By K.J. Stewart /
The jury is still out on André Villas-Boas for Spurs fans and the football media alike. While some think he is undoubtedly the man to push the club forward, others are less convinced. In some of the more malevolent cases (i.e. that of the majority of the tabloid press), there has been
a witch hunt targeting AVB ever since his appointment as Tottenham manager, as there is with every manager who has any highlightable or exploitable characteristic - in this case it's AVB's age. A lot has been made of the fact that a striker wasn't brought in during the recent transfer window. To be brutally honest, as a Spurs fan, I would have preferred it if we had purchased a world class target man, but it's not the end of the world. We still have Emmanuel Adebayor (whose return from the African Nations Cup is imminent), Clint Dempsey and several youngsters who are capable of doing a job, and the likes of Gareth Bale playing as emergency striker would hardly be the end of the world. Jermain Defoe's injury isn't exactly long-term either. And it's not as if Tottenham didn't sign anyone in the summer. Vertonghen, Dembele, Adebayor, Lloris, Dempsey et al - these were only brought in a matter of months ago. You would think we'd never spent a penny on anyone the way some fans talk about us. In a nutshell, I am one of those who thinks AVB
is the man for the job and here are five reasons why:
5. His Age
A bit contradictory, considering what I said in the opening paragraphs, right? But hear me out. I feel that that AVB's relatively young age of 35 is purely and simply testament to his fantastic ability as a football manager, and not something that should be seen as a disadvantage. The man's CV boasts a list of fantastic achievements that many managers would give their right arm to have accomplished, and to have achieved them at such a young age (and in such a short period of time at Porto) is nothing short of extraordinary. When AVB took the reins at FC Porto, he was 32 years old. Just over a year later, he had won the Portuguese Supercup, the Primeira Liga title (completing the season unbeaten, nonetheless), the Portuguese Cup and the UEFA Cup (becoming the youngest manager to do so at the age of 33 years and 213 days). How many managers can lay claim to having won such a prestigious list of titles at all, let alone in one season, and let alone at such a young age. The answer is that you'll be hard-pressed to find any, because there aren't any. Ferguson? No. Mourinho? No. Guardiola? No. Dalglish? No. None of those men were as young as 33 when they started their management careers, let alone when they won their first major trophy although Dalglish comes pretty close). The fact is, AVB is ahead of the game and if he goes on to emulating 50% of what any of those guys achieved in his time at Spurs, he'll be a success. People will say that his time at Chelsea tarnished his past achievements, but the fact is he wasn't given a chance. Roman Abramovich is an impatient whip-cracker who saw it fit to sack Roberto Di Matteo just months after winning the Champions League and to let José Mourinho leave despite bringing the kind of success to Chelsea that had, frankly, never been seen before. So to judge AVB on the short amount of time he was given at Stamford Bridge would be categorically wrong. Bearing in mind what AVB has already achieved at such a young age, the potential he has is unquestionable and unrivalled. Tottenham should thank their lucky stars that they have one of the brightest young prospects in world football management at the helm, because he can only improve and that means big things could be on the way.