Redknapp said some stupid things, but he backed it up with results, a great style of play and largely sensible team selections. He also did things that I wasn't sure would work, yet they came good and surprised me. Sherwood is scraping results against poor sides, losing to anyone decent, failing to address the obvious defensive issues and making strange choices. He's picking players out of position and they're either not working or have obvious deficiencies to their game, so his mouthing off seems unjustified. It's like we're getting all of the negatives of Redknapp, including speculation about the future of our players, with none of the benefits. I've heard him described as Redknapp Lite and it seems an apt label, unfortunately. He may become a good manager in the future for someone else, but he needs to put in the hard work first.
I was just having abit of fun (mostly). I know Sherwood sets himself up but I do believe him being mouthy takes away from some of the good work he has done as fans don't want to offer him much praise because they view him as being someone who self promotes. But I may have a wrong view of Sherwood yet I don't feel he takes himself that serious and doesn't punish players (like Avb) even if I backed Avb in his twitter row, yet Sherwood is more relaxed and honest about his views and it shows in the way the team plays, as while you and others are right to have digs at the way we set-up, you can't deny the players play with more freedom and look to enjoy their football so clearly Sherwoods style of management does have some positives, even if he has alot to learn.
1. other than the emergence of a couple of youngsters, what else has he done that's been positive? 2. I think "enjoying their football" might be a bit of a stretch, Boss. There appears to be a fair few unhappy people, if anything. I'd say Sherwood has let the "shackles off" a bit, but for large %'s of the games, we don't look like we know what we're doing.
I have little time for Sherwood as a manager. He talks the talk, but that's it. Maybe in time he will become a decent coach/manager, but he has a hell of a lot to learn, and should have cut his teeth in the lower divisions. This job is way too big for him. The players obviously know it, from the way they're playing. Most of us can clearly see it. There seems to be only one person who can't!...
I'd largely agree with this with the exception of Adebayor's reintroduction, though we've certainly been distinctly less boring under Sherwood, for the most part. This is probably because we can't defend for **** now though, to be honest. Our first half performances have been distinctly underwhelming, to say the least. Eriksen in particular looks confused by the instructions that he's receiving, starting off down the left then roaming about in the second half. Sherwood seems to have asked him to do a little too much, if his recent comments in interviews are anything to go by. He wants the Dane to play on the left when we don't have the ball, then basically go wherever he likes when we attack, making him hard to pick up and very difficult to deal with. That's fine in principle, but I don't think that a player of his age and lack of Premier League experience is capable of doing both well, which leaves him struggling when the game's at a stalemate. I still believe that we'd be better off with a little adjustment to our tactics and formation, but I can't see it happening this season, unfortunately. Kane doesn't really deserve to be dropped when he's done so well in the last few games, but I'd sacrifice him for the good of the side.
My impression is that the team is pretty aimless but maybe that is a refelection on me and my view of how this season has panned out. Certainly defensively it is a shambles I have little confidence against any opposition. The goals scored against us have been far too easily made. Any decent side starts from the back with a solid defence that is organised and looks like it knows what it is doing. Rose looks decent going forward but is he not supposed to be a LB? He is rarely there to defend. Naughton is better at RB that is for sure but is hardly the finished article. The CB's have chopped and changed, ok with injuries, but overall no one has looked secure IMO. Sherwood gives me the impression that he has just thrown our defensive players in the deep end with no proper plan. I like the freedom concept of playing football but surely you cannot apply that to defenders who need organisation and discipline.
I don't even think that it's the defence, Spurf. We have no defensive system as a team. I've lost track of the number of chances that we give away to long balls from deep positions by unmarked opposition deep midfielders. The high line doesn't work if nobody's closing down the other side's playmakers, as they can take all day to pick out runs by strikers and other attacking players. We play it anyway and then the defenders get blamed for messing things up when it's often not their fault and they've got no protection. Our manager can't see this or at least, he hasn't addressed it.
I'll list a few positives, and try and be fair. 1. The re-emergence of Adebayor, Adebayor was apparently considering his future in football, so in many ways Sherwood not just got his career back on track and brought goals to the team, but also saved the guys future in football 2. He discovered Harry Kane, Sherwood was the one who scouted Harry Kane when younger and now Harry Kane is repaying him by playing the best football of his career (and saving us a fortune on NEW STRIKER) 3. As we know, Sherwood spotted Eriksen when he was 17, so obviously that has been important in their relationship and Eriksen is playing for a manager he respects. 4. Winning games by "not knowing what you're doing" is in many ways preparing the players for next season as just imagine once we play with more organisation. The potential is frightening as this is work in progress. Last year and at the start of the season, Liverpool fans where saying "rodgers doesn't know, what hes doing". 696 (phone in) was awash with Liverpool fans moaning about the fact they where getting outplayed. Look at them now. If we sack Sherwood, we will be halting the progress made and potentially missing out on something special happening.
I'm as critical as most about Sherwood's mouth. He really does have a gift for saying the wrong thing. I also think Sherwood has gotten too little credit for his success in getting the team scoring goals and playing in a much more entertaining style. ATM the latter just outweighs the former. Plus, I may as well be consistent and back every manager Spurs have had while he's there.
I wish Sherwood compared with Rodgers. Most sensible Liverpool fans that I know were aware that Rodgers needed time to teach his players 'how to play football', after Hodgson and Dagleish did their damage. Rodgers had a track record of managing teams to play very well with far less skilful players. He had a system of play that they were moving towards. We have no such transition with Sherwood. I don't get a sense of what the shape might look like in a couple of years if he has his way. Redknapp had a way of balancing the team that Sherwood lacks IMHO. The media used Sandro's tweet to bait Sherwood. The tweet was actually harmless. Sherwood took the bait and said more than he needed to. He could have just agreed with the tweet and said yep, he's not injured, he's been working hard since returning from injury, he'll get his chance to play soon enough. Instead he chose to put his balls on the table by making an example of Sandro. Even that was blown out of proportion by the media. He gave them exactly what they wanted to create a story out of nothing. I haven't seen Rodgers pander to the media in this way.
Yeah I agree. I've been disappointed with a few of Sherwood's pronouncements not because they're inaccurate or false but just cos they don't need saying. And a top manager would not undermine his squad publicly - it's ridiculous. It's like his "much of a muchness" quote. That's about what I feel about our squad too but I don't want the manager publicly saying it! What is the point of that?!
Entirely agree. His overblown ego seems to brook no opposition. He seems to favour the dictatorial style of management - both privately ( is there any such thing with Sherwood?) and publicly. He 's not sharp enough, or media savvy enough to realise when he's being laid a trap. Consequently, he walked right into it. It is all indicative, IMO, of the amount of " respect" he is being shown by the players. Both in the way that they are currently playing and in the fact that Sandro felt able to challenge his manager publicly like that. The players, as with the last days of AVB, seem either unsure or have no confidence in what they are being asked to do.
Sandro's actual tweet said..... "Good morning Guys, just to let you know that i'm not injured ! Hope that we can win the game today." I personally don't see that as a challenge to the manager, and if Tim were savvy and secure he'd focus more on the fact that he (Sandro) wants Spurs to win the game and is showing support for the team and love for his fans in expressing this. Done. Finished. No story. Instead the jouro presented Tim with it as if it was a challenge, and Tim swallowed it. He almost didn't, but then he did. Whole. It's a shame because if he got he whole squad on side, he'd actually have a better chance at another season. At this rate though he'll create too many enemies. It's been the Tim Sherwood show rather than a job of effective management. Sounds too much like AVB, alienating particular players, and Harry before him, giving the media a little too much to talk about whilst not completely delivering on the pitch constantly enough to achieve what was required. Compare this to the dignity that Martinez shows consistently, and it's clear why Sherwood splits the fans despite the win record.
I still feel that there was a definite element of challenge, or disrespect in there. Why say it, otherwise? What he's effectively saying, and what we've all been talking about is, "Sherwood has dropped me, just so you all know, it's not that I'm injured"
As Spurm mentioned, and I've mentioned before, Sandro is to injury prone to attract a wide range of suitors, serious suitors as while I've no doubt he has been watched by various clubs in Italy & Spain, none of them are going to make a sizeable bid while he keeps picking up injuries, so unless we sold him on the cheap then i fully expect him to be here for a while yet.
