Sherwood named as new Villa manager

Tim Sherwood has been appointed the new manager of Aston Villa.

The 46-year-old, who was most recently in charge of Tottenham, takes over the Barclays Premier League club from Paul Lambert, who was sacked on Wednesday.

A statement on Villa’s website read: “Aston Villa Football Club are delighted to announce the appointment of Tim Sherwood as our new manager.

“Tim, 46, joins after a long and successful coaching career with Tottenham, culminating in a short but successful period as manager, and has agreed a contract that will see him take charge until the end of season 2017-18.”

Sherwood had recently been linked with the likes of West Brom and QPR.

His stint as boss at Tottenham, who he used to play for, was his first and only previous spell as a number one and lasted for five months up to the end of the 2013-14 season, with him being sacked after guiding Spurs to a sixth-placed finish in the table.

He had previously spent five years on the coaching staff with the London club.

On his appointment at Villa, Sherwood said: “It is a great honour to manage one of the biggest clubs in English football.

“I can’t wait to get started and I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

Villa chief executive Tom Fox said: “Randy (Lerner, the Villa chairman) and I are really pleased that Tim has decided to join the club.

“Tim had a fantastic career at Tottenham, not only in his brief spell as first-team manager but, just as importantly, in the role he played in developing young talent.

“We are determined to build a football operation with a long-term vision and a commitment to youth development.

“We strongly believe Tim has the qualities to get the best out of our current squad and help us build and develop for the future.”

Sherwood - who took charge of a team that were seventh in the table at Spurs - arrives at Villa with the midlands outfit having just dropped into the Premier League relegation zone.

They slipped to 18th after Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at Hull, their 10th successive Premier League match without victory and fifth straight top-flight defeat.

Villa have scored just twice in that sequence, and only 12 times in the league all season.

Their next match is Leicester at home in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday, before hosting Stoke in the league the following Saturday.

Lerner said: “While being forever conscious of the frustrations that we all suffer, we feel that a change that offers a positive, fresh approach will be very good for the club.

“I know that Tom and many others at Villa worked very hard to recruit Tim in the face of severely limited time constraints and pounding pressure.

“More importantly, I know further that internally we remain focused and committed to challenges we face, and I am deeply appreciative for that.”