On this day in 2015: Remi Garde appointed new Aston Villa manager

Frenchman Remi Garde was appointed Aston Villa manager on November 2, 2015.

Villa had sacked former boss Tim Sherwood in October and sat bottom of the Premier League and on a run of six successive defeats.

Former Lyon manager Garde, who signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Villa, said: “It’s an unbelievable honour to be the manager of such an illustrious football club.

“I’ve had extremely positive meetings with both the owner, Randy Lerner, and the chief executive, Tom Fox. They have ambitious plans for the club and I’m excited they’ve turned to me to help realise them.

“Obviously we have a difficult task in front of us, but I’m looking forward to the challenge with the support of everyone who loves Aston Villa.”

Garde, who spent three seasons with Arsenal during his playing career, made an encouraging start to life in the midlands as Villa held leaders Manchester City to a goalless draw.

However, 20 league matches and just two wins later, Garde left the club by mutual consent.

His last game in charge was a 1-0 defeat at Swansea on March 19, a result that left Villa 12 points from safety with seven games remaining.

Eric Black took temporary charge but was unable to prevent relegation, with Villa’s demotion from the top flight for the first time since 1987 confirmed by defeat at Manchester United on April 16.

Garde spent 18 months out of work before taking the reins at Montreal Impact in November 2017. He was sacked in August 2019.