Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 0: Five things Remi Garde learned on his Villa Park debut

The talking points from the Villa manager's debut in front of the Holte End, a stalemate with Manchester City

New Aston Villa manager starts life in the Midlands with a draw against Manchester City (Getty Images)

Winter of discontent may not await Rémi Garde in England after all

Aston Villa secured only their fifth point of the season, shutting out Premier League leaders Manchester City, to give Rémi Garde reason to be optimistic on his managerial debut in English football.

The hosts went into the match having lost their last seven league games, picking up just one point from a possible 30, and were seemingly heading into a bitter winter of discontent.

Since the Premier League was reduced to 20 clubs in 1995, four teams have had an equal or worse record than Villa in the first week of November. Manchester City (95-96), Sheffield Wednesday (99-00) and Queens Park Rangers (12-13) were all relegated.

Crystal Palace, just a year-and-a-half ago, needed the Herculean efforts of Tony Pulis, who later won Barclays Manager of the Year, to drag them clear of danger. That’s the extent of the job Garde inherited last Monday.

But with Carlos Gil, Jack Grealish and Adama Traoré in the squad, a creative spark shouldn’t be too hard, in theory, to ignite. Garde’s first line-up, which featured six changes, suggested the Frenchman values balance over raw ability, sacrificing Grealish to make things add up in the middle.

No wonder the former Lyon boss labelled the task as a ‘mission’ on Thursday, but it isn't an impossible one.

Remi Garde and Manuel Pellegrini (Getty Images)

Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini can be a role model for Villa's new man

Manuel Pellegrini, City’s ‘charming man’, has seldom treated the television cameras to bouts of hyperbole or self-indulgence since joining the Eastlands side in 2013.

Garde, too, is considered a more methodical coach compared to the raucous and emotional leadership of Tim Sherwood, the 49-year-old’s predecessor at Villa Park.

However, as Chelsea manager José Mourinho, head lecturer in anarchy, seemingly implodes in on himself at Stamford Bridge, the effectiveness of the stability provided by City’s cool figurehead is starting to show.

The top flight circus which follows Messrs Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and Louis van Gaal wherever they go, rarely rolls into the blue half of Manchester. Unless he is facing a side managed by Alan Pardew, of course, Pellegrini won’t be found engaging in fisticuffs or goading his critics.

Garde, it seems, graduated from the same school of thought and is expected to place stability over emotion which, in the pressure cooker environment of the Premier League, could be exactly what Villa need.

Remi Garde delivers instructions (Getty Images)

Garde’s biggest battle may be an off-field one

While the Premier League table still makes grim reading for Villains’ supporters, despite a thoroughly admirable display this afternoon, there is little reason to be optimistic off the pitch either – at least if the recent musings of Sherwood are anything to go by.

Odds-on favourite to be offered the vacant manager’s position at Queens Park Rangers, the former Tottenham boss painted a bleak picture of the executive decision making at the beleaguered Midlands club this weekend.

Garde insisted during his introductory press conference on Thursday that he will ultimately be in charge of deciding who is signed but if Sherwood’s comments on BeIN Sports prove to be true, he may have a boardroom fight on his hands.

He said: “I certainly had a say, but the final say? It was more of a combined collective decision and ultimately the man who puts his hand I his pocket is the one who has to make that decision.

“Randy Lerner [the American Villa owner] has spent an awful lot of his money at that football club for a long, long period of time.”

Fabian Delph enters the action, amid boos from the Aston Villa fans (Getty Images)

Booing Fabian Delph just underlines how much Villa miss him

‘Fabian Delph, you snake,’ read a banner strapped to the Villa Park gates when the England midfielder unceremoniously elected to leave for City in the summer.

While his seemingly insincere proclamation of loyalty to the club, swiftly followed by a sprint for the hills, may be a big factor behind the deafening boos sent his way, the anger felt towards Delph further underlines how gravely he is missed.

The theory, among a clutch of supporters at least, goes that Delph recognised Sherwood’s Villa were a sinking ship, particularly after hearing Christian Benteke was Anfield-bound, and acted accordingly – citing unfulfilled promises.

It still remains a jarring contrast when footage is played of Villa’s imperious performance in the FA Cup semi-final last season which saw off Liverpool at Wembley.

But those halcyon days now seem a distant memory. Delph is gone, Benteke is settling into life under the intoxicating Jürgen Klopp and Ron Vlaar, also dominant that day, was deemed surplus to requirements this summer.

Villa Park during the match between Aston Villa and Manchester City (Getty Images)

The Holte End will have a part to play

On the topic of Villa’s supporters, the majority of the 36,757 inside Villa Park welcomed their new chief with the usual mix of intrigue and excitement which greets a managerial appointment.

While understandably edgy on occasions, the mood was generally upbeat for the visit of league leaders City, a fixture which rarely reaps a points return for the Midlands outfit.

“When you play football you want to play in a full stadium,” Garde said on Thursday. “I hope they stay behind the team. It’s important for the players to be supported, especially when there’s so many foreign players.”

Garde’s plea seemed to have worked a treat, for Villa’s newfound assurance proved predictably popular among a group of supporters accustomed to watching their team squander the ball too easily.

Pellegrini’s men were always going to have the lion’s share of possession but the manner in which Villa fizzed the ball around, in the first half more notably, will be a source of reassurance ahead of the long winter months.