Three positives of Tim Sherwood being our manager....

[nigel]

Love the confidence but it's rather easy to say the right things - whether he can turn the club around is an altogether different question.

He is out of his depth and I fear it will all end in tears and further acrimony but naturally, hope I'm proven wrong.

I think you will be.
TS was at Spurs, who are also a big club, for 5 years, albeit as a coach. So, he'll know how a big club works.
He's worked with big name players, too, so he certainly won't be fazed by them

[wozwebs]

Westwood and Cleverley first to be axed according to the press. Harsh on Westwood?

[Dave]

Love the confidence but it's rather easy to say the right things - whether he can turn the club around is an altogether different question.

He is out of his depth and I fear it will all end in tears and further acrimony but naturally, hope I'm proven wrong.

I think you will be.

I don't, and it has little to do with how good Sherwood is. Nearly every manager's tenure ends in acrimony. They've either done badly and been sacked or done well and moved upwards in the world.

You can probably count on one hand the number of recent managers who have left a club with both parties happy with the decision.

[OCD]

Westwood and Cleverley first to be axed according to the press. Harsh on Westwood?

I imagine he'll go with a 4-4-2 with some genuine width. You would expect Delph to be one of the central two so if those reports are correct, presumably he'll have Sanchez sitting in front of the defence. Sanchez looked very good at times but had a phase where his performances dipped and it was right to give him a break but he may be ready to come back in now so those decisions wouldn't be too strange. Everyone's got a fresh start so its up to Westwood and Cleverley to up their games and get back into the side (again, if those reports are true).

[Monty]

I worry about the 4-4-2 approach. His Spurs side were wide open with that system, and we don't have the quality they did to make up for it.

[supertom]

Westwood and Cleverley first to be axed according to the press. Harsh on Westwood?

Not really. He's flattered to deceive for 2 seasons now. He never (IMO) kicked on from that run of form he had between Feb and May 13. You could say the same about many others too of course, including Benteke.

Cleverley has been mediocre at best since arriving.

Delph is our best player in midfield. Sanchez has tailed off a little after a good run of form (probably fatigue more than anything), but is still probably the best man to partner Delph in a two man mid.
I'd be looking to play 4-2-3-1 to be honest. Sanchez to sit, Delph to provide energy and box to box running. The four ahead to try and provide the goals.

If there's anyone found wanting at this level, then TS will weed them out. Westwood could well be one. He's on the edge. The right guidance and he's a good Prem player. But he needs a bit of inspiration to avoid an inevitable drop to the Championship.

[KevinGage]

Love the confidence but it's rather easy to say the right things - whether he can turn the club around is an altogether different question.

He is out of his depth and I fear it will all end in tears and further acrimony but naturally, hope I'm proven wrong.

I think you will be.

I don't, and it has little to do with how good Sherwood is. Nearly every manager's tenure ends in acrimony. They've either done badly and been sacked or done well and moved upwards in the world.

You can probably count on one hand the number of recent managers who have left a club with both parties happy with the decision.

Aye, it's the closest you'll get to a surefire bet in football.

That, and 'Aston Villa 0' in recent months.

[OCD]

I think there are times to use 4-4-2 so I would hope it doesn't get used every game until the end of the season or we will get a few tonkings.

With Westwood, I think he's capable of being an England player (not sure how significant that is these days). That would mean producing his current best on a regular basis though. There are some players who might be right to leave out for the moment, get the team winning and doing the right things and then bring one or two back in. That may be the case for Westwood. Even Cleverley for that matter - I've one of his harshest critics but everyone starts with a clean slate again.

[supertom]

I think there are times to use 4-4-2 so I would hope it doesn't get used every game until the end of the season or we will get a few tonkings.

With Westwood, I think he's capable of being an England player (not sure how significant that is these days). That would mean producing his current best on a regular basis though. There are some players who might be right to leave out for the moment, get the team winning and doing the right things and then bring one or two back in. That may be the case for Westwood. Even Cleverley for that matter - I've one of his harshest critics but everyone starts with a clean slate again.

At the very least, if they're given a bit more creative freedom we could see them shine. I hope. Next season is huge for Westy, and indeed a lot of other Lambert mainstays like Weimann. They're shown it in flashes, but they're coming to the stage where it'll be sink or swim as a Prem player.

Cleverley has 13 games to convince us a permanent deal is on the cards. Lambert always bigged him up as an attack minded midfielder who'd score and make goals (even though TC himself once said something to the contrary IIRC) but he's barely looked like creating anything. If he's been shackled, I would guess Sherwood might allow him more freedom, but we'll see. He's playing for a Prem future. He'll want to catch a few eyes, as well as prove he'd be worth keeping here.

[john e]

I don't think Sherwoods the man, grave doubts about him

See I wrote this post before yesterday's game, I know stuff about football as this post proves

[Chris Jameson]

Has he gone yet?

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Westwood and Cleverley first to be axed according to the press.

Not sure it's already been asked but how the hell did the press know about this 24 hours before the game?

[Malandro]

Westwood and Cleverley first to be axed according to the press.

Not sure it's already been asked but how the hell did the press know about this 24 hours before the game?

Roy Keane obviously thought cleverly had form for it!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Westwood and Cleverley first to be axed according to the press.

Not sure it's already been asked but how the hell did the press know about this 24 hours before the game?

Roy Keane obviously thought cleverly had form for it!

Cleverly was the first name that came to my mind too. I hope Sherwood at least tries to find out who it was and hopefully rips them a new one.

[tomd2103]

Westwood and Cleverley first to be axed according to the press. Harsh on Westwood?

Not really. He's flattered to deceive for 2 seasons now. He never (IMO) kicked on from that run of form he had between Feb and May 13. You could say the same about many others too of course, including Benteke.

Cleverley has been mediocre at best since arriving.

Delph is our best player in midfield. Sanchez has tailed off a little after a good run of form (probably fatigue more than anything), but is still probably the best man to partner Delph in a two man mid.
I'd be looking to play 4-2-3-1 to be honest. Sanchez to sit, Delph to provide energy and box to box running. The four ahead to try and provide the goals.

If there's anyone found wanting at this level, then TS will weed them out. Westwood could well be one. He's on the edge. The right guidance and he's a good Prem player. But he needs a bit of inspiration to avoid an inevitable drop to the Championship.

The problem with Westwood is that his lack of physical and athletic attributes at top flight level mean he can only really play as a holding player in a three man midfield.  With better players around him, I could actually see him becoming an effective top flight player in that role, but he's limited to that position in my opinion.