Last week, many around this site were asking the question, "What exactly does Tim Sherwood do?" This confusion sprung from Tottenham Hotspur's links to folks like Franco Baldini and Txiki Begiristain to become the Director of Football for Spurs. This was a role that many believed was supposed to go to Sherwood once Andre Villas-Boas, but it now seems like that is not the case.
Speaking to the press yesterday, Villas-Boas had this to say about Sherwood's current and future role at the club:
"In the way we want to build, I think Daniel Levy sees Tim continuing as technical co-ordinator, working with the development squad."
This is the sort of structure that I postulated last week when we discussed the potential addition of Bergiristain to the club. The Director of Football would oversee everything football related, but would have two direct reports: Villas-Boas and Sherwood. Villas-Boas is the head-coach and thus oversees the first-team and Sherwood would oversee the developmental squad. This seems to be the sort of structure that Villas-Boas prefers.
"In modern organisations there should be a link between the chairman and the football team There are different ways to interpret this gap. In England there is a manager with more responsibilities, but for me, as a head coach, it is better to have a director of football. It helps us to work closer with the first team. The director of football can have contacts with players and agents, as well as bridging the gap with youth football and with the scouting structure."
It's good to see that Villas-Boas is comfortable with this sort of setup. Too often managers and Directors of Football seem to butt heads and one ends up running the other out of the club. Long-term this is the sort of structure that could help Tottenham Hotspur enjoy a lengthy period of sustained success, as opposed to the sort of up and down experienced prior to Martin Jol's tenure at Spurs.
One final bit of news about Tim Sherwood is that Villas-Boas won't be stopping Sherwood from leaving to join Blackburn Rovers. The former Blackburn captain has been linked with a return to Ewood Park to replace Steve Kean. Villas-Boas told the press:
"It would not be up to me to say yes or no. It would be up to the club and Tim."
While it would be unfortunate to see Sherwood leave, especially given the work he has done these last few years with our academy players, it would be hard to begrudge him for leaving to take over as manager for a club he once captained. I'd love for him to stay at Spurs and I'm sure he would be compensated better here at Tottenham, but if Sherwood wants to manage then a return to the Lancashire club may be exactly what he needs.