‘Headmaster’ Tim Sherwood relishing survival mission at Aston Villa

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/16/tim-sherwood-aston-villa-christian-benteke-tottenham

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Tim Sherwood has admitted he is putting his neck on the line by taking the Aston Villa job but the man who described himself as a “supply teacher” when he was named Tottenham Hotspur manager last season is relishing the chance to whip a struggling team into shape. “I’m the headmaster now,” Sherwood said, smiling.

Speaking on the day that he was unveiled as the new Villa manager, Sherwood said all the right things as he vowed to liberate the players on the pitch with a more gung-ho approach – “Let’s have a go fighting and start throwing a few punches ourselves” – and turn Villa Park into the fortress he remembered from his playing days.

He was typically forthright, no more so than when it was put to him that some have questioned whether he is the right man for the Villa role, given that his managerial experience amounts to only five and a half months in charge of Spurs. “There’s a lot of poor experienced managers,” Sherwood replied. “There is a lot of good ones as well. I think it’s overrated [the argument about a lack of experience]. My experience as a football manager has been very good up until now so I hope that continues.”

Spurs finished sixth under Sherwood – who was sacked at the end of the season – and his 59% win ratio is the highest of any manager at White Hart Lane in the Premier League era. It is his work in the club’s academy, however, that gives him most satisfaction. “I look back at my time at Tottenham in development as a great success. We produced a lot of footballers there: Ryan Mason, Harry Kane, Nabil Bentaleb, Danny Rose, Andros Townsend. There are players there worth a lot of money now. Something has been left behind there from me. And when I took the job I had success on the pitch.”

Although Sherwood has signed a three-year contract at Villa with the opportunity to implement a wider philosophy that encourages the development of younger players, he stressed that it is all about Premier League survival for the moment. Villa are 18th in the table with only two wins from their last 21 league games and Sherwood, who is yet to decide on an assistant manager, has targeted six victories to keep the club up.

Asked whether he was putting his neck on the line, given Villa’s perilous position, Sherwood replied: “Yeah, I think I am. But perversely I like the pressure of it. I quite like the fact that you’re building it up like that.”

Pedestrian and toothless under Lambert, Villa will play on the front foot and attack with Sherwood in charge. “We saw that at Tottenham. When I took over there, the brief from Daniel Levy [the chairman] was: can we be a bit more attractive and can we score a few more goals? I ticked that box. I used Emmanuel Adebayor as the catalyst for that and we pretty much revolved all our play around him. It’s possible it could be similar here [with Christian Benteke].”

Sherwood hopes that his experience with Adebayor, who flourished under his watch, will give him a head start with Benteke. “Yes, but it is not only the focus on that player. It is bringing that player back to life and also enhancing what is around him,” he said. “Everyone has to recognise that. Yes, it was the case with Ade and it could possibly be the case with Christian and we hope it will be. We know what a threat he can be.”

The 46-year-old famously publicly tore into the Spurs players after a 4-0 defeat against Chelsea in March last year, and the answer he gave when asked whether he might do the same at Villa - “Watch this space” - suggested that he is not going to change his ways. “If I’m going to be guilty of something it will be being honest. If they do well, they will be told, if they don’t do well, they will also be told and told why. You have to be constructive. It can’t be because of a referee’s decision or if someone scores a 40-yarder and then everyone’s crap. That ain’t the case. You have to talk to them.”

More than anything there was a sense that Sherwood is looking forward to being viewed as a permanent manager, rather than someone who is keeping the seat warm for the next man. “I was sitting at every press conference [at Spurs] and I kept getting told ‘this man wants your job’ and ‘that man’s been spoken to’. It was every week. I dealt with it and got on with the job. It was difficult. What was I going to do? Roll in the corner and die? I’m not going to do that. I’m a fighter. I’ll fight till the bitter end.”