Tim Sherwood showing his worth at Aston Villa

Aston Villa looks like a different team under Tim Sherwood

Aston Villa claimed a 3-2 victory over in-form Everton at Villa Park on Saturday.

Villa are still in the relegation battle, but Villa boss Tim Sherwood has created a positive mentality within his squad and they could now ease away from the drop zone.

The Villans are just two points clear of the relegation zone, but there is now a sense that the side from the Midlands are much more likely to escape the drop.

Honest

Sherwood came in for a lot of criticism in his short stint as Tottenham boss for his honesty.

However that is a commendable quality for bosses in modern day football. Not many bosses are honest about their teams, but Sherwood deserves credit for his honesty.

Positive

Under the previous regime of Paul Lambert Villa were absolutely awful to watch. The Villans never really looked like bothering opposition defences. Lambert’s team just struggled to win games and pick-up points.

When Lambert was in charge at Villa Park there were even fans saying that their team were going down and the campaign was still in its early stages.

However, Sherwood has injected confidence and positivity into a Villa team that previously looked shorn of both under Paul Lambert. Sherwood has basically the same group of players, but he has brought the best out of certain individuals.

Belgian striker Christian Benteke is a prime example. The 24-year-old scored twice against Everton and looked like a constant threat, just like he did in his debut season in English football. His career had slightly stalled prior to recent months.

The former-Genk striker has now scored 11 goals in his nine appearances for the Villans. The downside to his good form has been the fact that he is now once again being linked with a move to a so called bigger club.

In Benteke Villa have a vital weapon in their bid to avoid the drop to the Championship for next season. On his day he is unplayable and under Sherwood he seems to have rediscovered his lethal touch in front of goal.

Another player who Sherwood seems to have revived is England midfielder Tom Cleverley. The Manchester United loanee has come in for some heavy criticism in recent months from fans and media alike.

His potential did not look like it was going to be fulfilled. Prior to recent games the midfielder had provided Villa with little of substance, despite having the energy to be a very decent midfield player.

In the last few games the midfielder has shown why he was once regarded as a player with a big future for the England side. He has now scored in consecutive games and has shown far more energy and confidence.

No doubt Tim Sherwood has helped improve the midfielder’s confidence and it is showing in the fact that he is actually having an influence on the games. His improvement in form could also mean bad news for Villa, as the midfielder could move as a free agent this summer and has been linked with a number of clubs, including Everton, Arsenal and Tottenham.

Experienced

Tim Sherwood may not have a world of experience as a boss, but he has picked-up a lot of experience as a coach down the years. As a boss he is still a rookie, but his does believe in himself, even if that sometimes comes across as arrogance.

Sherwood, unlike another long-term coach John Carver at Newcastle, looks to have a long-term future as a Premier League boss. The first step would indeed to be to keep the Villans in the top-flight this season.

The real test for Sherwood would be to help Villa progress, a test that many far more experienced bosses than Sherwood have failed down the years.

Survival

I have to say the mood around Villa now seems like a completely different one. Villa fans all of a sudden believe that their team can win games, score goals and stay in the Premier League this season.

The Villa Park faithful will be hoping that their team continues in their current vein of decent form and manage to stay in the Premier League. If they do then I get a feeling that that next season could be a far brighter one under Sherwood.

Will Aston Villa survive the drop this season?