AVB confirmed as new Spurs boss – Can he deliver?
Andre Villas-Boas has been appointed as the new manager of Tottenham on a four-year contract. The former Chelsea and Porto boss succeeds Harry Redknapp who was sacked last month. 34-year-old Villas-Boas was sacked by the Blues after just eight months of a three-year contract and will immediately be under pressure from the Spurs fans to show that he is better judged on his time at Porto.
Villas-Boas had been the bookmakers’ favourite for several weeks after Everton’s David Moyes and French coach Laurent Blanc had been linked with the post. He arrived at Stamford Bridge on the back of a hugely successful time with Porto including victory in the Europa Cup. He was seen as the man to lead Chelsea through a phase of rebuilding as their ageing squad appeared to be losing it’s way as a genuine Premiership title contender. However, his reign was plagued by rumours of player unrest as results continued to be disappointing.
Although Villas-Boas will not face the same set of problems that he did at Stamford Bridge, he will have to move swiftly to make sure that Tottenham do not lose any of their star players. Gareth Bale has recently signed a four-year contract but doubts persist over the future of Luka Modric. The Croatian was prevented from leaving for London rivals Chelsea last summer despite persistent bids from the Blues and more recently he has been linked with Manchester United and Real Madrid.
Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy stunned Spurs fans by sacking Redknapp with a year still remaining on his contract. Last week he was followed by his assistants Joe Jordan and Kevin Bond and speculation mounted that Villas-Boas was on the verge of being appointed. Although AVB was favourite with the bookmakers, he was not the number one choice for Spurs fans. Tottenham have been competing with their West London rivals in a bid for a Champions League place and were denied by Chelsea’s Champions League final win. The Blues also thrashed Tottenham 5-1 in the FA Cup semi-final. Although they finished five points and two places above Chelsea in the Premiership, Spurs are now resigned to playing in the Europa League next season.
AVB will have to make an immediate impact if he is to silence the doubters at White Hart Lane who will see him as a Chelsea reject. Only a year ago, Chelsea paid £13.3 compensation to Porto to release Villas-Boas from his contract after his incredible success with the club. His objective will be get Tottenham into the Champions League and put some silverware in the trophy cabinet. It will be fascinating to see how he fares with his second attempt at Premier League management.
