Re: Tim Sherwood - Head Coach
I'm playing devil's advocate here slightly and second guessing what some of Scara's concerns may be. If Sherwood was a bumbling idiot then he may have trouble interpreting and applying the information on the training pitch.
As I intimated in my earlier post, this whole 'bumbling idiot' image (if it even actually exists outside of a few fans' overactive imaginations), could easily be a facade shown only in the media gaze.
It may not be, but history tells us that managers, often the best of them, chat utter sh1t to the media. Fergie and Mourinho were excellent at it, and I feel their dominance over Wenger has a lot to do with their handling of the media and the players, not by tactical jargon, but by little soundbites and quips to get under his skin.
Now I know that isn't exactly the same thing as 'dumbing down', but it shows that the media in English football is one big game, and to bring in tactics to that game devalues you and puts you under scrutiny. It is boring and apart from a few intellectual fans who like that side of the game (a type of fan over-represented on this board), does not do well in the press, because people aren't interested in it.
The general public, and therefore the media, are more interested in soundbites and simplistic nonsense than actual hard analysis. That (nepotism aside) is why Jamie Redknapp is a perennial figure in the Sky Sports studios and James Richardson has only just got his break on a major channel having formerly hosted Italian football on 5.
There have been many reports from inside the club about Sherwood's tactical acumen and his 'ideas'. Does anyone really think these 'ideas' that won over a Levy formerly impressed by AVB's tactical abilities (what won him the job), are as simplistic as 'we should tell Soldado to run about a bit', '4-5-1 is nonsense, its all abaat 4-fackin-4-fackin-2', or 'that Maiga fella scored a banger on MOTD, sign him up guv'!?
Levy has worked with 8 (9?) managers before Sherwood, he clearly would have a benchmark for the tactical and intellectual side of the game. He is not going to appoint some sort of chump as manager of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. At the very least Sherwood will have demonstrated he is tactically able, and at best that he is some sort of Guardiolaesque messiah. Or most likely somewhere in between.. but only time will tell!
As for planning and the big picture - he was Technical Director FFS! He was in charge of the entire youth structure, its strategy, and how it fed into the first team squad! That surely is evident of ability to plan for the long term!