Tim Sherwood’s hopes of becoming Tottenham Hotspur’s permanent manager were boosted after his team rallied to win 3-2 at stuttering Southampton in an enthralling Premier League game on Sunday.
Forgotten man Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice as caretaker boss Sherwood played the Togo striker up front with Roberto Soldado for the first time in a ploy that helped Spurs move above Manchester United into seventh spot.
Meanwhile, Everton surged to provisional fourth — pending Chelsea’s trip to Arsenal yesterday — after Ross Barkley’s perfect free-kick six minutes from time secured a deserved 2-1 win at Swansea City.
Photo: Reuters
Sherwood, who took over for two games at least when Andre Villas-Boas was sacked by Spurs after last weekend’s 5-0 home thumping by Liverpool, threw caution to the wind in his bid to get the job full-time by also playing without a defensive midfielder.
The move looked to have backfired when unmarked midfielder Adam Lallana grabbed the opener for Southampton on 13 minutes with a long-range shot.
Adebayor then expertly volleyed in Soldado’s superb cross for a 25th-minute equalizer on his first league start of the season.
Spurs, who have now come from behind to win their past three away games, made a flying start to the second half and it was no surprise when Jos Hooiveld turned Danny Rose’s low cross into his own goal on 54 minutes.
Southampton made it 2-2 when Rickie Lambert tapped in following more great work from England colleague Lallana, but Adebayor sealed the win when he fired home after a ricochet on 64 minutes.
“You enjoy it when you win. I did not enjoy the first half, I thought we were poor,” Sherwood told Sky Sports. “I need to speak to the chairman about how they want to take the club forward. That’ll happen sooner rather than later I hope, as these guys need a manager.”
As well as ex-Spurs manager Glenn Hoddle, Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino has also been touted by media as a potential candidate, given his largely English side’s youthful brand of pressing soccer.
However, the Saints have now not won in six games and sit ninth, two spots above Swansea.
Bookmakers have Sherwood as the early favorite, but Hoddle has been direct in stating his interest.
“I supported Tottenham at eight years of age, I went there aged 12, left when I was 28, went back to manage — it’s in my blood and my bones. Yes, I would want to go back,” the former England manager told Britain’s Sky Sports on Sunday.
Hoddle was one of Tottenham’s greatest players, but his two years as manager ended in September 2003 after picking up four points from the opening six league games.
The 56-year-old has been out of management since leaving the Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2006, but remains popular with Spurs fans and is bookies’ second-favorite.
Former Tottenham striker Gary Lineker has called on chairman Daniel Levy to give Hoddle another go.
Another name being linked with the hotseat is Swansea manager Michael Laudrup, even though the 49-year-old Dane has consistently reiterated his commitment to the Welsh club and has no intention of leaving midway through the season.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS