Would you trust Tim Sherwood at the helm for your club’s relegation battle? by duncanfergusson on February 4, 2015 Topics English Premier League, Harry Redknapp, Managers, Queens Park Rangers please log in to view this image So, an increasingly irrelevant manager (Harry Redknapp) resigns from your football club (Queens Park Rangers) amid a confusing set of circumstances (health or towel-tossing), and the stars align to sit Tim Sherwood in pole position (many bookmakers offerings suggest it would be more lucrative for the avid punter to bet on Tiger Woods bagging another golf major than against Sherwood becoming QPR manager) for becoming your next manager right in the middle of a tight relegation battle worth millions to the club’s businessmen, but more importantly, the pride of your loyal supporters. Would you be happy with Tim? Following a quietly impressive playing career, Sherwood entered the coaching stratosphere, most notably with Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 for five years before being given the opportunity of taking lead duties in the dugout at Spurs in December 2013…and sacked 5 months later in May 2014 by the Spurs Chairman, Daniel Levy! Admittedly Levy is one of football’s most decisive businessmen, and not one to allow sentimentality, Sherwood having playing and coaching ties to the club, get in the way of good business sense, but this is the total sum of Sherwood’s managerial experience…5 months bringing a haul of 14 wins from 28 games. At 45 years old, age is not a concern. Indeed, 45 may be seen as a little old compared to the most recent appointments pattern in Europe over the past 5-10 years. Experience is the concern. Especially when high pressure is concerned, experience is everything. There is a valid argument that the lower end of the table provides the greater excitement every year than the top end, and this excitement transpires into greater pressure and stress for those involved. Yet, even the greatest experience of Harry’s +30 year managerial career could not bring in the necessary reinforcements in January. Although the January transfer window is not the time to find value, it is the time to identify your club’s current weaknesses and find a spark that may alter the decline. That is what clubs want in January, a spark. It may be a creative spark, or it may be a defensive spark. Either way, the spark will change current behaviour, in the relative capacity, for the better. QPR have not made the investment, they have not brought in any potential outside spark, despite their supposedly vast efforts, therefore the onus lies on the management team to create a spark from within the current squad. Over the course of the 2014/15 EPL season, there have been 4 (if you include Crystal Palace split from Tony Pulis on the eve of the campaign) managerial changes, all of which have led to the touting of Tim Sherwood for the role. None of these have deemed Sherwood fit for the cause. Of course, there is the possibility that Sherwood may have made the decision not to take up a position himself, but a man this keen to stay relevant in top level English football (and the more games you take charge of, the more relevant you are, never mind the team) would not make those decisions in my opinion. QPR have lost 11 away games from 11. This is their problem. They have the league’s leading English scorer in their ranks, with more home goals (18) than Liverpool (17). Although that can be improved, it is defence that is their problem, shown by the league’s poorest defensive away record of conceding 27 in 11 games. When proven managers such as Steve Bruce, Ray Wilkins, Steve McLaren and Michael Laudrup may be possible appointments for the role, would you want a rookie manager of 5 months managing experience such as Tim Sherwood at the helm of your relegation-threatened team? I would think very carefully about it. There are ways to learn the trade, and times when an inexperienced manager should be brought into a club to revitalise the whole project…but this is not one of them. Duncan Fergusson (03/02/2015) Soccerlens
BETFAIR: "Michael Lintorn - QPR Manager - Why it won't be Tim Sherwood, the odds-on favourite for the QPR job... Tim Sherwood emerged as the favourite to succeed Harry Redknapp at QPR the second that the Betfair Next Manager market went live. A staggering £18,269 of the first £18,763 staked on the market was on the former Tottenham boss, with the highest odds snared being 2.1. The 45-year-old is currently a 1.32 frontrunner, but doesn't that just make him an irresistible lay bet? Here's the case for taking Sherwood on... He is too similar to Redknapp When a manager leaves a club having underperformed - as Redknapp did, regardless of whether the knee surgery was the trigger for his resignation as has been claimed - you require a change of approach. The evidence of Sherwood's brief Spurs stint suggests that he is too similar: brash, media-friendly, tactically naïve and seemingly prone to the mentality that foreign players lack the heart and fight of their heroic English counterparts. The inexperience Sherwood's only managerial work was five months as a stopgap at Tottenham where a poor start and struggling signings stifled expectations. At QPR, survival would be demanded. Several Premier League rookies failed at this target in recent years: Neil Adams at Norwich and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Cardiff last term, Steve Kean at Blackburn in 2011/12 and Alan Shearer at Newcastle in 2008/09. Both prior Tony Fernandes appointments - Mark Hughes and Redknapp - were the antithesis of this. He is as much firestarter as extinguisher Many in the media enjoy Sherwood because he is a magnificent interview: honest, amusing and unbothered by the consequence of his words. While this makes for brilliant entertainment, it also creates a lot of avoidable drama and can exacerbate crises, as was demonstrated when he accused his Spurs squad of a "lack of character" and faking injuries at various points last season. The last thing QPR need right now is someone else taking jabs at Adel Taarabt in his press briefings. It isn't usually the early favourite Except in instances when a club name the successor as they sack the incumbent, it is surprisingly rare for the initial frontrunner to get the job, with recruitment processes running longer and odds-on candidates being turned over more frequently. Sherwood to QPR just seems too convenient too, with his former Tottenham allies Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey already in place. Fernandes will know that reuniting the gang will attract a lot of cynicism both internally and externally." The club is reported as stating that it hopes to have appointed a new manager by the Hull match on 21st Feb.
They mention Laudrup as being a viable alternative - surely he's on board somewhere else, if not, he would be an excellent choice for the revitalising of our football?
If he becomes our manager then so be it, I will give him support & wish him well, being written off before even appointed!!
What odds can I get on Flash Gordon becoming our new manager? I would be very happy with that as he'll save everyone of us...
Fair point but to counter what you have just posted Flash Gordon has one more trick up his sleeve that Harold lacked, he's a miracle. We could do with a miracle or two right now if we are to stay in the top flight... (Sorry everyone, just trying to lift our spirits)
Who can we trust to give us the best possible chance of staying up? As Harry would have said "It's difficult", but I wonder if he gave a recommendation at the same time as jumped ship - anyone know?
Wasn't a serious question by me, UTR and I've rephrased it. We need our spirits lifted right now, so don't stop...!
The more i think about Harry the more i think he stitched us up in the end. Goes after Transfer day so we can't get anyone in. Never wanted to get in players to help. (i wonder if he told Adyboyoh not to come)? He is mates with Hoddle so i bet they also spoke about it. Keeps saying Les or Tim would do a great job wanting them fail because 'no one could do the job better' than harry so he kept saying. He must have known for some time that he was offski and waited until the worst time to do it. Think about what other time would hurt us as more? Hes son must have known as well so on Transfer day he must of been lying. Shame i didn't watch much of Sky as it would have been interesting to see how Jamie acted. Anyway lets hope we get someone in with class enough to be honest.....How about Warnock!
The one thing I did note Jamie writing about on Monday was that whoever got Jermaine Defoe was going to get goals. I suspect, inadvertently or not, he was Harry's mouthpiece here, and not getting Defoe may have rankled with Harry more than any other player we didn't get during January
It's looking like sherwood, why is he getting so much publicity, why is he even being considered, he has managed for half a season then was got rid of, why why why
Sherwood is better than someone who has been stuck in 80's type football. If it is him then he has a hell of a job on rectifying harry's stamp on things but at least he is young and more up to date with the modern game. Don't expect miracles straight away and whatever you do dont slag him off and get behind him no matter. Tim is a good manager and will need time to sort everything out. Don't be like leeds fans calling for his head after a few games as you can see what happens when you change managers as quick as them. Patients is the order of the day and it will pay off in the end.
