Tim Sherwood handed Tottenham head coach job until 2015 By Chris McKenna BBC Sport Tottenham have appointed Tim Sherwood as head coach on a full-time basis. The former England midfielder guided Spurs to a 3-2 win at Southampton on Sunday as interim boss and has now been handed a contract until the end of the 2014-15 Premier League season. Sherwood, 44, replaces Andre Villas-Boas who was sacked by Spurs last week. "We believe Tim has both the knowledge and the drive to take the squad forward," Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy told the club's official website. Sherwood, who won three caps for England, joined Tottenham as a player in 1999 from Blackburn, where he won the Premier League title in 1995. He left White Hart Lane in 2003 to join Portsmouth but returned as part of the club's coaching staff in 2008 under then-manager Harry Redknapp. Sherwood was working as technical co-ordinator when chairman Levy asked him to look after the first team following Villas-Boas's departure. Villas-Boas, 36, left the club after winning just two of his last seven league games in charge and the White Hart Lane club had only scored 15 goals in total before Sunday's victory over Southampton. "We were extremely reluctant to make a change mid-season, but felt we had to do so in the club's best interests," added Levy. We have a great squad and we owe them a head coach who will bring out the best in them and allow them to flourish and enjoy a strong, exciting finish to the season. This is the biggest gamble chairman Daniel Levy has taken for a long, long time. Sherwood now has to work with players at a whole different level: players with massive egos who will be banging on his door wanting to know why they are not in his team. It is not an appointment that is going to please all the fans, because some of them will have wanted a bigger name with much more experience. We are in the fortunate position of having within our club a talented coach in Tim Sherwood. He lost his first game as interim boss when West Ham knocked Spurs out of the Capital One Cup. But the north London side recovered to beat Southampton with striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who only featured once under Villas-Boas this season, scoring twice on his first league start of the campaign. And Sherwood made it clear after that game that he wanted his future resolved quickly. Daniel Levy has given Tim Sherwood the security of an 18-month deal and he has already shown he believes he is the man for the club's long term, not a stop-gap until a more glamorous name becomes available. Read more from Phil here "What would be ideal for me would be to have a chat with the chairman and see what's best for the football club moving forward," said Sherwood on Sunday. I need to know what they're thinking. I don't want this job for five minutes. That's no interest to me. Are we going to move it forward or not? It's a massive club with history and tradition. But whatever happens needs to be right for me, too. A number of managers had been linked with the position since Villas-Boas departed. Former England and Spurs manager Glenn Hoddle also publically declared his interest, with Guus Hiddink, Fabio Capello and Michael Laudrup also mentioned. Sherwood's first game as full-time boss will be against West Brom on Boxing Day.