Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur lied to him before he was sacked as their manager last summer.
Sherwood will make his first return to White Hart Lane on Saturday when Villa face Spurs, having spent five months in charge of the North Londoners despite signing an 18-month deal upon his appointment in December 2013.
The current Villa boss believes that the Spurs hierarchy undermined his reign by sounding out the likes of then-Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal and Ajax's Frank de Boer for the job, which eventually went to Mauricio Pochettino following Sherwood's exit.
"It is not protocol. It is not what is done," Sherwood told The Mirror. "But it is not up to the manager to make that decision, it is up to the club.
"Tottenham denied they made any contact with managers, but the managers were publicly coming out saying they were being contacted. Someone was telling porkies.
"I think they certainly earmarked [Van Gaal] as a manager for Tottenham and he kept his options open, didn't he?"
Sherwood took charge of Villa in February.
Steven Toplis
