Aston Villa post was no-brainer, says Sherwood
ASTON Villa manager Tim Sherwood has described his decision to take charge at the struggling club as a “no-brainer” and insists six wins from their remaining 13 games should be enough to avoid relegation.
Sherwood officially started work yesterday, having accepted the job on Saturday and watched his new team reach the FA Cup last eight by beating Midlands rivals Leicester 24 hours later.
His appointment as Paul Lambert’s successor came after protracted talks with Queens Park Rangers over their vacancy ran aground last week, though the former Tottenham boss said he needed little persuasion.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity and a huge football club. When I got the call asking if I’d be interested, it was a no-brainer,” he said. “Yes. I’ll take the job and then we’ll negotiate later, see if they like what I’m about.”
Lambert was sacked after a run of just two wins in 21 Premier League matches nudged Villa into the bottom three. Sherwood believes victory in almost half of their remaining fixtures, which include contests with survival rivals West Brom and Sunderland, is needed to avoid a first relegation since 1987.
“It’s all about winning, nothing else,” he added. “You can’t look any further than the end of the season. We need six wins so it [13 games] will be enough. We need to win and we need to get the players to play to their ability and if we can do that then we’ll be very competitive.”
Sherwood urged Villa to play with “less fear” and hopes to improve striker Christian Benteke’s return of three goals this season, while insisting the burden was not all the Belgian’s.
“He probably needs a goal for his confidence,” he said. “It’s not a one-man team. He needs to recapture the form that we all know because all the best clubs in the world were after him. He will need to be helped out by the rest of the squad. They need to step up to the plate.”