The former Aston Villa boss felt irritated with his team’s display in the final leading to their heavy defeat.
Aston Villa and the success in the final is probably something that is achievable. Under Unai Emery, they have turned into a consistent dark horse competing at the top level in the Premier League. The Lions have qualified to Champions League twice in three years, and always played in Europe since the 2023/24 season. They even lifted their first trophy in 30 years while clinching the Europa League last season.
However, about a decade ago, such seemed unlikely. About a season prior to their relegation, Villa did have a glimpse of promise under Tim Sherwood. He guided them to the FA Cup final in the 2014/15 campaign and salvaged them from going down to the Championship. Unfortunately, they were hapless and beaten 4-0 in Wembley by Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. Sherwood commented after the game as reported in Sky Sports.
“I feel sick and so do the boys in there, there will be some changes,”
Ironically, that was the beginning of his end and eventually Villa’s woeful campaign in the top flight. The former Blackburn Rovers skipper while winning the Premier League in 1994/95 did not turn out to be the right man in charge of the rebuilding phase.
Sherwood began his stint in Villa in February 2015 with two narrow defeats versus Stoke City and Newcastle. Yet, after two consecutive wins against West Brom in the league and FA Cup, Villa’s form slowly improved. A big 4-0 win on the road over Sunderland was a solid proof, followed by another away win over Spurs, which was on the top six in that season, brought confidence to the squad and fans that they could avoid relegation.
Indeed, they did. Two victories against Everton and West Ham gave them more comfort in Sherwood’s tenure. However, the one performance which gave hope to the fans over Villa’s rise was their comeback triumph against Liverpool in the FA Cup semifinal. Gaby Agbonlahor and Co picked up a 2-1 win after conceding the goal from Phillipe Coutinho. Yet, they responded with Christian Benteke’s and Fabian Delph’s goals, which led them to advance to the FA Cup final after 15 years.
Sherwood’s promising start quickly turned to doubts when Villa was trashed by Southampton 6-1 only two weeks before the FA Cup final. The Lions had secured their safety but did not look convincing enough to stumble The Gunners later.
In the summer 2015, Villa sold Benteke and Delph and signed 11 new senior players, much like this season. Unfortunately, Sherwood’s flaw in guiding the team while going through the rebuilding phase became apparent.
Despite not having a winless run until match day five like Emery experiences this season, Sherwood’s side had woeful form. They did snatch a narrow 1-0 win at the opener against Bournemouth. Sadly, their form slumped to abyss with nine winless runs (one draw and eight defeats) in the league afterwards.Their loss versus the eventual league winner, Leicester City, West Brom and Swansea became the real eye-opener how dismal Villa’s form was under the former midfielder.
Ironically, the ex Spurs boss who led them to six place finish in the 2013/14 campaign was still confident with his fate in Villa Park, even after Swansea loss.
“I’ll just turn my phone off,” when being inquired on his future in the West Midlands side.
“We survived last season and went to the cup final and nobody spoke to me then. So I’m not expecting anybody to speak to me now.”
In reality, he was soon dismissed less than 24 hours after the loss against The Swans. What’s worse, it marked the end of his career as a manager. He has never taken charge of any other team ever since
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