Callum Haymes drops some praise on Tim Sherwood, but does note there are sterner tests around the corner.
You’ve got to hand it to Tim
Five wins, one draw, zero losses. 16 points from a possible 18. In little over a month, Tim Sherwood has seemingly reversed Spurs’ fortunes and put the club back on track for a top four finish.
Nobody can criticise Sherwood for the job he has done so far. Barring two disappointing defeats in cup competitions, Spurs have gone on a six match unbeaten run in the league which has seen them face difficult trips to Old Trafford and St. Mary’s. Tougher tests are on the horizon; as early as this week in fact when Manchester City travel to North London.
Results aside, the performances have been impressive. Emmanuel Adebayor’s resurgent form in front of goal has galvanised the team. Sherwood was quick to play down his involvement :
“I can’t take the credit for him, Emmanuel Adebayor has to take the credit. I have just given him the stage to go and perform. It’s not as if he was never a good player.”
Admirable humility from a man who could so easily take all the plaudits.
I’m not normally one for statistics. They have a tendency to deflect from the true nature of a situation. Last season’s record points tally of 72 was lauded by many. In reality it was still a failure, especially when you consider the circumstances.
[authquoteleft text=”Emmanuel Adebayor’s resurgent form in front of goal has galvanised the team[/linequote]
However, Spurs are averaging 2.33 goals per game with Sherwood at the helm compared to 0.94 under Andre Villas-Boas. The change in formation appears to be paying off – defying the myth that 4-4-2 doesn’t work at the top level or that 4-2-3-1 it too defensive. At the other end of the pitch the improvement is similarly noticeable.
Only 0.83 goals conceded per game with Sherwood in charge, 1.31 when AVB was manager. No coincidence that the team concedes less when the high line is eradicated.
Sherwood must stick to his philosophy of fast paced, offensive football because that is the Spurs we all love and know. We won’t win every game. But is football solely about winning?
As the great Danny Blanchflower once said:
“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It’s nothing of the kind. The game is about glory. It’s about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”
Never has that quote felt felt so appropriate. When the going gets tough some will question the so called ‘gung-ho’ approach. Probably the same people that bemoaned AVB’s ‘boring’ tactics. You can’t have it both ways.
[authquoteright text=”Us, as supporters of Tottenham Hotspur, must stand by Sherwood. Like him or not, he’s the chosen man[/linequote]
Us, as supporters of Tottenham Hotspur, must stand by Sherwood. Like him or not, he’s the chosen man. There’s no use in making his job harder than it already is. Finally, Levy must show his faith in Sherwood by allowing him time to work with this squad.
Finishing outside the top four isn’t necessarily a failure this season. It certainly isn’t a good enough reason to bring in a new manager. Give Tim time. Give him the opportunity to build something at Tottenham.
Who knows what the future holds?
[author name=”Callum Haymes” avatar=”https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/427838843954663425/MJPWDEGu_bigger.jpeg” twitter=”CallumHaymes[/linequote]
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10 Comments
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28/01/2014 @ 11:31 am
Is football about winning? Yes, it is.
I may well be the only Spurs fan who is fed up to the back teeth of constantly having no pot to polish after 9 months of football, and I am tired of hearing other Spurs fans talk non-stop about wishing Arsenal would fail. How about we actually win something for once and not focus on Arsenal failing?
I will only congratulate Tim if he wins something. You mentioned our record points tally being a failure ultimately? Well, so is winning nothing of note in the season. After two dismal cup performances, our only realistic chance of a trophy is the Europa League. We’ll see how we perform in that. Right now, winning and going 4 points behind Man City is the only concern. I will wish Arsenal to fail as well as that means we will only be five points off top. But I’m not gonna be one of those who lauds the “pretty football” if there is nothing tangible to show for it at the end of the season, I’m afraid.
28/01/2014 @ 12:29 pm
Again , agree with all you have said , lets see i was 7 when Spurs chose me to support them , that makes 35 yrs that i have cheered or cried over us .
And i really wish we would get some sort of consistency with management , and players !
We have a fantastic squad , that with 4 competitions , should still be in at least 3 of them . We have a mix of older heads , loads of talent , and youth , that look like they are coming along nicely . So why are we still struggling to put a coaching/management team , and a football team together , that all know which direction they are going .
Last season (with a fantastic talisman ) , we were playing some of the best football about ! so how can selling (the talisman) a few players , that to be honest were not as good as we have now, and buying ? sorry replacing (as we actually made enough out of who we sold) them with , what most people would class as a most definite upgrade( baring the talisman) , and with the majority of the first team from last season , be struggling to replicate their performances from last season.
Yes , I realise that the 7 new players will need time to adapt , but considering we had a vast contingent of foreign players already , it should have helped the 7 settle quite quick , and surely the club would have pulled out all the stops to help them integrate and settle as much as possible ?
Sorry , i am going on a bit , all in all , we should be doing a lot better , wether that had something to do with AVB we will never know(probably) , but we have the players to push this club forward without to many ins or out , like most i would say , striker/left back/young promising goal keeper , but thats it . I am also liking Tim bringing in youth , but with the players he has already , he should be getting the best up of them , just like Ade . And bring the youth in later in games or if absolutely necessary .
We have been the butt of the jokes in the Prem for to long , and its about time Levy and co started taking our club and its fans seriously , and build the new stadium and push forward now , not 5 or 10 from now when its to late and half the Prem teams have already done so , and were left behind and or worse relegated .
Sod it , i went on again .
I want us to win trophies and titles , so come on you SPURS …………………..TTID…………………………………
28/01/2014 @ 11:32 am
…agree with everything you say, except that not finishing in the tope 4 would be a failure after spending £100-million on new players
28/01/2014 @ 11:36 am
He deserves at least as long as the last effort got.I think he’s doing well,considering the mess we were in,carry on Tim.COYS
28/01/2014 @ 11:38 am
Do we have the appetite for a fight ? For the past few seasons we have capitulated on the run in from more advantageous positions, at a time when relegation fodder are up for the scrap half our team don’t show up ! Maybe Tim can instill backbone in our quest for every point.
TS is a realist, he’s aware that anything less than Top 4 is seen as failure, i believe he knows he won’t be Tottenham Hotspur Head Coach in August with anything less, even achieving Top 4 guarantees nothing if LVG fancies a shot at PL football.
28/01/2014 @ 11:39 am
Sherwood has done ok,
But not finishing in top 4 is always a failure now. I know we have only done it once, and we don’t have a right to it.
However, every year we invest and fail to make it we are robbed of our star players.
This year will be Hugo’s turn. No top four no goalkeeper, lots of money in bank, Levy at least making his business model work if not the team.
To break from this demoralising, if profitable, cycle we need to progress. Win the Europa and make top 4 or we begin again.
28/01/2014 @ 12:18 pm
Waste of your fingertips time Im afraid mate. When has Levy ever given time to one of HIS projects??
Camolli Ramos & AVB all came under the illusion they would be given time to implement a whole philosophy and wya of playing WHL.
Each and every time, Levy pulled the plug at the first sign of hard work and reverted to an old school manager – Jol Redknap and this time Sherwood.
The irony of course, is that each of these clean up men have performed far better than the DOF styles put in before them, so, perhaps Spurs are a club that works better with a manager in the traditional sense? Or..
Perhaps Levy/the board/ENIC/Lewis are just completely inept/lacking balls when it comes down to it.
3 times they have tried to set up a ‘philosophy’ club, involving a direction from the top and we play the same way all the way thru the teams etc etc.. and…
3 times they have bottled it and wasted fans money and time as well as players careers who have then leftus, so we start the farce all over again.
I don’t care whether Levy opts for DOF and all age groups learn to play the way the 1st team do (never actually happened once, even in our most recent attempt, the U21’s boss (our own Tim) had a completely differing view on footy to the AVB?!)
Or if he just hires a manager to get on with it,… Either way, the cretin will propbably mess it up again and fire Sherwood in the summer and bring in some other prick and we start all over again…. AGAIN!!!!
28/01/2014 @ 1:30 pm
Just for reference, as I think it is important – Blanchflower never said, and I mean never, that losing games is OK so long as we play with a flourish. I hate that weak interpretation of a great winner’s words.
Maybe football isn’t first and last about winning. But for Blanchflower it was definately first about winning and last about doing it gloriously, with a flourish, and beating the other lot instead of boring them into submission.
I suspect, if you asked Sherwood, he’d far rather embody that as a manager than losing with a flourish. And at this very early stage he’s on the right path.
28/01/2014 @ 3:04 pm
Under Sherwood we have had one very good performance…..away against a struggling Man Utd. And one good performance…..away at Saints. We were rubbish in the two cup games we lost as well as against WBA and Palace. We were ok at Swansea and against Stoke. So lets not get carried away about Tims record so far…..we have played 5 teams in the relegation fight out of the 8 matches played with 4 of those easier games at home. Id expect a record of at least w5 d1 l2. Lets see what happens between now and Easter. Will Tim integrate the returning quality players? Will his tactics work against better teams? I hope so but I fear not.
28/01/2014 @ 5:43 pm
re gary fox
IF you had been at the Liverpool game like me you would know the true meaning of rubbish. I don’t understand this anti Sherwood nonsense.he is our manager going forward so its up to us to support him and the players .It seems to me if Levy had appointed a coach from abroad and he had made the start Tim has spurs fans would have been hailing him as the greatest.Dont forget you can only play the team that is in front of you.