Becoming a scout

[Liverpool]

My mate is one for Everton, he was a coach with a good eye so got picked up.

[Zapater]

little dave hedgehog you seem to have heard of Villas-Boas and throwing his name everywhere. I'll tell you the story, it's a fairytale which gives us all hope we can be football managers one day, but there were a **** load of variables and the guy seems a bit of a madman. Anyway I'll explain what went down.

Villas Boas comes from quite a rich family, when Sir Bobby Robson joined Porto, he moved into the same block of flats that Villas Boas' family lived in. So, each week never fail after the game AVB would compile match reports regarding players, formations, give Robson tactical advice, highlight where he was making mistakes, how to use players differently to get more out of them etc and put it in his letterbox.

This went on for a couple of months, one day they both happened to be in the lift together, Robson figured out that he was the kid putting these reports in his mail. Anyway, they got chatting, he invited him to come to training with him etc, eventually gave him a job in the backroom staff. They sent him all around the world to watch football and learn etc.

He continued to work in the backroom staff even after Robson had left. Mourinho took a shining to him, mentored him etc, made sure he was the assistant manager, then dragged him all around the world with him.

Last year he applied to the job at Académica and managed them for half of a season. They didn't really do anything special but he showed he could talk smoothely and looked like a guy who could have the arrogance (nothing on Mourinho) and ambition to succeed. He applied for the Porto position seeing that Jesualdo was finally sacked and got to return to manage his old club.

He's gotten them off to quite a good start thus far, looks a pretty good manager. Yesterday he lost his composure badly and had to watch the end of the game from the stands. After Fucile got himself sent off, he went ****ing crazy. But yes, at 33 he very well could become a top manager and maybe a bit of a benchmark for the future. There's a few young managers around, but he's one of a few without playing pedigree. Juan Manuel Lillo another I can think of who started pro management in his late 20s.

Ah, makes one dare to dream.

[little dave hedgehog]

andre villas boas.