Tim Sherwood has urged NSWE to act on Emery’s squad depth message after Villa’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham as new financial figures reveal a £96.7m parent company loss.
- Sherwood insisted Sunday’s “ponderous” display was Emery sending a message to Villa’s owners
- The former Villa manager predicted Emery will win the Europa League for a fifth time on Thursday
- NSWE UK Limited posted a £96.7m loss for the year ended June 2025
Sherwood’s verdict. Emery sent a message
Tim Sherwood did not hold back in his assessment of Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham.
The former Villa manager delivered a scathing verdict on the back-up players who failed to perform, but reserved his most compelling analysis for what he believes the display actually represented.
“He’s making a point to the hierarchy,” Sherwood told Sky Sports News. “I’m giving the opportunity to those in reserve and those in reserve are not good enough. We’re going to need some help next season, especially in the Champions League.”
That interpretation reframes the entire selection controversy. Rather than a tactical miscalculation, Sherwood views Sunday’s team as a deliberate and pointed statement from Emery to NSWE about the scale of investment required.
His criticism of the players who did start was equally direct.
“The ones who went on the pitch: there’s an opportunity to play in the Europa League final possibly. They never showed up.” Furthermore, Sherwood suggested some of Villa’s regular starters visibly struggled with the rotation decision.
“The likes of Morgan Rogers, they looked like they were sulking that they were actually playing.” That observation captures a damaging body language issue that the Villa Park faithful noticed and responded to with audible frustration.
Sherwood backs Emery for fifth Europa League title
Despite his criticism of the players, Sherwood’s faith in the manager remains entirely intact. His prediction for Thursday’s second leg at Villa Park was characteristically bold and direct.
“For me, Unai Emery is a masterful manager. I love him to death. He’s won it four times I think he’ll win it five times. I think they’ll win the Europa League. Whoever wins this tie between Forest and Villa will win the competition in my opinion.“
NSWE’s £96.7m Loss — The Financial Context
Away from the football, new figures published on Companies House have revealed that NSWE UK Limited, Aston Villa’s parent company, posted a loss of £96.7m for the year ended June 30, 2025. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire noted the figures “net off all the intra-group transactions such as selling the women’s team and real estate to itself.“
Villa made a profit of £77.6m on the sale of their women’s team and £36m on the sale of The Warehouse, both to NSWE Holding Limited, another subsidiary within the group structure.
Those transactions contributed to Villa reporting a profit after tax of £17m separately. Maguire’s observation about “complex group structures” underlines the sophisticated financial architecture surrounding the club’s ownership.
Message is clear: investment is required
Sherwood’s analysis and the financial figures point toward the same conclusion.
The squad depth exposed on Sunday needs addressing. NSWE have the message. Thursday’s second leg now defines whether the summer begins from a position of European glory, or painful near-miss.
