Probably not what Remi Garde had in mind.
Aston Villa’s mess of a season continues to lurch from disaster to catastrophe.
Without a game this weekend as the FA Cup fifth round took centre stage, Villa boss Garde scheduled a behind-closed-doors friendly match against the club’s Under-21 team on Friday.
If it seems like that would have been a good opportunity to build a bit of confidence within a side that had just been beaten 6-0 at home by Liverpool and was eight points from safety at the foot of the Premier League table, you’d be right, and that’s surely what Garde was hoping too.
Only the youngsters didn’t quite follow the script, recording a 3-0 win over a senior side that included first-teamers Brad Guzan, Alan Hutton, Ciaran Clark, Kieran Richardson, Ashley Westwood, Jordan Veretout, Idrissa Gueye, Leandro Bacuna and Scott Sinclair.
No wonder, then, that Garde is planning to watch the juniors in action tonight against Swansea as he must surfely be considering wholesale changes for this weekend’s trip to Stoke in a desperate bid to kickstart a battle against the drop.
Aston Villa's first-team losing 3-0 to their U21s side in a friendly is my favourite story of 2016.
— Sean Kearns (@SeanPaulKearns) February 22, 2016
Aston Villa lost to their under-21s! At least Remi Garde knows which team to play on Saturday
— Brian Stormont 👨🏻🦰 (@brian_stormont) February 22, 2016
https://twitter.com/ShantaGrealish/status/701784562658054144
https://twitter.com/cameronmciver1/status/701788582986563587
https://twitter.com/michaelkerr98/status/701787330009554944
