AVB Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Article by Shaun Simon

In the media, over the past few days, stories regarding our manager Andre Villas Boas have been dominated no longer by transfer activity but by his imminent sacking and future replacements. In the present day for a team of our stature replacing the manager is never an easy job. We are too big a club to take a risk on the unproven, but on the other hand we’d struggle to attract the game’s finest managers due to our lack of Champions League football. Also, unless the successor is foreign, the prospect of working under Daniel Levy and a director of football could be described as a challenge.

As a result of last Sundays humiliation, I’ve been very much anti-AVB, but last night I had a feeling of having to be careful what I wish for. I’m lucky that I am not in a position to pull the trigger on the manager because there is still a huge dilemma here. Deep in my heart if I dig through my astonishment of his antics, there is a feeling that there is still a good manager in there. We are not talking about a manager who sends his players out onto the field with no direction or purpose. We are talking about a highly intelligent and articulate man whose burden is his own stubborn immaturity.

On his appointment, because of his Chelsea ties, he was always going to have to have to fight to be accepted by the Spurs faithful. There came a time when many Spurs fans, including myself, became quite defensive over our boss when it became obvious how the media were trying to snipe at him and destroy his character at every turn. There were people we’ve never heard of at the time, and not heard of since, reciting stories on his approach and his style of management, enticing the nation to mock him and subsequently us as a club.

Thinking back to the start of last season, we had an okay start, but I remember fans fearing we had signed the idiot that wasn’t good enough for Chelsea. Things settled down for me when we went up to Manchester and beat United 3-2. We showed such character that day, almost as though the players were playing for their manager and allowing AVB to relish sticking the finger up at his critics. Considering he’s a young manager, it filled me with joy seeing that gnarling smile and pumping fist every time we scored. Whilst he never became the most popular manager we’ve ever had, it did seem like we started to stand by him by the time our season was truly in full swing.

Looking at his history, the young career of Andre Villas Boas had taken a turn once he arrived at Chelsea. Though he followed the managerial path of Jose Mourinho ,he stepped into the world of top level football much quicker. Mourinho had four years managing in Portugal, with two of his country’s biggest clubs in Porto and Benfica. Villas-Boas only had two, not even a full year at Academia where he impressively saved them from relegation, then he moved to Porto and won the league undefeated, won the Portuguese Cup and the UEFA Cup. Regardless of the particular league, it was some feat.

Though not to take anything away from him, taking charge of a team such as Porto is like taking over at a club like Celtic, where it’s probably harder to not win the title than to win it. Moving to Chelsea and the problems he faced there left the inexperienced manager a victim of his own success. Learning to truly boss the changing room and handle larger than life characters comes with experience. You get better at it with age. I’m a great believer that only making the biggest of mistakes and learning from them and going through the toughest of times will improve you in your given field, if you are prepared to self-analyse and adapt as a professional and as a person.

By the time he joined us he was making all the noises of a man who had learnt from his mistakes. He seemed much more like one of the guys last season. His players treating him with warmth, in turn him protecting his players even through the ridicules. Let’s remember, it was cruel fate that denied us in the end last season, like it had the previous season. Towards the tail end of last season, Europe's larger clubs including Real Madrid and Napoli had noticed how well he had performed in his first season at the Lane, Paris St. Germain the first to make their move. At the time I recall most fans willing him to stay with us. He showed loyalty and remained with us eager to make progression with ‘the project’.

During the summer we appoint Franco Baldini, who possesses one of the most lethal little black books in football ,with his numerous top tier contacts. I’m not privy to exactly how Baldini and Villas-Boas have worked this season, but the only question I have with Technical Directors is this; If and when you do sign your own players you know exactly what they’re about because of the thorough research for their role in the team. I get the feeling that with the Director of Football, either he is bringing in the players, or he is signing players from a managers ‘wish list’. When things work it’s a tandem made in heaven but just like the fart in the lift, nobody wants to hold their hands up and claim responsibility for signings who are failing to live up to their high expectations.

The worst thing about getting destroyed, like we did last weekend, is in our next game we are playing another team where we could potentially get spanked again. If that does happen, the shouts for the head of Villas Boas will increase in volume. There is a potential list of suggested successors. Looking at our managers’ time with us, I wouldn’t take Roberto Di Matteo, making right what went wrong at Chelsea was a much easier job than transforming us. I couldn’t see Mauricio Pochettino leaving Southampton. Klinsmann would be a romantic idea but don’t think he possesses the skill to take us to the promised land. The only manager I wouldn’t mind replacing AVB would be Michael Laudrup.

I think the key for Andre Villas-Boas getting us out of this current situation is Villas-Boas himself. The buzzword this week has been his scientific approach. He temporarily abandoned that inhuman temperament when he joined us. He imposed his high defensive line and fast pressing style on the team and pretty much let the players express themselves. Before the current discussion trend of perfect managerial replacements, we as fans were debating our perfect XI. I was under the impression that regardless of the selected XI we could only play if the personnel are used to their strengths.

I’m sure many of us have been on a job where a surprisingly young manager takes charge in the workplace. He develops this fear of being undermined by his older staff so he makes a point of going on the attack first, believing that being perceived as unapproachable and stubborn is a sign of alpha-male strength. He goes on a lengthy break and a temporary manager is brought in, a people person who is confident in his role ,so though he is firm, he listens to the concerns of his staff. Age and experience give him the ability to be open to new ideas, and adopting them to strengthen his own. I think that is AVBs weakness, looking at the players he’s been blessed with during his time at Spurs, he’s had three players who need to be managed skilfully in Rafael van der Vaart, Emmanuel Adebayor and Benoit Assou-Ekotto. I’m not suggesting these players are trouble as all three are very entertaining characters. Star man Van der Vaart can be challenging and was out of the door as soon as AVB arrived, replaced by a much quieter and possibly obedient Gylfi Sigurdsson. Adebayor was a real disappointment last season, had we replaced him suitably I’d be all in favour of his exile, but the present situation requires a good dose of man-management to get Adebayor performing. Assou-Ekottos lack of love for the game as a whole requires a manager to understand him, but to exile your only proven left-back is criminal. The club is a workplace like any other, we have to deal with people we don’t like too much, people who do require a touch of effort to get going. Many of the top level players out there need a tailored approach and not a generic one. The top players are usually the most vocal and there to be counted in the dressing room. They are also the ones who are the match winners. Villas Boas was lucky to have Gareth Bale, a quiet, modest boy who I‘m sure was a pleasure to manage. How would Bale have been treated if he had a level of arrogance that matched his ability? It’s a cliché through the generations that with man-management there are players who need to be hugged and others that need the kick up the backside.

It would be interesting to imagine what would happen if perhaps we had a team meeting. Everything aired out. Everyone has their say, warts and all. Feelings may be hurt with pure honesty. This meeting resulted in players and manager deciding to work through the coming storm and compromise on tactical rigidity and the positioning of players. Say it now or forever hold your piece. The thing that we are currently lacking is the harmony. We had it in spells last season. I distinctly remember Defoe and Lennon's efforts being recognised with glowing comments from the manager.

Losing a manager during such a transitional period would always take us right back to where we started. We’d lose a year. A new manager would have to adapt, would have to replace several players that we currently have with his own. He’d need to stamp his own authority on things. During this time our rivals are likely to be making bigger strides forward. I told an Arsenal fan recently that maybe the fact they only brought in one new player might be their hidden blessing, as Chelsea employed a new manager as did Manchester United and Manchester City. We had the same manager but we had a huge influx of paying staff. I can only speak for myself, but I could have only imagined us fighting for 4th place come the end of the season. We all knew that with so many new players we’d have to gel, that’s a no-brainer. Things seemed to have changed because the season has become so unpredictable. The team at the top of the table going into February will be simply the one who wants it the most because nobody seems to be running away with the league. At the end of November last year United were topping the table with 33 points, with City chasing with 32 and Chelsea with 26. This year the season is much more open with Arsenal on 28 points leading a pack of five teams separated by six points, so our frustration is resulting from the feeling that had we showed more killer instinct against even the smaller sides, we’d be right up there in the mix. The fear being now that we're running a marathon and we're way off the pace, and when someone at the front decides to kick, only those around them will be able to keep up.

This all comes down to perception. Imagine if we were to go 4-4-2 or any dramatic shift in tactics. If we begin to play the players where they want to be played or if we quicken the tempo and show some more adventure, would this make things any easier for Andre Villas-Boas? Would we praise him for showing such flexibility and desire to get players and fans behind him or would it be suggested that the senior players at the club have decided to take things into their own hands and play the brand of football they want to play. If he did make those changes I could see that happen, because for some reason everyone outside the club always seem to be waiting to stick something on our manager. The fear in him being at another big club where he totally loses control may be what’s encouraging this stubbornness. I just hope for the sake of himself and the club that he can find the right balance while he has seemingly such limited time on his hands.

At some point a speech like this might be the tonic we need, minus the Hollywood overtones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSDhhZtRwFU

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