Villa ready to drop Garde this summer

REMI GARDE looks certain to leave Aston Villa one way or another at the end of the season.

The Frenchman, below, is likely to be sacked for failing to turn around Villa’s disastrous campaign – but he could beat the Midlands club to the punch by resigning fi rst.

Senior fi gures at Villa Park fear that quiet man Garde, who has failed to instil any real fi ght in his players to climb out of the relegation doldrums since taking over in November, will be unable to steer Villa straight back up from the fi ercely competitive Championship next season.

New chairman Steve Hollis is understood to

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ASTON VILLA

be sounding out replacements as Villa look doomed with nine games left.

But former Lyon coach Garde insists the Villa experience – he has won only two Premier League games out of 18 – has not damaged his self- belief and blames the “fragile” mentality of the players for Villa’s problems. “I am very confi dent in my management,” said Garde following this defeat at the Etihad Stadium. “I have a lot of problems here but that is not one of them. Now is not the time to speak about next season, for me or my players.”

After keeping City at bay in the fi rst half, Villa capitulated by conceding two goals – from Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero – in the fi rst fi ve minutes after the break.

Aguero and Raheem Sterling doubled that lead – and the scoreline would have been worse for Villa if Aguero had not struck the post with a late penalty.

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