New Aston Villa boss Remi Garde has admitted that he sought the advice of compatriot Gerard Houllier before accepting the role at Villa Park.

Houllier spent nearly twelve months as Villa manager between 2010 and 2011 and Garde served as his assistant during his time later on at Lyon.

Garde took the job on Monday and confirmed to AVTV he had discussions with Houllier about the role: "Gerard told me a lot of good, positive things. He encouraged me to take the job. We had a long chat together."

"Actually I visited him when he was manager of Aston Villa. So I was not totally lost when I came here to [training centre] Bodymoor Heath.

"We liked each other very much. I don't know why - sometimes you can't explain why. We had a spell together at Lyon and then we never lost contact. Of course when he spoke to me about Aston Villa it was all positive.

"He told me: 'Go on, it's a difficult situation currently but it's a big club with people who will work for you'. He told me they were very supportive."

Garde will take his place in the Villa dugout for his first match at home to Manchester City on Saturday.