Remi Garde says he's here to stay, relegated or not

He may not have gotten off to the best of starts, but if Aston Villa get relegated, Remi Garde is going to lead the resurgence in the Championship.

Since his appointment in early November, Garde's Aston Villa side have picked up just two points in five games, leaving the side stuck at the bottom of the Premier League table, nine points from safety. Relegation is looming, but Remi Garde has pledged his future to the Villans, stating that he'll stay on as manager if they do go down.

Speaking with French media outlet L’Equipe, Remi Garde said:

"To go down, it is not the wish of anyone, but if we are in the Championship and the club still wants me, I will start again with Villa."

Garde also revealed that the possibility of relegation was discussed with club Owner Randy Lerner prior to the 49 year old Frenchman's hiring as Villa manager. He said:

“The discussion with the owner was also about that.

"I wanted to have certain answers and he (Randy Lerner) told me that in the case of relegation the project was still on, and that he counted on me to lead it. So I am working also in the medium term.”

Obviously, relegation is not ideal, and hopefully wins in the upcoming fixtures against Newcastle, Norwich and West Ham can help Villa's bid for survival. But there may be some benefits to the drop, with Garde saying:

"A season in the Championship is not the stuff of dreams but we can reconstruct the foundations of a big club quite quickly."

Remi Garde isn't actually the only one with this opinion, as 7500 to Holte guest writer MattVillan actually wrote something similar a while back. You know what? If Villa are to go down this way, we'll at least have plenty of time to come to terms with it. And I'm fairly certain in that time we can find some positives that could come with relegation. Because honestly, at this rate, we probably need to.