Sherwood: I left legacy at Spurs

21 February 2015 00:01

New Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has insisted his record as a manager is 'there to be shot at' as he prepares for his top flight return.

The 46-year-old will take charge of his first game as Villa chief when they host Stoke on Saturday.

It is his first match since May 2014 when, as Tottenham manager, Spurs beat Villa 3-0 at White Hart Lane.

Villa are third from bottom in the Barclays Premier League after just two wins from their last 21 matches.

Sherwood took charge of Tottenham for 28 games last term, winning 14, and insisted his record of results and aiding Spurs' youngsters stands alone.

"Look, I think (Mauricio) Pochettino has done a really good job there, but mine's still up there to be shot at," said Sherwood, who replaced the sacked Paul Lambert on Saturday.

"He's inherited a good bunch of young players who were developed by myself.

"He's willing to play them as well, there are a lot of big stars there and he could have discarded (Ryan) Mason and gone with (Nabil) Bentaleb, but he's not done that so fair play to him.

"I respect him for that. It's good for me - I left a bit of a legacy there with those young players and he's carried it on. I admire him for that.

"If I hadn't resisted the club wanting to loan him out last January, he wouldn't be Harry Kane now.

"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'.

"I'd had Harry Kane since he was 11 or 12 don't forget. It makes a lot of difference, I know them better than their parents as footballers."

Sherwood must revive Villa who have scored just 12 goals in 25 league games to slip into the relegation zone.

Christian Benteke has netted only three times this season after recovering from a ruptured Achilles he suffered last April.

Sherwood hopes his experience with Kane and Emmanuel Adebayor, after rescuing the striker's Spurs career, will help him revive the Belgium international and insisted he must be Villa's spearhead.

"I don't think Christian thinks he's cracked it yet," said Sherwood, who is without Nathan Baker (knee) and Philippe Senderos (calf).

"He's a really good lad - he speaks better English than me as well. 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 badly."

Source: PA