I've been reading the book on AVB - 'Special Too' tonight, and it's very interesting:
It's very interesting in terms of understanding his training methodology, which seems excellent. Also the way he builds a positive atmosphere around the club (totally at odds with how it seemed to go down at Chelsea, suggesting the players clearly had something to do with it) there is also an interesting little paragraph about the time just before he got unveiled as Porto manager.
At the start of May, 2010, the Porto coach was let go. By mid-May, AVB had a verbal agreement with the Portuguese president. However, if I have understood it right, he could only leave Academica at the end of a season as this was agreed in his contract - with 500,000 euros to be paid. If he was to leave sooner, obviously more compensation would have to be agreed. So he had the verbal agreement by the middle of May, and yet only got unveiled on June 2nd. This was after an apparent 'to and fro' where AVB released a 'politically correct' statement that he wasn't about to be joining Porto, before he did a few days later. It also coincided with the Porto president returning from holiday, then relieving the previous coach of his duties, then allowing a 'few days mourning' with a respectful silence from the club before appointing AVB. The reason he denied he was going to Porto in between the verbal agreement and the unveiling was because he was afraid news would get out and force the club into taking the agreement back.
Which all seems strikingly similar to our situation now. Harry is sacked at the end of the season (I don't actually recall reading anything in the statement from the club saying 'the search for a new manager will begin now/shortly, which usually happens btw) and Levy goes away for personal reasons. There's a period of silence, coinciding with unsubstantiated reports that AVB has taken the job, which he then denies, probably to relieve pressure on the Spurs board so that any negative fan reaction doesn't build up too much to force them to change their decision. The story about not being able to be unveiled until July may make sense in this case, or he may just be unveiled this week.
But yes, a strikingly similar set of events that make me think it's been AVB all along, and we needn't worry.