That dugout will not be the one at St James’ Park, however, but instead will be more than 200 miles away at Villa Park.
The new Aston Villa boss has the unenviable task of coming up with a means with which to keep the Second City outfit in the top flight, a mission not too far removed from that which he would have had to have undertaken on Tyneside, should he have been tempted back in January.
There have been mixed noises ever since the former Lyon boss was linked with the United role as to whether or not he rejected the Magpies’ approaches, or whether Newcastle simply did not fancy him.
A slightly bizarre claim was even made the Garde ruled out moving to Tyneside due to the lack of cultural venues the North East had to offer, though this seems fanciful at best.
Garde himself, when asked if he had spoken to Newcastle about joining back in February, said: “I have a duty of confidentiality in this matter to Newcastle then I’ll be very honest and very integrated with respect to the leaders of Newcastle - I cannot say more.”
About as clear as mud, I know. It will be interesting to see how he responds to questions about his past flirtations with Newcastle if he is asked about them during his unveiling.
Interestingly, in February Garde said he would not hesitate “to dive into a project that would suit me” - so was it the ex-Arsenal defender himself, or Newcastle United, who refused to take their relationship past first base?
From an early stage, Newcastle identified that Steve McClaren was the man they wanted - they liked Garde, but were unwilling to sanction compensation packages for his ex-Lyon assistants Bruno Genesio and Gerald Baticle. Strangely, neither are at Villa, and Garde will not be working with his trusted lieutenants in England after all.
Both men were identified by Newcastle as being suitable ‘head coach’ figures, as opposed to traditional managers, and could easily have slotted into United’s continental-style model.
Lee Charnley, with the advice of Graham Carr - who, though a keen admirer of McClaren, is also very much a Garde fan - opted for McClaren due to the former England boss’ greater understanding of English football and his past achievements at FC Twente and Middlesbrough.
Charnley then stuck to that path, almost to the detriment of the club. The Magpies were almost relegated as they held out until Derby County sacked the ex-England manager at the end of the season.
Only time will tell as to whether or not United were right not to pursue their original interest in Garde and instead hold out for McClaren.
Garde’s 51.28 per cent win ratio from his time in charge of Lyon is fairly impressive, as is his record of bringing through young players, but managing a club staring relegation in the face is not something he has past experience of dealing with.
Villa, perhaps to a greater extent even than Newcastle, are not in a very good place right now.