In the four weeks since he was sacked by Aston Villa, Tim Sherwood has spent much of his time watching matches in the Football League and assessing the English game – and the English players in it – from the perspective of a man who has been both manager and development coach.

His time at Villa ended with defeat to Swansea City, his sixth in a row, and a parting of the ways after a summer in which major changes were made to the club’s first team squad. They signed 13 new players and sold Christian Benteke, their top goalscorer and their captain Fabian Delph. On top of that, they lost the England international Tom Cleverley, a loanee last season, who chose to sign for Everton.

Their FA Cup final adventure ended at Wembley with a 4-0 defeat to Arsenal.

Their league season flatlined after they reached safety. Sherwood would have liked longer to work with the squad but that was not his decision in the end and, thus far, his successor Rémi Garde has not found it much easier – defeat to Watford at home on Saturday means Villa’s only league win remains Sherwood’s opening day victory against Bournemouth in August.

"A lot of clubs are not looking because it is not sexy to sign a player from the lower leagues or non-league" Tim Sherwood

“I wish them well,” Sherwood says. “It’s difficult when you lose your three best players and you finished 17th in the Premier League the previous season. It was always going to be a tough task. The club is always going to be bigger than any individual. I respect their decision.