interesting article in todays Fiver from the Grauniad: Tim Sherwood, a source told the Sun in January, is not afraid to speak out. Thanks, source. We hadnt noticed. As the man himself said this week, I am singing it from the heart, not from the script – Im not an actor, I work on impulse. On Thursday night he impulsively declared that Benficas finger-waving manager Jorge Jesus lacks class, and whats more he thinks it would be a good idea to ignore him completely when Spurs are in Lisbon for their Big Vase round of whatever second leg. Nah, not for me thank you, he declared. I have no intention of speaking to him. Good plan, Tim. If you dont much like someone, its often best to avoid them completely. And he wouldnt be the first Spurs manager to refuse to talk to a person he considered disrespectful, after all. Glenn Hoddle did it once, when one particularly insolent player criticised him in the press. Midfielder, this player was. Name of Sherwood. The day after the article came out I tried to have a meeting with Hoddle, he sobbed. He just said, I dont want to talk to you. And those were the last words he ever said to me … In the end, the situation got so bad I wrote a formal letter of grievance. OK, but a mans allowed to change his mind, isnt he? And to his great credit, Sherwood seems a principled chap. Take, for example, his criticism of Dimitar Berbatov in 2007, towards the end of the sulky Bulgarians time at Spurs. He is a big character in the dressing room and if he starts poisoning the rest of the boys youve had it, Sherwood said. You need players in this situation, players who are going to fight for you. Like Sherwood himself fought for his managers. Take, say, Mr Roy at Blackeye Rovers, who wistfully recalled: Tim became very disenchanted with the club. Being such an important character, his discontent was able to spread to a lot of other players. These people didnt have the strength of character or experience to stand up to somebody who was finding fault with most things. Finding fault with most things, eh? Doesnt sound like Tim. He just sings from the heart. And, besides, he was younger then, and still learning. Hes older now. Wiser. When you get to this late stage of your career, he said a full decade ago, you do start to think about the possibility of management and what you have learned from your different bosses. So, lets see exactly what hes learned, and how well he learned it: Thing No1: George Graham has a simple philosophy: If you dont lose goals you dont lose games. If theres a secret behind his success, I think thats it. Result: Spurs, having kept a clean sheet in 54% of games this season before his appointment, have been running at 29% since. Thing No2: Ive learned a hell of a lot from Glenn Hoddle – and all of it his how not to do the job. His biggest fault is he has absolutely no man-management skills. The art of successful management involves keeping everyone in the squad happy. The result: Sherwood accuses his players of being lazy and unprofessional and too nice to each other. He shouldnt have to worry about their feelings, he reveals: They are men. Im a manager, not a babysitter. Thing No3: Kenny Dalglishs great managerial talent was that not only did he know every one of his own players but everybody elses as well. He would study the opposition and tell us what their players were good and bad at. He was a genius, the absolute guvnor. Result: Luisão left totally unmarked by an ill-prepared Spurs defence at set pieces and scores for Benfica. Twice. In summary, dont pay any attention to anything the man says. Or does. Many moons ago, when the Fiver was just a glint in Tim Berners-Lees eye, the PFA used to publish, on actual paper, an annual guide to Englands professional footballers. One of them once attempted to summarise Sherwoods character in two words. The ones they chose? Previously enigmatic.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 19:33:17 +0000
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