On at least two occasions, the1-1 draw in January with Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park in the FA Cup third round, and then the 6-0 defeat at home to Liverpool on February 14, senior players have been vocal about the absence of their manager in the changing rooms afterwards.

Garde told Fox and owner Randy Lerner when he took the job that he could keep Villa in the Premier League with the existing squad, although his faith wavered in the weeks that followed. By the time the January transfer window opened, Lerner was unwilling to chase his losses with a team that has now won only twice in the league under Garde.

Broadly the squad is split into two camps: on one side the long-serving players such as Gabby Agbonlahor, Alan Hutton, Leandro Bacuna, Ciaran Clark, Brad Guzan, Mark Bunn as well as Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards. On the other side are the new arrivals, many of them from France, including Jordan Ayew, Idrissa Gana and Jordan Veretout as well as Aly Cissokho. The latter group feel, with some justification, that they are being blamed for all the club’s problems.