Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace: Rémi Garde wants owner Randy Lerner to placate fans

Lerner met the Villa chief executive, Tom Fox, and sporting director, Hendrik Almstadt, in New York today to discuss the club’s position and possible transfer target

Rémi Garde is given a police escort away from Wycombe (Reuters)

A group of angry Aston Villa fans made their feelings quite clear with a foul-mouthed tirade outside the team coach after Saturday’s FA Cup third-round draw at Wycombe Wanderers, but the man Villa’s manager, Rémi Garde, would really like to hear speak out about the plight of the Premier League’s bottom club remains tight-lipped for now.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday night's home game against Crystal Palace, Garde admitted he had spoken to Randy Lerner, Villa’s American owner, about the need for communication from the club’s hierarchy in the face of their seemingly terminal condition at the foot of the Premier League table.

Lerner met the Villa chief executive, Tom Fox, and sporting director, Hendrik Almstadt, in New York today to discuss the club’s position and possible transfer targets, but it is understood no statement will be immediately forthcoming from the American. “This is something I asked from them a fortnight ago,” said Garde, who is still seeking his first victory as Villa manager. “It’s not to take the pressure off me – if I didn’t want the pressure I wouldn’t have this job – [but] more because I’m facing [the media] every week but actually I know Villa from inside for only 10 weeks now.

“At some point I cannot explain and I am not in the position to judge what happened before and whether it was right or wrong because I wasn’t here. At some point it is important that the Aston Villa voice is not only mine.”

A banner held up in the away end at Adams Park during the 1-1 draw against League Two Wycombe summed up how many Villa fans view Lerner, whose interest has been on the wane for several seasons now. It showed an angry lion – the club’s crest – baring its teeth, with a panicked Lerner in flight.

It did not help the mood on Saturday that two unused substitutes, Brad Guzan and Joleon Lescott, were alleged to have sworn at fans who complained about their attitude after the pair were reportedly seen having a competition to see who could spit their chewing gum closest to the touchline. That led to captain Micah Richards stepping in to placate supporters.

Garde said he had not seen the incident but did note that “as a professional you need to behave in the right away with respect for everybody”.

For much of this season, the majority of supporters at Villa Park have sat in stunned silence, although Garde expressed the wish that they would get behind the team against as they did on Boxing Day, when an improved performance earned a 1-1 draw with West Ham United.

Since then, though, Villa have lost to relegation rivals Sunderland and Norwich, and while Richards is expected to be fit after an ankle problem, their prospects of ending the 157-day wait for a league victory are hardly rosy: Villa have taken just three points from a possible 27 at home and face a Palace team with the division’s best defensive away record.

Garde, who has been linked with a loan move for the Arsenal right-back Mathieu Debuchy, is hopeful that some new faces this month might help lift the mood. Referring to Lerner and Fox, he added: “They know what I need to improve this team. When you buy some players, players that are already here and suffering could be helped by new players.”

Villa fans are at least unlikely to find fault with the Frenchman’s choice of words: suffering really is le mot juste right now.