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For two decades I have supported my beloved football club and for the vast majority as a season ticket holder in the Holte-End. There have been plenty of joys, a hatful of lows - but nothing on the scale of what myself and the fellow Villans have endured this season.

But that sombre feeling is not so much in regards to us succumbing to our pending fate of relegation, but the fact that we are losing a man who has been utterly dignified during his brief tenure in Remi Garde .

I have been a staunch defender of the former Lyon coach ever since he walked through the door at Villa Park.

The vast majority of the supporters met his appointment with a sense of scepticism, which was of course understandable. Here was a man coming into a poison chalice with no managerial experience in the Premier league but with a worthy CV due to his exploits in Lyon.

He is highly regarded by their club president Jean-Michel Aulas and if you are able to impress him then you are doing something right; he is a man who doesn’t exactly sugar coat things.

Remi came with ideas. You could certainly sense during his unveiling that he was bubbling for the challenge.

He had an air of confidence about him, some swagger, certainly not on the same level as Mr Sherwood who, despite his critics, took this club to a cup final last season and saved us from an inevitable relegation under Paul Lambert. But Garde had a plan of action in his head and there is no doubt he had the confidence to steer us away from relegation and beyond.

Yet the poor man just has not had a stroke of luck in the five months he has been here. You can see it in his demeanour and his ashen like expression that this job has taken its toll.

I said it on Twitter a few days ago that there is no doubt that he is a top class manager but it has been a case of wrong place, wrong time. You could stick Jose Mourinho in charge of this group of players and nothing would change.

What can your manager do when the players only think about themselves rather than fighting for a club’s survival? Self-indulged, arrogant and too busy thinking about their next super car after a harrowing 6-0 drubbing .

I have nothing against the modern day footballer unless they put the graft in. But these Villa players haven’t even got their laces dirty during Garde’s tenure.

Each week our manager has shown more bottle in a 20-minute pre-match presser than those Villa players have for 30 league games. He is the one having to front up and take the flack. He is the one having to defend them.

And defend them for what exactly? Why should he? Each and every single one of those players should not only have been fighting for the club but also the gaffer. At the end of the day, he was rallying for them to turn this round. What does he get in return? Nothing.

It is without doubt the most out of touch Villa team in history. No passion, no desire, no dignity.

But the biggest gripe for me is the sheer lack of respect for the manager. We had it with Gerard Houllier, Garde’s mentor. Funny how these coaches have an array of success at other clubs but as soon as the come to Villa they are left underwhelmed.

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It is no coincidence surely. Is it a lack of ambition of the players? Or are they more concerned that intensive training sessions are cutting into their time on the PlayStation? Only they can answer.

So, not only has Garde’s playing staff let him down but also the owner in Randy Lerner and the departed – long time coming – Tom Fox . These two are the catalysts towards the destruction of a once revered football club.

The term ‘snake’ was certainly the buzzword last summer when Fabian Delph sought pastures new but that label is more appropriate for these two having sold Remi up the road. No backing in January, no backing in the media. Nothing. They hung him out to dry!

Remi went from working for a man like Jean-Michel Aulas who knows Lyon inside and out to a guy in Tom Fox who once labelled us as burgundy and blue. Then there’s our owner who is too busy to even show up in Birmingham these days, let alone turn up for a game. Goodness knows what RG he must have been thinking privately during all this.

It has been a sorry state of affairs, long before Remi walked through the door yet this is the tip of the iceberg. I honestly believe that the one shining light we had is now flickering away.

Had he been given the backing that Martin O’Neill had back in the day, we would comfortably be in the top half of the table. Even though he was massively let down, his name alone was a lure for players to join.

Salvatore Sirigu, Loic Remy, Wahbi Khazri, Mathieu Debuchy to name a few all could have made the move to Villa Park. Not exactly players who are over the hill but with an abundance of quality. The club is a fool to itself to not see they had a man at the helm who had great potential.

New chairman Steve Hollis has identified the personnel who are responsible for our plight and acted accordingly. His appointment could be the best thing to happen to us in years but unfortunately for Garde he will not be part of it.

This is not for the want of trying. Garde deserves better than this and you will see how he bounces back. No doubt he will return to manage a top French club, endure success there and end up moving a European stalwart. It is the very least he deserves!

It is a case of what might have been for both Aston Villa and Remi Garde. Yet for a manager who has only been in charge for five months or so has made more of an impression on me than the last half a dozen Villa managers and that says something. Some Villans reading this will think I am absolutely bonkers for saying that but it’s true.

Remi, you have been a credit and been an absolute gentleman in the process. I wish you all the very best!

Follow Ross on Twitter: @RossMackiewicz