The continuing touting of the Tottenham job is still a side issue of Tim Sherwood being in charge of the club. Added to the general chatter, the likes of Louis Van Gaal and Frank de Boer have felt the need to drop hints or comments about the possibility of taking over at the end of the season. Something which some will say is part of football, others – myself included – as disrespect to a Manager in a job. The issue would be there without the ‘candidates’ odd comments however. From Sherwood’s Dads Arsenal links, to his ‘unlikeable’ demure or even the fact he hasn’t been Manager at a club of Spurs stature before, have been amongst the re-occurring remarks. This despite Tottenham still in touch with Fourth, and having won the vast majority of games under the ex-Blackburn midfielders Leadership.
One thing that must surely be agreed with Spurs supporters, is that the clubs next Manager is one of the most important decisions in recent years. After sacking Harry Redkanpp a couple of years ago, Andre Villas-Boas was pretty much the opposite ‘type of Manager to appoint. Whilst Redknapp was a ‘not much tactics, let players play’ kind of boss, AVB was very much an intense thinker about strategy’s and planning. Both arguably were the making, but then downfall of the two’s reigns. By the end of Redknapp's time, when teams Defended in numbers against Spurs, they looked lost for a Plan B. As for AVB, the intense reluctance to change to 4-4-2 and lack of Free-flowing Football saw Spurs players look short of any imagination and overloaded with strategic information. All this leads to the question ‘Do Spurs want another Harry or another Villas-Boas type?’ Its simplifying things a bit, but realistically it’s a combination of the two. Not the laid-back, no tactics style of the former, but not the intensity of the latter’s Gameplans, etc. Tim Sherwood has said himself he has a clear way he wants to play – AVB and Redknapp both had same but in different ways. Sherwood would appear thus far to be slightly tactically minded, more so than Harry but less so than AVB. He also has changed formations to suit different games, a fault which was laid at both Harry and Andre’s door by the closing of their tenures. Looking at the overall picture from this side of things, if Spurs want a certain type of Manager for the long term, surely Tim Sherwood ticks the boxes of this debate?
Remember when Pep Guardiola took over at Barcelona way back in 2008? Previous coaching jobs in top Football – zero, so no trophies won. Players about to manage – Lionel Messi, Xavi and Carles Puyol. A year on and Barca had surpassed every expectation. To win La Liga was brilliant for a first season, but he also got the club another Champions League success. Now people can say that he had a special group of players, which is true obviously. However, surely the egos of a lot of these players would not be sure of an unproven coach? Not at all. He had worked at the club behind the scenes as a coach for some time, and also played for the club. Thus the players knew all about him, or at least those long term had. Sound familiar yet? Well having coached for a long time and worked behind the scenes at White Hart Lane, Sherwood will certainly have respect of the players to a good extent. He played for Tottenham back in the late 90’s/early 00’s and had title success with Blackburn Rovers. Now say Louis Van Gaal comes in. Someone who has a great trophy haul and is well proven. What are the chances of his ego taking over? Quite High, Him changing Spurs philosophy and demanding new players? Higher yet. Even if Spurs adhered to his demands and thoughts, there is no guarantee of success. Yes there isn't with Sherwood either, but do Tottenham need another Managerial change, upheaval and the possibility of a coach taking over for a spell then packing up again?
Obviously this probably sounds like a Pro-Tim Sherwood campaign, which to an extent it is. An alternate view, instead of reading who is next going to get the job. If Tottenham miss out on the Champions League, calls for him to be replaced will no doubt increase. However, maybe he should be judged on his part of the season and not AVB’s erratic period? Whatever happens, the buck will stop with Mr.Levy and he is under some serious scrutiny.
Source: DSG
