Remi Garde's appointment at Villa offers Charles N'Zogbia second chance

Out-of-favour Aston Villa midfielder Charles N'Zogbia has been gifted an opportunity to regain his place in the Villans first-team courtesy of the hiring of manager Remi Garde.

The French-born winger made his first appearance since the FA Cup final as a substitute in Sunday's goalless draw against Manchester City, after having been surplus to requirements with former boss Tim Sherwood.

Despite falling out of favour under Sherwood's tutelage, Garde appears willing to give the midfielder a shot.

"I think Charles is an interesting player," Garde told reporters following his first match at the helm of Villa, courtesy of The Guardian. "I just asked at the club if there was a problem with him - there wasn’t. So he was quite OK in the training session and I thought he could be useful for the team, that’s it."

Since joining the Birmingham outfit in 2011 on a £9.5-million move from Wigan Athletic, N'Zogbia has been nothing less than a disappointment during his time with the Claret and Blue Army.

With summer signings Jordan Amavi and Jordan Veretout's returns to the starting XI paired with starts for Jordan Ayew and Idrissa Gueye, plus N'Zogbia's appearance, there have been some questions about French manager Garde's preference for his countrymen.

"But they are not back because they are French or I knew them," the former Lyon gaffer said. "In a fortnight it can be a different team. They did well but the team did well. I think the spirit they are starting to show all together is better than I saw previously."