Sherwood explains how transfer committee works

Tim Sherwood has claimed he did not have the final say over transfers at Aston Villa.

The former Villa boss, sacked last month, insisted the club’s transfer committee discussed targets with owner Randy Lerner giving the green light to signings.

Villa signed 12 first-team players in the summer but Sherwood won just once in the Barclays Premier League this season before he was axed after six straight defeats.

He was replaced by Remi Garde last week and ex-Tottenham manager Sherwood felt his hands were tied during Villa’s summer dealings.

“There was a committee, which I was part of – so I had a say in the players I wanted to bring into the football club,” he told Dubai-based TV station BeIN Sports.

“We ended up signing 12 players, although there were a lot more players given to the committee than 12, and we ended up with what we ended up with.

“I believe that those players in time will be good players for the football club, but when you bring in a lot of players from other countries that have not played and experienced the Premier League before, the competitive nature of it, it is going to take time.

“I certainly had a say, but the final say? It was more of a combined collective decision and ultimately the man who puts his hand in his pocket is the one who has to make that decision.

“Randy Lerner has spent an awful lot of his money at that football club for a long, long period of time.”