Remi Garde has left his managerial role at Aston Villa by mutual consent, the Premier League club have tonight announced.

The Frenchman lasted just five months on B6, taking over from Tim Sherwood in November of 2015, and he has been unable to lead the club away from relegation trouble in an ill-fated season. His last game in charge was a 1-0 away defeat to Swansea City.

Garde leaves with Villa virtually relegated

Garde leaves Villa bottom of the table, 12 points from safety with just seven games of the league season left. It's thought that they're now destined to go down, and it's a matter of it, not when. The club, who have undergone large-scale changes to the board in recent weeks, will now begin to plan for life in the Championship.

He leaves with a slightly better points per game, this season, record than Sherwood, but even Garde will admit that his short-lived tenure has been nothing but a failure. Villa only won two of 20 league games under him.

Upturn in form burnt out

It did look like things were looking up in January, as the Villans defeated Crystal Palace before taking points from Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion. Falling to defeat in their next game, they bounced back with a vital win against fellow strugglers Norwich City.

However, things turned nasty after beating the Canaries. With the playing camp reportedly split in two, Villa have lost six consecutive matches, conceding 18 times and scoring just twice in that period.

Brad Guzan's error gifted Swansea the win in Garde's final game (photo: getty)
Brad Guzan's error gifted Swansea the win in Garde's final game (photo: getty)

Eric Black will take charge for Saturday's home game against Chelsea, with it yet unknown whether or not Villa will wait until the end of the season to appoint a replacement on a full-time basis.

Names such as David Moyes, Steve Bruce and Brendan Rodgers have all been mentioned, but nothing is being firmly reported as of yet.

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