Dear Mr Ashton, Quite why we're bothering to respond to your drivel is beyond us, but here it is: There

was a moment during Andre Villas-Boas' post-match press conference when it became clear he was about to address some issues with the Daily Mail. !t duly arri"ed when Tottenham#s manager said that the $person was in the room# and at that point it became obvious that it would go no further until we had made our respective representations. On the contrary, we've seen the video and that's not what we saw 'mate' In act, yoursel and one other reporter actually interrupted the !ress "on erence, orcing another reporter to repeat his #uestion several times$ %e can't thin& why you wanted to ma&e an issue o this' (ow are your sales going' A brief history lesson% he is upset with me for writing an online opinion piece &uestioning his achie"ements at 'orto( when he won the treble in )*++ and struck gold by landing the top job at Chelsea. It wasn't a treasure hunt) (e was given the *ob based on his previous e+perience, %inning the -reble in spectacular ashion probably had a lot to do with it$ !reviously wor&ing with "helsea legend .ose Mourinho can't have hurt either$ /ou could even suggest he earned it) The main thrust of my argument( among others( was that anyone could ha"e had a pretty decent chance of winning the 'ortuguese league with a stri,e force -.ul, and /adamel 0alcao1 who scored 23 goals between them. -wo things: 0o when (ul& and 1alcao score 23 goals it's down to the players, but when 0purs struggle to score it's down to the Manager' 0ome consistency please$ In addition, in an article printed on 42th 5ovember, you claimed any of us could ha"e had AVB's success at 'orto 6eally') .ust to clari y 7again, rom the same article8, that success was: !n )*++( Villas-Boas won the Treble with a ludicrous 43 per cent win record( .ul, and 0alcao scored 23 goals for 'orto. They didn#t lose a single game in the league( conceded 5ust +6 goals and won +6 matches in a row between December and May. Mr Ashton$ May we suggest that i you could honestly win the same -reble without losing a single game in the league, that you #uit your day *ob hence orth and apply or the position immediately$ /ou'll earn a ortune) Do you thin& your claim is respect ul o a Manager who has achieved such a eat' It was your choice to assert that 9anyone: could do this$ 1ran&ly, we all &now this is not true but you've presented it as such$ At best, you're a liar$ At worst, your sensationalism is aimed at &eeping yoursel in a *ob$ !oor either way$

After a 6-* $thrashing# -Andre#s words1 at Manchester 7ity( it didn#t go down well with AVB on 8ednesday morning( that much is clear. But these are the opinion pieces that are part of the humdrum of life at a top 'remier 9eague club( the $noise of football# as :ary ;e"ille li,es to refer to it. 9-he noise o ootball: ; Quite$

<our "ideo of the press conference carried the following title% AVB has a heated debate o"er his re&uest for more respect I see little 9heat:; can you clari y your claim, 5eil' %e do hope it's not more sensationalism$ /ead it( ignore it( ha"e it out with the person in"ol"ed( pro"ide some conte=t( some balance or plaster them all o"er the four walls of a press conference. But( ultimately( we mo"e on from it. (ow noble o you to o er instruction on how to move on rom being insulted in the 5ational !ress$ %e'll come bac& to this$$ My online column wasn#t a personal attac, on AVB > how could it be when I dont even know the guy? (ere is the cru+ o the issue$ Andre <illas;=oas is upset with you$ %hy' >ven rom the outside, we can see it's or two main reasons$ 1irstly, you underestimated and disrespected his achievements$ It is simply not true that 9anyone: could replicate A<='s record at !orto, simply by having 1alcao and (ul& in your team$ In act, we invite you to try$ -o put your reputation on the line$ Andre did$ %ill you' Or are you going to hide behind the sa ety o your &eyboard ma&ing alse claims' Only one person made this personal, 5eil: /ou) Analysing his tactics would all under the 9noise o ootball: ; hec&, we do it) -he di erence is, we don't ta&e the months o constant wor& involved in winning the !ortuguese ?eague, and compress them into an achievement so ree o s&ill and wit that 9anyone could have had a pretty decent chance o winning: On that note, what dread ully passive 0ynta+$ /ou aren't even bold enough to ma&e a decisive claim$ @till( on with the press conference itself. .e AAVBB claimed that ! $attac,ed him( chased him#( which cannot be true because !#"e only e"er seen him about si= times in my life. May we logically suggest he means through the vehicle o the newspaper you contribute to' 'erhaps ! could be accused of some professional neglect in relation to that because it does seem odd that ! ha"e so rarely come across him.

!erhaps you should wor& harder, 5eil' 8here( perhaps( he had a point was when he claimed that we have never had the chance to sit down and speak about it#. That is correct. !n a pre"ious life at the Daily Mail( when he was manager of 7helsea and ! was reporting on special pro5ects for the paper( I never came across him. Not once. !t simply wasn#t my 5ob to see him. It didnt stop me writing about events at Chelsea( stories that he strenuously and consistently denied. 5o comment re#uired or anyone with any ounce o intelligence$ :i"e him his due( we ne"er had the chance to set the record straight together. @till( he tended to do that in li"e 7hampions 9eague press conferences instead. It never bothered me% as a newspaper reporter wor,ing at the sharp end of the industry( ! ha"e to accept that managers will ha"e a dig in my ribs. !t#s only words( after all. Again$ 6emind me who is ma&ing this personal, 5eil' These e"ents are not e"en humiliating% they are an ine"itable conse&uence of the uni&ue position national newspapers reporters are in. On the contrary$ 6elationships are built on trust$ -hat is true or pro essional ones as much as it is or personal ones$ It is entirely possible to point out the tactical ailings o a manager, without alling out with them$ (owever, that re#uires two things: A &nowledge o ootball so dense that it allows you to challenge those being paid millions, speci ically or that &nowledge they possess$ 0econdly, it re#uires a level o respect$ I you aren't able to build a positive relationship with A<=, then may we suggest you loo& at which o these you lac&$ %e believe we may already have pointed you in the right direction$ @ometimes ! wish ! could wal, away and bac, down( but somewhere there is a trigger that tells me to stay and fight my corner. !f that is a crime then loc, me up. %ho are you ighting' A manager who eels insulted because you claimed 9that anyone could have had a pretty decent chance o winning the !ortuguese league with a stri&e orce 7(ul& and 6adamel 1alcao8 who scored 23 goals between them$: /ou tal& as i these goals arrive in isolation, devoid o any intelligent input rom A<=$ /our analogy is this is a ight$ One which A<= has made 9personal:$ 0o, this was your attac&$ %here is A<='s attac& on you' !nitially( Sunday s e"ents at Tottenham barely made a mar, with me. O course, we are reading 'thin;air'$ Oh, and 90unday's: is grammatically incorrect, as 0unday is a day o the wee&, there ore incapable o ownership$ !t was an e=change without raised voices that( in my opinion at the time( barely registered as a newsworthy event. (ang on, what did you call it earlier' -hat's right, your video is entitled: AVB has a heated debate o"er his re&uest for more respect . %hich is it, 5eil'

!nstead it has come to this! a rather unfortunate situation that has gathered a life of its own. I am in the eye of the storm as the Twitter bac,lash continues and scores of young @purs fans tell me ! ha"e been $owned# by AVB. %e wouldn't have gone or a comma there personally$ -he only storm here is the one you are creating, 5eil$ Andre <illas;=oas spo&e clearly and concisely with you$ (e did not raise his voice$ (e did not resort to personal insults$ (e did not suggest you are so witless that anyone could have a decent go at doing your *ob$ >ven when we all &now it would be ar easier to replicate your body o wor& than his$ Cne of them( charmingly( told me he couldn#t wait to meet me in the street so that he could $smash me in the face# %hile we clearly do not condone that action, or any act o violence, you do not live in a bubble$ Are you as&ing or our sympathy' 1or every action there is a reaction$ @eriously( that#s life on the road as a football reporter wor,ing for one of the most notorious sports sections in the industry. Or more accurately: 9-he sports section o one o the most notorious newspapers in the industry: ; (ow many o the stories in the >dition that carries your article eature negative stories about 9 oreigners:, asylum see&ers or those claiming bene its' /ou clearly desire a tag o notoriety, as unless you can provide a source, these are your own words$ Bac, to Villas-Boas and the biggest $non;rant that has turned into a spat# in history. %hich is it, 5eil' 95on;rant: or 9heated debate: ; /ou've used one term here, while the other appears as the title o the online video that earns your employer money$ (ow curious$ .e claimed ! mis&uoted him after the Manchester 7ity game( when he claimed $we should be ashamed.# 0or the record( Andre( no ! didn#t. (e disagrees$ !n a piece ! wrote for Tuesday#s newspaper( also printed online( ! re"ealed that some of the players were furious with him for using such an antagonistic word. I you had any genuine #uotations then you would use them$ %e challenge you: %hich players did you spea& to, and what did they say' .ere is that element of the e=change( which all comes down to semantics. $D"en mi=ing the words that ! said in the press conference after Man 7ity(' he said. Me% @orry( can you e=plain? AVB% ! ne"er told that the players should feel ashamed of themsel"es. 8e( that includes me. Me% But if you say we should feel ashamed of oursel"es( you are including your group of players? AVB% Cb"iously. Me% @oE @imon 0elstein -head of media at Tottenham1% !t#s not about di"iding them( that#s the difference. !t#s

not a discussion for right now( not with the cameras on ;eil. ! thin, we can tal, about this after. Me% ;o( ! am happy to tal, about it now. AVB% 8e is us. 8e are e"erybody at the club. Don#t you agree? 8hy do you thin, these is any intention to separate myself from it? 0elstein% Mo"e on. And we do mo"e on( fairly &uic,ly because in the time it too, to write this piece @outhampton went in front at 7helsea( Martin Fol was sac,ed by 0ulham and Da"e Fones lost his 5ob at @heffield 8ednesday. 0orry 5eil$ %e missed the bit where you e+plained why you didn't mis#uote him' Maybe there was a problem with your website and the ull copy didn't load' 0o you agree you separated Andre rom the rest o the team$ /ou suggested Andre elt ree o blame, which clearly he didn't$ /ou don't even have the decency to hold your hands up and admit it$ <ou see( e"erywhere you loo, in football( there is a crisis. -here is a crisis in your o ice too$ -han&s to your comments we won't be buying your newspaper any longer$ -here's '#uite a ew' o us$ /ou'll have noticed we have play ully brought up a couple o grammatical issues$ %e could probably go through your whole newspaper and do the same$ 0o imagine going through an entire season and being so spectacularly success ul, only or a dim;witted reporter to suggest 9anyone: could have done it$ /ou insulted the man, and you're rubbing salt into the wound by arguing the toss to gain the notoriety you crave, rather than apologising li&e a man$ =y the way, you might wonder why I've been using 9we: rather than 9I: throughout this response$ -hat's because we is us$ -han& /ou or single; handedly uniting the entire club in this run;up to the di icult "hristmas season$ It's the best present you could have given A<=$ /ours sincerely, 9@s: A>5DB