Tim Sherwood insists he hopes Aston Villa can beat the drop this season.
Sherwood was sacked by Villa last month.
“I wish them well," Sherwood told the Telegraph. “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.
“I believe they will stay up this season. There were some good times in a very short period. I was very proud to have them kept them in the league – it looked very precarious when I took over with 12 games left. It was a great day to lead the team out at Wembley in an FA Cup final, the first time the club had been in the final in 15 years. The final itself was one to forget but there are a lot of teams that would have liked to have been there. It was us on that day. I thought Arsenal were world class."