Exiled Emmanuel Adebayor ready to earn his spurs after Andr Villas-Boas exit

Gary Jacob, The Times Tottenham Hotspur s decision to sac! Andr Villas-Boas means Emmanuel Adebayor is li!ely to be brou"ht in from the cold for the #apital $ne #up %uarter-final a"ainst &est Ham 'nited at &hite Hart (ane toni"ht) Adebayor fell out *ith Villas-Boas to*ards the end of the head coach s tenure and has not played for the first team since a substitute appearance in the +-, defeat a*ay to -anchester #ity on .o/ember 01) The To"o stri!er *ithdre* from the club s next match, a*ay to Tromso in the Europa (ea"ue, leadin" to Villas-Boas su""estin" that the for*ard *as fei"nin" in2ury) 3espite that dispute, Adebayor is not expected to lea/e the club *hen the transfer *indo* opens in January because he *ill recei/e a payment of 45)1 million if he is still *ith Tottenham at the end of the season) Adebayor could start alon"side Jermain 3efoe toni"ht *ith Tim 6her*ood, the interim head coach, li!ely to s*itch to a 1-1-0 formation) Villas-Boas insisted on playin" one stri!er this season, despite pressure from the club s hierarchy recently to deploy a second for*ard) 6her*ood, *ho has had little time to ma!e chan"es in t*o trainin" sessions since VillasBoas departed, said7 8&hen you lose your mana"er, it is a chan"e and you ha/e to listen to a different /oice) But 9 am hopin" to "et a fe* messa"es across in a short period of time to "et a positi/e result a"ainst &est Ham): 3efoe missed se/eral chances *hen Tottenham *ere beaten ;-, by &est Ham in the Barclays <remier (ea"ue in $ctober, a match in *hich &est Ham repeatedly exposed Tottenham on the counter-attac! despite the lac! of a reco"nised stri!er) 89t is a hu"e "ame especially on *hat they did to us at &hite Hart (ane,: 6her*ood said) 89t *as disappointin") &e need to "et out there on the front foot and impose oursel/es on them as soon as *e can) &e ha/e to be patient) They "ot bodies behind the ball and cau"ht us on the counter-attac!) &e are a*are of that) &e ha/e to be up and at them) Their form has been massi/ely up and do*n) Hopefully their concentration *ill be on =achie/in"> safety in the <remier (ea"ue rather than cups): Tottenham *ill also ha/e a ma!eshift line-up) -ichael 3a*son and <aulinho are suspended, *hile 6andro has a calf in2ury) The centre-bac! pairin" of Vlad #hiriches, *ho has reco/ered from a !nee in2ury, and ?oun@s Aaboul, fit a"ain after a thi"h problem, could return) 89n defensi/e areas *e re %uite li"ht, but it s up to those boys to

step up to the mar! and perform *ell for the club and for themsel/es,: 6her*ood said) 8&e ll 2ust crac! on *ith *hat else *e /e "ot) 9t is not a bad team): Tottenham are considerin" recallin" BenoBt Assou-E!otto from his loan spell *ith Cueens <ar! Dan"ers next month, despite the impendin" return of 3anny Dose) The left bac! also fell out *ith Villas-Boas durin" the club s pre-season tour of Hon" Aon" and *as reunited *ith Harry Ded!napp, the former Tottenham mana"er) 6her*ood, 11, *ill be ta!in" char"e of his first senior match and 6am Allardyce, the &est Ham mana"er, said that he *as surprised the former Blac!burn Do/ers midfielder had not made the mo/e into mana"ement before no*) 89 thou"ht he *ould ha/e challen"ed himself a lot sooner,: Allardyce said) 8-aybe you must be craEy lea/in" a 2ob to be a mana"er because you could be one of the F, or +, out of G0 mana"ers *ho end up *ith the sac!, because that s *hat happens e/ery year no*) 9t s a lo/e-hate 2ob) 6ometimes you can sit in the chair and thin! *hy the hell am 9 doin" thisH $nce you /e been in it and it "ets in your blood, you pine for it): Tottenham are considerin" -urat ?a!in, the Basle coach *hose contract ends this summer, as a potential replacement for Villas-Boas) The club ha/e also *atched -ohamed 6alah, the 6*iss club s E"ypt *in"er)