Sherwood revels in permanent Villa role

Sherwood, presented by Villa on Monday as the successor to Paul Lambert, saw his five-month spell as Tottenham head coach blighted by constant speculation over his future.

After replacing Andre Villas-Boas at White Hart Lane in December 2013, the former Blackburn Rovers midfielder was viewed by many as a stopgap appointment and Spurs duly dispensed with his services last May.

Villa have put their faith in Sherwood, however, handing the 46-year-old a three-and-a-half-year contract, backing him to lift the club out of the Premier League's relegation zone.

"I'm the headmaster now," said Sherwood with a smile.

Asked whether he was putting his neck on the line, he added: "Yeah, I think I am. But perversely I like the pressure of it. I quite like the fact that you're building it up like that."

A lack of goals has been the chief problem for Villa this season, with the Midlands club finding the net just 12 times in 25 Premier League games.

Sherwood acknowledged Villa need to "start throwing a few punches" if they are to escape the bottom three, and believes he is the right man to bring about a change in fortunes.

"We saw that at Tottenham. When I took over there, the brief from Daniel Levy [the chairman] was: can we be a bit more attractive and can we score a few more goals? I ticked that box.

"I used Emmanuel Adebayor as the catalyst for that and we pretty much revolved all our play around him. It's possible it could be similar here [with Christian Benteke]."

"It is bringing that player back to life and also enhancing what is around him. Everyone has to recognise that. Yes, it was the case with Ade and it could possibly be the case with Christian and we hope it will be. We know what a threat he can be."

Sherwood's first game as Villa boss comes against Stoke City on Saturday.