Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

[Jurgen the German]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

BoL, didn't you say at the beginning of the season that you thought we were title contenders? And were telling people in the elephant in the room thread that they were being silly for not considering us title contenders and that a lot of the faults people cited for that were common amongst the other teams?

I personally never thought we had a chance for the title this year. I didn't think we had a chance for top 4 either tbh, I would have been happy with top 6, looking at the long term.

The problem isn't even necessarily the results (though that us a huge problem). The problem is the manner of the performances. We ve genuinely gone backwards in our performances as the season have gone on. We didn't get thrashed by Arsenal or Chelsea. Then get smashed by city and Liverpool. We didn't play great against the crapper teams at the beginning either but we at least looked more defensively solid and were creating some chances. The defensive solidity especially has completely flown out of the window.

The home record is beyond terrible. It's now the joint 13th best in the league, with about 90 percent of the league having scored more and conceded less than us in their grounds so far.

I don't think people not expecting us to ship 14 goals vs Liverpool, Emirates Marketing Project and West Ham without reply are expecting too much.

People are willing to accept transition if there is progress. People are willing to accept transition if there is some degree of performance. People are willing to accept transition if there is some degree of compromise from the manager along the way. And people are willing to accept it if the manager has pedigree doing that kind of thing.

And that is the thing. People like moyes or ferguson have history of taking clubs, rebuilding them as better units and better clubs. There is no history of AVB doing this. He joined an incredibly strong side, did very well and then left immediately. Got sacked from Chelsea and now here we are, 3 thrashings in, having scored less goals from open play at whl than Liverpool. Where exactly is the evidence that AVB is the man to root out the rot in the club? I was a huge supporter of his and still am not too sure if I want him gone but I don't see where this all comes from.

And the frustrating thing is that a lot of fans actually called this throughout the season (and some even last swason) and were shouted down pretty severely. People who said we'd start being on the wrong end of thrashings soon of we continued defending in the same way. That our attacking play looked poor and didn't look like improving.

It is also worth noting that nobody forced us to buy 7 foreign players from 6 different leagues speaking 6 different languages. Obviously they were in a better position with the best manager ever but after selling Ronaldo, man utd bought Valencia iirc. And that was pretty much it.

=D>

 

[africanspurs]

Re: Avb done (official)

I'm pretty sure AVB gave Ade a ****pile of chances and Ade still ended up never being available.

I think its equally plausible that ade was always available and AVB didnt like his character so didnt play him

 

[Kingdawson]

Re: Avb done (official)

I think its equally plausible that ade was always available and AVB didnt like his character so didnt play him

exactly.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

we need to make sure we make the most of what we have so when the teams above us are less than their best we can capitalize and move above them. I don't think after his last two seasons we can say that Redknapp was getting the maximum out of the squad/team.

Not far off:

2010/11 = 5th, we were the 5th best team IMO.

2011/12 = Had the 4th best squad after City, Chelsea and United but underachieved by finishing below an inferior Arsenal side.

So as much as people want to knock Arry (I don't put you in that bracket) for underachieving, it's not like we had the 2nd best team and finished 6th.

 

[africanspurs]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

And that is why we get the massive fluctuations in form that we see like no other club, we got it with Ramos and we got it with AVB. It's because they are trying to build something long term.

I'm 100% sure if AVB wanted to, without a care for future years or even for the rest of the season, he could easily send players out to keep it simple and play the other guys off the park. We'd win a few. We'd look good. But I don't think it would have been good for our long term health. We were trying to get to a place that we looked good playing in a controlled way that we could use consistently.

LOL, what??!!!

How can you possibly be sure man?

on that basis alone he should be sacked, if he is purposely sacrificing points that he could easily get according you then that guy should be sacked on the spot

maybe you just uncovered why he was sacked

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

LOL, what??!!!

How can you possibly be sure man?

on that basis alone he should be sacked, if he is purposely sacrificing points that he could easily get according you then that guy should be sacked on the spot

maybe you just uncovered why he was sacked

Do you not see what I mean? If he wanted to do so, he could send us out there to play very simple football and attempt to beat the other team in whatever style took their fancy. But how does that help us overachieve in the long term?

I really don't feel like I slipped up there and revealed something I shouldn't have. Harry was brought in because he kept it simple and we needed to stay in the league. AVB was brought in because he would do more than keep it simple and build a structure. Now this new guy is going to come in and probably keep it simple again :ross: it's a joke.

Really lost a lot of respect for Levy over this.

 

[scaramanga]

Re: Avb done (official)

I think its equally plausible that ade was always available and AVB didnt like his character so didnt play him

I'm pretty sure AVB didn't force AVB to get injured for UEFA matches, or spend half his time in Africa, or go to the ACN despite having played terribly for Spurs.

 

[braineclipse]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

From a theoretical viewpoint the "should he be sacked" decision is very easy to set up.

1. Quantify success and a reasonable time frame by which it can be achieved.
2. Estimate the chances of the current managers becoming successful.
3. Estimate the chances of a new manager becoming successful.

If the chances of the third step outweigh those of the second the decision is clear.

Step one is easy enough. Step two and three are a lot harder of course, it's certainly an estimate based on incomplete information. That doesn't mean that decent estimates can't be made though.

Wouldn't have been the decision I would have made at this point had it been up to me, but I'm perfectly fine with the decision made by Levy, the board and Baldini/whoever. The turnaround needed to get to where AVB could be deemed a success was looking larger and larger.

 

[NorwegianSpursFan]

Re: Avb done (official)

I might be in the minority here, but I'm fed up with "projects" and advanced tactics, I just wan't us to play attacking football and enjoy watching us play again....

 

[DeanoAustin]

Re: Avb done (official)

I might be in the minority here, but I'm fed up with "projects" and advanced tactics, I just wan't us to play attacking football and enjoy watching us play again....

F**king with you 100% on this.

If our next manager comes out with the phrase "project" he should be kicked in the nuts and handed his P45. F**king stupid phrase for football.

As for the advanced tactics...if what people on here were saying about AVB was accurate it was bonkers stuff. Complete and utter madness. Yes football has advanced and methods have advanced. However, football cannot be reduced to stats. If it can be, Daniel Levy should go all out for Stephen Hawking. To rely on stats in the manner being suggested is pseudo-intellectual mumbo jumbo that players won't understand and that is flawed anyway because of the amount of moving parts and variables in a football match.

 

[Mumorn]

Re: Avb done (official)

I'll hold my hands up and say I was wrong about not thinking we'd sack him.

Pathetic small time ****ing club that I support.

 

[spurs' magna carter]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

The following 31 league games (last 26 of 12/13 and first 5 of this season) after we lost 5-2 at the Emirates in his first NLD.

P31 W20 D7 L4 F51 A26 GD 25+ Pts 67

Points average 2.16 x 38 = 82

Goals for average 1.64 x 38 = 62

Goals against average 0.83 x 38 = 32.

A season on that form would end like this

P38 F62 A32 Gd 30+ Pts 82


There's a lot of what ifs in this World but that is quite a considerable one. Does show that even during the best of times we didn't score many but still, impressive form that sadly collapsed after that last minute win at Cardiff.

So gutted right now, when I first did those calculations I genuinely believed we had finally found our man but as always....

 

[AVB]

Re: Avb done (official)

Can I change my username haha

 

[thfcsteff]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

Interestingly enough, AVB has a better win percentage from his first 80 games in charge than both Wenger, Redknapp and Rodgers (in 72 games). Under AVB's first 80 games in charge, we've also lost fewer games than those three managers. I'd argue this shows he must be doing something right?

AVB:
44 wins
20 draws
16 losses
55 % win rate

Redknapp:
40 wins
18 draws
22 losses
50 % win rate

Wenger:
40 wins
23 draws
17 losses
50 % win rate

Rodgers: (72 games)
36 wins
18 draws
17 losses
50 % win rate

Edit: Guess the collection of stats didn't matter much when he got fired during the process! :lol:](*,)

What it clearly tells us is that this was going on for some time, that he had lost the dressing room and that Voldemort was working behind the scenes for quite some time to destabilize...

 

[thfcsteff]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

Quite. Logical thought seems to be a stretch for football fans though - emotional decision-making is far easier to do.

There's more to this…again, Sherwood's influence behind the scenes is frightening…and he must have lost the dressing room. It's a great shame for many reasons but inevitable given the way Levy and Lewis work. I think Lewis ordered this TBH...

 

[braineclipse]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

There's more to this…again, Sherwood's influence behind the scenes is frightening…and he must have lost the dressing room. It's a great shame for many reasons but inevitable given the way Levy and Lewis work. I think Lewis ordered this TBH...

If this is the case then I see no need to blame Sherwood or speculate about if this was the doing of Levy, Lewis, the board, Baldini or Sherwood.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

There's more to this…again, Sherwood's influence behind the scenes is frightening…and he must have lost the dressing room. It's a great shame for many reasons but inevitable given the way Levy and Lewis work. I think Lewis ordered this TBH...

Me too...I think Lewis' growing influence and interest is the reason this happens. It smacks of a 'I want it all now' attitude as opposed to the long term thinking that Levy has endeavored to implement.

Lewis just seems the investment he sanctioned and then the results and wonders why it is happening. He hasn't spent his career talking to football people in the way Levy has and I really wouldn't be surprised if this came from Lewis rather than him.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

If Sherwood's influence is that big then I think we should just give him the job and be done with it. He needs to prove why he is so highly rated.

 

[Kingdawson]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

Me too...I think Lewis' growing influence and interest is the reason this happens. It smacks of a 'I want it all now' attitude as opposed to the long term thinking that Levy has endeavored to implement.

Lewis just seems the investment he sanctioned and then the results and wonders why it is happening. He hasn't spent his career talking to football people in the way Levy has and I really wouldn't be surprised if this came from Lewis rather than him.

There's no 'i wan't it now' attitude being showcased on this occasion imo. Hootnow's fantastic post covers everything but we're not a League One team...losing in this sort of manner 3 times in 1 season (with barely half the season gone) is totally unacceptable.

 

[PLT]

Re: ***The Official AVB Discussion Thread***

The following 31 league games (last 26 of 12/13 and first 5 of this season) after we lost 5-2 at the Emirates in his first NLD.

P31 W20 D7 L4 F51 A26 GD 25+ Pts 67

Points average 2.16 x 38 = 82

Goals for average 1.64 x 38 = 62

Goals against average 0.83 x 38 = 32.

A season on that form would end like this

P38 F62 A32 Gd 30+ Pts 82


There's a lot of what ifs in this World but that is quite a considerable one. Does show that even during the best of times we didn't score many but still, impressive form that sadly collapsed after that last minute win at Cardiff.

So gutted right now, when I first did those calculations I genuinely believed we had finally found our man but as always....

But we've played 16 games this season not 5! :~