‘I don’t want this job for five minutes’ says Sherwood, looking into Spurs future

The interim Tottenham manager said he wanted to meet with chairman Daniel Levy to discuss his role. 'Are we going to move it forward or not?' he said after a 3-2 win over Southampton on Sunday.

Interim Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood aims to take the interim off his title after his side beat Southampton on Sunday. Dylan Martinez / Reuters

Tottenham Hotspur’s interim head coach Tim Sherwood hopes to be given the job on a permanent basis after a 3-2 victory at Southampton in his first Premier League game.

Sunday’s success at St Mary’s got Spurs back on track after they were thrashed 5-0 at home by Liverpool in Andre Villas-Boas’s last game and Sherwood now wants to discuss his future with chairman Daniel Levy.

“What would be ideal for me would be to have a chat with the chairman and see what’s best for the football club moving forward,” he said.

“I need to know what they’re thinking. I don’t want this job for five minutes. That’s no interest to me. Are we going to move it forward or not?

“There are some great candidates out there for this job. It’s a massive club with history and tradition. But whatever happens needs to be right for me, too.

“Whoever takes this job is in a good position. Andre has left the club in a good state. There’s nothing wrong with the job he’s done. Top of the league in the European competition (Europa League).

“Hopefully someone else can take it on to the next step.”

Sherwood put down his own marker with the victory at Southampton, when his team could have won more convincingly after a shaky start.

Key to the win was his decision to persevere with Emmanuel Adebayor, the Togolese striker who was frozen out by previous manager Villas-Boas but scored twice against Southampton.

“Listen, we all know Adebayor, we all know he’s a top player,” Sherwood said.

“He doesn’t need any motivating to go and play now because he’s not played for a long time. I’ve not said anything to him, nothing. It’s down to him.

“I’ve not had to gee him up. I just said: ‘There you go Ade, go and play and attack.’

“He was never a moment’s problem with me, to be honest. I’m always honest with players. If they give me respect, I’ll give it to them back.”

Sherwood also brought on 19-year-old Frenchman Nabil Bentaleb for his debut as a second-half substitute ahead of more experienced and more expensive players on the bench.

“A lot of these new players I don’t even know,” admitted Sherwood, who has been promoted from his role as technical coordinator.

“I’ve had three days training with them. It’s about the heat of the battle and knowing who you can trust, and the kid’s ready to play.

“That’s a problem at a big club. At Southampton, with the greatest of respect, their youngsters get a chance.

“When you’re at a club like Tottenham spending £110 million ($180 million, 131 million euros) in the transfer window, it’s difficult to get an opportunity.

“But I knew what I was going to get. I knew he wouldn’t be fazed. He was cool. He trains like every day is the last day in the world, listens, and has a fantastic attitude.”

Southampton have problems of their own. They were without six first-team players against Tottenham and have not won for six matches.

“We’re going through a very tough time at the moment, lacking a full squad, players suffering injuries and illness,” manager Mauricio Pochettino said.

“I am concerned about that situation, because we need to rediscover our defensive solidity. That’s our main goal at the moment.

“The team has dropped its levels after losing against Arsenal and Chelsea. You need a full squad to maintain those levels, and we’re struggling to do that right now.”

It did not help that stand-in centre-back Jos Hooiveld scored his fouth own goal in 25 games to put Tottenham ahead early in the second half.

“These things can happen,” Pochettino said.

“Not just him, but the whole team needs to regain the confidence we had at the beginning of the season. The game at Cardiff (on Thursday) is an opportunity to pick ourselves up and regain our winning ways.”