Porto manager Andres Villas-Boas has become the new favourite to succeed Carlo Ancelotti as Chelsea manager, as the club release a statement saying that they hope to make an announcement on the new manager in the coming days.
News broke this morning in Portugal saying that the Europa League winning manager is set to take the vacant role at Stamford Bridge and those at Porto president Jorge Pinto da Costa admitted that he would be powerless to prevent Villas-Boas leaving if someone paid the €15m to release the 33-year-old from his contract, which is yet to happen, but it’s a change in tune from the Portuguese champions who were once adamant that their manager was going nowhere.
Chelsea are yet to pay the required fee to take Villas-Boas to Stamford Bridge, but many journalists in Portugal believe that the move is imminent and their press are already discussing who will be the man to take the helm at Porto to succeed him.
Former interim manager Guus Hiddink has been one of the consistent favourites to take the job at Chelsea and although the rumours surrounding Villas-Boas are strong, a return to Stamford Bridge cannot be ruled out for the Dutchman, especially as he could be coming in as a Director of Football.
But why would Chelsea opt for such a relatively inexperienced manager and how did he capture the attentions of the Chelsea board?
Villas-Boas is one of the brightest young prospects in the game in terms of coaching and would be a risky appointment, but the last time Chelsea opted for a young upcoming Portuguese manager they got it right and many argue that they have regretted his exit ever since.
Sure, Jose Mourinho had Champions League experience under his belt before he came to Chelsea after winning the competition with Porto the season before, but he was himself an inexperienced Champions League campaigner at the time, much like Pep Guardiola, who also won UEFA’s premier competition on his first attempt.
Villas-Boas has drawn much inspiration from the likes of Pep and of course Jose, who he worked with at Chelsea and Inter Milan, he was the guy that compiled the dossiers on the opposition and was described by Mourinho as his ‘eyes and ears’, and we all know how well prepared Jose’s side were when they come up against their opposition…as an aside, I wonder what Villas-Boas would make of Michael Emenalo’s opposition scouting reports.
Boyhood Porto fan Villas-Boas lived in the same apartment block as the late Sir Bobby Robson and after a debate between the two, the 16-year-old Villas-Boas was appointed to Porto’s observation department by Robson and that’s where his football education began, before he went onto gain a UEFA C Coaching Licence in Scotland at the age of 17 and had a short stint as the British Virgin Islands coach at 21 before joining Jose, another Robson protégé, as part of his backroom staff at Porto.
After following Jose to west London and then Inter, Villas-Boas decided to pursue a career in management and joined Primeira Liga side Academica in October 2009. Academica were in a bad way when he arrived as they were bottom of the league and had not yet won a game, but his effect on them was swift as he introduced his own ideas and negotiated their way into 11th place, whilst also guiding them into the Portuguese League Cup semi final, where they lost to a late goal against Porto. But those at the Estadio do Dragao saw something they liked in Villas-Boas and that is where he made his next move.
Now everyone is much more familiar with the season he has just had with Porto, where he won the Portuguese Super Cup, Primeira Liga, Portuguese Cup and the Europea League against FC Braga in Dublin, but here is a list of the records Villas-Boas set that season.
• Youngest manager to win a European competition at 33-years-old.
• Most wins in European competitions in one season by a Portuguese club – 14
• Most points in a 30 game Portuguese league season – 84
• Highest number of consecutive wins in the league – 16
• Biggest points margin over the 2nd placed team – 21
• Second team to win the Portuguese league unbeaten, after Benfica’s 1973 side.
• Porto recorded 36 games unbeaten in all competitions (previous coach Jesualdo Ferreira contributed to the run), which is 3 games longer than the streak Mourinho had set.
As he has followed a similar path and rise to prominence, it’s of no surprise that he has been compared to the Special One and described as a mini-Mourinho, but Villas-Boas is his own man and has always been determined to prove himself in his own right. Like Jose, he’s fluent in English as well as his native Portuguese, which is obviously useful considering the personnel in the Chelsea squad. But perhaps a little unlike Mourinho, he likes to see his player play with a little more freedom, which would appeal to Roman if he does want to see more football that is easy on the eye.
Pls,make it real.he is d man 4 d job.up chelsea!!