Villas-Boas trolls Levy

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Wasn't going to blog again tonight and then the following made its way onto Twitter, translated from Portuguese via an interview with Andre Villas-Boas and @DNDesporto. English quotes pinched from me old mucker @TotalTottenham.

In an interview with @DNDesporto, AVB claims his departure at Tottenham Hotspur was due to "non sporting issues"

Villas-Boas alleged there was a lack of transparency "of owners and presidents of clubs when talking long-term projects."

AVB: "When I met with the club, they all talked about long-term projects, which was not the first time this had happened in England"

"When everyone talks about long-term stability, the reality of the projects, it's the next game, the next day and almost the next training."

Full Villas-Boas quotes, obviously in Portuguese, can be found on the @DNDesporto website: http://www.dn.pt/desporto/interior.aspx?content_id=3650774&page=-1

Ether.

Sour grapes? Yes, mixed in with some truths probably.

I never believed AVB was sacked because of the three thrashings dished out by West Ham, City and Liverpool. More a case that those results where a consequence of deeper issues compounded by the one dimensional form and the blatant falling out the coach had with others (Freund included) along with players (Vertonghen, Dembele) and the long standing stubbornness over Adebayor.

Plenty of rumours at the time, before he left, that he refused to listen to the advice being given to him within the club. Or from his perspective, the lack of support he received for his judgement.

The thing is, the long term isn't a viable commodity if the short term goes to sh*t. That's not to say I wanted him to leave Spurs because I didn't at the time (even though it was heading that way after the 5-0). The fact is the relationship between the club and AVB degraded within months. If you care to remember the enthusiasm shared by all in the summer and the the back end of last season. That's a mighty big implosion in a short space of time.

Spurs are just as responsible for the mess, on par with Villas-Boas irresponsibility with his struggles to fix all the lingering problems on the field. Levy no doubt would have sacked Moyes if he was chairman of United. Modern football will not allow us to repeat the majesty of a Nicholson.

I'm sure more of this interview will surface in the English press over the weekend, with plenty of soundbites highlighted and exaggerated for all to feast on. To be honest, there's hardly any flesh on the bones. It would be far more tasty if he actually said something that meant something. Re-read the quotes above. On the face of it he's saying he was sacked because he wasn't given time and that patience wasn't going to be a virtue. So the 'sacking/mutually agreed termination' is probably more political and the falling out with people and the clashes of personality and loss of trust/support the expected fuel added to the fire.

AVB is a project kinda guy. If he wasn't given assurances or if the moment there's a problem or struggle, the men at the top turn against him - it's going to fall apart. You can't spend your time fighting people within when you're meant to be fighting for the crest and rivals clubs. I'm given him the benefit here because I don't trust Spurs thanks to our history with how we deal with coaches we appoint.

Regardless of the issues behind the scenes, AVB made it easy for his depature to play out because of the problems on the pitch. Even with the politics, if the football was easy on the eye he'd have stayed. Which proves how much we lack any type of leadership and substance at Spurs. Then again, we sacked Redknapp, so either way you're going to lose if you're a manager/coach.

It still bothers me. All of it. It was never a crisis. It was just Tottenham being Tottenham. As the masterful Martin Cloake remarked earlier tonight, Levy does have a long term plan; "He's been trying to sell the club for years".

It's okay people. All will be well when we get sold to a billionaire playboy.