Sherwood cites Spurs ‘legacy’ as proof he can save Villa

Tim Sherwood is relishing the chance to re-establish himself as a Premier League manager as he takes charge of Aston Villa for the first time on Saturday at home to Stoke City. However, as positive as he is about the opportunity, his departure from Tottenham still rankles.

The former Spurs manager believes Harry Kane would not be the player he is today if he had not stood up to the board 13 months ago and refused to allow the England striker-in-waiting to go out on loan to Derby County. While giving credit to Mauricio Pochettino for building on his legacy at White Hart Lane, Sherwood pointed out that “not even this guy” can match his highest win ratio as a Spurs manager in the Premier League era.

Notwithstanding this retrospective, the Villa manager oozed positivity as he weighed up the opportunities at another big club. Sherwood intends to instil the freedom and belief he imbued in players such as Kane into Christian Benteke as Villa begin a 13-match bid to escape the relegation zone in the Premier League.

There is little comparison to be made between the two jobs he has started in the past 14 months. “The risk of failure at Tottenham was us dropping out of the Europa League slots,” he said. “I don’t think anyone’s managed to better my win record, even this guy, Pochettino, and everyone’s talking about how well he’s done. I just need to do what I can do, and I know I’m good enough to do the job. I want that to sound confident, not arrogant. I just believe in my ability to do the job. I just need to get the players onside. It’s all about man-management, how to get the most out of players, and I think I did that at Tottenham because my record suggests I did.

“It’s good for me: I left a bit of a legacy there with those young players. And he [Pochettino] has carried it on, I admire him for that. [But] if I hadn’t resisted the club wanting to loan him [Harry Kane] out last January, he wouldn’t be Harry Kane now.

“He’s got a strong mentality which is embedded in himself. But we will take attitude over ability all day long – and when you’re a kid you have to have the attitude and the application. Your ability will shine through in the end. He’s had to be very strong mentally, he’s had to fight it, they haven’t always sung: ‘He’s one of our own’. He’s had to earn the right and he’s earned it now. You try to buy Harry Kane and he’ll cost you a few quid.”

Sherwood dismissed the notion that his former assistant Chris Ramsey was the coaching lead in their partnership at Spurs. “I’m not an observer,” he said. “I go out there and coach. I take the main bulk of the session, the technical side.”

He wants to build his gameplan at Villa around re-energising Benteke, and improving him. “He can go on and on, he looks like he has a real good desire to want to listen and improve,” Sherwood said. “I don’t think Christian thinks he’s cracked it yet. I think he’s a real good lad – he speaks better English than me as well!

“I don’t need to watch the DVDs, I know what he’s got: I know he can get in behind, I know he was a beast up there and can bully people. Anything crossed into the box, he used to find it and eat it up – we need to get back to that. He’s a centre-forward and they have to be the focal point of your side. If they’re in the game a lot you’re not doing bad.”

Kevin MacDonald, Villa’s former reserve team and caretaker manager, was on Friday named as Sherwood’s assistant to work alongside Mark Robson, the first-team coach, and Seamus Brady, who is in charge of analysis.


By Peter Lansley, Guardian