Andre Villas-Boas is about to be named the new Chelsea manager. I think this is a very smart move by Chelsea. It has cost them £13.3m in compensation to Porto, but the Portuguese aristocrat is well worth the money (one of his ancestors was created a Viscount by the then King of Portugal in 1890).
Andre Villas-Boas is about to be named the new Chelsea manager. I think this is a very smart move by Chelsea. It has cost them £13.3m in compensation to Porto, but the Portuguese aristocrat is well worth the money (one of his ancestors was created a Viscount by the then King of Portugal in 1890).
He is a young manager with a good track record who should be able to rejuvenate Chelsea and make them aristocrats on the pitch, providing effective competition for Manchester United and enhancing the competitiveness and hence interest of the Premier League. He doesn’t have a playing background, but some of the best managers were not great players. Moreover, someone who can knock on Bobby Robson’s door when he is 16 and tell him where he was getting it wrong clearly doesn’t lack self-confidence. Robson saw his potential and appointed him as an observer.
The one big question is whether Roman Abramovich will let him have the time to build success. Football clubs are like oil tankers: they can’t be turned round overnight. The Champions League prize may take time to secure. But, as someone who is not a Chelsea fan, I think they may well have a new version of the Special One.