• Premier League

Spurs happier under AVB, says Sandro

Tottenham midfielder Sandro has hinted that the club was a better place to be under former manager Andre Villas-Boas than in the downbeat dressing-room of Tim Sherwood's reign - which came to an end on Tuesday.

The Brazilian insists he wants to stay at the club despite falling down the pecking order being dropped from the first-team squad last month for the home win over Fulham, with Sherwood claiming the Brazilian was "not good enough for selection".

That led to suggestions that Sandro will be sold in the summer, although he did feature in the last two games of the season and started Sunday's 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

'Players tell me I'm getting the boot'

Tim Sherwood looks set to be replaced after just six months in charge © Getty Images

• Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood has revealed that his own players are telling him that he will be sacked at the end of the season.
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But Sandro looks set for a fresh start in North London now it is confirmed Sherwood has left the club.

Speaking to The Sun, Sandro said: "Andre was one who would always speak very closely to most of the squad one on one," the 25-year-old, who joined Spurs from Internacional in the summer of 2010. "Tim does most of his talking during training on the side of the pitch rather than afterwards individually with players."

Sandro had told ESPN Brasil last week that "Sherwood will leave at the end of the season" and "then it's a new coach, a new everything".

But he now appears to be attempting to dilute his outburst. "The dressing-room atmosphere hasn't been a buoyant one in the second half of the season," Sandro said. "But for people to suggest we already know what will happen to the manager in the summer is wide of the mark. We only see what the media reports."

Despite a sixth-place finished and qualification for the Europa League once again next season, Sandro feels the club have underachieved.

"Overall, it's been a slightly disappointing season because, at Tottenham we set our standards very, very high," he said. "Our minimum aim is to finish in the top four and unfortunately this year we haven't been able to achieve it.

"We've played well in patches and overall we've played well against teams that are below us in the table. But unfortunately our results against the top four weren't good enough.

"This has been a frustrating aspect to the season and something we know we have to improve on if we are going to be competing to win the league."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd