Rémi Garde would stay after drop if owners fund promotion push

Rémi Garde is ready to stick with Aston Villa even after relegation but only if he gets funds for an immediate promotion push.

There has been speculation over Garde departing after the club failed to sign anyone in the January transfer window but talking to French radio station RMC he said:

"I'm ready to stay with the club if there are the means to come back up."

See the full interview here for those who speak the language of love, but we at 7500toHolte have translated some of his key points.

He added:

"It will be the moment to discuss it when the next season is truly being prepared for, at the end of the league or even a little earlier".

He defended Villa's summer recruitment in which several players from Ligue 1 arrived and said:

"I think there was a little bit of confusion with Tim Sherwood, the previous manager".

Garde also added that the arrival of a French manager had given some of the French players a "second souffle" (meaning a second wind).

But when talking about the January transfer window he admitted he would have liked to sign more players and noted the situation at Villa was "not the most attractive" and that Randy Lerner had lost over £300 million in previous spending.

Analysis - Rémi starts the negotiations early, the board must listen

On the back of a mini-revival in the league but a disappointing January transfer window, Rémi Garde is clearly setting out his conditions for sticking around in the summer.

Villa fans should welcome the fact that Garde is apparently committed to seeing out the season at Villa Park. Another managerial change now would be the worst thing for the side's fragile confidence, especially the foreign players such as Jordan Veretout and Idrissa Gana who have put in good performances recently. Those still pining for Nigel Pearson should bear in mind that Leicester City's stunning escape was the result of him NOT leaving the club.

Even better, Garde is already thinking of a promotion push. The best chance of not getting stuck in the crab-bucket scrap in the Championship is to take advantage of the parachute payments that provide a share of the Premier League broadcast money. The club needs to have a plan for that money now, and Garde can be part of that process.

But Garde isn't hiding the fact that he could easily choose to walk away in the summer if Randy Lerner (or a new owner) refuses to release funds. He's made no secret of his unhappiness over the failure to secure anyone in the January window and any signal that those cost-cutting measures will continue into the summer and he'll be out of the door.

The board need to listen and start planning. The changes that Garde has already made to the team - the partnership of Okore and Lescott, the roles for Veretout and Gil, the promotion of Mark Bunn - are the core that Villa would need to gain instant promotion.

But one more botched and underfunded summer and Villa's slide could become an uncontrollable plunge.

What do you think? Would Rémi be the man to lead us out of the Championship? And what kind of spending do we need to see in the summer? Let us know in the comments.