The Birmingham Mail talked to Tim Sherwood in depth about his short ten months in charge of Aston Villa Football Club. Since his firing in October 2015, Sherwood has moved around the sport. He most recently left Swindon Town as the club’s Director of Football.
Tim Sherwood commented about the current state of Aston Villa, as well as his time as manager. In which, he states John Terry would be quietly impressed with Aston Villa. Stating it’s, “not a step down” from Chelsea.
Sherwood praised the way Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and André Green developed as well. Both have high ceilings according to the former Villa manager. Moreover, Sherwood notions that Hepburn-Murphy would do well with a loan move away this term.
A move to League One or League Two with 30 matches under his belt would aid in development.
"“Rushian is a box player, a goalscorer but he needs to go out and play regular football in my opinion, under-21 and under-23 football is no good for anyone,” Sherwood said.“He needs to go and play, whether that’s League One or League Two. He needs to go and play 30 or 40 games and then he’ll learn.”"
Despite all the praises to Aston Villa, Sherwood remains peeved about the way he was treated as manager. His firing occurred just five months after he led the club to FA Cup Final defeat that May. However, it was the summer transfer market that created a huge rift between executives and management.
Chief executive at the time, Paddy Riley and his team, invested heavily on players foreign to the Premier League. Jose Crespo, Jordan Veretout, Jordan Amavi, Rudy Gestede, Idrissa Gueye, Adama Traore all arrived with varying degrees of success.
Next: No movement yet for Villa fringe players
Sherwood argues he was not able to bring in “his guys”, which is a fair criticism given he is the one dictating the style of play. However, that doesn’t mean “his guys” were the best for Aston Villa in the short or long-term.
Sherwood bounced around following his Villa exit. Most recently, he left Swindon Town’s Director of Football position. He hopes to continue managing one day, but after two failed stints (Villa + Spurs); an upper level move may serve him better. One that allows Sherwood to evaluate young players and the market as a whole.