Garde fielded a strong starting XI at Adams Park but his players missed the opportunity to kick-start the manager’s miserable managerial mission and had to settle for a draw against their League Two hosts in the third round of the FA Cup.
It ought to have been an easier ride than it was, even for the Premier League’s bottom team. The opening stages of the match were played entirely in the Wycombe half and the visitors won a corner after two minutes, which Gil delivered well. However, it was clear that the hosts were prepared to run through brick walls all afternoon and Jacobson got his head to it before the Chairboys’ stand-in goalkeeper Lynch rose to claim the ball.
With the home side’s confidence growing, the Villa defenders didn’t do enough and it was left to Clark to hack Amadi-Holloway’s effort clear.
The hosts then won a corner. Jacobson’s delivery added to the Villa defenders’ problems and Thompson was a little unlucky to see his shot go wide.
After seven minutes, Sinclair’s low cross looked likely to leave Gestede with a simple tap-in but Pierre made the crucial clearance.
Things settled down then and, with little of note happening on the picth, the travelling fans opted to mock a dog walker watching from the woods.
The hosts had a great chance after sixteen minutes, thanks to Richards’ failure to track his man, and Okore had to take the sting out of Woods’ cross that was headed Harriman’s way.
Fighting back, Gueye took a shot that ricocheted out to Richards. The captain tried, and failed, to find Gestede but a poor clearance meant the ball fell to Westwood on the edge of the box. Unfortunately, the midfielder shot high and wide.
The Villans were creating half chances but, once again, lacked the confidence to find the net, as seen by Gueye’s nineteenth minute attempt to fool the hosts.
Gil, while far from his best, did offer a decent outlet on the right and it was the Spaniard’s cutback that allowed Richards to open the scoring with a side-footed effort slotted into the corner of the net after twenty-one minutes.
It appeared that Richards was injured in scoring but he hobbled on.
With the visitors enjoying the majority of possession, the hosts continued to threaten and worked hard to ensure that their opponents saw less of the ball in the Wycombe half.
Jacobson beat Richards all too easily on the touchline and produced a promising low cross. Harriman dallied and Richardson was able to make a sliding clearance.
After thirty-nine minutes, the Villans won their second corner, which Bacuna took. Gestede should have done better to connect with the ball. Richards, arriving to support, felt he should have been given a penalty when Stewart hauled him over but referee Michael Oliver waved play on.
The hosts were presented with a chance to equalise three minutes before the break, when another Jacobson corner posed problems. Pierre powered the ball over the bar and the visitors retained the advantage going into the break.
The second half started poorly for Garde’s men, with Westwood on the wrong end of a harsh penalty decision after three minutes for an innocuous challenge on Bloomfield. Jacobson showed great composure and beat Bunn from the spot to level the score.
Riding high, the Chairboys almost took the lead a minute later when Woods’ volley seemed destined for the corner of the net until Okore hacked the ball off the line.
The Villans failed to capitalise on an error by Lynch, who spilled Bacuna’s free-kick.
As the game approached the hour mark, it was much less obvious that the visitors ply their trade there divisions above the hosts, who often had the better of them.
Sinclair had a chance to restore some pride after sixty-eight minutes but his left-footed shot was blocked.
Garde decided to make a double substitution after seventy-one minutes, as he took Gil and Sinclair off and sent Ayew and Veretout into the fray. The Villa supporters, who felt Gil had been the best of a bad lot, responded with a chorus of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ and some loud booing.
The arrival of Ayew, who tried to get forward at every opportunity, injected some excitement into the game and his efforts were almost rewarded in the eightieth minute, when his shot went narrowly wide.
Two minutes later, Gestede’s shot took a deflection and looped onto the crossbar.
The final substitution came after eighty-three minutes and there was some surprise to see nineteen-year-old defensive midfielder Lyden come on in place of Richards rather than Kozák, who had run the equivalent of a marathon along the touchline.
Some stout defending from the hosts ensued and they held on to force the replay.
Speaking post-match, Garde said:
“I understand the fans could be angry about the result and we have to accept that. We have to accept this criticism as we are not winning games.
When you are not winning, the manager is always making bad decisions. The situation with Villa is very difficult. But I know what I am doing. The day I will not feel I can’t do anything positive you will know it.
It was quite a fair result. We were not quite good enough. I don’t think they let me down but it is always a question you have to wonder.”
