WATCH: Villa set to confirm Remi Garde arrival before Spurs clash
Villa were today expected to confirm Remi Garde as their new boss, with the Frenchman poised to watch his new side in action at Tottenham tonight.
The former Lyon manager was the No.1 choice to succeed Tim Sherwood and is believed to have thrashed out a deal after talks over the weekend with owner Randy Lerner and chief executive Tom Fox.
He was set to sign a three-year contract after Bastia coach Reginald Ray agreed to become one of his assistants at Villa Park. Ray has been Bastia's assistant coach since 2010.
It is expected 49-year-old Garde will watch from the stands at White Hart Lane with caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald taking charge for the final time.
Canal Plus, the French TV company Garde currently works for, announced on their Sunday night show: "Garde arrives tomorrow."
Fellow Frenchman Christophe Galtier's saw his odds for the job dramatically slashed over the weekend as Villa continued to grow restless in the wait to secure Garde.
The former Arsenal player had insisted he was joined by former Lyon backroom staff members Gerard Baticle and Robert Duverne.
The two worked alongside Garde at Lyon during his spell in charge between 2011-2014. But it seems a compromise has now been reached.
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Rock-bottom Villa will be led by MacDonald again after he oversaw last week's League Cup exit at Southampton.
Regular Under-21 manager MacDonald insisted that the squad's pride is hurting as they go looking for only a second Premier League win of the season.
He said: "If everything turns around, which hopefully it will, and we finish mid-table then I would like to think people would be eating their words. This is what players have to understand. They have to have that desire to ram words down people's throats."
Villa will hope to welcome back Joleon Lescott, Idrissa Gana and Adama Traore for the trip to sixth-placed Spurs.
