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Talk about building them up just to knock them down. Tottenham's tenacious midfield destroyer and cult hero Sandro Raniere seemingly confirmed what every Spurs fan had been waiting to hear yesterday in telling ESPN Brazil that Tim Sherwood will be on the outs when the season comes to a close. Then he followed it up by implying he wouldn't mind following his unloved manager out of the door (presumably five or six yards behind). Here are the quotes from the ESPN interview reproduced in full:
"Ele (Sherwood) vai sair ao fim da temporada. Então, treinador novo, tudo novo".
This basically translates as Sandro saying that come summer time, Timmy is getting his P45 and a new coach is on the way in. Time to break out the party rings and pineapple hedgehogs, right?
"Não estou sabendo de nada ainda, mas fico feliz em ter meu nome comentado num clube do tamanho do São Paulo. De qualquer forma, seria muito difícil um empréstimo aqui. Se for para sair, teria que ser vendido e não é por pouco. Outros times vieram, porém, com pouco dinheiro. O presidente (Daniel Levy) negocia todo mercado, segura as conversas, teve o caso Bale, não é fácil".
And that's not-so good news. Sandro responds to some transfer gossip linking him to Sao Paolo here, and says it's an honour to be linked with such a big club. If he were to leave, he says, it would have to be a permanent transfer rather than a loan, and Daniel Levy is not going to sell up easy. Almost reluctantly, Sandro seems to accept that he'll be at Spurs for another season.
That reluctance is easy to understand when you consider how Sandro has been exiled from the team in the last few weeks by Sherwood, with his slot being filled by a revolving door of attacking midfielders that don't really fit a deeper role at all like Nacer Chadli and Gylfi Sigurdsson. If Sandro is upset about missing out on the Brazilian World Cup squad announced yesterday, however, then this is a bit of an overreaction. To force his way on to a midfield roster which Scolari was always going to be somewhat loathe to switch up this year, Sandro was going to need to stay fit and play out of his skin for a full season- and a long string of injuries have been largely to blame for this not happening.
Here's hoping that whoever Daniel Levy appoints as Head Coach in the weeks to come can make Sandro feel an appreciated part of the team again. Players who can blend strength with technical adeptness, along with the off-pitch traits of fan affinity and loyalty, in the way that Sandro does don't exactly come along every day.
