Aston Villa's new manager Remi Garde discovered just how hard it will be to save his club from relegation as the Premier League strugglers slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham on Monday. Garde was confirmed as Villa boss on a three-and-a-half-year contract earlier in the day, but Kevin MacDonald, in charge on a caretaker basis since Tim Sherwood's sacking nine days ago, selected the team before the official start of the Frenchman's reign.
While Garde wasn't involved, the former Lyon coach was watching from the White Hart Lane stands and it must have made for uncomfortable viewing as his side paid the price for a lacklustre start. Villa, whose only league win this season came on the opening weekend, fell behind after less than three minutes when sloppy defending was punished by Mousa Dembele and Dele Alli doubled Tottenham's advantage before half-time.
Jordan Ayew got one back for Villa late on, but Harry Kane netted in the final seconds and when Garde arrives at the club's Bodymoor Heath training ground on Tuesday, he will be in charge of a team rooted to the bottom of the table after a seventh successive league defeat condemned them to the worst start in their history. "The players need to keep the ball better and I'm sure Remi will be reiterating that to them with his Arsenal background," MacDonald said. "We came with a game plan but that went out of the window after three minutes. "The desire is there and the shift the players put in shows there's something for the manager to work with."