. It’s a vicious circle, when you win games you get more confident but you need confidence to win games, this is the problem.

The first thing for me is to work hard in the training sessions. It is very important because you cannot win games if you are not working hard. Once again I don’t know what happened before. I can forget that, that’s not my problem, but I know what I did in Lyon with the young players. I know how hard we trained for many weeks before getting some results, first to regain confidence you have to work hard.

We have also to live well altogether to be happy to play football altogether and to know what we are going to play, what kind of game we want, what roles between us we have. This is the way I see the forthcoming weeks.

You've spoken about how Randy Lerner has sold you his long term vision about the future, but we understand and he's admitted previously that he’s trying to sell the club so how does that fit in?

You have to ask the owner exactly about this question, I can’t tell you the private conversation we had, but he never appeared to me as a person who wanted to sell the club. He loves the club which is very different. He loves the club.

I was very impressed the way this man was speaking about Villa, to be honest it gave me the belief as well. I was surprised to be fair. I was surprised to see how much he loved this club. He gave me the envy, he made me want to work with him. I can’t speak in the name of Mr Randy Lerner.

I’ve met him for the first time a few days ago so I won’t say anything else. I’m just happy to work with him. I haven't seen a man who doesn't love this football club, who doesn’t care. It was the opposite. It was ok for me.

Rémi Garde takes charge of his first game as Aston Villa manager on Sunday, when the Premier League’s bottom club host the leaders Manchester City, and the Frenchman desperately needs to find a way of reviving their fortunes. Villa have lost their last seven league games, picked up only one point from a possible 30 and are heading for a long winter of discontent unless there is a spectacular turnaround. The former Arsenal midfielder has already said that he is “not a dreamer or a magic man”, so in the absence of a wild imagination or a wand, we take a look at what the 49-year-old needs to do to keep Villa up and emulate Crystal Palace’s great escape under Tony Pulis two seasons ago.

1 Generate a collective goal threat
The obvious concern for Villa supporters when Christian Benteke departed for Liverpool in the summer was where the hell the goals were going to come from? Nothing seen over the first 11 games has allayed those fears. Villa have averaged less than a goal per game and registered the lowest number of shots on target in the Premier League.

The word toothless springs to mind and if Garde learned anything at White Hart Lane on Monday night it was that Gabriel Agbonlahor is good for taking the kick-off (two of his eight touches on the night) and little else. Rudy Gestede at least offers an aerial threat for Villa to exploit, but they need to play to his strengths more, and it is imperative that Jordan Ayew, Jack Grealish, Carles Gil, Scott Sinclair and Adama Traoré (if we ever get to see him) chip in along with the midfielders behind them because, unlike in the past, a prolific goalscorer is not going to keep the club up this season.

2 Get the most out of their quartet of French summer signings
Villa raided Ligue 1 and spent £34.7m on Idrissa Gana and the three Jordans – Ayew, Veretout and Amavi – in the summer but, so far, have had precious little in return. Ayew has scored in his last two league games and showed some flashes of promise and Gana looks like he has the potential to be a reasonable replacement for Fabian Delph over time but Vertout has not kicked a ball since the 1-0 home defeat against Stoke a month ago and Amavi has lost his place to Kieran Richardson.

While Tim Sherwood never seemed convinced about their merits, the former Lyon manager Garde will not need to spend any time reading up or watching DVDs to know what they can offer and his arrival ought to have been a shot in the arm for all four of them – clearly that is what the Villa board are hoping. The bottom line is that Villa need that quartet on the pitch, justifying their transfers fees as well as the judgement of those that recruited them.

3 Inject some flair and a bit more Gil
One of the more curious things about watching Aston Villa since the turn of the year is that Carles Gil is seen so fleetingly. When the Spaniard does get a rare run out, he often shows some lovely touches, as was the case when he came on as a second-half substitute against Spurs and gave a desperately poor Villa team a fresh dimension.

Barry Bannan, the former Villa midfielder, probably summed up the thoughts of many supporters on Monday night when he tweeted: “Don’t have a clue why this Gil don’t play, every time I seen him he looks class.” With Grealish, Ayew and Traore also in the squad, Villa have some creative options and it would good to see Garde liberate one or two of those talents, but in particular Gil. After all, it is hard to see this Villa squad possessing the qualities to survive by grinding out results.

4 Stop the rot and spend wisely
First, and foremost, Villa need to stop the rot and make sure that they are still in touch with the pack by the time the transfer window opens – something that could be easier said than done looking at a fixture list that sees them go to Everton and Southampton and host Arsenal in three of their next four matches after City.

Forget all the talk of a long-term vision, the priority in January must be to sign a couple of players for a short-term fix. Whether they can get the right personnel will depend on not just Randy Lerner’s willingness to spend – something Garde sounds reasonably confident about – but also their prospects of survival.

Another striker to give Garde an alternative option to Gestede’s physical presence ought to be high on the wish-list, and can two of Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott, Ciaran Clark or Jores Okore be relied upon to be fit and error free in central defence? Garde, without doubt, is going to need some help.

5 Perform a minor miracle to keep rock bottom Villa up
To put Villa’s precarious position into context, since the Premier League was reduced to 20 clubs in 1995-96, only four clubs have had four points or fewer at this stage. Manchester City (1995-96), Sheffield Wednesday (1999-00) and QPR (2012-13) were all relegated. Crystal Palace, in 2013-14, had an identical record to Villa after 11 matches (W1, D1, L9) and survived, with Tony Pulis, appointed in late November, going on to be named Premier League manager of the year.

It is no exaggeration to say that Garde may well end up in the running for the same trophy if he turns Villa’s fortunes around, so bleak is their predicament now. While Pulis built from a solid defensive base – in the 24 games it took him to steer Palace to safety, they kept 11 clean sheets – it is a safe bet that Garde’s style will be more expansive.

Either way, it will be some feat of escapology to get Villa out of the mess that they are in, and nobody should underestimate that task.

When Aston Villa’s website mis-spelt the name of the club’s new manager Rémi Garde with their erroneous “Welcome Remy” message last Monday, there were faint echoes of the arrival of another Frenchman in English football. It is nearly 20 years ago since the Evening Standard’s “Arsène who?” headline after Arsène Wenger’s appointment as Arsenal manager and at Villa Park they will be hoping that the parallels do not end there with the man charged with rescuing the Premier League’s bottom club.

The 49-year-old has never managed in this country yet he did win the Premier League as a player with Arsenal – with 10 appearances in their 1997-98 campaign – and one of his old team-mates at Highbury, Lee Dixon, believes he has the qualities to cope with a Herculean task that begins with today’s home fixture against Manchester City. “He was always a big thinker about the game and an intelligent boy,” says Dixon, who describes him as “one of Arsène’s disciples”.

“He was a utility player who didn’t start many games but could fill in in all positions,” he adds of Garde, who won six caps for France. “He filled in for me a few times and also at centre-half and in holding midfield which suggests you have an understanding of the game and that comes across when you talk to him.”

According to Dixon, Garde’s experience of an Arsenal dressing room which received a sudden influx of Frenchmen will be crucial at Villa, who last summer signed four players from Ligue 1 – Idrissa Gueye, Jordan Ayew, Jordan Veretout and Jordan Amavi – for a combined fee of around £35m. Not one of them started in Monday’s defeat at Tottenham, when caretaker Kevin MacDonald selected the team.

“He understood the English sense of humour, he understood each side of the dressing room and that will hold him in good stead,” says Dixon. “He will get the nuances of a dressing room like that because he has been in one as a player. I read today that he had reiterated the fact the boys will be speaking English in the dressing room and that was very much an Arsène Wenger thing.”

Garde, who speaks excellent English, touched on this when discussing Villa’s French-speaking contingent in his first press briefing on Thursday, though he also noted the benefits they might bring. “It’s important when you come to the country that you behave within the law [and] that means you have to speak the language. But, saying that, coming from abroad you can also bring something new, bring some outside ideas.”

Garde was also wise enough to note there was no immediate remedy for Villa’s problems. “I am not a magic man – the best way to prepare is a pre-season,” he said. “I know before that I can’t have the time now but as I said earlier I believe strongly that good training sessions are very important for the squad.“

These are the words of a man who built his reputation in France on developing players. He spent six years at the start of his playing career with Lyon and rejoined the club in 2003 to embark on his coaching career. According to Vincent Duluc, a leading football writer for L’Equipe, it was a surprise when Garde returned to Lyon. “When he was a player he said he didn’t have enough in common with the other players and didn’t feel like a footballer – he had too many other interests. But after his career ended he came back to football with a passion.”

Garde was once told by Wenger that he would enjoy management but at Lyon, where one of his roles was as Gérard Houllier’s assistant coach, he twice said no to the No 1 job before finally accepting it. “He thought it was not the right time,” Duluc recalls. “When he said ‘yes’ he knew he was ready. He was the perfect coach for a young team. He had been the head of the academy and also the chief scout. He knows every aspect of the job. He knows how to deal with young players.”

After becoming Lyon coach in 2011, he had to work with a smaller budget than his predecessors, owing to the club’s construction of a new stadium and so focused on bringing the best out of homegrown talents like striker Alexandre Lacazette and Maxime Gonalons, now France internationals. Playing 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond, his attack-minded Lyon team ended his first season as French Cup winners. Jean-François Gomez, a journalist with Le Progrès, the Lyon newspaper, says: “He didn’t qualify for the Champions League but the fans didn’t complain as there was a strong Lyon identity with young players in the team. People appreciated this.”

Lyon’s finishing positions during his reign were fourth, third and fifth yet during his third season, Garde – known in France for his quiet, thoughtful approach – cut an increasingly agitated figure on the touchline and in front of the press.

He also fought a lost battle with Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas over the practice of holding open training sessions, citing the privacy he had known at Arsenal’s London Colney base. Eventually, in May 2014 he resigned, citing the need to “take a break”, and worked instead as a commentator on Champions League matches for French television. Pierre Ménès, a Canal Plus presenter, says he is much respected for his tactical insights: “He is a very quiet guy, very calm, very cool.”

Assessing his former colleague’s task in Birmingham, Ménès hopes that Garde’s tactical acumen will unlock the potential of two players in particular: Veretout, a midfielder who helped France win the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in 2013, and Ayew, who came off the bench to score for the second game running at Tottenham. “If Aston Villa are to have a chance of staying up they have to have the best Jordan Ayew they can have,” adds Ménès.

To stay up, Villa will also have to get moving. One noteworthy statistic after last weekend’s fixtures was that they had covered less ground than any other Premier League team this season. Garde admitted he had not heard this when told by a reporter on Thursday, then offered a characteristically measured response: “I’d like to know what it’s based on and what our team’s [running] is when we have the ball and when we are running without the ball. But yes, it probably means we will have to improve.”