Hoddle: Villas-Boas "risky" move for Spurs
Reuters - Tuesday 03 July 2012, 18:16
Glenn Hoddle, the former
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, believes his old club have gambled
in appointing Andre-Villas Boas as their new coach.
The Portuguese signed a three-year contract with the north
London club on Tuesday, replacing Harry Redknapp who was
dismissed last month.
It is Villas-Boas' second managerial position in the English
Premier League after his tumultuous tenure at Chelsea lasted
just nine months. He was sacked in March amid reports of
dressing room unrest.
Hoddle, who spent 12 years at the club in the 1970s and 80s,
and returned as a manager in the early part of this century,
said he was surprised chairman Daniel Levy had turned to
Villas-Boas.
"I did not think that is the way Spurs would go," Hoddle
told ESPN. "It's more than a slight risk because of the way
things didn't work out at Chelsea.
"I thought it might have been better for him to go and
reinvent himself elsewhere before he had another crack at
English football."
Gary Mabbutt, who played with Hoddle in the 1980s and went
on to make nearly 500 appearances for Spurs, backed Villas-Boas
to rebuild his reputation at White Hart Lane.
"He's a young manager, he wants to be the best so he will
have learnt a lot from his time at Chelsea," Mabbutt told Sky
Sports.
"We want to be in the Champions league every single year. We
believe we've got a young squad that have got the potential."