Recircle

If it takes weeks then it follows that'll it be more like years because if the impact isn't instant then we'll be relegated. It's not going to happen it days, though. If Villa do string a couple of wins together in the next games, that'll be at least as much down to good fortune as to the influence of Tim Sherwood. That's why appointing a new manager to a club near the relegation zone at such a point in the season is such a risky thing (but a risk that's still worth taking). 'Instant impact' is basically an illusion, I think.

Not a great start, but not surprising. Sherwood's overhaul is going to have to happen over weeks, not days.

Desire by itself never gets you far in the long run. The giddy rush that comes with a new manager burns out quickly; it's what you're able to build in the face of close proximity and growing familiarity that counts. Also, new managers can quickly shove players' noses out of joint. Sherwood isn't Lambert; but that isn't saying a fat lot for now.

Mate, I think you'll find 106 beats that.

He'll be perfect for press conferences, when there are chairs missing. "Will you be playing the 1-5-4 this match, Tim?" "Nose out, mate. We're probably going to go with a ONE, TWO X YOU!"

Have we had Colin Newman from the band Wire yet?

They know Sherwood's an impetuous, hair-trigger type. They'll be toying with him; initially chucking him under the chin and bowling him a few dolly questions, and then, when a run of results go against him, making him look like an out-of-his-depth wally, in the hope that he'll eventually produce a few Keegan-type "I will LOVE it" meltdowns. I mean, I hope that doesn't happen, but you could see it being good telly, from their point of view - Sherwood swearing his head off and storming out of press conferences.

I'd have to watch more interviews with Sutton. Based on what I can remember of the one or two I have seen, he strikes me as less of an outright bore, post-match (in contrast say, to - picking someone completely at random - Paul Lambert!), than as someone who likes to be guarded with his thoughts, and who also to some degree holds interviewers and media bods in contempt (not quite as much as say Roy Keane does), regarding them as people who don't particularly merit interesting or illuminating replies to questions.

Fair enough. I was just suggesting him in preference to Shearer, mainly. That said, he might make a better fist of being someone's number two than a manger (I always got the impression he was quite sharp and thoughtful for a footballer; ruthless in a good way, and with a slight air of menace - some Celtic fans still refer to him as 'The Evil Genius'). The other thing is that with Sherwood as boss and Sutton as right-hand man, you've have a duo with a practical, working knowledge of the three principle outfield playing areas, at the top level - Sherwood being a very handy midfielder, and Sutton being a striker who started out at Norwich as a defender, and who could still effectively fill-in at the back if required to in an emergency, later on in his career.

Sounds about typical.

Agreed. I hate the whole idea of smilies! (And people who use the crying smiley in RIP threads; where are their heads at?!).

I think he's probably principally taking issue with phrases like "the real deal," after a single cup game against the team currently bottom of the Premier League, and four points adrift. It's a promising beginning, but how can he be "the real deal" after a single team talk and forty-five minutes of play? I want him to eventually become that, but talk about jumping the gun. Edit: to include quote being replied to.

I'd rather go for Chris Sutton, if we're going down the route of Sherwood ex-team mates. I know he didn't much set the world alight as Lincoln's manager, but as a right-hand man I can see his personality complimenting and contrasting with Sherwood's to better effect than Shearer's would; plus he's got a Villa connection. What's he up to, these days?

It's not a big ask to look delighted - you plaster a grin onto your face, open your eyes wide, stand up, and punch the air or high-five the person sitting next to you! But that's enough chewing over his reaction; I think the guy's on a level, he's not a devious or scheming type, I think he'll be able to inject a bit passion into the players, and I hope he gets off to a barnstormer of a start.

Maybe 'acted' is the wrong word (I was trying to avoid saying 'faking it,' because that would've been even more contentious!), but how can anyone be appointed the manager of a big club, make their first showing at a match (a cup match with a lot riding on it, at that), and not think: the cameras and the fans' eyes will be on me; I've got to show them somehow that I'm engaged and already somewhat involved, and that I care, or have the capacity to care. That would be completely natural. Probably only those managers at the very, very top of the tree - Mourinho, Guardiola, Ancelotti - would be a case apart, and might opt to display sang-froid as a 'statement' from the outset.

I'm sure there's quite a bit of that, too; an F.A. Cup quarter final is an exciting prospect, especially for a new manager, but I still think it's partly a demonstration of passion, because of the spotlight his first appearance at a game as Villa manager will have attracted.

It's a bit different, in the sense that a debut goal is concrete evidence of/reward for 'work.' If you've been bought to score goals, and you score one on your debut, you celebrate because, beyond the rush of getting cheered at by fans going ape, you're showing people you can do your job, and it immediately goes some way to justifying a club's investment in you. Sherwood has neither had time to emotionally connect to Villa (that may or may not come; it doesn't have to, as you say, but some managers do develop an attachment), nor has he done any sustained 'work' yet.

Gill's Gil's gillet gilet:

The passion's good to see, although it's acted passion at the moment; there's no way he can be genuinely emotionally invested in the club, at this early stage (I love that Dick Dastardly "Drat and double drat!" air punch at 0:10!). He knows the cameras are on him, knows that one of the things a lot of Villa fans found objectionable about Paul Lambert was his inability to show much emotion over the course of a whole match, he's out to show he's not the same, and you can't blame him for that. Genuine emotion will follow for sure, because Sherwood has an open, expressive character.

Odd how Keane's beard is abundantly thick everywhere, except where it meets his head hair, in the upper sideburn region. You see lots of people with beards struggling to get the moustache part to meet up with the lower facial part, but Keane excels in that area.

With tedious predictability, the Ron Vlaar thread in the RedCafe forum's transfer section has started to glow red again, in the wake of United's defeat and frail defensive display today.

The most key role Fergie should play in selecting Moyes' replacement is keeping his oar out, this time around.

The 88-89 season nearly is 30 years ago! But maybe you were being tongue-in-cheek.

He couldn't have said anything substantially different. No departing manager there after however long wouldn't have name-checked Fergie again upon leaving; everyone knows he's considered a god, there. Issuing a sign-off statement doesn't give you the leeway to be a maverick; it's a formalised, going-through-the-motions job.

It's a position known as: staying put in the frying pan.