Andr Villas-Boas: facial hair today, gone tomorrow

Matt Dickinson, The Times Chief Sports Correspondent Andr Villas-Boas is a modern coach in every way a fierce technocrat who works all ho!rs on his laptop trawlin" match data, speakin" m!ltiple lan"!a"es incl!din" fl!ent mana"erial paranoia, and has had fo!r #o$s $y the a"e of %&' (t has all happened in s!ch a $l!r that we are still tryin" to work o!t if he is act!ally any "ood' )ell, is he* +ow can anyone tell* All we can say for s!re is that he has $een promoted way too fast, a #et-propelled rise f!elled $y the e,citin" idea of him as the ne,t -os Mo!rinho, schooled $y the master and sin"leminded eno!"h even to fall o!t with him' Villas-Boas has $een s!$#ect to the $i""est transfer fee in mana"erial history when Chelsea paid ./0 million to prise him from 1orto, he has worked for two of the $i""est cl!$s in the world2s richest lea"!e and $een coveted $y 1aris Saint-3ermain, a yo!n" man in demand' 4et as he is sacked $y Sp!rs, his second hi"h-profile dismissal, we m!st pa!se and check e,actly what this thrillin"ly fast #o!rney has $een $ased on' All too little' The rise of Villas-Boas has not #!st $een f!ll of promise $!t also holes, like Tottenham2s defence' )hat is the s!$stance to a man who has risen so yo!n" that he has had to c!ltivate a $eard p!rely to look older than his years* Villas-Boas $elieves that, in maskin" his yo!th, facial hair earns him more respect from his players' 4et there m!st $e more to this workaholic than a $eard' There is the Mo!rinho connection, o$vio!sly, with Villas-Boas servin" as a tr!sted sco!t for a decade' That $rin"s its own k!dos as well as its own press!re' Villas-Boas denies it, of co!rse, $!t his dan"ero!s intensity is f!elled $y a need to meas!re !p to the stellar achievements of Mo!rinho' There is the sed!ctive idea of Villas-Boas, who has $een learnin" tactics since he was at school, da55lin" with his e,ha!stive array of coachin" sessions on his comp!ter, the modern, methodical coach' More s!$stantially, there was a spell at Acadmica liftin" an ailin" team of the foot of the 1ort!"!ese top division $!t, in tr!th, his rise and rep!tation is $ased entirely on one season at 1orto' (t was an e,traordinary campai"n, an !n$eaten lea"!e title and the 1ort!"!ese C!p capped $y

Villas-Boas $ecomin" the yo!n"est mana"er in history to win a 6!ropean trophy with the 6!ropa 7ea"!e' )ith its nota$le echoes of Mo!rinho2s tri!mphs at the Dra"8o stadi!m, it seemed that Villas-Boas was $lessed' As, indeed, he was' +e led an all-con9!erin" team and s!rpassed anythin" that -es!aldo :erreira, his predecessor, achieved $!t he was also incredi$ly fort!nate to have a side of ;adamel :alcao, +!lk, -ames ;odr<"!e5, -o8o Mo!tinho and :redy 3!ar<n, amon" others' And it was only one season' A wise, old mana"er once said that no coach2s cali$re can $e properly reckoned with !ntil he has $een thro!"h a crisis and emer"ed intact the other side' And therein lies the "apin" hole in Villas-Boas2s CV' )e do not know if he can s!rvive a crisis $eca!se he has never $een thro!"h one' +e wo!ld ar"!e that he has never $een "iven the chance, yet there is somethin" in his personality, his prickliness and ins!larity, that has meant he has not $een tr!sted to take Chelsea or Sp!rs o!t of the pickles that have not, to $e fair, $een entirely of his own makin"' 6mployers look at him and are not reass!red' (t is partly his yo!th' +e has come too far, too fast' Too m!ch, too yo!n", even with a $eard' There may $e a very "ood mana"er in there, on top of a ferocio!sly detailed coach, $!t Villas-Boas has twice $een seen as part of the pro$lem when his cl!$s have hit t!r$!lence' At Chelsea, he was certainly not e9!ipped for the challen"es at Stamford Brid"e as he proved himself !na$le to deal with stron" fi"!res in the dressin" room and made enemies thro!"ho!t the cl!$' +e was not missed from the moment he left' At Sp!rs he has lost the political $attle, too' )e m!st have some sympathy $eca!se workin" !nder Daniel 7evy is not often a #oyf!l task' After the pointless sackin" of +arry ;edknapp, 7evy wanted someone who knew his place $!t that str!ct!re was always likely to lead to conflict with Villas-Boas, who does not like to dele"ate $eca!se of his determination to prove that he knows $est' This season has not $een easy for Villas-Boas, tryin" to pick !p the pieces after 3areth Bale2s depart!re $!t, as at Chelsea, he has fo!nd himself isolated, failin" to $!ild the ri"ht relationships, !nwillin" to take advice' :or a $ri"ht man, he does some very daft thin"s' +e was e,plicitly advised that there are two $attles he co!ld never win = with the fans and the

media = $!t was still critical of $oth in p!$lic' +e has picked !nnecessary fi"hts when he had more than eno!"h work to do on the trainin" "ro!nd, tryin" to assimilate his new s9!ad' (nte"ratin" those si"nin"s was never "oin" to $e easy $!t Villas-Boas has made heavy work of it' +is first season at Sp!rs was $ri"ht eno!"h $!t, in recent weeks, the Sp!rs hierarchy detected a man overwhelmed $y pro$lems' (t was not #!st the &-> and 0-> losses to Manchester City and 7iverpool, tho!"h they were alarmin", $!t si"ns of a man p!ttin" himself !nder so m!ch press!re that he was tyin" himself in knots'

Villas-Boas $ecame so !nhappy that he readily parted ways yesterday mornin"' +e left with the sympathy of the Sp!rs hierarchy, $!t also the lin"erin" sense that Villas-Boas is not as "ood as he thinks' May$e there is a $rilliant mana"er inside 7!<s Andr de 1ina Ca$ral e Villas-Boas, $!t he has some distance still to "o to prove it' Can he cope with a serio!s downt!rn witho!t makin" the sit!ation worse* There may soon $e swaths of coaches who have never $een thro!"h this key test, not tr!sted with the time to t!rn a listin" cl!$2s fort!nes' ;o$erto Di Matteo is a Champions 7ea"!e-winnin" mana"er, yet there is no definitive proof of his cali$re after three #o$s in a short period, with little e,perience in any of them of copin" with a sl!mp' Steve Clarke was sacked $efore he co!ld demonstrate whether he was e9!ipped to come thro!"h wiser and stron"er at )est Bromwich Al$ion' (n the case of Villas-Boas, he has now had fo!r #o$s and the lon"est of them has $een at Sp!rs, which lasted less than /? months' Those short spells may easily $e interpreted as a si"n of a "ame "one mad, hirin" and firin" mana"ers with a$andon, yet in Villas-Boas2s case it tells a different story = of a yo!n" man who has raced thro!"h $i" #o$s on little e,perience' 1erhaps he will deserve s!ch prominence one day' :irst, he needs to "o off somewhere a little 9!ieter, han" aro!nd a while and find o!t that he does not yet know it all'

Cold climate at Spurs that finally left Andr Villas-Boas frozen out
@liver Aay, The Times Chief :oot$all Correspondent

@ne of the "reat myths a$o!t modern foot$all is that it is p!rely a res!lts $!siness' @f co!rse res!lts matter = and two catastrophic defeats in fo!r weeks !ndermine a mana"er2s position enormo!sly = $!t if yo! are mana"in" Tottenham +otsp!r, res!lts will $rin" only limited protection !nless yo! can "et alon" with Daniel 7evy' :or the second time in /? months, the Tottenham chairman has washed his hands of a mana"er whose principal failin" was in relationships rather than res!lts' 4o! can talk a$o!t a$#ect defeats away to Manchester City B&->C and at home to 7iverpool B0->C, or a$o!t a tactical approach that went from $ein" too ca!tio!s to too open, $!t, from a position ei"ht points off the top of the Barclays 1remier 7ea"!e, while tryin" to introd!ce seven new si"nin"s into the !nfamiliar demands of 6n"lish foot$all, nothin" dama"ed Andr Villas-Boas more than the $reakdown of his relationship with 7evy' (t was the same when +arry ;edknapp had his contract terminated in -!ne last year after leadin" Tottenham to fo!rth, fifth and then fo!rth place in the 1remier 7ea"!e in his three f!ll seasons in char"e' ;edknapp tells a different story in his a!to$io"raphy, talkin" of "ettin" on fine with 7evy and havin" simply Dcome to the endE of their relationship, $!t these are the type of platit!des a chairman "ets in ret!rn for the handsome payoffs that 7evy, like ;oman A$ramovich at Chelsea, is $ecomin" acc!stomed to offerin"' Tottenham are en#oyin" one of the most consistent periods in their history' F!ite ri"ht too, 7evy wo!ld say, "iven the money they have spent to achieve si, top-five finishes in the past ei"ht seasons' (mpatience from the $oardroom, tho!"h, has led to intolerance, which has led to !nhealthy tension, which has led to precisely the type of press!rised sit!ation that Villas-Boas ima"ined he had escaped when, after his !nhappy spell !nder A$ramovich, he was sold on a lon"-term pro#ect at Tottenham' So now Tottenham cast aro!nd, once a"ain, for a savio!r' )hy wo!ld -Gr"en Alinsmann, 3!!s +iddink, :a$io Capello, 7!ciano Spaletti, Ma!ricio 1ochettino or Michael 7a!dr!p r!sh to #oin a cl!$ where all the talk of lon"-term plannin" is !ndermined $y a chronic lack of patience* (f Tim Sherwood, as an interim, is the compromise, it is an awkward one' @n a "ood day, it is possi$le to lookat Tottenham and convince yo!rself that their lon"-term o!tlook is $ri"hter than it has $een for years' Their new trainin" "ro!nd near 6nfield, $oth in facilities and feel, is one of the mostimpressive in 6!rope and their desi"ns for a new 0&,H0>-seat stadi!m = the so-called Iorth!m$erland Development 1ro#ect, which is

accompanied $y enormo!s commitment to re"eneration of the Iorth Tottenham area =inspire e,citement' The ori"inal plan, in H>>J, was to move in for the H>/H-/% season $!t, after n!mero!s plannin" diffic!lties, that $i5arre $id for the @lympic Stadi!m in Stratford and all kinds of diffic!lties in financin", as Tottenham have tried to offset the spirallin" cost thro!"h vario!s property development proposals, some of them !npop!lar with local residents, it looks a lon" way off' (n some ways, the stadi!m pro#ect has $ecome a sym$ol of Tottenham2s p!rs!it of their dreams on the pitch = so near, yet so far' +ow that m!st inf!riate 7evy, who prides himself on takin" Tottenham to within to!chin" distance of their "oals and then $lames the shortcomin"s of others for failin" to finish off the masterpiece that he has p!t in front of them' That is how he has always seemed to see it' Tottenham went from severely !nderperformin" !nder -!ande ;amos at the start of the H>>?->K campai"n to 9!alifyin" for the Champions 7ea"!e !nder ;edknapp, ahead of a stron" 7iverpool and Manchester City, $y the end of the ne,t season' 4et even as they were $y now competin" with Arsenal and Chelsea on a re"!lar $asis, the chairman convinced himself that ;edknapp was holdin" Tottenham $ack' The decision to sack him made little sense e,cept, perhaps, on a personal $asis' The decision to hire Villas-Boas seemed e9!ally d!$io!s, "iven the sti"ma that followed him from Chelsea, yet the former 1orto coach en#oyed a solid first season, sta$ilisin" the team and then leadin" Tottenham to fifth place in the 1remier 7ea"!e with JH points, their hi"hest total since /K?0' 7evy, tho!"h, was deeply !nhappy with Villas-Boas $oth for failin" to sec!re Champions 7ea"!e 9!alification last May = deliverin" pro"ress, $!t not eno!"h to see off an improvin" Chelsea = and for darin" to fle, his m!scles $ehind the scenes' )hen 1aris Saint-3ermain cast flirtatio!s "lances in his direction, Villas-Boas let 7evy know a$o!t it, which, rather than earnin" him "reater appreciation, had the opposite effect' :ranco Baldini2s arrival as technical director effectively saw the (talian installed as an intermediary $etween 7evy and Villas-Boas' 7evy re"arded the sale of 3areth Bale to ;eal Madrid for a world record .?0 million transfer fee as another endorsement of his own $rilliance and convinced himself, as he and Baldini delivered Vladimir Chiriches, 6tienne Capo!e, 1a!linho, Iacer Chadli, Christian 6riksen, 6rik 7amela and ;o$ert Soldado

with the proceeds, that Villas-Boas had $een "iven the tools to $!ild the "reatest Tottenham team in half a cent!ry' (t does not work like that' The lack of cohesion on the pitch was a #!stifia$le concern, as were whispers of a loss of faith from the dressin" room and Villas-Boas2s erratic $ehavio!r in press conferences, $!t $ein" ei"ht points off the top of the ta$le halfway thro!"h a season of chan"e did not, in itself, seem like the time to call the whole thin" off' (f it was a crisis, in the modern parlance, then Villas-Boas deserved the opport!nity to show he co!ld find a way thro!"h it' By yesterday mornin" tho!"h, he knew that he was $eaten' )ho will replace Villas-Boas* Mauricio ochettino

>dds /&-/ +eavily infl!enced $y Marcelo Bielsa and an ardent devotee of intense pressin" and yo!n" players, the Ar"entinian2s work in transformin" So!thampton has won him a host of admirers' +e has $een disc!ssed $y Daniel 7evy and :ranco Baldini as a potential tar"et' !uis "nri#ue >dds H>-/ 7on" heralded as a f!t!re Barcelona mana"er, he has str!""led to adapt to the senior "ame' +e left ;oma after #!st one disappointin" season in Serie A, while his present cl!$, Celta, lie fifteenth in 7a 7i"a'

Cesare

randelli

>dds L>-/ The hi"hly rated (taly coach recently sat an intensive 6n"lish lan"!a"e co!rse in @,ford and his contract ends after the )orld C!p finals' The former :iorentina coach, 0&, was acclaimed in (taly for leadin" the side to the 6!ro H>/H final' Michael !audrup >dds L-/ The o!tstandin" domestic candidate, alon"side 1ochettino, 7a!dr!p helped Swansea win the Capital @ne C!p last season, while his attractive, e,pansive style of foot$all wo!ld fit well with Sp!rs2 traditions' +is ./> million release fee co!ld $e restrictive' $a%io Capello

>dds 0-H The former 6n"land mana"er2s links to :ranco Baldini make him an o$vio!s tar"et, altho!"h it remains !nclear whether he wo!ld want to "ive !p on ;!ssia after leadin" them to the )orld C!p finals'

&ottenham 'otspur gam%le on &im Sherwood after sac(ing Andr Villas-Boas

3ary -aco$, Matt +!"hes M The Times Tim Sherwood has $een handed the chance to take char"e of Tottenham +otsp!r !ntil the end of the season after $ein" named as interim head coach in the wake of the dismissal of Andr Villas-Boas yesterday' Sherwood, who oversees yo!th development at )hite +art 7ane $!t has never mana"ed a senior team, will $e in char"e for the Capital @ne C!p 9!arter-final at home to )est +am Nnited tomorrow and the Barclays 1remier 7ea"!e match away to So!thampton on S!nday, while the cl!$ consider candidates for short-term and permanent mana"erial roles' Tottenham2s favo!red options for a lon"-term appointment incl!de Cesare 1randelli, the (taly coach, :a$io Capello, who is in char"e of ;!ssia, and Ma!ricio 1ochettino, the So!thampton mana"er, $!t none is e,pected to $e availa$le !ntil the s!mmer' Sherwood will $e assisted $y Steffen :re!nd, who was assistant to Villas-Boas' DThe cl!$ can anno!nce that Tim Sherwood, Chris ;amsey and 7es :erdinand will take char"e of the first team whilst the cl!$ pro"resses disc!ssions' Steffen :re!nd and Tony 1arks contin!e as part of the coachin" staff,E a statement iss!ed last ni"ht read' Sherwood played for the cl!$ for fo!r years from /KKK and ret!rned after +arry ;edknapp took char"e in H>>?' The LL-year-old was approached to take over at Black$!rn ;overs last year $!t they were !nwillin" to pay ./O million in compensation to release him from his contract and he has since $een considered for mana"erial posts at Bri"hton P +ove Al$ion and Swansea City when it appeared that Michael 7a!dr!p wo!ld leave last s!mmer' Tottenham so!nded o!t -Gr"en Alinsmann $!t the cl!$2s former striker t!rned down the chance $efore he si"ned a new fo!r-year contract with the Nnited States last week and they also received a ne"ative response from 3!!s +iddink, the D!tchman' ;afael Ben<te5, the Iapoli coach, wo!ld come !nder consideration, havin" spoken to Tottenham $efore Villas-Boas was appointed in -!ly H>/H' The

Spaniard was led to $elieve that the cl!$2s priority at that time was findin" a yo!n"er mana"er' The decision to dismiss Villas-Boas was made d!rin" a meetin" involvin" Daniel 7evy, the chairman, and :ranco Baldini, the technical director, after the 0-> defeat $y 7iverpool on S!nday' Villas-Boas and three of his 1ort!"!ese $ackroom staff were sacked $y 7evy at the trainin" "ro!nd yesterday mornin" $efore the head coach was "iven the chance to say "ood$ye to the players' Villas-Boas will contin!e to $e paid his contract, which had /? months left, !ntil he takes another post' The relationship $etween 7evy and Villas-Boas has deteriorated since the end of last season after disa"reements over transfer tar"ets and the latter2s flirtation with 1aris Saint-3ermain over their mana"erial vacancy' 7evy $elieved that Tottenham2s playin" style and res!lts were not "ood eno!"h after spendin" a$o!t ./>>Omillion on players last s!mmer' VillasBoas also clashed with some players over his comm!nication and tactics ' +e asked 6mman!el Ade$ayor to stand on a platform in front of his teammates to apolo"ise for his $ehavio!r in pre-season $efore the striker wo!ld $e allowed to ret!rn to the first-team s9!ad in Septem$er' Three weeks a"o he s!""ested to Ade$ayor that he was fei"nin" a "roin in#!ry'