Tim Sherwood drops controversial Everton-Brentford transfer claim on Sky Sports News
Tim Sherwood has claimed that Everton and Tottenham would “turn their nose up” at signing most of Brentford’s players.
Everton had a quiet January transfer window, with Chelsea loanee Tyrique George their sole new addition at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
That may have been partly down to David Moyes‘ side signing nine players for around £100million in the summer transfer window.
As the Premier League enters its final third, Everton are eighth in the Premier League, whereas Tottenham are down in 16th.
Brentford are three points better off than the Toffees in seventh but ex-Spurs boss Sherwood suggested that they and his old team look down on Keith Andrews’ side and wouldn’t think about poaching their players.
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Tim Sherwood throws shade at Everton while praising Brentford
When Thomas Frank swapped Brentford for Tottenham last summer, masny football fans thought the Bees would be in trouble this season.
Keith Andrews was their set-piece coach and hadn’t had a senior managerial role to fall back on, but now, he has got Brentford dreaming of European football next season.
Ahead of Brentford being in FA Cup fourth-round action on Monday, Sherwood has taken an eye-catching swipe at Tottenham and the Toffees.
He said on Sky Sports News on Saturday: “[Keith Andrews] has given them [Brentford] all a huge amount of confidence. They show him a lot of respect, and you have to gain that as a manager. He obviously knows what he’s talking about on the training pitch because they’ll see through it immediately.
“If you’re Tottenham now, for example, how many players of theirs are you going to take? They would turn their nose up at most of them. You can argue that Igor Thiago has hit the ground running in the Premier League.
“But teams like Tottenham, like Everton, like whoever, they would turn their nose up at those players. It just shows you it’s not about the individuals, it’s about the collective.”
Sherwood’s analysis, however, is subjective and myopic. Brentford signed Thiago, who has scored 17 Premier League goals this season, from Club Brugge in 2024 and in his first campaign, he failed to score in eight appearances.
Moreover, former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou said he tried to sign ex-Brentford man Bryan Mbeumo when he was in charge at Spurs but that never came to pass.
Not many teams follow Brentford’s data-led transfer strategy, plus, they have smaller finances than Tottenham and Everton. But figureheads at the two teams are likely to take exception to Sherwood’s brash assertions.
Everton have plenty to play for this season
Despite throwing away a 1-0 lead at home to Bournemouth last time out, Everton are still eighth in the Premier League and have a good chance of securing European football next season.
Brentford are currently in pole position to qualify for next season’s Conference League but a lot can change in this division in a short period of time.
Not all that long ago, Brentford fans were grumbling about Andrews as they sank closer towards the relegation zone.
Now, they are in the top seven – where Everton want to be. If the Toffees want to return to European football for the first time since 2018, they need to pick up some wins and fast.
Next up, they host in-form Manchester United in Premier League action on 23 February, before rounding off the month on 28 February away at Newcastle United.
They then host 19th-placed Burnley on 3 March. If they can pick up a couple of wins here, European qualification is very much on.
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