Tim always knew
Spurs News 24/7Not much to take in from this past weekend aside from the La Liga action where Atletico Madrid pipped Barcelona for the title. Back in Blighty, Tim Sherwood resurfaced on Sky Sports 'Goals on Sunday' guesting along side Les Ferdinand. Nothing extraordinary was shared during the casual interviewing style that hosts Ben Shephard and Chris Kamara smoothly present easing the viewers into a lazy Sunday morning. Sherwood was protective of his own brand stating he would not have taken the job had he known it wouldn't last beyond the five months.
Not sure I believe Tim to be this naive considering the time he spent at Tottenham and the profile he built up there over time when overseeing academy development. He knows how Daniel Levy operates and if you cast your mind back to when he was in contention to take over (as interim) he actually told the press that he would take the job if it was right for him. Considering his lack of experience and the timing you'd be a fantasist to believe you'd be nailed on for it without all of your coaching badges and actually see out an 18 month contract. The fact there was a break clause in the agreement is a blinding neon sign of a clue that Levy is going to let you go.
Tim knew. The fact he's been talking up about the internal issues at Spurs for a while now also suggests it. He's no fool. He understands the politics and much like most of his tenure it's still about self-preservation now he's departed.
His comments about Franco Baldini were very interesting, mainly because it suggests better unity within the club when it comes to our transfer strategy. Or does it?
Here's the quote (via Sky Sports):
We had a good relationship. I think he has a hand in picking the players but I would have to say I don't think he brings in a player who the manager does not sanction. It's a team effort. The players that are at the club at the moment were sanctioned by Andre Villas-Boas. I think possibly they weren't the first choices in every case but they worked down the list of the types which were required. The role Franco does, it would be good for the supporters to realise what they do. He comes into play when it's the transfer window, he manages a team of scouts and helps with recruitment. I think these guys work in the right way but they have to see the merits in what the manager wants otherwise everyone's pointing the finger at everyone else.
Okay, so do we bother with the English and the way he begins with 'I think he has a hand in picking the players' suggesting he doesn't know the fully how it works. The next clue is the fact that he states the players at the club were sanctioned by Andre Villas-Boas but they were not always first choices. I still can't shake off the feeling that there is still a disconnection and if you note the players AVB wanted (the ones we never signed) the ones we did hardly appear to be second choices in terms of style of player. I'm thinking specifically about Moutinho and Willian - but I'm not shrugging my head at Eriksen (someone who will eclipse both of the aforementioned in time).
The comments about the speculation around his depature again could have been avoided (in terms of how the media latched onto the rumours and other managers felt the necessity to comment on them) had the club appointed Sherwood as an official interim till the summer - a role Sherwood would not have taken in that capacity thus leaving us with, I don't know, Les Ferdinand taking the job instead. Who knows. Fact is, Sherwood wanted something he could not have and like I said, I refuse to believe he thought he could. Unless he was so confident he would capture the imagination of all enough to force Levy into a change of heart.
As for this gem: 'Stats don't lie' - Oh yes they do.
Statistics are not the be all and end all of any given argument. You should only use them to accompany the entire picture and not use them out of context to deflect for the sake of agenda. Stats can be reflective of the football but they can also hide truths. Keeping clean sheets during AVB's early season was misleading considering how we struggled to score down at the other end. On the one hand Spurs were defensively supreme. On the other, it was nothing more than a fallacy and the moment we started to lose shape at the back we'd be proven frauds.
Sherwood's man-management lacked composure and the football was largely thanks to Spurs having plenty of quality and if you have them playing as a back to basics unit with uncomplicated transitional play, you'll going to beat most teams. Just not the organised and tactically astute ones.
Tim looks to continue his television exposure and I look forward to his progress as a coach. Interestingly, in Daniel Levy's statement the other week there was a subtle hint that the club had been very supportive of Sherwood throughout his stay at Spurs - suggesting that he was protected from possible change that new managers wished to implement. A sly dig at the amount of headlines Tim has grabbed thanks to his continuous stream of conciousness about how the club has splintered loyalty towards him.
Still, he seems at peace with it all what with his words of praise for Levy for juggling the various responsibilities on and off the pitch at Spurs. Once again, it's because he knows how this game works and knows that Tottenham and football does not have the virtue of patience to afford someone like Sherwood the time to develop as a coach and for him to do so with a team of multi-million pound talent.
via Metro with additional blurb chucked in
