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Sherwood sashimi

4 min read
by ARLombardi
So Sherwood will officially be on his way this summer. Should we rejoice or should we take stock that yet another manager has been chewed up and spat out by Tottenham

It’s not quite official but the truth is the writing has been stencilled on the wall waiting for someone to colour it in for quite some time. Tim Sherwood is going. Is it time for jelly and ice cream and a bouncy castle, or should we all take a moment to look at ourselves in the mirror?

Football - Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham UnitedAt the very heart of this saga is the truth that a man has lost his job. A football man who gave everything he had but has been found wanting. Love him or hate him the truth his he gave his all and for that much he won my respect.  He may not have had the skills to take the club forward, but at no point did he claim to.  

Sherwood a failure? Perhaps, but then so has pretty much every manager since Bill Nicholson, and even he had his barren spells. Sherwood was a novice put in charge of a club that a former French national manager, a double UEFA Cup winning manager, a FA Cup winning manager and a lovable Dutchman were unable to tame. Failing to command and get Spurs to produce something is not a unique event.

[linequote]The only way he would have been able to win people over was correcting a squad that had been malfunctioning for a long time already[/linequote]

All of these managers mentioned above had at least a summer to put something tangible together. Tim didn’t.  The former midfielder wasn’t so much parachuted in as dropped into shark infested waters from a Red Bull stratospheric diving platform.

Before he even began to move his arms the sharks were dining on Sherwood sashimi. He’s a Gooner, he has a Arsenal tattoo, he got AVB sacked, he is this or that.

The only way he would have been able to win people over was correcting a squad that had been malfunctioning for a long time already. The squad was flawed with its intended pilot in the cockpit, what chance did the person who grabbed the stick have as it plummeted towards earth?

Along this turbulent journey, Sherwood to his credit occasionally managed to make a believer out of me. There have been moments where against all odds the team showed character, a tactical nuance here and there and I thought “what if Sherwood was given time?” Is it so preposterous to allow a young hungry manager to build something? It seems so.

The fundamental flaw in his career was his mouth, this however is a Tottenham flaw as much as a Sherwood flaw. In alongside him Tottenham should have employed a experienced coach, someone to help him navigate the media waters. This never happened and he was left alone with Chris Ramsey and Les Ferdinand, both as inexperienced as Tim.

[linequote]it was never about supporting or loving Sherwood it was about wanting Spurs to win[/linequote]

In an amongst the wreckage of his first managerial outing, there are a few who shouldn’t be shielded from the fallout. Franco Baldini, Daniel Levy and every single Spurs player deserves a portion of blame.

At Chelsea and Liverpool it wasn’t Sherwood who bundled the ball into his own net or slipped in Eto’o to run in at goal. Nor was it his decision to put the faith of a top four bid onto the shoulders of luminaries such as Danny Rose and Kyle Naughton. We have been found wanting across the pitch, the dugout, the boardroom and the stands.

I was there against Hull when AVB, in a PR sense, made the gaff of questioning us, but deep down he was right. What has happened to us? StubHub, Y-word and ticket prices have knocked us, but we lost that sense of supporting that makes 1882 so refreshing.  This depression should have made us stronger, instead it made us a weaker and fractured group.

Supporting Sherwood became something you whispered about  just in case the Twitter Gestapo got hold of your timeline.  However it was never about supporting or loving Sherwood, it was about wanting Spurs to win.

[linequote]Over the course of his tenure perhaps if one or two players had tried a fraction as hard as him we would be in the top four hunt[/linequote]

Wanting Spurs to win became  synonymous with “Loving Sherwood” and attempting to find the reason why he played Nabil Bentaleb, one of our brightest youngsters in a decade,  a sin. How is this possible? When did we split?

We have failed as fans at times (at White Hart Lane mostly) this season, just as bad as Sherwood failed as manager.

Tonight I fear for the reaction Sherwood will receive. Does he deserve the abuse and names he has been called? Probably not, its football, he hasn’t killed anyone or locked anyone in a dungeon, he just had the misfortune of being put in charge of Tottenham. Sherwood isn’t the first and wont be the last manager we chew up and spit out. This reflect badly on us, not on him.

Amongst the gloating and “told you so” perhaps we take a moment to remember the human element of football.  A man has lost his job, a man that tried his best to make it work, he gave it his all, but fundamentally he failed, but at least he tried.

Over the course of his tenure perhaps if one or two players had tried a fraction as hard as him we would be in the top four hunt. This is a bad day all round and no one should be gloating.

Jelly and ice cream? Bouncy castle? Do me a favour. Go find some class.  We are meant to be better than them lot. 

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

ARLombardi

I read, I write, I speak, I edit for The Fighting Cock

13 Comments

  1. cyril
    07/04/2014 @ 3:18 pm

    he got hodgson fired at blackburn, he did his best to get hoddle fired at tottenham. rumours persist that he actively undermined avb. he was arrogant enough to think he could do it without cutting his teeth in the lower divisons like rodgers and others. he was arrogant enough to play his love child ahead of seasoned interntaionals, one of who will have a world cup winners medal in 4 months time. he has embarrassed all with his utternaces and behaviour. sorry, levy should NEVER have appointed him and should have seen him for what he is, lacking in class and ability. but sympathy for dim tim, not, sorry, i tired and could squeeze a drop.

  2. TommyHarmer
    07/04/2014 @ 3:26 pm

    I don’t like anything I have seen or heard about Sherwood, but I still feel sorry for him. None of us know what happens at Spurs because no one ever tells us. Those carefully crafted little statements from Our Dan conceal more than they reveal. My take is that no one gets what they want off Levy, who drives hard for a bargain and, if he can’t get the player he wants at the price he wants, moves on. The falling out with AVB would have been about the sale of Bale and the spending of the funds that came from the sale. Some moaned that we spent only the sum we recouped in transfer fees, but to have bought more players would have been crazy. To have bought BETTER players would have made sense, however, and the fact that Sherwood relied so heavily on a player he promoted from the youth setup from the outset indicates that we did not buy the players we needed in the summer. AVB was not happy, and I suggest that was because he didn’t have his team. The general feeling is that AVB was not supported by Sherwood, and that he, Ramsey and Ferdinand represented a rival faction that whispered behind his back. I am bemuse by the role of Stefan Freund in all this; was he just a peripheral figure as far as both camps were concerned? All this suggests that we have been, all this season an unholy, self-defeating mess, despite the public relations gloss. We need to get everyone out and start again …… and in a World Cup year this will not be easily. I think everything possible has been badly handled, and if I had been Lewis I would have shown Levy the door at the same time as Sherwood.

  3. Ian
    07/04/2014 @ 3:38 pm

    I don’t have much sympathy for him as it seems that he was held in high regard internally at the Club, talked his way into the job, and then failed. Failed in the sense that he has done more harm than good. There is a terrible atmosphere at the Lane this season, among the players and the fans.

    But I agree on the more serious point – it’s another manager come and gone. The problem we have is that we seem to be like England fans were up until a few years ago. We think we’re a lot better than we are. The Champions League season was great, but gave fans a false sense of entitlement. Yes, I want to play in the competition as much as possible, and yes I want the club to be ambitious, but the fans need to remain realistic. Chelsea, United, Liverpool and the Gooners have always been towards the top of the league, Everton consistently up towards the top 4-7 and now City have their millions and will always be up there too. We are a good team, but we’re no better than those sides, so for some fans to view top 4 as a ‘failure’ is part of the problem.

    I don’t share the view that we shouldn’t qualify for the Europa League as it hampers our league form. We should want to be in Europe every season, no matter if it is the Europa League.

    IF Van Gaal comes in, and it’s a big if, once again there will be a sense that the Champions League days can return. And if they don’t…he’ll be sacked and we’re back to square one.

    We need a manager who is ambitious but realistic and for this attitude to rub off on the fans.

    I know it’s not entirely on the topic of this post, but my 2p worth.

    • Ian
      07/04/2014 @ 3:40 pm

      I mean ‘not finish top 4 as a failure’….

  4. Spencer
    07/04/2014 @ 3:41 pm

    I agree with a great deal of this article. As soon as word got out that his family were Arsenal fans his goose was cooked. Do we really expect all our players to be Spurs fans. Is wearing the white shirt really what Vertonghen dreamt of as a child. It certainly isn’t now. His other crime is honesty If he’s asked a question why shouldn’t he say what he feels. I’m fed up with robots with media training spouting the usual platitudes. I’m amazed at how every quote reported gets torn to shreds by our own “fanbase”. It would have been nice if Sherwood would have had a pre-season to work on a game plan but it seems he was just too devisive to the supporters, really through no fault of his own. I only hope for everyones sake that we are top 4 at Christmas or the Twitter fans will no doubt kick off again. They’re usually quiet when we are doing well, such is the sense of entitlement that one season of Champions League brings

  5. Robo
    07/04/2014 @ 3:52 pm

    This season has gone from disaster to catastrophe. It has brought out the worst in Spurs fans, many of whom had their knives out as soon as Tim was appointed – see Twitter. And now speculation that Tim will go in the summer but nothing to confirm or counter on the THFC site. The silence from THFC is deafening, so speculation appears true. It is inept and unprofessional for the club to say nothing. No other business or club would act like that and Levy is supposed to be a top notch business man. He’s clearly not, going by his catalogue of mistakes. He should go, along with Baldini.
    The timing of this couldn’t be worse with 6 games still to play. Expect more fall out before season’s end. I weep.

    • J
      20/04/2014 @ 11:33 pm

      What do you expect the club to say? Confirm it? If they lie then that’s more unprofessional act.

  6. Halabil
    07/04/2014 @ 3:57 pm

    Feel sorry for him I do not as he had the hubris to believe that he was qualified enough to manage a team with top 4 ambitions having never managed a team before. Coaching the U-21s is good training to become a manger in the lower leagues where you really develop your tactical awareness and footballing philosophy, man management skills, dealing with the media, and so on. His lack of self-awareness or conversely his extreme hubris laid the foundation for his own down fall. He’s a grown man. He gave it a try when he should have rejected the offer and failed. He was awarded an 18-month contract so that financially he would get a little walking away money if things did not work out by the end of the season.

    However, I do agree with the systemic issues pointed out in blog: levy and company’s inability to define footballing strategy/culture at Spurs and to hire in the right manager and support them over the long haul. This is the core of the issue from a footballing perspective.

  7. LT
    07/04/2014 @ 4:02 pm

    Sherwood has had barely 4 months in the job to tidy up the mess left behind from the Naked Emperor aka AVB. The only person who got AVB sacked was AVB and the awful performances from the imbalanced squad he (and Baldini) had assembled this season. AVB’s tactical genius left us with Naughton and Rose to cover at Full-Back, no Left Winger and no pace at Centre Back. AVB’s chosen man for DoF, Baldini, signed seven players but only one has lived up to the hype. Hopefully the rest kick on next season but it’s not fair to blame Sherwood, who had an impossible task. I’ve got a nagging feeling Sherwood could develop into a top Manager and it will be in true Spurs style to have had no faith in him and have let him go. You only have to look at what he did with the U21s, winning their U21 Premier League and beating Barcelona 1-4 at theirs in the NextGen to realise for all his inexperience, the man had potential. The Fighting Cock joked about loaning managers out on their podcast but maybe that’s not such a bad idea. I suspect Van Gaal or whomever comes in won’t be around for long either.

    • Davspurs
      14/04/2014 @ 12:57 pm

      Never a truer word spoken at Liverpool they finished 7th 12 points of third they are now heading for the title to go with there owners Baseball World series a unique double . The records are tumbling by the week most goals in first half most before 15 mins most pens most wins most energy levels and more to come. When we sacked AVB i feared another manager would come in no experience of Christmas rush the January sales desperate spring. Then to our surprise Tim Les Ram Freund all played for us except Ramsey full English with touch German sausage . I was excited because our History bleeds homegrown Managers then at Swansea our coaching staff changed the 442 and we won then over the coming weeks Ady worked overtime leading the line getting pressed admirable. Then came Thursday games and returning players all wanting to play in a World Cup Year this was the start of our problems started. We had players playing Thursday who wanted to play Sunday but Tim knew tired legs would be pressed by fresh legs. This eventually happened when we played Liverpool a fired up and rested a team who play at a speed no other team does till at least 15 mins by then the game was gone i no we was never in condition to beat this style of playing while playing UFA games. Then comes what i call the desperate months March April May June where players are fighting for survival and managers for here jobs we faced a Norwich team with one of our ex players who was going to be sacked if they lost to us and i knew then we would struggle to win no matter who played and i believe this finished our top 4 and led to Tim losing is job and some of the players backing with his condemnation of there performance. I truly hope Levey keeps faith with Tim and is staff to stay and if anyone goes it should be Baldini and Tim rest should work with the new man or we will have another season of unknown. The reason i want Tim to stay is this i never judge a manager in August i judge them at Christmas heavy schedule and after January window where players are tapped and where wins are harder to get and even harder if you play Thursday. I no more than most on here why Liverpool turned there bad season last year without spending vast sums and i will warn all my fans LVG wont stop this come April if relegation threatens Leicester 1- Spurs 0 and we be back with another sacking we lost over 12 points after Thursday Games. COYS

  8. Bryce Devos
    07/04/2014 @ 4:46 pm

    Well sherwood sorry for him do me a favour you watched the norwich game then you tell me you feel sorry for by way take kaboul with him they both suit each other.

  9. Ak_Spurs
    08/04/2014 @ 4:21 pm

    I find it interesting that we want instant results in football and yet we don’t want to give managers time to develop personally or develop players. I understand that we’re not looking for 26 year reign like Sir Alex. I’d kick myself in the balls if I had to watch tele every Saturday and see that face in the dugout. I think Sherwood needs a full preseason and then regular season to see what he can do. I don’t know understand why every one is so keen to get rid of him? What happens if this Danish bloke is a pile of shit? What if he doesn’t turn out results? Are we going to fire his ass and move on to the next “big name?” I find Levy’s managerial selection process and evaluation period utterly ridiculous. We want a club that wins trophies, yet we have no stability. We want for our players to perform yet every season they’re being told new things by different managers. We want a manager who loves the club, but we slag off any one who hasn’t loved Spurs since they were sucking on their mom’s tits. Give me a break. Keep him and around and see what happens. Spurs won’t be relegated in a season, and if they are? Well fire his ass in December, not like we haven’t done that before

  10. Davspurs
    14/04/2014 @ 1:04 pm

    My Dream Team would be Tim Les Ram Freund Laudrup who will be good for Erickson and bring Williams Bony

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