After any manager is removed from a football club, the instantaneous state of mind any fan finds themselves in is “who are we going to get now?”.
That’s the situation Villa fans found themselves in last week after Paul Lambert was sacked by the club. With Villa fans waiting anxiously to see who Randy Lerner would replace him with, after 3 years of unquestionable loyalty and devotion to the former Champions League winner Paul Lambert.
It seems historically unfair to have a vacant Villa job and not somehow tacitly connect it to Jürgen Klinsmann with Randy Lerner’s obvious footballing connections in America, but unfortunately for all Villa fans around the globe Jürgen will not be making a managerial appearance at Villa Park any time soon. However, a fresh faced north Londoner straight out of several boardroom interviews and meetings has took the reins, ready to propel the Villa into the upper echelons of the Premier League table in the future. For now though, the goal is to survive.
Tim Sherwood’s best qualities are exactly what we have been missing, especially from a man management point of view. He can motivate a group of players with his desire and passion. Although Sherwood may not be the most tactically astute managers, I believe he can get the best out of our creative players. The likes of Jack Grealish will flourish under Tim Sherwood, Delph and Sinclair too, who you can see are just waiting for the shackles of negativity to be removed from them, so they can dictate what they want to do on the pitch, rather than have to employ tactics slashed down from the manager. Also, with his great work in the Tottenham academy before his time as first team coach, it seems as though his ethos is similar to Villa’s, speaking within the realms of bringing through academy players. With a record of bringing through the likes of Gareth Bale, Kyle Walker and Harry Kane while working at the club, it’s not a bad record to have and it’s something every Villa fan would love to see.
The problem with Villa over the last season is that we’ve being scared to lose. That mentality in football cannot be harboured during a relegation battle and just creates endless cycles of losses and even when you do win, a sense of negativity shifts into the way players treat each game. The best example to show the effect Tim Sherwood will have on the squad, or maybe already has had on the squad, is Ciaran Clark’s meaty tackle on Jeff Schlupp last weekend.
As an Aston Villa fan, I believe that confidence in your own ability, and your team mates’ ability, is vital not just for the upcoming challenge of staying in the division, but also for the future of football for the club. I think we will stay up this season, mainly down to Tim Sherwood’s heart and mentality. I think Tim Sherwood has the charisma and the ability to do more with Villa with the right recruitment in the future, after we survive this season. His remit for the next few years is to make us, again, a fully established top half premier league side, and until then, he’ll be our manager for the next few years, so get behind Tim and the team.
Up the Villa.
