• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

Andre Villas-Boas - Head Coach

So, he admits he might have tinkled off Hugo at times albeit to a positive final outcome (happy ending)

Hope that settles it once and for all
 
How AVB earned his Spurs

Andre Villas-Boas has overcome a sticky start at Tottenham to get his team challenging Chelsea for a Champions League place and is looking far more at home at White Hart Lane than he ever did at the Bridge

When Manchester United come to White Hart Lane tomorrow, they will be on Andre Villas-Boas's patch. Not just the ground where he works, the pitch he surveys, but where he belongs, which he controls and where he exerts his character.

It was not always this way, but Villas-Boas finally seems settled, more than he ever has been in English football. Tottenham Hotspur this season feels like a far better fit for Villas-Boas than Chelsea was last season. Spurs have the right pre-conditions – stability, healthier pressure, healthier ambition, younger players – and less of the intense circus of Chelsea which made his last job, in retrospect, almost doomed to failure.

The proof, increasingly, is in the results. Villas-Boas did not start perfectly at Spurs but his side are now fourth – their target – and two points behind a Chelsea who will surely not stay there if they cannot rediscover how to win at home. Spurs have won seven and lost just one of their last 10 league games and can smell an automatic Champions League group-stage berth.

"Two points from third place is nothing in the Premier League," Villas-Boas said today afternoon. "It can shift very, very quickly. Our idea last week was to bring Emirates Marketing Project into the frame, into the fight. We have to concentrate on what is around us, and what is realistic now, and that is to get closer to Chelsea."

Overtaking Chelsea would mean a lot to Villas-Boas for obvious reasons. Before Tottenham hosted Chelsea last October he would not be drawn on his feelings regarding his former employers. Today, though, he did firmly make clear that he would never return to work at Stamford Bridge. And, having now found a club that suits him, why would he?

Tottenham is now probably a calmer place than it has been at any point since that great run in late 2011, before their last season spun out of control. Villas-Boas and the Spurs fans finally understand each other. Their first few meetings were tense. White Hart Lane was an anxious place for 1-1 late summer draws with West Browmich Albion and Norwich City, and a 2-1 victory over Queen's Park Rangers in which Spurs were outplayed for the first half.

But the mood has changed. Tottenham have won seven of their last eight home games in all competitions. On New Year's Day they hosted Reading and conceded in the third minute. But there were no nerves, no jeers, and Spurs rolled the Royals over in the second half.

"The fans are relaxed when the team wins," said Villas-Boas today. "It is a consequence of the results we've had. We had a tremendous atmosphere the other day in our game against Coventry.I think the fans can really make a difference when they want so I am sure in a big game you will hear them."

Of course, Manchester United will provide a rather different challenge from Coventry City. Villas-Boas will somehow have to stop the front-line pair of Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, which he believes is the best in the Premier League. "It is a very, very strong partnership at the moment," he said. "The individual talent is absolutely amazing."

And he will have to stop them without Sandro – "the best recoverer of the ball in the Premier League", according to his manager – who is out for the season with knee surgery. Scott Parker will return in his place.

Villas-Boas was speaking, as he does at least once a week with humour and candour, at Tottenham's new training ground. Spurs, as well as changing their manager, changed their daily base last year, and the two moves almost seem to reinforce each other.

Just as Spurs Lodge in Chigwell – traditional yet informal, slightly haphazard, maybe too open – was the perfect place for Harry Redknapp, the new £50m venue in Enfield – unashamedly modern, perfectly planned, reliant on science – reflects Villas-Boas's personality and approach. If Villas-Boas was brought in as the anti-Harry, the counter-Redknapp, then Tottenham have moved to fit.

The players themselves, it seems, are better suited to Villas-Boas here than they were at Chelsea. Villas-Boas is a coach with a clear idea of how the game ought to be played. At Chelsea he found a rather different approach deeply ingrained.

Here, though, he has a set of young, flexible players keen to learn and follow his approach. Sandro, Kyle Walker, Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale are all aged between 23 and 25. The best of his new signings, Mousa Dembélé and Hugo Lloris, are 25 and 26 respectively. Gylfi Sigurdsson is 23 and Lewis Holtby, scheduled to arrive in the summer but subject to a push to bring that forward, is 22.

The fact that Villas-Boas has more malleable material in his hands than Jose Mourinho's old veteran-set certainly helps. And so there is less of the tension and discord that coloured his time in south-west London. He is very popular with everyone at Spurs, just as he was at Porto.

At Chelsea, Frank Lampard described his relationship with Villas-Boas as "not ideal", and the lack of a bond with the senior players, also including Ashley Cole, was one of the problems as their season collapsed in the winter. Alex and Nicolas Anelka were famously banished from first-team training as they wanted to leave.

There is none of that at Tottenham. Spurs players have spoken repeatedly of Villas-Boas's personal touch. "Everyone in the club can speak to him," Sandro told The Independent earlier in the season. "It's not a place where he has particular favourites he can speak to who pass his message to the rest of the team. His door is always open."

Steven Caulker, who has been brought through this season and made 19 starts already, has also praised Villas-Boas's personal touch. "It's not nice when there are favourites," he said. "But the manager is not like that and I'm happy."

Even the difficult issue of the transition from Brad Friedel to Lloris was handled with the utmost delicacy. It felt pained at the time but Lloris is now established as goalkeeper and the issue is resolved.

The evidence all speaks of a coach far more happy and comfortable than the man who was under such pressure at Chelsea and did not always look to be enjoying it. There is a sense in Portugal that, after Porto and Chelsea, he might want to work for a bigger club again. Villas-Boas is certainly ambitious but now, for the first time since his Porto triumphs of 2011, he is unambiguously in the right place.

"Man United compete to win trophies," he said. "We want to do it in the future. We are building something in the club for us to be at that level."

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/how-avb-earned-his-spurs-8458287.html
 
Jordinho said:
How AVB earned his Spurs

Andre Villas-Boas has overcome a sticky start at Tottenham to get his team challenging Chelsea for a Champions League place and is looking far more at home at White Hart Lane than he ever did at the Bridge

When Manchester United come to White Hart Lane tomorrow, they will be on Andre Villas-Boas's patch. Not just the ground where he works, the pitch he surveys, but where he belongs, which he controls and where he exerts his character.

It was not always this way, but Villas-Boas finally seems settled, more than he ever has been in English football. Tottenham Hotspur this season feels like a far better fit for Villas-Boas than Chelsea was last season. Spurs have the right pre-conditions – stability, healthier pressure, healthier ambition, younger players – and less of the intense circus of Chelsea which made his last job, in retrospect, almost doomed to failure.

The proof, increasingly, is in the results. Villas-Boas did not start perfectly at Spurs but his side are now fourth – their target – and two points behind a Chelsea who will surely not stay there if they cannot rediscover how to win at home. Spurs have won seven and lost just one of their last 10 league games and can smell an automatic Champions League group-stage berth.

"Two points from third place is nothing in the Premier League," Villas-Boas said today afternoon. "It can shift very, very quickly. Our idea last week was to bring Emirates Marketing Project into the frame, into the fight. We have to concentrate on what is around us, and what is realistic now, and that is to get closer to Chelsea."

Overtaking Chelsea would mean a lot to Villas-Boas for obvious reasons. Before Tottenham hosted Chelsea last October he would not be drawn on his feelings regarding his former employers. Today, though, he did firmly make clear that he would never return to work at Stamford Bridge. And, having now found a club that suits him, why would he?

Tottenham is now probably a calmer place than it has been at any point since that great run in late 2011, before their last season spun out of control. Villas-Boas and the Spurs fans finally understand each other. Their first few meetings were tense. White Hart Lane was an anxious place for 1-1 late summer draws with West Browmich Albion and Norwich City, and a 2-1 victory over Queen's Park Rangers in which Spurs were outplayed for the first half.

But the mood has changed. Tottenham have won seven of their last eight home games in all competitions. On New Year's Day they hosted Reading and conceded in the third minute. But there were no nerves, no jeers, and Spurs rolled the Royals over in the second half.

"The fans are relaxed when the team wins," said Villas-Boas today. "It is a consequence of the results we've had. We had a tremendous atmosphere the other day in our game against Coventry.I think the fans can really make a difference when they want so I am sure in a big game you will hear them."

Of course, Manchester United will provide a rather different challenge from Coventry City. Villas-Boas will somehow have to stop the front-line pair of Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, which he believes is the best in the Premier League. "It is a very, very strong partnership at the moment," he said. "The individual talent is absolutely amazing."

And he will have to stop them without Sandro – "the best recoverer of the ball in the Premier League", according to his manager – who is out for the season with knee surgery. Scott Parker will return in his place.

Villas-Boas was speaking, as he does at least once a week with humour and candour, at Tottenham's new training ground. Spurs, as well as changing their manager, changed their daily base last year, and the two moves almost seem to reinforce each other.

Just as Spurs Lodge in Chigwell – traditional yet informal, slightly haphazard, maybe too open – was the perfect place for Harry Redknapp, the new £50m venue in Enfield – unashamedly modern, perfectly planned, reliant on science – reflects Villas-Boas's personality and approach. If Villas-Boas was brought in as the anti-Harry, the counter-Redknapp, then Tottenham have moved to fit.

The players themselves, it seems, are better suited to Villas-Boas here than they were at Chelsea. Villas-Boas is a coach with a clear idea of how the game ought to be played. At Chelsea he found a rather different approach deeply ingrained.

Here, though, he has a set of young, flexible players keen to learn and follow his approach. Sandro, Kyle Walker, Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale are all aged between 23 and 25. The best of his new signings, Mousa Dembélé and Hugo Lloris, are 25 and 26 respectively. Gylfi Sigurdsson is 23 and Lewis Holtby, scheduled to arrive in the summer but subject to a push to bring that forward, is 22.

The fact that Villas-Boas has more malleable material in his hands than Jose Mourinho's old veteran-set certainly helps. And so there is less of the tension and discord that coloured his time in south-west London. He is very popular with everyone at Spurs, just as he was at Porto.

At Chelsea, Frank Lampard described his relationship with Villas-Boas as "not ideal", and the lack of a bond with the senior players, also including Ashley Cole, was one of the problems as their season collapsed in the winter. Alex and Nicolas Anelka were famously banished from first-team training as they wanted to leave.

There is none of that at Tottenham. Spurs players have spoken repeatedly of Villas-Boas's personal touch. "Everyone in the club can speak to him," Sandro told The Independent earlier in the season. "It's not a place where he has particular favourites he can speak to who pass his message to the rest of the team. His door is always open."

Steven Caulker, who has been brought through this season and made 19 starts already, has also praised Villas-Boas's personal touch. "It's not nice when there are favourites," he said. "But the manager is not like that and I'm happy."

Even the difficult issue of the transition from Brad Friedel to Lloris was handled with the utmost delicacy. It felt pained at the time but Lloris is now established as goalkeeper and the issue is resolved.

The evidence all speaks of a coach far more happy and comfortable than the man who was under such pressure at Chelsea and did not always look to be enjoying it. There is a sense in Portugal that, after Porto and Chelsea, he might want to work for a bigger club again. Villas-Boas is certainly ambitious but now, for the first time since his Porto triumphs of 2011, he is unambiguously in the right place.

"Man United compete to win trophies," he said. "We want to do it in the future. We are building something in the club for us to be at that level."

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/how-avb-earned-his-spurs-8458287.html
Click to expand...

I enjoyed that.
 
I'm delighted to see him getting some respect, but remain astounded that so many people wrote him off so quickly post-Chelski. This the club who axed Ancelotti for Christ's sake, let alone forced Mourinho out. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that he was largely fudged over in west london. I always felt that said-sacking could work in our favor because the man is very, very smart and not stupid enough to ignore his own mistakes. He has learnt. And he has the right fit with us. I know we have yet to see how the season will pan out, but my faith in him over the next few seasons is pretty strong. I hope he gets to manage us in our new stadium...and I hope his legacy is that of helping us rediscover that final step back into the hyper-elite of world football. PROUD that he is a out manager/coach both on and off the training ground...
 
africanspurs said:
and redknapp didnt rest players during carling cup and europa games then?

edit: forget this....a more detailed response via PM
Click to expand...

What I didn't say in the PM but I will here...its a question for you. Did Harry ever say he was going to try and win the Europa League/take it seriously? Ditto the CCC?

And one thing I DID say in the PM. My comments came at the end of the season, not the first week of January.
 
thfcsteff said:
What I didn't say in the PM but I will here...its a question for you. Did Harry ever say he was going to try and win the Europa League/take it seriously? Ditto the CCC?

And one thing I DID say in the PM. My comments came at the end of the season, not the first week of January.
Click to expand...

Didn't Harry take us to a Carling Cup final?
 
Jordinho said:
We played Watford and Burnley in that run and almost fudged it up over two legs against Burnley. Even if you succeed, it doesn't mean you tried your hardest.
Click to expand...

Dear GHod I remembered that! I was quite embarrased that we went through in the end. If the away goals rule had counted as they normaly do in most competitions we'd have been out.

It was for this reason that I justified our abject penalty shoot-out loss by repeating to myself that we didn't deserve to win the cup based on the Burnley 2nd leg
 
southstand1882 said:
Ok. Rewrite history

When AVB gets us to a final, you can brag about how he did it in the right way
Click to expand...

Tbf, Jordinho has poited out quite rightly that Harry in most of his time with us didn't give too bleeps about the Carling Cup. Apart from bending over for Utd the next season (as we usually did) when did Harry make a fist of the Carling Cup apart from his fist few months?
 
Jordinho said:
We played Watford and Burnley in that run and almost fudged it up over two legs against Burnley. Even if you succeed, it doesn't mean you tried your hardest.
Click to expand...

I become angry when I think about the total disrespect that Redknapp treated the cups. Crouch against Portsmouth and the reserves in the semi against Chelsea last season. Pav left on the bench against United..absolutely disgraceful.
 
Haha. You clowns

He sacrificed the Carling cup for CHAMPIONS LEAGUE football, and you think that's a bad thing

When our first team was littered with quality like Bentley, O'Hara, Zokora, Pav...

You couldn't make it up

And as for Burnley...they went on to beat Manchester United and Everton the following season

This is comedy gold
 
southstand1882 said:
Haha. You clowns

He sacrificed the Carling cup for CHAMPIONS LEAGUE football, and you think that's a bad thing

When our first team was littered with quality like Bentley, O'Hara, Zokora, Pav...

You couldn't make it up

And as for Burnley...they went on to beat Manchester United and Everton the following season

This is comedy gold
Click to expand...

When did he scarifice Carking cup for champiobs league football? Do you mean the ONE season we played in it or the other two seaosn we were NOT playing in it?

I wonder what you make of it when Arsenal fans say that...

We were 4-1 ip agaisnt Burnley after the first leg; do you really think losing 3-0 after 90 minutes thereby throwing away a very healthy league against a team far below us was acceptable?

Now THAT is Comedy Gold. In fact that result after 90 mins WAS Comedy Gold
 
AVB love-in is official:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/jan/19/tottenham-hotspur-andre-villas-boas



[h=2]Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United, Premier League, 4pm Sunday 20 Jan[/h] [h=1]André Villas-Boas improves with age and gives Spurs something to savour[/h] The Tottenham Hotspur manager is forming friendships and thriving away from the suffocating environment at Chelsea




  • Saturday 19 January 2013 22.31 GMT
Andr--Villas-Boas-008.jpg
André Villas-Boas has mellowed from the agitated and intense manager who was jettisoned by Chelsea. Photograph: Jose Jordan/AFP/Getty Images

André Villas-Boas's selection of a favourite red shines a light on more than his sense of refinement. "There are superior wines but the one I enjoyed most was Château Phélan Ségur 1986," the Tottenham Hotspur manager says.
"You get satisfaction from wine not only from the quality but from the event, surroundings and the people." In other words, Villas-Boas can savour individual excellence but he does not obsess over it. It is the environment, the harmony of the collective, that is of importance to him.
The philosophy has underpinned everything that Villas-Boas has attempted in his two seasons in English football, although it is a matter of record that it did not work at Chelsea last time out, when his approach jarred with a hierarchical dressing room and a club where power struggles are a way of life. It felt like a mercy on at least one level when he was relieved of his duties last March, having been ground down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back