Tim Sherwood is harder than Roy Keane, claims Andy Gray

Harder than Roy? No way

Roy Keane's reputation as a hard task-master may well be overblown to suit the caricature of him as some sort of demonic slave-driver. But what isn't in doubt is that Roy's career both as a player and in the dug-out has been marked by an unrelenting desire for the players around him to perform to this best of their abilities every time they step on the pitch. It's this desire that made Roy the figure that he is today. Tim Sherwood may have many strengths (a 59% win ratio being just one) but you would never really have him pegged as being demanding more than Keane. Well former Sky Sports presenter Andy Gray seems to think that the man playfully known as Tactics Tim will be even tougher and harder on the Aston Villa players than their former assistant manager. 'If the Aston Villa players thought Roy Keane was hard on them then be prepared [for Tim],' Gray told TalkSport. 'He’s a guy who is going to demand every single thing from you.' Overall the former Villa striker is delighted with the new appointment, feeling that Paul Lambert's reign had run of of road. 'I’m really pleased about the changes Aston Villa have made. I’m sure Paul Lambert will go on and become a really great manager somewhere else, he just wasn’t the right fit for Villa. A change had to be made. 'Sometimes you just need a change for change sake. You need to hear a different voice, you need to have someone come in and tell you something differently from what you’ve been used to. New ideas will help them on the training ground.' Hat tip to TalkSport