Effort or back to their old ways?

If you look at the top 10 highest paid football managers in the world and compare them to the salary of Tim Sherwood you appreciate he is only there for one reason, as an undercover boss to sort out the mess Andre Villas-Boas made of the club.

1.  Pep Guardiola – Bayern Munich – £14.81 million per year
2.  Jose Mourinho – Chelsea – £8.38 million per year
3.  Marcello Lippi – Guangzhou – £8.35 million per year
4.  Arsene Wenger – Arsenal – £6.90 million per year
5.  Fabio Capello – Russia – £6.52 million per year
6.  Carlo Ancelotti – Real Madrid – £6.27 million per year
7.  David Moyes – Manchester United – £4.93 million per year
8.  Tata Martino – FC Barcelona – £4.51 million per year
9.  Jurgen Klopp – Borussia Dortmund – £3.57 million per year
10. Manuel Pellegrini – Manchester City – £3.48 million per year

Tim Sherwood £0.75 million per year.

From being on the cusp of something he destroyed the club behind the scenes, ostracised the coaching staff and then set about doing the same to the players. Some of them sussed him out and paid the price, other like Aaron Lennon made their point to him and then buckled down for the club.

The problem the club now face is that that has been exposed, the players know the score and are simply waiting for the new guy. With a world cup coming up they, as I wrote before, are playing simply to not get injured and miss Brazil.

There are trying but without the commitment to the club, to the shirt. No amount of coaching will change that. Most fans who can see beyond 90 minutes on a football pitch see that and need someone to blame, thus they turn on the fall guy Tim Sherwood and the man who has taken us from mid-table nobodies to perennial top four contenders, Daniel Levy.

The pair, and the board, will have known this could happen. They knew they might take some flak, but with a new manager in the summer, next season they are expecting to see a competitive team again. This fans 'hurting' time will fade away.

As it has turned out Tim Sherwood has probably already done the job he was put in there to do. He has already said he knows who he can trust to give 100% and those he can't. He has even named Aaron Lennon and Sandro as two of those he can trust. He doesn't have to name Dawson, bringing Adebayor back says all that needs to be said about how Sherwood feels about him and picking Bentaleb speaks volumes. I would think those five are stone banker rock solid certain to be wearing a Spurs shirt next season.

There are still games to go though and the players clearly know who he is talking about. Jan Vertonghen has come out and said he thinks Tim Sherwood is referring to him when he brings them into question. Spurs fans happen to agree with him though Jan, we are not fooled, we can see who is giving it their all and who isn't, who has their heart in it and who doesn't, you can't fake it, it stands out a mile.

Adebayor gave 100% vs Arsenal
Adebayor gave 100% vs Arsenal
Trying when you want to and not trying when you don't is not the act of a winner. A winner gives 100% all the time, he plays to the best of his ability, even in a meaningless friendly. For him winning is everything, you either have that competitive instinct or you don't, it's in your character, you can't suddenly learn it. You can try and hone it over time but if you are not actively working on it you won't improve it.

It is the same with finishing. A winner is clinical at all times, when you are 2-0 up with 5 minutes to go you will still tuck away two more chances. A goalscorer who is not a winner will miss those two chances and not be bothered. When it comes to needing to be clinical to win a game I know who I would rather be relying on.

Spurs have been guilty of that for years now. Jermain Defoe scored 2 goals on debut for Toronto as they beat Clint Dempsey's Seattle Sounders, but Defoe was a striker in the latter category. A goalscorer yes, but one who was not clinical enough at the end of games and thus not clinical enough when it mattered in other games. A player to good to sell but not good enough to play, Roy Hodgson seems to have the same opinion, he picks him in every squad but rarely gives him a game.

Tottenham have bottled it season after season with quality players who do not have that winning mentality in their character. Some of the team have had it but others bring them down. He have to surround yourself with as many with that competitive streak as possible to be successful.

Tim Sherwood is a give it 100% winner and he can spot the same trait in others. Those that don't have it are in danger, those that do are safe. He has issued that threat to the players quite publicly.

Some players are just thinking, well I'll go and play somewhere else so it isn't going to inspire them to perform, they won't perform come what may. Some will respond, some will want to fight for a future. That is all we are watching in these remaining games, the results are almost irrelevant, although of course they can never be.

Arsenal was a worry but the players put effort in, Benfica is another worry, their manager wants to bag another three at least. Will the players put the effort in for this one, we'll see.

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