The Tim Sherwood Thread

[Tomaszk]

Standby by for some serious sour grapes from Tim when he does get the boot.

He'll be laying the blame at the door of the chairman, the chief exec, the fans, the scouts.

Seriously, everyone except himself. I think teams have seen through him now though, he won't be getting another PL job for a very long time.

[Dale]

Standby by for some serious sour grapes from Tim when he does get the boot.

He'll be laying the blame at the door of the chairman, the chief exec, the fans, the scouts.

Seriously, everyone except himself. I think teams have seen through him now though, he won't be getting another PL job for a very long time.

I think this is it... No one will touch him again. 

[markavfc40]

Rather than picking out little sound bites I have just watched his press conference in full and I have to say Sherwood comes across very well. Pete Colley asked some decent questions and Sherwood seemed confident, acknowledges he is under pressure, acknowledges he is 100% responsible for performances and if he gets the sack it will ultimately be his fault, says he has confidence in the players and specifically says he has confidence in Guzan and that he doesn't blame him for last week as they are all in it together. He was asked if the players were all his recommendations and he said that he recommended some players to the committee, they also put some names forward and the committee went away and saw what was feasible and he was happy with what they came back with. He also praised Gary Monk.

It is one thing talking the talk but of course talk is cheap it is results that matter. Those looking to pick bones and scrutinize everything he says though are barking up the wrong tree for me. Why rip him to pieces for everything little thing. The results are enough justification for having a go at him that being petty or twisting the smallest action or statement is not required.

I think people are just tired of him constantly talking the talk before matches and promising this and that and never delivering.

I agree with you mate which is why I said talk is cheap and it is results that matter. Which is why I pay very little attention to interviews and don't want to get into the game of taking out little bits and pieces of interviews totally out of context and using them to suit an agenda and stick another nail into his coffin. You watch the interview as a whole as I did and the overwhelming impression I got is that he knows he is under pressure and that ultimately if he does lose his job it will be his fault. He gave straight answers to some pretty tough questions from Pete Colley who I got the impression was, understandably, possibly fishing for Sherwood to finger the board for not publicly backing him or blaming the structure/committee with regard to transfers for not bringing in all his recommendations or blaming Guzan for our defeat last week. He did non of these things.

For whatever reason some have taken the line "we will win tomorrow" and used that as a stick to beat him with and suggest he has done Swansea's team talk. I mean come on ffs you really think Gary Monk is going to play that back or pin that up in the dressing room and say look at this boys the opposing teams manager thinks they are going to win. Save your faux outrage for when we are playing a team in the bottom six at home and he says we are going to lose.

Frankly I don't really give a shit what he says in interviews. As a manager your damned if you say one think and damned if you don't say another and a good interviewer will always want to push a headline grabbing line out of you. For the most part Sherwood does as well as most managers in them for me especially given the pressure he is now under.

Lets all concentrate on what matters though hey and that is securing three points tomorrow. Those of us that are going can play a part in that by backing the players and laying off the manager,which has been the case all season in fairness, for 90 minutes tomorrow.

Edited October 23, 2015 by markavfc40

[jim]

Apologies if already posted, from the os 

http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~5090373,00.html

 

 

Tim Sherwood faced the media ahead of the clash with Swansea. 

Check his comments below. 

On the No.1 role…

I don't expect Brad to stand there and take punishment from the rest of the boys. He knows he's made a mistake at Chelsea. 

But we're in it together - we win and lose together. 

There are no superstars and no-one will be the villain. 

I am sure he has the confidence to put it right. I have confidence in Brad Guzan. 

We have good goalkeepers. Jed Steer is out on loan and Mark Bunn has done well. 

Goalkeepers can only play in one position. 

When I think it's right to make that change, I will make it. 

On being a fan himself…

I am proud to be Aston Villa manager.

I am a fan of Aston Villa now - I am with the punters out there.

I want us to win as much as they do. We are on the same side. 

I am with them. I feel for them. I understand their frustrations that we are not higher up in the league. 

But we will be. We will climb and be in the Premier League next season. 

On Villa Park this weekend…

We have to get it bouncing.

It's a massive football match for us.

We are in the Premier League this season because of what the fans did for us last season - they pulled us through. We need their help tomorrow. 

They will want to be entertained too and we have to make sure we do that. 

On inspirations…

We take it from teams like Leicester who were at the bottom of the Premier League for a lot of months last season. 

They put a run together, which we are capable of doing. 

They still carried that into this season.

This group of players will improve in the Premier League next season because they will have a year of experience.

It's been hard at the moment, we can't hide away from it - it's been a tough period.

We will get through it - and we will come through and it will be easier come the end of the season, believe me.

On his own managerial efforts…

I will give everything to the cause. That's what I am doing. 

I can't give any more than I am, being perfectly honest. 

I am working hard with the players. I am trying to get the best out of them, trying to find the best formula. 

It will be successful in the end, given time.

On Swansea…

They are tough. 

They have a good philosophy in terms of how they want to play. They seem to have stuck to that over the years. 

We need to make sure we don't give them time to play. If you do, they will cause you problems. 

It was a tight game last season. They nicked it at the death. But I hope we can improve on last season's performance. 

We have to make them play quickly and not let them compose themselves into a rhythm. 

If we manage that, we will have the ball more often than them and get them running towards their own goal. 

On Garry Monk…

He couldn't do any more last season, could he? He did fantastic. 

He's a good young manager. I know him well. I have a lot of respect for him. 

He will be a good manager for a long period to come. 

He's just hit a sticky spell like all managers do. It's nothing to do with being inexperienced and young, which people always seem to point the finger to. 

He certainly wasn't too young last season, was he! He'd done a great job. 

On Jordan Ayew…

He's a boy who works very, very hard on the training field. 

And when he's asked to play on the pitch, he leaves nothing there. 

Fans really appreciate that.

He will be pushing for a start this weekend.

On belief in himself…

I know what I'm doing is the right thing and it's just a matter of time before the boys click. 

We are quite clearly - and obviously for everyone to see - a team in transition. 

We need to pick up points sooner rather than later so we can climb that league. 

It can turn very quickly. We can string a few results together and get ourselves in the pack. And then we look up rather than down. 

It's about grinding out that result however it comes, taking that confidence from that and then bouncing into the next game. 

We're just looking for that first win. We need to get some points. 

On being clinical…

We have lost a goalscorer in Christian Benteke who was instrumental in everything we did. 

Rudy Gestede has done well and scored a few goals for us. 

We welcome Gabby Agbonlahor back into the squad too this weekend. 

It's up to the boys to stand up and be counted now.

We have to find goals throughout the team. We have to find them from different areas.

On the new boys learning the language…

They are learning all the time.

We have a great player liaison officer [pictured above] who teaches the boys English here as quickly as possible. 

A lot of them are picking it up, some quicker than others. 

But the language is not a problem. I demonstrate on the training pitch what I want. 

It's not just talking to them. It's also demonstrating to them and pulling them into position.

Edited October 23, 2015 by jim

[foreveryoung]

Well he has said "we will win this game", an you can't say that without following it up. I think he knows he's a gonna if he loses.

As for we have no money the teams shite blah blah. Lets just wait until a new manager comes in, before we start disrepecting the players. I think they just need better coaching and organisation. We also need to stick to a team that works.

How some can judge these players under this mangement is beyond me, so personally im willing to wait, an dare I say, if it means Sherwood is gone if we lose. I will be happy with the latter.

[theboyangel]

I admit, Sherwood certainly can talk the talk but sadly he cannot walk the walk...

would rather it be the other way around.....

[Villarocker]

About the language thing; does anyone think that we would be any better off if Sherwood played players who speak the same language in the same areas of the pitch? For instance, play 4-4-1-1 with Clark and Richards in front of Guzan (English), Amavi and Ayew down the left (French), Crespo and Traore down the right (Spanish) Sanchez (Spanish) and Gana (French) in the middle with Gil (Spanish) playing behind Gestede (French). Obviously there are similar combos amongst the squad. Does anyone think there could be anything gained from picking a starting line-up that contains even mixes of languages? 

[abdomlahor]

I'm at the point where I just can't even stand to look at him. He annoys me that much. 

[Nabby]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/11951941/Aston-Villa-Tim-Sherwood-refuses-to-rule-out-resigning.html

Tim Sherwood is scrapping to save his job at Aston Villa and increased the uncertainty surrounding his future by refusing to rule out resigning.

Sherwood faces a crucial game against Swansea with his position under growing scrutiny and he is undoubtedly battling to avoid being dismissed after a stormy eight months in charge.

The Villa manager has insisted that Saturday’s game is just as significant as last season’s FA Cup Final and knows that an eighth defeat in ten Premier League games could have severe ramifications.

Sherwood was making all the right noises at Bodymoor Heath on Friday, despite the silence from the Villa board regarding his position, and remains convinced he can mastermind a climb away from the bottom three.

But ahead of this weekend’s potentially pivotal game he has muddied the waters further by hinting at the friction behind the scenes.

Villa have signed 13 new players this summer, many of which were recommended by director of recruitment Paddy Reilly and sporting director Hendrik Almstadt, in a policy that has frustrated the 46-year-old.

And when asked if he would ever consider walking away from the job, Sherwood said: “Yeah. I would always say that. Whenever I'm not happy with the situation, and I'm not happy in my job of work, then I would [walk away], 100%. Not now – and if I can take what I've taken over the last few months and still be happy, that tells you a lot.

“I've taken the brunt of this football club over the last few months, everything that everyone wants to throw at it – negatives – it's been on my head. And that's my job as a manager to take that responsibility.

 

“I'm not in the background, am I? I'm the manager, I get paid to stand at the front and take it on the chin and that's what I'm doing.”

Sherwood also revealed that he has not spoken to chairman Randy Lerner or chief executive Tom Fox this week, with Villa reluctant to issue a public vote of confidence.

Last season Villa sacked Paul Lambert three weeks after Fox insisted blaming the manager was a “false narrative”, but there is deep concern over Villa’s start to the season.

“I am telling the players it’s a must-win because I think we need to win a game sooner or later,” said Sherwood. “Forget Wembley last season, this is a cup final.

“It’s a massive game, not only for me but for the players as well. They all want to be Premier League footballers and this club needs to be in the Premier League.”

 

Villa’s problems only increased this week when former striker Stan Collymore said the board were “not fit for purpose” and demanded Lerner to sell up, after his column in the club’s match-day programme was dropped.

But Telegraph Sport understands a sale is unlikely this season after Lerner dramatically pulled out of negotiations in July. A Chinese consortium agreed an exclusivity period but Lerner had reservations and scrapped the deal, effectively taking the club off the market while the transfer window was open.

Despite the sales of Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph, which totalled just over £40million, Villa only spent £7million net and many of the new additions have no Premier League experience.

Sherwood is not blameless, with his team selection and substitutions bewildering supporters while a failure to beat the likes of Sunderland, West Brom, Leicester and Stoke was always going to set off alarm bells.

 

However, he has not been helped by the lack of football experience or leadership at the top. Fox impressed as Arsenal’s chief commercial officer, agreeing the £170million kit deal with Puma in 2013, but his area of expertise was not on-field matters.

Fox raided his old club for Almstad, which appeared to go against Sherwood’s wishes, and there has been no explanation over the club’s bold transfer policy.

In the three paragraphs of quotes that accompanied the announcement of Almstadt’s arrival, he said he was looking forward to “establishing a close relationship with Tim Sherwood’. The pair are understood to be barely on speaking terms now.

And then there is Reilly. It is well known that he was an analyst during Martin O’Neill’s time in charge but since returning from Liverpool he has become an integral part of the decision making.

Yet it is Sherwood under all the scrutiny and he will head into the Swansea game with his job very much on the line.

 

[Marka Ragnos]

I mean, resigning would nullify his contract, right? He would be mad to resign.

[Kiwivillan]

Stats= bollocks

 

 

Will never forget his reaction when Spurs lost to Chelsea.

Absolutely destroyed his players whilst looking like he was going to burst into tears.

That will always be my memory of Tim.

 

 

Is that the BBC interview? Because if it is you're talking rubbish

[TRO]

              

 

It's probably me but I have real difficulty understanding what you mean?  The best I can understand is that you feel it is the players who are to blame not the manager and have no opinion whether he should go or not and you are putting your faith in Fox to know when the time is right. 

I don't agree with you about short termism by the way - McLeish had longer than his acheivements warranted and Lambert had nearly three years (that's twice as long as the average prem manager gets). So were not changing managers every 5 minutes.

What appears on here is all opinion based on the parts of the situation we can see (games, interviews, etc).  If you're not a fan of conjecture a fan forum is probably not the ideal place for you.  The idea is that we state our opinions and mine is Sherwood will take us down - I imagine Fox will join me in that view around 5.00pm Saturday

 

You said you didn't understand what I meant and went on to appraise it perfectly.

many managers have often said over the years.....you are only as good as your players.

if you put a turd on a potters wheel, it's unlikely the potter will turn it in to a piece of royal doulton.......a conductor cannot make a violinist a better player.....so yes, I have issues with the players, but as I have said before, it's a combination.

Tom Fox is the man to make the decision and he should be the man to know what decision that should be.

I'm a villa fan, I'll just support the manager until he is no longer representing our team.

look, we don' t agree, but so what, it's good to study all the different views, you believe in managers ability more than me....I think they can guide them, they can't do it for them.

No I said I had real difficulty understanding but I worked really hard and got there in the end

Can a conductor make a violinist a better player? I'm not sure, but it would help if he gave them all the same set of music and didn't replace the violinist with a trombone player halfway through.

So you think the players are "turd" and I think its mainly the manager fault - it's not possible to change the players at the moment so in your scenario I guess we stumble along until Xmas and change half a dozen of them then. I hope poor Tim then has time to get them fit and piece his jigsaw together to get enough points to avoid relegation

Your "I'm a villa fan, I'll just support the manager" sounds very much like a "better fan" argument. I'm not sure why you take part in a forum if your view is that we should all shut up and let Fox decide whats best for us

                     "sounds like", means its your interpretation......I'm not and never have on here claimed to be a better fan that would be futile. My view is while he is employed as OUR manager i will support him....I don't care for some of the players particularly, but I will support them too.

Edited October 23, 2015 by TRO

[foreveryoung]

Love him or loath him, I think a loss at Swansea will see him sacked.  

Reading that Telegraph article, it sounds like to me like he is just in self preservation mode.

[TRO]

TRO - appreciate your tone and for the most part, you and I are both prone to a more nuanced view.  But I do have one disagreement with you.  I don't think I need to see or know what's going on at bodymoor heath.  For me, based on what I see on the pitch, too much of the problem is down to a mismatch between the tactic taken, the formation adopted, and the players placed into roles.  A key thing for a manager is to make sure the tactics, formation, and players strengths are aligned.    

Gestede up top with Gil and Grealish carrying the ball into the middle of the pitch is just wrong.  But that was most of the second half (v Stoke, I think).  The tactics, formation, and player selection and/or the player instructions are coming from three different "pages."  I'm oversimplifying, but if you want to beat an opponent with speed, you need Gabby and Sinclair in the game, and you need to instruct them to run the channels.  And you need to tell Gil and Grealish to play the ball over the top into that space.  The player strength, the role they are asked to play and the formation all need to be in concert.  They are not.  we're playing over the top to Gestede, or making crosses to Gabby. (oversimplifying for clarity, not precision) The point is, we never seem to end up on one coherent page.

That's why I'm in the Sherwood out camp.  I'm historically one of the last ones calling for ouster of a manager (or player) but the match day plan is so clearly disjointed that I don't care what he's doing at Bodymoor heath.  All I know is, it's not the right thing(s).  He's showing me that he cannot manage a match.  He can motivate.  He cannot manage.

in his defense, based on last year, i thought he could.  He settled on a tactic based on the strengths of one player (Benteke)  Our clear and often effective plan was to get him the ball for him to "flick" on to a runner nearby, or if deeper, cross the ball into him and let him finish it.  It worked.  But the reason it worked was not just Benteke.  It worked because the player strengths, roles, and formation all aligned into one coherent tactic.   That's a crucial  part of the manager's job, IMO.  It's not happening.

I actually hope he proves me wrong very soon.  I will change my tune if we play with a formation, tactic, player roles, and strategy that are in alignment.  If we do all that and keep losing, then the problem is likely that the players just aren't good enough.

                  I appreciate, your comments and I understand where you are coming from.

                   I have to say I am not unequivocally defending him.

                    I also appreciate there is more to it than BMH.....but where I am struggling is that he is doing what you suggested....playing gabby (before injury) and Sinclair for their pace, but they simply make no consistent impact, so he try's other things.....at present he seems to have an inconsistent bunch that he can't rely on.

 

 

My problem, was that when he played Gabby and Sinclair (for their pace) he didn't set up the rest of the team, or instruct them, to match that.  Rather than having Gil and or Grealish push the ball into the channels or over the top into space, Amavi and Bacuna were going deep toward the end line and crossing it in.  It didn't work, but not entirely because the players aren't good enough.  largely because the rest of the players were playing a different tactic.  it was the same problem.  He wasn't setting the rest of the formation to play to that same tactic. The formation was OK for Gabby and Sinclair, but the rest of the team were playing a different tactic.  Getting the strategy, formation, player strengths,and player roles all on the same wavelength is what Sherwood is not doing.  

I'm OK with whatever strategy or tactic he decides on.  At BMH he needs to decide on a tactic based on fit players strengths and the opponent.  Then set a formation to suit that, and select the players with the strengths to fit the roles of the formation and the tactic.  Tactic or strategy, formation, player selection, roles.  at least 4 things that must be aligned.  He's setting them in conflict with each other.

Many (but agreed not all) of the player ""errors" are, IMO caused by this same disjointed approach. The players are too often in the wrong roles and not on the same understanding of how to advance. 

Actually, if I really wanted to agree with you that it might not be Tim's fault, I would say that opponents can see our tactic by our line-up and they thwart it by leaving ineffective options open and our players are too naive not to fall for it.  When Gabby and Sinclair start, the opponents pressure the midfield and leave the wings open to draw the attack down and deep which takes our forward's strengths out of the equation.  The opponents do something roughly the opposite when Rudy starts.  This explanation puts much greater blame on naive players.  Rather than staying with the plan, they are playing to what the opponent gives them and getting suckered into blind alleys.  It's possible, but it's hard to believe because Tim has blamed everything but that.  it also assumes that the opponents are geniuses at manipulating us.  In this hypothesis, Opposition managers can get 11 players to adapt on the fly to what Tim is trying to do and thwart it, while Tim can't get his players to follow instructions.  Tim remains the problem.

                   I take your points of view

I think each player has good points and bad points and thats why its difficult to blend them......there just isn't enough fully rounded players in the team to create any consistency of play hence the need for the manager to chop and change to find a formula......Had he had a team of more rounded/finished article players the task would be reduced.

                     I think they will develop, but who the manager is by then is anyones guess.

[TRO]

About the language thing; does anyone think that we would be any better off if Sherwood played players who speak the same language in the same areas of the pitch? For instance, play 4-4-1-1 with Clark and Richards in front of Guzan (English), Amavi and Ayew down the left (French), Crespo and Traore down the right (Spanish) Sanchez (Spanish) and Gana (French) in the middle with Gil (Spanish) playing behind Gestede (French). Obviously there are similar combos amongst the squad. Does anyone think there could be anything gained from picking a starting line-up that contains even mixes of languages? 

                   thats what i call an intelligent solution.... you little tinker, for thinking of that

[jacketspuds]

Not even sure a win tomorrow will keep him in a job.

[KSV]

So he's come out and said Amavi was dropped due to decision making. Is he serious? What about lescott who was poor every **** game he has played for us. With Clark and Okore fit Lescott shouldn't be on the bench even. He wants experienced players? Guzan and Lescott cost us last week and 30+. I seem to remember Richardson making a stupid mistake and the only reason we arent talking about is as they missed the chance. Less said about Westwood the better. If I see lescott in the starting side I will lose my shit. Would love to see Okore stsrt but if he's lacking fitness Clark has to come in for him. Lescott just looks like he doesn't give a shit

[KSV]

Not even sure a win tomorrow will keep him in a job.

if that's the case why not just get rid of him earlier?  I think even after a loss he will still be here

[gharperr]

About the language thing; does anyone think that we would be any better off if Sherwood played players who speak the same language in the same areas of the pitch? For instance, play 4-4-1-1 with Clark and Richards in front of Guzan (English), Amavi and Ayew down the left (French), Crespo and Traore down the right (Spanish) Sanchez (Spanish) and Gana (French) in the middle with Gil (Spanish) playing behind Gestede (French). Obviously there are similar combos amongst the squad. Does anyone think there could be anything gained from picking a starting line-up that contains even mixes of languages? 

no, not any better because i dont think theyre going to be having full on conversations on the pitch. Pretty sure every single one of them can understand "oi X, mark Y", "get tighter" "man on" "leave it" "Close down you prick"

The amount of tactics/teamwork that is shouted between players on the pitch will be pretty small. It will mostly be 1 or 2 word shouting which everyone of them can understand. 

(or the difference would be negligible) 

Edited October 24, 2015 by gharperr

[dudevillaisnice]

Rodgers won't take the job even if he was offered it.