Tim Sherwood wins chance to lead Tottenham Hotspur

Tim Sherwood last night won an incredible game of brinkmanship with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy to land an 18-month head coach contract.

Levy had initially only wanted to give Sherwood until the end of the season to prove his credentials, but the 44-year-old held out for a long-term, permanent agreement. There were issues over whether Sherwood would be given a pay rise to the pounds 500,000-a-year he earned as the club's technical co-ordinator, but a compromise agreement was struck after hours of talks.

The fact Tottenham have appointed Sherwood until the end of the 2014-15 season indicates they will not pursue a big-name appointment in the summer, as long as things go well. Levy had met Holland manager Louis van Gaal and the Dutchman was thought to be keen on taking over at Spurs after the World Cup. Inquiries were also made regarding another Dutchman, Ajax's Frank de Boer, Basle's Murat Yakin and former Italy manager Marcello Lippi. Following negotiations at Tottenham's Enfield training complex, Levy said: "We were extremely reluctant to make a change mid-season, but felt we had to do so in the club's best interests. "We have a great squad and we owe them a head coach who will bring out the best in them and allow them to flourish and enjoy a strong, exciting finish to the season.

"We are in the fortunate position of having within our club a talented coach in Tim Sherwood.We believe Tim has both the knowledge and the drive to take the squad forward." Sherwood was told by Levy that he was being offered the chance of a lifetime to cut his teeth in management at a club the size of Tottenham. Franco Baldini, the club's director of football, was not part of yesterday's talks. But the Italian had already given his blessing to the appointment of Sherwood and believes it is the best move Spurs could have made at this stage. While appreciating his honesty and ambition, Tottenham officials were surprised by the bold nature of -Sherwood's public demands in the immediate aftermath of his first victory against Southampton. Sherwood made it clear he was not interested in being effectively appointed as a caretaker head coach and stuck to his word. The Boxing Day clash against West Bromwich Albion will be Sherwood's first game as permanent head coach and left-back Danny Rose has revealed it is not just Levy who Sherwood has -challenged. According to Rose, Sherwood laid into his players during his first training session as interim head coach and has already written a new set of rules that must be observed while he is in charge. "People may think that Tim is not a big name or doesn't have a big CV, but you know he will take no nonsense from anybody," said Rose. "His first training session, a couple of lads rolled out on to the training pitch late and he got us in a circle and said it was unacceptable. "Fortunately, it wasn't me who was late.

Tim set out some new rules and you know not to mess with him, and that's good." Asked what rules Sherwood has imposed, Rose replied: "Punctuality, when we go down to eat, team -meetings. Stuff on the training pitch as well. "When he speaks, you've got to -listen. It's great." Rose had problems with his own discipline early in his Tottenham career and the 23-year-old is grateful to Sherwood for helping him realise he needed to work harder. "Tim came to the club and probably about four years ago I sat down with him and Harry Redknapp, and they told me I needed to train a lot harder to have a chance in the team," said Rose. "I didn't get that many chances under Harry. But from when I did change my attitude on the training pitch, I won Tim over and from then he has always been pushing me to try to get into the team - along with others like Jake Livermore, Nabil Bentaleb and Andros Townsend as well.

"Tim and Harry helped me with my attitude to training. I went out on loan last season and did very well, and that was down to Martin O'Neill, and I came back and I started the season well and that was down to Andre [Villas-Boas]. "But Tim has been backing me and a lot of the other youngsters for a good three or four years."