Rémi Garde Unlikely to Leave Before End of Season & No Offers for Gabby

Not For Quitting

I don’t quite understand certain sections of Aston Villa fans who were crying on Twitter that poor Rémi Garde would leave Villa in his frustration over the lack of transfers in the January window. He doesn’t seem the type.

First of all his character is that of a measured and thoughtful type of chap and secondly, he’s earning a lot of money and is under contract.

Fans sometimes forget about the practical influence of money and wages in the equation of football decisions. Thousands of pounds do help to put a dampener on most people’s anger and frustration. Take Charles N’Zogbia, do you think he’s 100% happy not playing football at the moment? I doubt it. But do you really expect him to terminate and compromise his £60,000(+)-a-week contract to play in the French or Greek league for a third of his current wage?

Most people make their career decisions outside of football in terms of the financial rewards and it’s perhaps even more prevalent in football due the immense money involved.

Considering the elephant in the room during Garde’s initial contract discussions when he took the job, of Villa’s potential relegation from the Premier League, you’d think he’d have an exit point in his contract at the end of the season, to give him an option to get out cleanly if he so wished to.

With that in mind, as long as he chalks up the odd win to keep the fans on side until then, the only time Villa’s manager would consider leaving is at the end of the season to ensure minimal financial loss on his part and to kept his honour intact.

The board’s gross conservatism in the January transfer window has brought Garde a huge swing of sympathy from Villa fans, who on the whole feel he was hard done by. That was key to Garde potentially making it to the end of the season, so I’d be very surprised to see him up sticks before then.

Interview

Judging by his post-match interviews, Rémi Garde wasn’t totally convinced by Aston Villa’s performance especially in the first half, but believes the fight shown by the team suggests there is still life left in Villa’s survival bid.

He also stated there had been no beef with Gabby Agbonlahor and that the club hadn’t received any offers in the January window for the Villa striker. His exile from the squad was mainly down to injury niggles.

The most encouraging factor for Garde recently would be the improved results at Villa Park with Villa now unbeaten in four. Certainly this has coincided with better organisation at the back, namely Richards shifting from the centre-back spot to right-back (something MOMS was crying out for since preseason!).

The home form needs to continue with a win against Liverpool to increase the chances of an unlikely escape. Any team that has achieved miracle survival in recent seasons has done so by beating all-comers. You can’t look down the fixture list and pick and choose your victories. You play your next game and win it. It’s as simple as that. UTV

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