Aston Villa appoint Tim Sherwood as new boss

Tim Sherwood is the new Aston Villa boss and has signed a three-and-half year deal with the Villans

Aston Villa have appointed Tim Sherwood as their new manager and the former-Tottenham boss has signed a three-and-half year deal.

The Villans have acted swiftly after the recent dismissal of Paul Lambert.

Honoured

Talking about his appointment the former-Blackburn midfielder told the clubs official website: “It is a great honour to manage one of the biggest clubs in English football. I can’t wait to get started and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

Owner

Villa’s owner Randy Lerner had this to say about Sherwood’s appointment: While being forever conscious of the frustrations that we all suffer, we feel that a change that offers a positive, fresh approach will be very good for the club.

“I know that Tom (Fox) and many others at Villa worked very hard to recruit Tim in the face of severely limited time constraints and pounding pressure.

“More importantly, I know further that internally we remain focused and committed to challenges we face, and I am deeply appreciative for that.”

Linked

Tim Sherwood seems to have been linked with every Premier League job that became available since leaving Spurs in the summer. He was linked with the likes of Southampton and QPR. In fact he seemed to be installed as favourite with the bookmakers for every Premier League vacancy in the last nine months.

Chance

He has now finally found a Premier League job, much to the bookmaker’s disappointment I would imagine. The Villa job is Tim Sherwood’s chance to show that he can cut it as a top-flight boss. His only experience as a Premier League boss came in a six month stint as Spurs boss.

He won 14 of his 28 games in charge at White Hart Lane, but his position always seemed under threat because of his lack of experience and profile.

At Villa he should now have a decent opportunity to show what he can do, without looking over his shoulder thinking he will be replaced by another boss. The Villans choose him to get them out of their current predicament and it will not be easy.

Honest

At Tottenham Sherwood was often very vocal in the press and caused a storm at times with the media in his short spell as Spurs boss. He was often brutally honest about his players and the clubs position.

He came in for criticism for various sources for his vocal approach. Sherwood is a strong character, but I do believe that he will be slightly less vocal in his role as Villa boss.

Reputation

The reason Sherwood had been linked with so many Premier League jobs was because he had built a very good coaching reputation at Tottenham for developing young players. He worked with the youth teams in various guises including as academy boss and is accredited with developing the likes of Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb.

That reputation within the game was growing behind the scenes prior to his promotion to the position of Tottenham boss. His spell as Spurs boss was far from disastrous and in many people’s eyes, including his own, he did a good job in north London.

Poor

Sherwood has picked anything but an easy job to attempt to prove himself as a top-flight boss. Villa are currently in the bottom three and have struggled for any sort of form this season. Their lack of goals coupled with a poor recent defensive record is very worrying for Villa fans.

Former-boss Lambert had to take some of the blame, but the players have underperformed for much of the campaign. The Villa squad may not be the best in the Premier League, but they should be good enough to beat the drop.

This job will test Sherwood’s managerial acumen to the limits, as the whole club needs a lift, starting with tomorrow’s home game against Leicester in the FA Cup.

Relegation

Sherwood’s first game in charge may well be in the FA Cup, but no doubt the clubs main priority is to stay in the Premier League this season.  The Villans are currently odds of 6/4 to be playing Championship football next season.

Whether Tim Sherwood proves to be an inspired choice, or not, something had to change at Villa because there was only one way the team was heading and that was down.

At least with some fresh impetus and ideas the team may now have a chance to turn things around before it is too late and the Villans are relegated.

Is Tim Sherwood the right man for the job at Villa?