• Premier League

Sherwood: Finish fourth or I could get sack

ESPN staff
January 19, 2014
Sherwood: We were frightening

Tim Sherwood admits his job will be on the line at Tottenham if he does not seal Champions League qualification this season.

Spurs beat Swansea 3-1 on Sunday to make it five wins in six Premier League games. Sherwood also remains unbeaten in the league since replacing Andre Villas-Boas in December on an 18-month deal.

Tottenham are now fifth and level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool.

"It's been good," said Sherwood. "We know there are going to be tougher tests ahead, but it's been a good start for me. If the season were to end tomorrow I don't think the chairman [Daniel Levy] would be too happy because we are fifth.

"The final league position has to meet the expectation of the club otherwise it's 'goodbye Charlie'.

"The club needs to finish in fourth place, we want to finish in fourth place. Anything other than that will be a disappointment but realistically we should be in amongst it."

Emmanuel Adebayor continued to repay Sherwood's faith in him by scoring two of Spurs' goals to make it six in seven appearances under his new manager. However Sherwood refused to take any credit for the striker's revival.

"I haven't said anything to him, I have just given him the stage to play on - he hadn't had that stage for a while," Sherwood said. "I haven't made Emmanuel Adebayor a good player, I think we already know he has been a good player at every club he has been at.

"We just needed to get some consistency out of him and I am sure if he continues to enjoy playing he will keep performing well. He is enjoying it, if you enjoy yourself playing football you will get the best performances out of yourself.

"He is no different to anyone else. He has a smile on his face, is scoring goals and is enjoying it. We are trying to encourage the boys to roll the ball into him because he makes things happen. He dictates the pace of the game for us and he likes to get it wide as he knows there is a chance he can score from the cross.

"After his first goal he grew even more and started dominating the game for us. But there's been no magic wand from me. He has always been a good player."

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