It's not Sherwood!

[tomd2103]

First 3 league games are vital. Start with 5 plus points and we will survive. Start with less and there is no momentum. Saturday really is massive considering their injury and suspension issues.

I would say that Saturday really is a massive game.  The appointment of Sherwood and the win in the Cup mean that we go into with a little bit of momentum.  A good win and that momentum continues, but a defeat will kill it dead and we'll have to puck ourselves up again. 

[Steve67]

Twists and turns still to be had. I fancy Sunderland to join the bottom three at some point as they are looking very shabby at the moment.

Lose to WBA this weekend and I think poyet will be gone and they'll appoint Warnock ?

He certainly seems to be on the way out. We could do with them keeping him, either that or sack him and get Lambert in!

[Villa in Denmark]

Twists and turns still to be had. I fancy Sunderland to join the bottom three at some point as they are looking very shabby at the moment.

Lose to WBA this weekend and I think poyet will be gone and they'll appoint Warnock ?

It's been said before, anybody appointing Warnock is already preparing for next year's promotion push, because they sure as hell aren't staying up.

[Drummond]

First 3 league games are vital. Start with 5 plus points and we will survive. Start with less and there is no momentum. Saturday really is massive considering their injury and suspension issues.

I would say that Saturday really is a massive game.  The appointment of Sherwood and the win in the Cup mean that we go into with a little bit of momentum.  A good win and that momentum continues, but a defeat will kill it dead and we'll have to puck ourselves up again.

I think we're very close to being pucked already.

[pauliewalnuts]

I think we'll win fairly handsomely on Saturday. Shackles are off and we'll win 2 or 3 nil. Onwards and upwards.

Imagine that.

3 goals. IN THE SAME MATCH. And for us, too.

*mind blown*

[PeterWithesShin]

I think we'll win fairly handsomely on Saturday. Shackles are off and we'll win 2 or 3 nil. Onwards and upwards.

Imagine that.

3 goals. IN THE SAME MATCH. And for us, too.

*mind blown*

We've scored 3 in a game twice in over a year.

[Gregorys Boy]

I think the big games are those ones against the likes of QPR and West Brom. At this stage of the season and now with us being right in it we need to aim for wins in those games. If we do that a pick up points here and there then I think we will be fine.  As long as we get a result on Saturday to move things in the right direction I don't see it as a must win.

[adrenachrome]

Kenny backs Timmy!

Mirror

Tim Sherwood was my captain and he has all the strengths to keep Aston Villa in the Premier League

There are no guarantees he will be able to repeat his Spurs successes but it gives him good credibility, writes Kenny Dalglish

Tim Sherwood, my captain at Blackburn, looks like a good fit for Aston Villa.

His profile matches up with a lot of the beliefs that Aston Villa seem to have.

He did brilliantly at Tottenham helping to bring through a lot of young players.

Look at the Spurs team that played at Liverpool last week. Harry Kane, Nabil Bentaleb, Ryan Mason and Danny Rose all started and Andros Townsend was on the bench, all players he worked with coming through the system.

That gives him good credibility when it comes to the work he has done at that level.

Then, when he took over as Tottenham manager he had the best win percentage of any Spurs manager.

Some people say ‘it is only half a season’ but what happened in the previous half?

Getting Emmanuel Adebayor playing the way he did was also a huge credit to him.

There are no guarantees he will be able to repeat all that at Aston Villa but, again, it gives him good credibility.

In Tim, Aston Villa have got a good guy who will be very honest and up front.

He got the captain's armband at Blackburn because he had all the characteristics a captain needs to have - and you need to have a lot of the same strengths as a manager.

He is not afraid to make a decision or give his opinion and, more importantly, he is not afraid to listen to other people either.

He was pretty thoughtful as a footballer and I think he has turned out the same way as a coach and manager.

He will make his decision whether he now needs to change his managerial style or not.

I am sure he has had a look at some of the things he said when he was at Spurs.

But I am sure a lot of what he said about some of the events at Tottenham many people would agree with.

And how can somebody be faulted for honesty?

Maybe you have got to choose your words carefully but if you’re honest at least everybody knows where they stand.

Tim takes over with Aston Villa third bottom but the good thing is they are not cut adrift with 13 games left.

They have a couple of the big boys to come, including trips to Manchester United and Manchester City.

But he also has games against sides down at the bottom like West Brom, Sunderland, QPR and Burnley.

Anything he gets from the bigger clubs will be a bonus. The games against the sides around them are the big ones for Aston Villa.

The cup run is a good thing too. They have West Brom at home in the FA Cup quarter-finals but that shouldn’t be a distraction. It should give them a bit of relief.

They can get out, they can play, try and win and if they progress have a bit of glory.

But I am sure they will sacrifice the glory for survival in the Premier League.

[OCD]

People keep highlighting those comments Sherwood made about the Spurs players but it got the response he was looking for. The players had a point to prove and their performances and results were noticeably better after.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

I'm not happy at sacrificing the glory of survival but I'll accept we're gonna survive AND win the FA Cup!

Come on Kenny - show a bit of ambition for us you old fu**er!

[pauliewalnuts]

I just watched his pre match press conference, and I was pretty impressed.

He seems very confident, and sounds like he knows what he's doing. I just hope events on-pitch match up to that.

Non-serious aside, but I also note with disappointment that he is a serial offender when it comes to the unnecessary use of the word "football". So, it is never "the club", it is always "the football club".

That's a verbal tic that gets right on my tits. He's no Stuart Pearce or Sammy Lee (the absolute worst I've heard), but he's a clear offender.

[villan from luton]

They picked him up because of what he achieved with Southampton sure, but because of their results and style of play. Nothing to do with how "high profile" he was.

We wouldn't have taken Sherwood fom Spurs' youth team, so he wouldn't have got the Villa job without being Spurs' manager on his CV. But we didn't replace Lambert with Sherwood because of his profile it because we hope that he will be a better manager. Just as Spurs did with Pochettino.

Sherwood was always a short term appointment.

As for Pochettino, what he did for Southampton in a season and a half was excellent and yes I do think he was a big appointment because of that job. Spuds were not going to get a top top manager with their current status and he was the best for them IMO

[adrenachrome]

Brum Mail

Aston Villa: Tim Sherwood ready to make Christian Benteke his main man

New Villa boss wants to make Belgian striker the focal point of his team as he did with Emmanuel Adebayor at Tottenham


    22:30, 20 February 2015
    By Gregg Evans


Tim Sherwood is ready to unleash the beast on Stoke City tomorrow.

The Aston Villa boss wants to make Christian Benteke the focal point of his team just like he did with Emmanuel Adebayor at Tottenham.

Sherwood helped rejuvenate the powerful striker’s career and is hoping to do the same with Villa’s misfiring Belgian.

“Christian is 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.

“It was the same with Adebayor we used to say, when you win the ball, look up, ‘Where is he?’, ‘Can you find him? No, then go somewhere else.

“Christian will be aware that when we win that ball, we’ll be looking for him. If we can’t find him, we’ll play elsewhere, but he’ll be in the game all of the time.

“But he has to make himself available. That’ll keep him alive. He won’t be able to switch off.

“I know he is a beast up there and can bully people.

“I know what he’s got.

“Anything crossed into the box, he used to find it and eat it up – we need to get back to that.”

Sherwood likes playing with a strong striker up top and building the team around him.

He added: “I think it gives you that different outlet, that different option at times. I think in the games it has got to be mixed up.

“It all depends on what you have in your squad. We possess someone who can bully centre-halves but he needs support.

“Those centre-backs can’t be lining him up from 30 yards. He needs support and bodies around him to distract them and maybe free him up a little bit.

“I am encouraged by what I have seen of Christian and not only him but the rest of the squad also.”

Sherwood is excited for his first game as Villa boss and desperately wants to get a win to lift Villa out of the bottom three.

He knows that a firing Benteke will help the cause and added: “He looks like he has a real good desire to want to listen and improve.

“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!”

[Phil from the upper holte]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/11426203/Tom-Cleverley-and-Ashley-Westwood-axed-as-Tim-Sherwood-stamps-his-mark-on-Aston-Villa.html

[Gregorys Boy]

All these talks on such small things just proves whats wrong with modern football media.  Is it really saying much to say that Benteke is "my main man"?  We are known that he is our best attacking player and that a big part of us scoring a few more goals is to get him fired up.  I guess if he said that Charles Gil was my main man it might not get such covenage.