Tim Sherwood…gone \o/

[scaramanga]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

But you don't need to be an experienced racing driver to drive your car well. In fact an experienced racing driver may be exactly what you don't need if you want to avoid a crash. Whoa I'm posting on Christmas day -this is becoming obsessive.

Problem is, everyone else has a faster car - so we need a better driver to compete.

 

[Notmegov]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Problem is, everyone else has a faster car - so we need a better driver to compete.

I think Liverpool only have a better set of tyres but those tyres some times blow.

 

[Nigeyman]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

I think Liverpool only have a better set of tyres but those tyres some times blow.

or they are stolen.

 

[Rossi22]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

http://windycoys.com/2013/12/what-a-difference-a-week-makes/

One week on – Sherwood

The Club can announce that Tim Sherwood, Chris Ramsey and Les Ferdinand will take charge of the First Team whilst the Club progresses discussions.

The appointment of Tim Sherwood into this caretaker role was met with raised eyebrows from many Spurs fans, and an absolute meltdown from a few. He’s an Arsenal fan. He spoke out against Hoddle all those years ago. He’s a snake in the grass who told Keys & Gray that our players were over-trained under AVB.

And yet it sort of seemed a logical step. Sherwood is – or was – our Technical Co-Ordinator, working with the Development squad, arranging loan deals for our young hopefuls, and liaising with the rest of the coaching team to keep them updated on progress. He also, it seems, had some sort of sway with Levy – impressing him with his professionalism and knowledge, culminating, if you believe what you read, in him being a part of the THFCTC – the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Transfer Committee.

I’ve oft spotted Sherwood watching the Under-18 games, despite him not having the remit to look after that age group. He looks the part – suited and booted – and parents have told me that he’s approachable, open, honest. He seems to have an aura.

As the main voice in the dugout at Under-21 matches he seems to command respect. I stood behind him at the pre-season friendly against Kingstonian, and wrote the following post-match:

I stood behind the dugout during the second half, and it was fascinating to hear the vocal input from Sherwood, Ramsey and Ferdinand. Whilst all three were quite critical of their players – Ferdinand especially with Coultirst (“don’t be a midfielder”), Sherwood with Gallifuoco, and all three with Ceballos (Sherwood: “Cristian, we need you”, Ramsey: “Cristian – you have to pass that”) – the feedback was all constructive, with instructions given of what they expected. This was very refreshing, as I can clearly remember the days of Clive Allen just yelling constant expletives.

Sherwood was also described by Swindon’s Chairman Lee Power as “one of the most knowledgeable and forward-thinking men currently in the game.” It’s worth pointing out that Power and Sherwood are good friends and have an excellent professional relationship (hence the Swindon loans), but it’s the choice of words that stand out.

Sherwood’s an Arsenal fan – there’s no getting away from that. But he seems to be trying to show that he’s committed to his role at Spurs. Three days ago he told the media “I know all about the football club. I played here, it’s my club. I know what the supporters want.” Professionalism or genuine affection? Who knows, but he’s making the right noises. And, frankly, he’s spent more than a fifth of his life at Spurs in one way or another, so why wouldn’t he care?

He’s resented by many because he criticised Glenn Hoddle after he (Sherwood) had left Spurs. He was not the only one who felt that way about Hoddle though – in fact, Ledley King was relatively outspoken about Hoddle’s “methods” in his autobiography – and yet there doesn’t seem to be any noise about this.

In an interview with The Guardian in 2008, Sherwood was asked “You didn’t get on very well with Glenn Hoddle, though, did you?” He replied:

‘I love what he’s doing at the moment with his academy, not that I want to give him a plug.

As a manager, though, he loved the game and he loved Tottenham but we clashed. I had an opinion and he obviously didn’t want to hear it.’

To me that showed a level of maturity – he still had an opinion, but he was polite enough to put it to one side and respect what Hoddle is (was) doing elsewhere.

On the pitch

In the two matches that Sherwood’s taken charge of so far, he’s gone with a 4-4-2 formation with two strikers, two wingers, and no holding midfield player. In the West Ham game he was hamstrung by not having the returning Rose and Adebayor for the whole game. He set us out to get lots of crosses into the box, and was reliant on the team getting ahead while they were full strength. They didn’t manage to take their chances and we were only ahead by one. West Ham went for the opposite approach, starting a weaker team but bringing key men on. As soon as Adebayor and Rose came off, West Ham took control of the game and brought on Maiga, Diame and Morrison. Allardyce smelt blood and his team, unlike Spurs, managed to get goals when they were on top.

Against Southampton, as I wrote in my goal analysis blog, Sherwood took a calculated risk. By setting us out in a 4-4-2 without a dedicated defensive midfield player (albeit Dembele mostly held, and his average position was essentially the same as Schneiderlin’s), Sherwood ensured that we had bodies in the box far more than we had seen in our other matches this season. It paid dividends, and we scored more than twice in the league for the first time since April. We also conceded two but mostly these goals were down to individual errors rather than specific failures within the system (although it could be said that Chiriches was unsure whether to stay with his man or drop off for the second goal, due to not knowing the system well enough).

Note: The Under-19s (NextGen Series side) and Under-21s tended to play a free-flowing 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 under Sherwood, so there’s no indication that he favours 4-4-2 as a system per se. Many have said that this was at the insistence of AVB, but we’d been playing the same system(s) pre-AVB, and I personally never saw AVB at one of the matches, so I find that unlikely.

Off the pitch

It’s unlikely that it was the performance on Sunday that made up Levy’s mind to give Sherwood the manager’s role on a permanent basis (at least for 18 months). More likely it is the work that he has done in the background over the past five years.

Whilst the decision to appoint an inexperienced manager – one who does not even have the UEFA Pro Licence – has not gone down well, generally, I can see the logic.

There is a sense of continuity about the appointment, which I like and admire. Just as much as it gives a sense of satisfaction when a youth player gets a game for the first team – and I was very proud to see Nabil Bentaleb come off the bench on Sunday – there is a good feeling associated with an internal promotion. Sherwood might not have top-level management experience, but he clearly has a skill set which Levy has deemed transferable.

He’s naturally confident in front of the cameras or behind the microphone – to the extent where many have called him arrogant. I particularly liked this TalkSport interview in the summer here he was very positive and backed the club over Bale. He came across as being ‘on message’, and whilst his thoughts on Bale didn’t come to fruition, the positivity was to be admired.

Qualifications

I’ve seen plenty of comment about Sherwood being literally (in the words of Jamie Redknapp) unqualified to do this job. This is due to the fact that he does not possess a UEFA Pro Licence. This is the final UEFA coaching qualification (following the A and B Licenses, which Sherwood already possesses). The course is generally carried out over a year, and the club will need to ask the FA whether Sherwood can continue as manager without it in the meantime. The precedent (set with Paul Ince at Blackburn, for example) seems to be for the FA to give the manager the time to earn the qualification. Glenn Roeder, Gareth Southgate and Avram Grant have also all managed in the Premier League without the license.

In the meantime, if people are worried about unqualified coaches, they need look no further than Chris Ramsey, who has now moved up with Sherwood and Ferdinand to the first team coaching setup. Ramsey has achieved a lot in a distinguished coaching career – he has coached the England U20 side to the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. He has worked for the FA as a Regional Director of Coaching. He was a scout for the England team under Keegan. As well as the UEFA Pro Licence, which he obtained in 2004, he has an FA Coach Education Diploma, a diploma in Treatment of Sports Injuries and also a first degree in Education, and Masters in Science. He was recently asked by Peter Taylor to be his Assistant Head Coach for the England Under-20 side for this summer’s FIFA World Cup in Turkey. He’s insanely qualified.

Sherwood might be a Gooner, might be a snake in the grass, might be seen giving a Sky Sports interview whilst hanging out of a Land Rover… but let’s wait and see before writing him off as such.

We’ve got a huge squad, with plenty of attacking players with flair. In the likes of Lloris, Vertonghen, Sandro, Lamela, and Soldado we have some very talented players who would be wanted by the majority of clubs around Europe. Given that Sherwood has to make things happen relatively quickly, he is likely to focus on keeping it simple, letting his side build their confidence. To me, this seems to be exactly what they need. They need their fragile confidence rebuilt, and if that requires him to be more Harry Redknapp than André Villas-Boas in the short term, then so be it.

As an aside, in Adebayor we have a talent who needs to be managed carefully. Nobody knows the ins and outs of what has gone on since the death of his brother. Was AVB heartless in making him train with the reserves, or was he trying to give him the space and time to get his head right? Was Ade fit and available but not picked, or still getting up to speed? In fact, nobody knows the ins and outs of the whole of last season – a lot of assumptions are made about Adebayor’s character, which his obvious popularity within the squad seem to contradict. What we do know is that in the last two matches, he has played like he really wanted it; he was a joy to watch and made us realise what we’ve been missing. Long may Sherwood continue getting the best out of him.

Development Squad

And finally, to the Development Squad. It seems a shame that the Development Squad has lost their figurehead. But the players currently in that squad will surely be filled with confidence that they’ll have opportunities – especially after seeing their teammate, Bentaleb, brought on ahead of Holtby and Capoue, and playing so well – in fact, being instrumental in the second goal.

I wrote back in October about the lack of opportunities for youth players under AVB – this should change under Sherwood. He knows our talented young players so well, and is clearly not concerned about putting them straight into the first team squad. There has to be a chance that Tom Carroll will be recalled in January, and I would also expect to see Harry Kane involved more as the season goes on.

As for who takes over as the manager of the Under-21 side, who knows. There is a whole coaching team to replace, and it will presumably take some time to do so. In the interim period, perhaps the coaches will split their time between the first team and Development squad, or perhaps the Academy coaches will have to be involved. It will be interesting to see how it pans out.

COYS

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Nice read, that.

I'd be interested in hearing more from people such as the Swindon chairman exactly what makes Sherwood one of the most forward thinking and knowledgeable people in the game. I don't doubt it, I'd just love to know exactly what his ideas are. As with AVB when I thought he could have explained to the fan base exactly how he was trying to get us to play and the reasons behind it, if we can hear some of Sherwood's ideas it would go a way to getting sceptical fans onside. I'm not one of them though.

I would say that while I agree broadly with Windy, I don't think this is a squad short on confidence and necessarily requiring TS to 'be more Harry Redknapp' in the short-term. He shouldn't be anything other than himself right now. This isn't a squad that's bottom of the league with 2 points from 8 games, it's suffered from heavy defeats but has the best away record in the league, is 6 points from first place and and every time one of those defeats has happened so far, we've bounced back. We were doing ok, and I think if we're going in a different direction, let's go there. It doesn't need a 'keep it simple to get the confidence back' approach IMO. Whatever Sherwood's ideas are, let's see them.

On the development squad - I would be interested to see how we re-shape it. We need to keep up doing the good work there because losing Sherwood and Ramsey to the first team squad means more chances for the youngsters, but we need to keep producing the ones good enough to take them. I'm really interested in Ramsey, I remember reading an interview with McDermott a few years ago where he said Ramsey was one of the best coaches around but loved working with youth rather than first teams. I'd love to know what makes him such a good coach - whether it's just tactics, improvements in players or something else. I'd also love to know if he can be as good with the first team as he is with the kids. Because to me, he sounds like the absolute perfect assistant to Sherwood, and I just wonder why he hasn't taken an opportunity like this before.

Also would be interesting to know what Ferdinand's reputation is like as a coach. Is he just a striker coach? Is he a good all-round coach? What makes him good? I would assume he must be pretty highly rated as a colleague of Ramsey's, in order to be asked to step up to the first team. Again, I'd just love to know why.

 

[lurker of old]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Best post of the year! Well ok probably not, but sensible stuff. We all want Tim to succeed and let's hope he does.
Christmas greetings to all posters here on Glory-Glory, the argumentative ones, the boring ones, even the trolls.
And a New Years wish: may Adebayor play regularly and average at least 1.5 goals a game....why not?

 

[Daisuk]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Great read! Thanks a lot for posting. Always enjoy his blogposts whenever I remember to read them.

 

[hamer]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Here's a question, who will replace Sherwood/Ramsey in their development roles, either directly or indirectly. The absence of such would be telling.

 

[metalgear]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Great read! Thanks a lot for posting. Always enjoy his blogposts whenever I remember to read them.

makes a few fair points but its an argument riddled with holes. if anything its great that he's seeing the cup half full, the boys will need to win the next few games in succession or risk facing the spurs faithful, who may turn on them more quickly than they did avb.

 

[glorygloryeze]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

here's tim's justification for himself; says nothing about his ability to coach haha!

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25505318

Tim Sherwood: New Spurs boss says knowledge of club is key

Tim Sherwood says he hopes his in-depth knowledge of Tottenham will make him a success as the club's new manager.

"I've known it from the grassroots right up to the first team, worked at every level of the football club and played here, so I know it better than most," said the 44-year-old.

"Hopefully that will stand me in good stead taking this club forward."

The former Spurs midfielder was given the job on a 18-month contract after the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas.

Sherwood said it was a "proud moment" to be named manager, adding: "If you cut me in half, I bleed the colour of the club."

 

[Superted]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Problem is, everyone else has a faster car - so we need a better driver to compete.

Problem is, our car is unlike any other. You accelerate with your left hand, brake with a wiggle of the hips and steer with your nose on an iPad. The speedometer is in Latin and the windshield shows everything like one of those fun house mirrors that makes everyone who goes to those carnivals look fat(ter).

Even if we got Michael Schumacher in to drive he'd have to learn how to drive this car because he's used to driving a certain way and our car is not set up for that.

So he wouldn't drive very fast initially. But he'd get the engineers to bring in new parts so the car could be set up with the pedals and wheels in the right place and then he could really fly. But then again there are new makers of these parts and for all we know we could bring them in and they could not fit into the chassis.

At least with Sherwood he knows our car. He's been around the club when it was built. He might not like certain bits of the car but he knows how things can be tweaked to get the best out of it.

He may not be Michael Schumacher, but it may turn out that our car is in fact a bike and he may be Casey Stoner instead.

 

[Cochise]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

=D>

 

[Daisuk]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Problem is, our car is unlike any other. You accelerate with your left hand, brake with a wiggle of the hips and steer with your nose on an iPad. The speedometer is in Latin and the windshield shows everything like one of those fun house mirrors that makes everyone who goes to those carnivals look fat(ter).

Even if we got Michael Schumacher in to drive he'd have to learn how to drive this car because he's used to driving a certain way and our car is not set up for that.

So he wouldn't drive very fast initially. But he'd get the engineers to bring in new parts so the car could be set up with the pedals and wheels in the right place and then he could really fly. But then again there are new makers of these parts and for all we know we could bring them in and they could not fit into the chassis.

At least with Sherwood he knows our car. He's been around the club when it was built. He might not like certain bits of the car but he knows how things can be tweaked to get the best out of it.

He may not be Michael Schumacher, but it may turn out that our car is in fact a bike and he may be Casey Stoner instead.

:ross: =D> tickle my balls with a feather!

 

[Spurs7891]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

I am still not convinced Sherwood will become a good manager for us due to his lack of experience. He still needs to prove his worth. But I am really glad it is Sherwood rather than some of the failed managers that the media had been linking us with like Hoddle and Redknapp. Hope Sherwood will prove his critics wrong and go on to become a successful manager for us.

 

[spasm]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

I am still not convinced Sherwood will become a good manager for us due to his lack of experience. He still needs to prove his worth. But I am really glad it is Sherwood rather than some of the failed managers that the media had been linking us with like Hoddle and Redknapp. Hope Sherwood will prove his critics wrong and go on to become a successful manager for us.

a bit harsh that mate...got us into the CL playing some fantastic stuff. as good as anything I've seen in 30 odd years at spurs...

 

[Hotshot-Tottenham]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

a bit harsh that mate...got us into the CL playing some fantastic stuff. as good as anything I've seen in 30 odd years at spurs...

If that's failure (at a club like ours), then what's success?

Not a dig at 7891 at all, but perhaps this kind of mentality (of fans in general) explains in part the high turnover of managers and the lofty expectations... Fed of course by 24 hour sports news, red top rags and the internet.

 

[glorygloryeze]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

I am still not convinced Sherwood will become a good manager for us due to his lack of experience. He still needs to prove his worth. But I am really glad it is Sherwood rather than some of the failed managers that the media had been linking us with like Hoddle and Redknapp. Hope Sherwood will prove his critics wrong and go on to become a successful manager for us.

Even considering the Feb to May 2012 'downturn' this is harsh! Unless of course you mean Redknapp junior who for all his big mouth on Sky and the Sun now was indeed a massive failure as a player.

Agree with your general point though

 

[Pirate55]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Even considering the Feb to May 2012 'downturn' this is harsh! Unless of course you mean Redknapp junior who for all his big mouth on Sky and the Sun now was indeed a massive failure as a player.

Agree with your general point though

I thought you had already written Sherwood off? Why not give him some time eh, and then make your mind up.

Wouldn't that be the sensible thing to do for all Spurs fans.

 

[metalgear]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

He may not be Michael Schumacher, but it may turn out that our car is in fact a bike and he may be Casey Stoner instead.

you mean like we're in the wrong competition, cars = champions league, so bikes = championship? in that case i think sherwood has got a chance

 

[superfaisty]

Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach

Difficult to know what to make of TS. It feels like he's trying too hard to not be like AVB, which given the turgid football we played most of the season is understandable, but the problem is our first choice eleven are unavailable due to injuries and suspensions which really makes his job difficult. Keeping it simple is great, getting the players to enjoy their game more is great but you have to set up the team properly and im not sure sherwood is doing that right now.

Im not particularly against 442 but with any formation we need balance and we need width.

Losing lennon and townsend is a massive blow, but that still leaves chadli left Lamela right as the wide men we should be playing. Siggy is a good player but wide is not his best position. Stick him in the hole or central just not wide.

Erikson in cm in the modric role is genius ( though he's a long way off being rat boy good defensively). In which case capoue/ sandro needs to play alongside eriksen. Holtby is another option but swapped in for erijsen rather tgan alongside him. When bentalrb came on today we instantly looked better in midfield.

Im not sure what TS has against capoue but i hope he gets over it quickly as we need him in sandros absence. He needs a bit of a confidence boost and he needs to be played in his proper position.

Upfront ade and soldado have to be first choice but ade clearly isnt fully match fit yet and certainly not fir playing two games in a week, so he needs managing not flogging to death.

But what do i know i dont have my coaching badges either!