ASTON Villa boss Remi Garde is to save his inspiring words for players who deserve them, it has emerged.

The former Lyon boss admitted that attempting to motivate his current squad would be a waste of everybody’s time, unless he motivated them to seek alternative careers.

Garde said: “With the right words, almost any player can become a winner, unless that player has ‘Aston Villa’ written on their shirt in impossible-to-erase letters.

“I can’t tell them they’re too good to be relegated, because they quite obviously aren’t. Loic Remy, Gokhan Inler and Wahbi Khazri are too good to be relegated, but unfortunately they don’t play for Aston Villa yet.

“Once I’ve bought them, I’ll tell them how their heroics will lift not just a stadium but a whole city. I’ll tell them how children will be named after them, how statues will be cast in bronze outside Villa Park, how they’ll never have to pay for a drink in this town for as long as they live.

“But why would I say something like that to someone like Joleon Lescott? It’d be like pouring premium-grade petrol into a wheelie bin.”