Lambert's replacement

[Toronto Villa]

To be honest if we appoint Sherwood I don't think things will change too much, I'll still be right behind whoever we appoint though.

me too. Even with McLeish once I scraped my jaw off the floor I supported him until I couldn't. Once the appointment is made I am supporting Aston Villa.

[Deano's Mullet]

Klinsmann for me but I read he'd already turned it down. C'mon jurgen, its safe, bossie left years ago

[Stu]

Rigadon he had 28 games and Levy has gone through an awful lot of managers, I take your point about experience but I just think his swagger and confidence might help to shake those players out of the cycle of shit they have been on for so long, wouldent have been my first choice but I think he might have it in him to save us,

He was quite willing to chuck Spurs' players under the bus after a loss, imagine the same with our lot, now, in the situation we're in.

[Steve kirk]

On Wednesday night anybody but Lambert was fine so that must have included Sherwood, now there are rumours that he may or may not be appointed and there are so many posters kicking the shit out of him, I just dont get it, if he takes over give the bloke a chance, what the fuck did he do in half a season at Spurs to be described as hilariously incompetent or utterly uninspiring, please explain.

On Wednesday night anybody but Lambert was fine so that must have included Sherwood, now there are rumours that he may or may not be appointed and there are so many posters kicking the shit out of him, I just dont get it, if he takes over give the bloke a chance, what the fuck did he do in half a season at Spurs to be described as hilariously incompetent or utterly uninspiring, please explain.

I didn't say anybody but Lambert.  He'd be uninspiring because he is massively untested at this level apart from a dozen games at fucking Spurs (who didn't rate him enough to give him an actual job).  We need experience to help us avoid being relegated. 

Rigadon he had 28 games and Levy has gone through an awful lot of managers, I take your point about experience but I just think his swagger and confidence might help to shake those players out of the cycle of shit they have been on for so long, wouldent have been my first choice but I think he might have it in him to save us,

Swagger and confidence?

We have plenty of players with swagger and confidence as evidenced by the size of their earphones and the horse power of their cars.

What we don't have are players with a brain and Sherwood adds zero in the brain department.

What we have here is a clear case of corrosion of the collective cerebral cortex.

Foxy is rumoured to have a few functioning grey cells, so we must hope for the best.

Fair enough, lets reappoint Lambert

[Phil from the upper holte]

I thought klinsman had turned it down

[JUAN PABLO]

Curbs is moving up in the betting

Maybe Sherwood and curbs DOF

[JUAN PABLO]

What's happened to martin dastardly jol ?

[Rigadon]

On Wednesday night anybody but Lambert was fine so that must have included Sherwood, now there are rumours that he may or may not be appointed and there are so many posters kicking the shit out of him, I just dont get it, if he takes over give the bloke a chance, what the fuck did he do in half a season at Spurs to be described as hilariously incompetent or utterly uninspiring, please explain.

On Wednesday night anybody but Lambert was fine so that must have included Sherwood, now there are rumours that he may or may not be appointed and there are so many posters kicking the shit out of him, I just dont get it, if he takes over give the bloke a chance, what the fuck did he do in half a season at Spurs to be described as hilariously incompetent or utterly uninspiring, please explain.

I didn't say anybody but Lambert.  He'd be uninspiring because he is massively untested at this level apart from a dozen games at fucking Spurs (who didn't rate him enough to give him an actual job).  We need experience to help us avoid being relegated. 

Rigadon he had 28 games and Levy has gone through an awful lot of managers, I take your point about experience but I just think his swagger and confidence might help to shake those players out of the cycle of shit they have been on for so long, wouldent have been my first choice but I think he might have it in him to save us,

Steve, if its him then I hope you're right mate.  There's no evidence though.  No track record.  That team needs motivating, but also organising. 

[Villa in Denmark]

Lambert actually had a record for doing those things well, he just couldn't translate them. Sherwood has a record of near-hilarious incompetence.

He hasn't though. He has a record for bringing into the Spurs side the current darling of English football Harry Kane, bringing in Benteleb into their midfield to add some bite that was lacking and Spurs fans gave him shit for, and winning 14 of 28 games in charge.

He isn't great, and is clearly much more of a motivator type than tactical visionary, but with 13 games to go in the shit, I am genuinely not convinced a Tuchel or Prandelli would come in and be able to get their ideas into the side that quickly. I genuinely think had Lambert got himself a strong coaching team around him last summer we would be much better off now, and I think the same with Sherwood.

He is also the one who'd brought through a good chunk of the younger players from his role with the U-21s who probably felt they owed him a debt of gratitude.

He is also the one who has several accusations that he'd spent most of the season undermining AVB with the staff and players whilst ingratiating himself with them.

He is also the one who took over a well drilled squad, that based on the above would have been pretty welcoming to him, that was used to playing reasonably well and getting decent results, and ended up with a similar results record, but with some important differences.

If my memory is correct, AVB messed up by not putting enough mediocre sides to the sword, but did OKish against the better squads.

Sherwood got his arse handed to him by the better squads but won against the dross by "giving it a go" with good players compensating for appalling tactics, Kyle Walker as a no. 10? Really?

He is also the one who on repeated occasions hung his players out to dry when it all went wrong, despite a good chunk of those occasions being as much due to his setting up of the team as much as the player's effort and application.

If I had to nominate one person who could make our current squad perform even worse, Sherwood would be on the list to consider.

Ability to destroy what little confidence the squad has left by blaming them for his deficiencies? Tick.
Makes Mike Bassett look like a tactical genius? Tick.

We don't have a bad squad, certainly not one that has to be where it currently is.

Someone with an ounce of tactical accumen and the ability to instill a modicum of self belief will get this squad across the line, and right now that's all it needs.

Tim Sherwood might actually get me betting on us to go down.

[Stu]

Curbs is moving up in the betting

Maybe Sherwood and curbs DOF

How about Hitler and the Sheriff of Nottingham?

[Toronto Villa]

Rigadon he had 28 games and Levy has gone through an awful lot of managers, I take your point about experience but I just think his swagger and confidence might help to shake those players out of the cycle of shit they have been on for so long, wouldent have been my first choice but I think he might have it in him to save us,

He was quite willing to chuck Spurs' players under the bus after a loss, imagine the same with our lot, now, in the situation we're in.

Tim Sherwood's very public and risky attack on his players was more of a message to his chairman

Criticising players in public is a dangerous game and, for managers, it is one that can backfire in the changing world of football
      

By Michael Owen9:00PM GMT 14 Mar 2014

There appears to be an unwritten, golden rule in football that a manager should never publicly criticise his players.
The risks are too great, potentially alienating those whose performances are integral to your own survival and threatening a breakdown in trust between the coaching and playing staff. If a member of the dressing room fancies a bit of back-stabbing, a manager condemning his own side in front of the cameras may be inadvertently prompting the search for a set of knives.

Rarely, if ever, do the greatest managers do this. Arsène Wenger never does it and I cannot recall Sir Alex Ferguson berating his players in the press.
In the dressing room or on the training ground was a different matter, but there was always a feeling that if anything needed to be said, far better to keep it in-house. There are certain boundaries managers do not like to cross.
Often it goes too far the other way. Criticising in public is frowned upon, but some of the most ridiculous post-match press conferences involve managers defending abysmal performances. Finding the right tone after an especially poor display requires a certain amount of dexterity.

It means when a manager does decide to let rip and attack his own players there is a novelty value but you have to ask yourself what it really achieves.
There is no doubt it tends to find a favourable response from supporters.
When Tim Sherwood decided to publicly criticise his Tottenham players following defeat to Chelsea, you can imagine many of the fans standing to applaud as he reflected their own frustration.

It always plays well to the gallery when the players take a pounding, the perception readily accepted by those outside of football that indulged modern footballers do not care enough about their club.

“Give it to them. They deserve it,” is the popular howl.

The response from fellow professionals tends to be rather more cautious because the dangers – both in the long and short term – can outweigh any immediate motivational impact.

It is impossible to generalise but my educated guess is some players will agree with the manager, others will be affronted and others will be determined to work harder to prove him wrong.

A few will not be bothered either way, will just keep their head down and get on with their job. The problem is, if the manager needs allies because results do not improve, those players with long (or short) memories might be inclined to recall whether he stood by them in difficult moments.
That is why, as a weapon of man-management, public criticism of your own employees tends to be a rather blunt one, not just in football but any industry. Everyone prefers to be spoken about favourably, or least criticised in private.

I would suggest the Tottenham players – like any in a dressing room when a manager goes down this route – will take a more objective view on what was going last weekend.

I am not sure Sherwood’s remarks were simply an emotional reaction following a disappointing defeat at Chelsea.
It struck me he thought criticising members of his squad was a gamble worth taking because he does not rate some of the players he inherited and wants to send a message about recruiting replacements this summer. I suspect he was directing comments to his chairman, Daniel Levy, as much as the dressing room and the supporters.

Sherwood obviously wants fresh faces to build the team he wants. The problem for him, and indeed an increasing number of Premier League bosses, is the days when the manager dictated who is bought and sold are increasingly coming to an end.

Nowadays, the manager’s job is to work with what he is given rather than pick and choose the signings.

Tottenham are one of many adopting a more continental approach where the club determine their ‘philosophy’ and recruit the players to fit it.
The clubs want coaches to get the best out of these signings, not what we would call ‘managers’ to dictate to their board what deals get done.
Those embedded in English culture are still trying to come to terms with this. It is almost as if the clubs are recruiting players to fit their profile, but not applying the same to the managers, some of whom are uncomfortable with the idea they are not in charge of recruitment and may have to work with players they do not particularly fancy.

Traditionally, the most important relationship at a football club has not only been that of the manager and his players, but the manager and his chief executive. That is why Sir Alex and David Gill were so effective at Old Trafford.

The new regimes have directors of football or heads of recruitment connecting the manager and his boardroom.
Instead of accepting this new order, what we are seeing are recurring power struggles between managers, directors of football and chief executives.
As the face of the club, the manager is always in a position to curry favour from the supporters and it only needs a public comment about players (whom the manager did not sign) not being good enough for questions to be asked about the way a club is structured. Usually, the supporters will back their manager. The managers know this. All this can make for a politically toxic atmosphere.

What you have to remember about football clubs is they are more scheming than the corridors of Westminster. Beyond every comment there is a nuance and inference which is often more considered than might appear in the heat of the moment.

At every club there are times when the players do not get on with the manager, or the manager believes his chances of progressing are being damaged by those above him.

Your enemies will jump on any opportunity to undermine you, which is why the majority of managers will not supply any unnecessary ammunition and would rather bite their lip before taking on their own players.

[clash city rocker]

I blame the demise of the monarchy. In years gone by the future king of England would simply have sent his aides to instruct someone that they would now be managing Aston Villa..things were a lot simpler in those days.

[Uber_lowey]

Well, imagine writing a manager off before he's actually agreed to take the job. Who on earth were you all expecting. A lot of the names on here have made me laugh out loud. What year do you think this is 1994?

Get real

[Dante Lavelli]

Some of you lot are unreal, absolutely unreal

Uber others getting a bit defensive with you but I know what you mean

Do you?  I have no idea what the post means.

[Tuscans]

I personally don't care who's in charge any more as long as we stay up. A new owner interests me more these days with the way money dictates the footballing world.