Garde not contemplating Aston Villa relegation

And reports claim that the club may take a chance on Michu, who has not played for the Swans since April 2013. “I’m not a new manager”. But you can not make this kind of decision because someone said you should.

‘It is a big target with only 28 game to go, the players are not much confidence.

“Arsene is not sitting in that chair beside me telling me what I have to do”.

Garde watched from the stands as Tottenham Hotspur secured a 3-1 victory, condemning Villa to a sixth straight defeat despite briefly threatening a late fightback.

Not numerous new signings have started all that well at their new club, and it’s believed that those failings played a role in Tim Sherwood eventually losing his job at the club, just under two weeks ago.

There was friction at the club behind the scenes during Sherwood’s reign. A few players were really new for me.

“It is frustrating obviously because you don’t get the results and it wasn’t because the players weren’t trying, it was because at certain times we made bad mistakes and we didn’t quite have the ability to score enough goals to overcome those mistakes”.

“I met the owner (Randy Lerner), I met Tom Fox (chief executive) we had very good meetings”.

“What is normal is I will have the final say, which is very important”.

He said: “Yes I did [receive an offer]”.

Garde was manager at Lyon for three years from 2011-2014 when they came fourth, third and fifth.

But Garde admitted he could give no guarantee Villa would survive.

Sunday’s visit of league leaders Manchester City presents a decidedly tough challenge for Garde’s first game in charge, but with the fans expected to turn out in full to welcome their new manager, Richardson is adamant that their support can spur the hosts on to their first top-flight win since 8 August.

“If I didn’t think I could change things I would have said “No, this job is not for me”, but I’ve got the hope that we can do it”, he said.

“I am only focused on what will happen from now on”.

“I’m not a dreamer or a magic man, I have strong ideas”, said the former Arsenal midfielder, who has appointed former Bastia coach Reginald Ray as his assistant. I have been in football for more than 30 years in every position.

“Now I am ready for that”.