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Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

It hasn't taken long for the media to start kicking off has it. One undeserved loss at Saudi Sportswashing Machine, a couple of players being sold and he's already failed. "He's making the same mistakes at Chelsea, senior players being isolated again, the squad are going to be questioning him behind his back etc etc".

I shouldn't be suprised. Its a shame some former players seem to be jumping on the negativity bandwagon with some of the media and are openly criticising his decisions when no-one as of yet knows what the squad is going to look like come the end of the transfer window. I dont think either the interview from Perry or Roberts on talksport really try to hard to give a balanced view to the leading questions. Even with Dawsons departure with have 4 centre backs who are all more than capable of playing well in the league with the only one who is possibly unproven being Vertonghen, though he has played at a higher level than Caulker.

I hope we do get a few wins in our next games just to shut these clowns up for a bit.
 
suffolkspur said:
It hasn't taken long for the media to start kicking off has it. One undeserved loss at Saudi Sportswashing Machine, a couple of players being sold and he's already failed. "He's making the same mistakes at Chelsea, senior players being isolated again, the squad are going to be questioning him behind his back etc etc".

I shouldn't be suprised. Its a shame some former players seem to be jumping on the negativity bandwagon with some of the media and are openly criticising his decisions when no-one as of yet knows what the squad is going to look like come the end of the transfer window. I dont think either the interview from Perry or Roberts on talksport really try to hard to give a balanced view to the leading questions. Even with Dawsons departure with have 4 centre backs who are all more than capable of playing well in the league with the only one who is possibly unproven being Vertonghen, though he has played at a higher level than Caulker.

I hope we do get a few wins in our next games just to shut these clowns up for a bit.
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AVB was always going to be a target for the press after his Chelsea experience. Add a legion of 'Arry's friends in the press who have been sharpening their knives all summer and its inevitable. We can win the next five or six games and they'll be back to point our that 'Arry won nine (or ten or whatever).
 
suffolkspur said:
It hasn't taken long for the media to start kicking off has it. One undeserved loss at Saudi Sportswashing Machine, a couple of players being sold and he's already failed. "He's making the same mistakes at Chelsea, senior players being isolated again, the squad are going to be questioning him behind his back etc etc".

I shouldn't be suprised. Its a shame some former players seem to be jumping on the negativity bandwagon with some of the media and are openly criticising his decisions when no-one as of yet knows what the squad is going to look like come the end of the transfer window. I dont think either the interview from Perry or Roberts on talksport really try to hard to give a balanced view to the leading questions. Even with Dawsons departure with have 4 centre backs who are all more than capable of playing well in the league with the only one who is possibly unproven being Vertonghen, though he has played at a higher level than Caulker.

I hope we do get a few wins in our next games just to shut these clowns up for a bit.
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You know what I really want AVB to suceed but surely only the most foolhardy fan can realise it wasn't just Chelsea's fault that AVB failed so spectacularly. I couldn't give a monkeys what people outside spurs think about him but I do think with many spurs fans myslef included he is on trial really. I didn't like the stuff about how he felt he was failed by Abramovich - it made him sound naive. I have a job being a spurs fan defending our credibility against chelsea and in fact other London fans. I just hope that AVB has learnt lessons from Chelsea and is a little less the idealist and more the pragmatist. So far the signs are not promising but he still has my support.
 
interesting how the press behaves

Maurinho, a young Portuguese coach was labelled the chosen one and every sports reporter in the country was tossing himself over every comment that the man made

AVB, a young Portuguese coach who tried to go up against John Terry and every sports reporter in the country is labeling him as a fraud that knows nothing about football

goes to show just how fickle and full of little ****s the English press is..
 
Robspur12 said:
You know what I really want AVB to suceed but surely only the most foolhardy fan can realise it wasn't just Chelsea's fault that AVB failed so spectacularly. I couldn't give a monkeys what people outside spurs think about him but I do think with many spurs fans myslef included he is on trial really. I didn't like the stuff about how he felt he was failed by Abramovich - it made him sound naive. I have a job being a spurs fan defending our credibility against chelsea and in fact other London fans. I just hope that AVB has learnt lessons from Chelsea and is a little less the idealist and more the pragmatist. So far the signs are not promising but he still has my support.
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I'm sure most fans do recognise that AVB has to take some of the blame for what happened at Chelsea and AVB i believe has acknowledged publicly that he made some mistakes. On the flip side whilst there is understanding that he has to take some of the blame i see no wrong with him stating and can accept that other factors at Chelsea did not help his cause. You seem to be judging AVB for defending himself when he has actually taken taken some of the blame himself. Surely this is a balanced view of what happened there?

Again you are not the first to say that the signs are not promising after one game in charge yet again i find it difficult to comprehend how people can judge so quickly. The only evidence we have to go on is a loss at Saudi Sportswashing Machine with a performance that deserved more and the fact that he has decided that a number of squad members are not going to be suitable for the way he wants the team to play. Bassong was very complimentary in his interview on talksport about how AVB has been with him and aside from one tweet regarding respect from Huddlestone which we cannot be sure was aimed at AVB we have had nothing but positive noises coming out of the club. If he kept Huddlestone and Dawson around and tried to shoe-horn them into the team when he believes that their presence weakens his tactics and formations and this leads to us to losing games he would be criticised for doing what he is did at Chelsea. Now he has made a decision on the players futures and decided that they have none at the club he is criticised for doing what he did at Chelsea. It seems that currently he is a no win situation with some people.

Everyone is obviously entitled to their opinions and i fully appreciate why people have concerns. I'd just prefer to sit back, give the man a chance and be positive and look forward to what i hope is an exciting future for the team. Its far to early in my opinion to start dissecting every decision that he makes.
 
suffolkspur said:
I'm sure most fans do recognise that AVB has to take some of the blame for what happened at Chelsea and AVB i believe has acknowledged publicly that he made some mistakes. On the flip side whilst there is understanding that he has to take some of the blame i see no wrong with him stating and can accept that other factors at Chelsea did not help his cause. You seem to be judging AVB for defending himself when he has actually taken taken some of the blame himself. Surely this is a balanced view of what happened there?

Again you are not the first to say that the signs are not promising after one game in charge yet again i find it difficult to comprehend how people can judge so quickly. The only evidence we have to go on is a loss at Saudi Sportswashing Machine with a performance that deserved more and the fact that he has decided that a number of squad members are not going to be suitable for the way he wants the team to play. Bassong was very complimentary in his interview on talksport about how AVB has been with him and aside from one tweet regarding respect from Huddlestone which we cannot be sure was aimed at AVB we have had nothing but positive noises coming out of the club. If he kept Huddlestone and Dawson around and tried to shoe-horn them into the team when he believes that their presence weakens his tactics and formations and this leads to us to losing games he would be criticised for doing what he is did at Chelsea. Now he has made a decision on the players futures and decided that they have none at the club he is criticised for doing what he did at Chelsea. It seems that currently he is a no win situation with some people.

Everyone is obviously entitled to their opinions and i fully appreciate why people have concerns. I'd just prefer to sit back, give the man a chance and be positive and look forward to what i hope is an exciting future for the team. Its far to early in my opinion to start dissecting every decision that he makes.
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Good post mate. TBH I would rather AVB not have said anything about Chelsea but rather let his work at Spurs do the talking. He was on a loser whatever. The stuff about Abramovich not supporting him made me cringe as I thought he had been naive based on Abramovich's previous conduct. With regard to the result on Sat I dont blame AVB at al, l although I did think we lacked any creativity without Hudd and Modric. I am supportive I've just seen soo many false dawns at Spurs. The Ramos era was particularly traumatic!
 
The Abramovic stuff - is it really naive of him?

Abramovic (someone he presumably was familiar with from his time at Chelsea) pursued him with vigour.

Paid an incredible amount to free him from Porto

Charged him with reforming an ageing Chelsea side and promised him whatever he needed to make it happen

What should AVB have done? "Nah, you are a bit shifty, think Ill stay here" or take on the biggest job he has ever been offered?
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
The Abramovic stuff - is it really naive of him?

Abramovic (someone he presumably was familiar with from his time at Chelsea) pursued him with vigour.

Paid an incredible amount to free him from Porto

Charged him with reforming an ageing Chelsea side and promised him whatever he needed to make it happen

What should AVB have done? "Nah, you are a bit shifty, think Ill stay here" or take on the biggest job he has ever been offered?
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No that's not my point. AVB seemed to think Abramovich would have found it acceptable to forfeit the league and champions league to indulge AVB's idealism. Why would he have thought that bearing in mind how Abramovich had treated more sucessful previous managers. AVB seemed unable to adapt to deal with what was going wrong at Chelsea then blamed Abramovich for not supporting him. That's like blaming a rattlesnake for biting.
 
Lets be clear I will support AVB don't want this to be as divisive as HR's reign. I just hope its not a false dawn.
 
Robspur12 said:
No that's not my point. AVB seemed to think Abramovich would have found it acceptable to forfeit the league and champions league to indulge AVB's idealism. Why would he have thought that bearing in mind how Abramovich had treated more sucessful previous managers. AVB seemed unable to adapt to deal with what was going wrong at Chelsea then blamed Abramovich for not supporting him. That's like blaming a rattlesnake for biting.
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Im not sure Ive seen anything from AVB to suggest he asked Abramovic to forfeit anything.

I do expect he no doubt spelt out the danngers (to immediate) success that amount of transition would make, but concluded the longer term benefits were greater.

He certainly went into the job believing he had full authority, and it certainly seems at the end of the day Abramovic sided with the players and not the manager he promised to support.

By no means do I think AVB was faultless in his time at Chelsea, but I do think the things you are picking up on arent the actual issues.

Seems pretty obvious Abramovic did let him down, did renege on promises made and it seems did move the goalposts after their initial agreement. Regardless of the mistakes he did make I can well understand (and accept) why AVB would be somewhat aggrieved by that.
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
Im not sure Ive seen anything from AVB to suggest he asked Abramovic to forfeit anything.

I do expect he no doubt spelt out the danngers (to immediate) success that amount of transition would make, but concluded the longer term benefits were greater.

He certainly went into the job believing he had full authority, and it certainly seems at the end of the day Abramovic sided with the players and not the manager he promised to support.

By no means do I think AVB was faultless in his time at Chelsea, but I do think the things you are picking up on arent the actual issues.

Seems pretty obvious Abramovic did let him down, did renege on promises made and it seems did move the goalposts after their initial agreement. Regardless of the mistakes he did make I can well understand (and accept) why AVB would be somewhat aggrieved by that.
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Or maybe Abramovic thought AVB was a clueless idiot and got rid of him because it was obvious to those in the club that it wasnt working. They went on to win the CL and FA cup.

Abramovic is no fool. I like the way you suggest he just decided to side with the players as if AVB was wronged. Have you considered that there might have been good reason ? No chairman in their right mind would back a manager that they thought was making big mistakes.

Now we both have no clue either way. But I wont just assume it was all Abramovic's fault. Surely a good manager would get any group of amazing players performing well, even if it didnt suit his system ?

You guys are in cuckoo land if you think AVB is going to get a squad full of perfect players for his system.

The stories at the time of his sacking was that AVB was seen as tactically inept by the first team and board. Also it was reported that AVB cried because only 3 players came to say bye to him. While that makes me feel a bit sorry for him, it sounds a bit worrying that he was able to fall out with his squad so easily.
 
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markysimmo said:
Ah chris Perry, world renowned title winning coach / manager, oh hold on, another ex player than knows fudge all
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Why does he know fudge all ?

He's being asked his opinion and giving it. The same thing you do on here all the time. To say he knows fudge all says you think he is wrong... so are you a world renowed winning coach ?

If thats the criteria for giving an opinion, lets shut this site down. If you listen to it, it is a reasonable opinion and clear why he is saying it. What he says is perfectly valid concerns, just sounds like he is saying "by doing X, Y might happen" ... but he definitely isnt saying it means AVB will 100% fail. Time will tell. I hope it works out perfectly for AVB.
 
Golfball said:
Or maybe Abramovic thought AVB was a clueless idiot and got rid of him because it was obvious to those in the club that it wasnt working. They went on to win the CL and FA cup.

Abramovic is no fool. I like the way you suggest he just decided to side with the players as if AVB was wronged. Have you considered that there might have been good reason ? No chairman in their right mind would back a manager that they thought was making big mistakes.

Now we both have no clue either way. But I wont just assume it was all Abramovic's fault. Surely a good manager would get any group of amazing players performing well, even if it didnt suit his system ?

You guys are in cuckoo land if you think AVB is going to get a squad full of perfect players for his system.

The stories at the time of his sacking was that AVB was seen as tactically inept by the first team and board. Also it was reported that AVB cried because only 3 players came to say bye to him. While that makes me feel a bit sorry for him, it sounds a bit worrying that he was able to fall out with his squad so easily.
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A squad that had previously been ever so supportive of past managers, eh? I think Luis Felipe Scolari might have something to say about that.

Like it or not, AVB was stabbed in the back by the chairman. They were three points off the top four when AVB was sacked - they went on to finish sixth under Di Matteo, and every man and his dog acknowledges that they were the luckiest team ever to win the CL. The FA Cup as well, I wonder how different things might have been had the fudging ref rightfully refused to give that ghost goal against us. Di Matteo was lucky, and the players performed for him because he let them do what they wished- play the counter-attacking style of football they loved playing under Mourinho, and not much else.

AVB tried to change the style, the ethos of the club. Disgruntled players didn't like it, and their performances suffered. So AVB benched them. Then they moaned even more. And Abramovich, that paragon of football wisdom who instinctively knows all about tactics and strategy decided to back them instead of him, which is contrary to the entire 'chairman's assurances' thing AVB so willingly parroted at press conferences.

I'd go with assuming it was all AVB/Chelsea's fault. They're odious ****s, that much is obvious.
 
Things went wrong at Chelsea last year. Partly AVBs fault, partly the players. At whatever point he was sacked, Chelsea wasn't working. Because the players went on to win the CL - with a HUGE dose of good fortune, it has to be said - their part is forgotten. But if AVB had stayed and Drogba+Lampard+Terry left, it would have been them painted as the guilty party if even just Chelseas league form improved.

Take 2 then for AVB at WHL. Has he learnt his lessons then? Well, it's clear he wants to play his way. He's picked a club where the core playing staff are suited to this. That's already an advantage. He's ditching the squad players who don't suit his style. What about our influential senior pros? King - retired. Modric - going. Bale (I assume), Adebayor - both signed new contracts when they knew he was coming in.

There is no John Terry, Fat Frank or Dogbowl going to be rocking the boat here.

So it's going to be a much purer chance to see the AVB 4-3-3 in action, high line pressing game. You know, the one which won a treble in his first season in Portugal, undefeated in the league, blah blah blah. But it will take time, and that's not going to satisfy the people on here who expect us to WIN every match with every player having a blinder. It might mean 6th this year, maybe a good cup run, I don't know. But probably not that glorious CL place, probably not a trophy. However, building all the time, next year pushing on for CL football, the year after pushing for a title. Will Levy buy that? I think he might, if he sees that AVB is truly building something.

And that's the difference with Chelsea. For them, he wasn't given the chance to build, and they expected success there and then. For us, the expectation is less at the moment, and the foundations are there.
 
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