Time up for Tim at Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that manager Tim Sherwood has been relieved of his duties after just five months in charge at White Hart Lane. The former youth coach took over from Andre Villas-Boas in December on an initial 18-month deal, although chairman Daniel Levy has now decided to terminate that deal after Sherwood failed to lead the club into the Champions League.

While Sherwood failed to achieve a top-four finish and a return to the Champions League, the former Spurs midfielder leaves the job with a win percentage of 59% during his five months in the job and also finished the Premier League season with an impressive 3-0 victory over Villa, although it wasn’t enough to convince the club he was the man to take the Tottenham forward.

Levy, who has now gone through nine managers since taking charge in 2001, thanked Sherwood for his spell at White Hart Lane.

“We appointed Tim mid-season as someone who knew both the players and the club. We agreed an 18-month contract with a break clause at the end of the season and we have now exercised that option,” Levy said.

“Moving forward, now the season is over, we shall embark on the process of finding a new head coach. We have a talented squad and exciting young players coming through.”

Sherwood’s departure hasn’t come as a surprise to many in football, while Dutch duo Louis van Gaal and Frank de Boer have both been linked with the job at White Hart Lane, it is current Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino who has emerged as the bookies favourite.

Pochettino has recently described Southampton’s eighth-place finish in the Premier League as “the end of a project”, but the south coast club are keen for their manager sign a new deal with just a year left on his current contract at the St Mary’s Stadium.