Tottenham Hotspur

[Gibbo]

.......And it was match fixing

[peekay]

It would be insane to sack him now. I know their trajectory does not look good but they are still within touching distance of the top four.

Loads of rumors about the Spurs squad not liking the "they should be ashamed" quote by AVB. He also alienated a bit of a fans by the statements he made three weeks ago.

There are some parallels to the way the press treated Rafa. However AVB surely is not helping himself. For all his flaws Rafa was brilliant in terms of maintaining relationship with the fans.

Still unsure about how good of a manager he is? Did he just get lucky with Falcao at Porto and Bale ? Or is he a manager with the tactical nous to maximize the impact of his most productive players.

[Bender]

‘I am immune right now,’ said the 26-year-old.

‘I used to read a lot into situations like this. Into pressure points when I was at Chelsea. But not any more. I am very, very indifferent.

‘There is only one quarter that I come under pressure from, which is the press. I have the confidence of the board.

‘I have the confidence of my players and I have to move on to do a proper job.
‘I was not treated properly by people (in the past) but you know, it is part of the job, it is something that I have to take on.

‘The amount of things that I have received when I was Chelsea manager was completely unfair and untrue. It comes with a high profile job I suppose.’
link

[Fredo]

‘I am immune right now,’ said the 26-year-old.

‘I used to read a lot into situations like this. Into pressure points when I was at Chelsea. But not any more. I am very, very indifferent.

‘There is only one quarter that I come under pressure from, which is the press. I have the confidence of the board.

‘I have the confidence of my players and I have to move on to do a proper job.
‘I was not treated properly by people (in the past) but you know, it is part of the job, it is something that I have to take on.

‘The amount of things that I have received when I was Chelsea manager was completely unfair and untrue. It comes with a high profile job I suppose.’
link

26? Eh Bendy?

[Bender]

26? Eh Bendy?

don't blame me blame the daily mail,i only copy and past i don't have to read,i have Minions for that,good day to you Minion

[dom9]

don't blame me blame the daily mail,i only copy and past i don't have to read,i have Minions for that,good day to you Minion

Minion Morceaux.

[Fredo]

don't blame me blame the daily mail,i only copy and past i don't read,i have Minions for that,good day to you Minion

Reported you, Bendy, as you've offended me.

Quoting the Daily Mail and not checking your source properly. Disgraceful.

[Bender]

Reported you, Bendy, as you've offended me.

Quoting the Daily Mail and not checking your source properly. Disgraceful.

To which corrupt MP ?

[badpiggy]

From football365:

Debate AVB The Manager, Not The Man

Spurs' poor form as increased the pressure on Andre Villas-Boas, and rightly so. But Matt Stanger feels the discussion is unfairly focused on his character and not his management...


Andre Villas-Boas has made mistakes this season. Those mistakes are not a) crouching on his haunches b) no longer crouching on his haunches c) blaming his team for the 6-0 defeat to Manchester City or d) not being Harry Redknapp. The first of those is an irrelevant idiosyncrasy, the third did not happen and the fourth, without an enormous amount of surgery, is impossible.

His mistakes are of a tactical nature in the understated task of integrating seven new players into a team that has lost its star. But you will not read a great deal about that. You will not read about Spurs sitting just two points behind fourth despite back-to-back defeats and a dismal scoring record. Instead, you will be told that Villas-Boas is 'beyond intense', 'a clipboard manager' (whatever that means) and 'always looking for someone to carry the can'.

You will be reminded that Spurs spent £107million and about the joke that they sold Elvis and signed The Beatles - the same joke that journalists relished in the summer before sharpening to a point in the autumn. Villas-Boas' veneer is certainly cracking and his stubbornness - such as his reaction to Hugo Lloris' concussion - merits discussion. But even that has been exaggerated. How exactly does it undermine his claim to continue in his current position?

The main problem facing Villas-Boas (apart from those surgery costs) is that Spurs are big enough to be the back-page lead - especially when words such as 'ashamed' and 'embarrassed' are thrown around - but not big enough for reporters to watch every week. That is why Andros Townsend is referred to as a 'symbolic pick' for England despite his less-than-impressive displays this season and why calls for Jermain Defoe to start in place of Roberto Soldado ignore the striker's inept performances against West Ham and Hull.

It is why Villas-Boas can lead Spurs to their highest-ever points total in the Premier League and yet be accused of being 'finally found out' just 12 games into the new campaign. The club is a honeypot when things go wrong, but when things go right - as they did for much of last season - they attract far less attention. Who wants to know Redknapp's thoughts when Spurs are achieving in his absence?

It is reminiscent of all those Stuart Broad columns in the summer and the moral outrage from 'chief sportswriters' after he refused to walk in the first Test against Australia. There is a lack of understanding that engenders shallow debate on Villas-Boas' management and, when the pressure increases - as it has over a stuttering start to the campaign - the depth of coverage far outweighs the detail. The only tactical issue widely discussed following Spurs' thrashing at City was Erik Lamela's selection on the left when he previously played on the right at Roma, as though that was the reason for shipping six goals.

Instead, the real focus has been on Villas-Boas blaming his players for Spurs' worst defeat since 1996, which would not necessarily be an awful thing even if it were true. While it has been reported that the manager said his players should be 'ashamed', he in fact said "we have to be ashamed of a result like this" and "it's a reality we have to face". He could not have done more to stress that he was talking about the group.

But the focus remains on perceived errors rather than actual faults. It is a no-win situation for a manager who has failed to ingratiate himself to the fourth estate after he touched the untouchables - Redknapp and Chelsea's old guard. Villas-Boas is the swotty weirdo with the notepad and the clipboard sitting in the corner of the old boys' club. He's the oddball autodidact when his predecessor has a long story to serialise. It seems this tale will never be about Villas-Boas the football manager, but rather the Portuguese traitor whose character flaws shine brighter than his success.

Matt Stanger

[Norbs]

His is not the opinion of all football fans. I thought Spurs were nailed on for a top 3 finish before the season started and have been surprised at their lack of form. Plenty was written last year about them which is perhaps why the journalistss have been equally bemused at how toothless they look this term

[Shaggy]

From football365:

I don't normally like this bloke but he's spot on here. It is largely in response to Martin Samuel's disgraceful hatchet job on AVB in this week's Mail (not linking it) and I totally agree with this. There are journos out there, like Samuel, Ashton etc, who have the most obvious vendetta against AVB and it makes for painful reading.

[Sarb]

I don't normally like this bloke but he's spot on here. It is largely in response to Martin Samuel's disgraceful hatchet job on AVB in this week's Mail (not linking it) and I totally agree with this. There are journos out there, like Samuel, Ashton etc, who have the most obvious vendetta against AVB and it makes for painful reading.

I said this a while ago, when he was linked with LFC too

Tony Evans at The Times absolutely detests the guy as well. Fair enough he may be a bit of a ****, but he's been roundly mocked by some journalists quite regularly. It's pretty piss poor

Martin Samuel is a total dickhead though. I won't ever both reading his articles

[Kenneth]

[Fredo]

Samuel and Winter and to an extent Paddy Barclay, are notorious xenophobes.

[Shaggy]

A few excerpts from Samuel's frankly unreal hatchet piece...

The piece opens with this:

Andre Villas-Boas used to watch the game by crouching down on his haunches near the touchline. And then he stopped doing it. Isn’t that strange? People were making fun of him, but even so. If he thought it was the way to get the greatest insight, why would he change?

Unless it was an affectation. A quirk, a gimmick to make him look brighter than he is. After all, there have been some fairly successful coaches through the last century or so, and not one of them chose to observe the action from the perspective of a dachshund. So maybe they were the smart ones.

He said the players should be ashamed. (No he didn't) That is the marvellous thing about being AVB — there is always someone around to carry the can.

About 2000 words of further poison follow, before this little gem near the end:

Tottenham are not about to get relegated, obviously. This may be a blip, quickly corrected. Defeat Manchester United in five days’ time and recent struggles will be forgotten.

i.e. a win against United at the weekend renders the entire 'article' a complete waste of time.

Don't get me wrong, bar Sunday against United I hope Spurs lose every week, they sack AVB and get someone like Luis Enrique in and continue to be garbage. But this sort of stuff stinks.