Alan Pardew, Tim Sherwood, Sam Allardyce, Jose Mourinho... this season is a sports journalist's wet dream. Take last month's article, change the dates, and they've got a new piece to meet this month's quota.
-----
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/25/tim-sherwood-tottenham-manager-win-record
Tim Sherwood says win record makes him Spurs' best ever top-flight manager
Manager points to 58% Premier League victory statistic
'There is no one at this club who has done a better job'
Tim Sherwood has continued his campaign to remain as Tottenham Hotspur manager for next season by referring to a statistic that makes him the most successful manager in the club's top-flight history.
A haul of 10 victories from 17 matches since replacing André Villas-Boas in December gives him a win rate of over 58%, better than any of his predecessors, and Sherwood reckons those credentials entitle him to feel confident about remaining in charge at White Hart Lane.
"The record's good – it is better than any Premier League manager in the history of this club," said Sherwood. "There has been no one at this club who has done a better job at the Premier League. My record stands for itself."
Detractors could counter that 17 matches is a rather small sample from which to draw any significant conclusions and that it is disingenuous to overlook the exits from the Capital One Cup at the hands of West Ham, the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal and the Europa League elimination by Benfica on top of the heavy defeats to the top three teams in the Premier League.
However, Sherwood evidently feels the need to blow his own trumpet in order to make himself heard amid the expectation of a managerial change in the summer. This is not a manager who is going to surrender his position quietly, especially as he maintains that he has accomplished the mission entrusted to him even if Tottenham look unlikely to secure the top-four finish that they crave. Sherwood reckons that only someone with "a magic wand" could have done better than him this season.
"It was never the brief when I came into the club that we had to finish in fourth place," he said. "What was said to me was: 'Can we make the team a little bit more attractive and score more goals?' and I think I've ticked that box."
"When I took over I told the chairman this would be a very difficult task to finish in the top four with the squad of players you've got. So I was very up front and honest with him. And I was still put in the position and just tried to do the best I can. It looks like the top-four has been a bridge too far unfortunately. I don't know if someone else could do better. If someone comes in with a magic wand perhaps. The only way for someone to do better is you need time with it."
Sherwood warned that Tottenham must decide upon a policy to take them forward rather than simply hire a manager in vogue. "It's important for the club, and for any club, to know what they want and not to just get anyone as they are the biggest name who can appease the fans for 10 minutes. Those guys still get the sack wherever they go so it's about getting the right man for the right job and the right fit."
Sherwood believes he is the right fit. He says that he is more familiar than any other manager with both the Premier League and, thanks to his previous role as the head of youth development at Tottenham, with the young players at his club. He suggested that people at Tottenham, from senior management to the fans, suffered from a costly tendency to overlook the talent on their books in favour of fashionable imports. He contrasted that mentality with Liverpool's commitment to young English players.
"Homegrown players at Liverpool are embraced," he said. "They love homegrown players at Liverpool Football Club. Tottenham fans like signings. Ledley King is a legend here but it took him a lot of time to achieve that. Look at the other homegrown players. Do they get much time? Do they get a lot of pressure? Harry Kane scored three in three. But if he has not scored in half an hour they are still singing Robbie's [Roberto Soldado's] name to come on. It is very difficult.
"I don't think anyone looks at youth enough in the English game and it's too easy to say these kids aren't good enough. Well, actually there are some good kids out there. What they need is an opportunity and for someone to recognise what an opportunity is. To send a kid on when the fourth official puts his board up and say, 'Change the game for me' is not an opportunity. They need to be given a chance to be poor then a little bit better and then they become good.
"And in the end your homegrown players will always be your best players. Look at the Gerrards, the Carraghers, the Nevilles and the like. Always the best players for their clubs. They're not going to be your Ronaldos, flash-in-the-pan fantastic players who are going to leave after two or three years … but I don't think foreign managers give that opportunity to young players."
One young English player who has featured little under Sherwood in recent weeks is Andros Townsend, whose hopes of making Roy Hodgson's World Cup squad may be damaged by his lack of first-team action. Sherwood, however, says that is not his concern. "I only play young players who are good enough and at the moment there are two players playing better than Andros, in my opinion.
"If I feel that Andros is better than Christian Eriksen and Aaron Lennon, who are in front of him at the moment, then he'll play."
-----
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/25/tim-sherwood-tottenham-manager-win-record
Tim Sherwood says win record makes him Spurs' best ever top-flight manager
Manager points to 58% Premier League victory statistic
'There is no one at this club who has done a better job'
Tim Sherwood has continued his campaign to remain as Tottenham Hotspur manager for next season by referring to a statistic that makes him the most successful manager in the club's top-flight history.
A haul of 10 victories from 17 matches since replacing André Villas-Boas in December gives him a win rate of over 58%, better than any of his predecessors, and Sherwood reckons those credentials entitle him to feel confident about remaining in charge at White Hart Lane.
"The record's good – it is better than any Premier League manager in the history of this club," said Sherwood. "There has been no one at this club who has done a better job at the Premier League. My record stands for itself."
Detractors could counter that 17 matches is a rather small sample from which to draw any significant conclusions and that it is disingenuous to overlook the exits from the Capital One Cup at the hands of West Ham, the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal and the Europa League elimination by Benfica on top of the heavy defeats to the top three teams in the Premier League.
However, Sherwood evidently feels the need to blow his own trumpet in order to make himself heard amid the expectation of a managerial change in the summer. This is not a manager who is going to surrender his position quietly, especially as he maintains that he has accomplished the mission entrusted to him even if Tottenham look unlikely to secure the top-four finish that they crave. Sherwood reckons that only someone with "a magic wand" could have done better than him this season.
"It was never the brief when I came into the club that we had to finish in fourth place," he said. "What was said to me was: 'Can we make the team a little bit more attractive and score more goals?' and I think I've ticked that box."
"When I took over I told the chairman this would be a very difficult task to finish in the top four with the squad of players you've got. So I was very up front and honest with him. And I was still put in the position and just tried to do the best I can. It looks like the top-four has been a bridge too far unfortunately. I don't know if someone else could do better. If someone comes in with a magic wand perhaps. The only way for someone to do better is you need time with it."
Sherwood warned that Tottenham must decide upon a policy to take them forward rather than simply hire a manager in vogue. "It's important for the club, and for any club, to know what they want and not to just get anyone as they are the biggest name who can appease the fans for 10 minutes. Those guys still get the sack wherever they go so it's about getting the right man for the right job and the right fit."
Sherwood believes he is the right fit. He says that he is more familiar than any other manager with both the Premier League and, thanks to his previous role as the head of youth development at Tottenham, with the young players at his club. He suggested that people at Tottenham, from senior management to the fans, suffered from a costly tendency to overlook the talent on their books in favour of fashionable imports. He contrasted that mentality with Liverpool's commitment to young English players.
"Homegrown players at Liverpool are embraced," he said. "They love homegrown players at Liverpool Football Club. Tottenham fans like signings. Ledley King is a legend here but it took him a lot of time to achieve that. Look at the other homegrown players. Do they get much time? Do they get a lot of pressure? Harry Kane scored three in three. But if he has not scored in half an hour they are still singing Robbie's [Roberto Soldado's] name to come on. It is very difficult.
"I don't think anyone looks at youth enough in the English game and it's too easy to say these kids aren't good enough. Well, actually there are some good kids out there. What they need is an opportunity and for someone to recognise what an opportunity is. To send a kid on when the fourth official puts his board up and say, 'Change the game for me' is not an opportunity. They need to be given a chance to be poor then a little bit better and then they become good.
"And in the end your homegrown players will always be your best players. Look at the Gerrards, the Carraghers, the Nevilles and the like. Always the best players for their clubs. They're not going to be your Ronaldos, flash-in-the-pan fantastic players who are going to leave after two or three years … but I don't think foreign managers give that opportunity to young players."
One young English player who has featured little under Sherwood in recent weeks is Andros Townsend, whose hopes of making Roy Hodgson's World Cup squad may be damaged by his lack of first-team action. Sherwood, however, says that is not his concern. "I only play young players who are good enough and at the moment there are two players playing better than Andros, in my opinion.
"If I feel that Andros is better than Christian Eriksen and Aaron Lennon, who are in front of him at the moment, then he'll play."
