Aston Villa's caretaker coach Kevin MacDonald says Remi Garde remains the leading candidate to take over the struggling Premier League club despite reports a deal with the French coach has collapsed.

Former boss Tim Sherwood was fired on Sunday after six straight defeats and MacDonald was appointed in the interim during the search for a new long-term appointment.

The main target for Villa owner Randy Lerner is former Lyon manager Garde.

But the 49-year-old is keen on bringing Lyon assistant coaches Bruno Genesio and Gerald Baticle with him and the French club's president Jean-Michel Aulas has said they are going nowhere.

That was believed to have put the appointment in jeopardy, but MacDonald still expects former Arsenal midfielder Garde to get the job eventually.

"Obviously, the hierarchy think he is the man for the job," MacDonald told a press conference on Friday

"I've been told I need to prepare the team for Monday. Whether Remi has been given the position and is maybe in the stand to watch, I don't know, that is going to be an ongoing thing.

"He was a decent footballer at Arsenal, they don't have many bad players over the years, and he has got a good pedigree as a coach.

"If, at the end of the season, Aston Villa are still in the Premier League then it's a good appointment.

"Arsene Wenger came in and never had any Premier League experience."

Garde was well liked during a three-year spell at Lyon, but left his post in 2014 for personal reasons.

He has been tipped by another French manager to take over at Villa, namely Arsenal boss Wenger, who signed him for the north London club in 1996.

"I'm convinced he's the frontrunner," said Wenger.

"It is a challenge that he should take. Remi is an intelligent man who has experience in Lyon now.

"He will try to get his ideas through, the ideas he got through in Lyon, and hopefully it can work.

"They have five or six French players there who haven't all had an impact, maybe he will give them a chance, I don't know."

Aston Villa are bottom of the Premier League with just four points from 10 games.