VILLA CHILLER FOR GARDE
Defeat by Spurs highlights size of rescue mission
ARE you sure this is for you, Remi? Having landed at Luton Airport earlier in the day, you would have forgiven Remi Garde for checking if he had a return ticket straight back to Lyons at full time.
Just hours after his appointment was confirmed, the new Aston Villa manager watched Tottenham stroll past his team, who remain bottom of the Barclays Premier League.
In the end, Villa made a fist of it — Jordan Ayew’s 79th-minute, deflected shot setting up a grandstand finish at 2-1 before Harry Kane gave the scoreline a fairer reflection.
Villa’s late improvement could not mask the problems facing Garde as he tries to avoid relegation. Garde’s fears, however, will not concern Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino, whose side extended their unbeaten league run to 10 games.
The win propelled Pochettino’s side up to fifth in the table — one point behind Manchester United in fourth.
Can Spurs break the top-four monopoly? The signs are good and Kane — who notched his fifth goal in as many league games last night — is scoring again.
Garde took his place alongside chief executive Tom Fox after fog delayed his arrival in London.
Primarily, it was a watching brief for the Frenchman and the hard work starts at the club’s Bodymoor Heath HQ this week.
Ahead of the clash, Villa were bottom of the league with the joint lowest goal tally in the division.
Spurs fans were intent on letting Garde know about it, too, chanting ‘You’re going down with the Chelsea’ moments after kick-off.
So quite what Garde must have been thinking when his new team fell behind inside three minutes is anybody’s guess.
Villa defender Ciaran Clark may find out the hard way when he first meets his new boss. The Republic of Ireland international looked to have the situation under control when faced with Mousa Dembele down Tottenham’s left flank.
But somehow Clark was outmuscled by the Belgian, who completed the defender’s misery by firing through Brad Guzan’s legs to put Spurs ahead.
Garde responded with a stroke of his chin. No amount of chin-stroking will help if his new side continue to gift goals like this.
Kevin MacDonald, taking charge of Villa in a caretaker role, had seen it all before, of course. It was exactly the sort of lapse that cost Tim Sherwood his job at the end of last month. Garde will go the same way if he can’t find a solution.
Villa mustered a response; Scott Sinclair stinging Hugo Lloris’s hands with a powerful shot after cutting in from the left.
How Garde could do with a player like Dele Alli to help kick- start Villa’s season. The 19-year-old was head and shoulders above everyone during the first half.
Vision and composure; these attributes are why Roy Hodgson is considering the teenager as a viable option for his Euro 2016 squad.
Team-mate Kane, who is almost certain to be in Hodgson’s travelling party next summer, went within inches of doubling Tottenham’s lead when his deflected effort was tipped over by Guzan in the 25th minute before Danny Rose nearly capitalised on more woeful Villa defending from the resultant corner.
Villa were struck with another blow when a groggy Ashley Westwood was forced off to be replaced by Ayew. He picked up a booking three minutes after coming on, after being caught by Dembele’s flailing arm in the 38th minute.
The next blow Spurs landed was crushing, doubling their lead on the stroke of half-time after the impressive Alli fired home from the edge of the box as Villa failed to clear Rose’s cross. There was another stroke of the chin from Garde as the half-time whistle blew; MacDonald was more active, replacing the injured Gabriel Agbonlahor with Rudy Gestede.
Yet, the attempt to breathe life into Villa’s ailing attack failed to have the desired impact at first.
Rose, unmarked at the back post, headed over from Erik Lamela’s cross in the 52nd minute as Spurs continued to dominate.
Eventually, though, Villa came to life. Having hit the post moments before, Ayew gave Villa hope at 2-1 thanks to his shot taking a deflection off Jan Vertonghen.
Then, seven minutes from time, Gestede headed narrowly wide as Villa sensed an unlikely point, before Kane struck in injury time.
Lamela and Christian Eriksen combined before Kane confidently drove his first-time shot into the roof of the net.