Newcastle United look set to replace Steve Bruce but could Marseille’s Ligue 1 saviour Andre Villas-Boas be offered a Premier League return?
Andre Villas-Boas might have honed his craft under one of the biggest legends in Newcastle United’s history, but that does not make him a popular choice to replace Steve Bruce in the St James’ Park dugout.
It seems, amid suggestions from FootMercato that a man popularly known as ‘AVB’ has entered the conversation, that the 42-year-old tactician is still paying the price for two ill-fated spells in the Premier League.
In the space of less than 12 months between 2011 and 2012, Villas-Boas went from treble-winning coaching genius at Porto to managerial flop at Chelsea. Football really is a fickle mistress.
Although he led Tottenham to their best ever Premier League points tally of 72 in 2013, his time in North London quickly unravelled once the talismanic figure of Gareth Bale departed for Real Madrid.
These days, Villas-Boas is rebuilding his reputation over in France. Leading Marseille to second place in Ligue 1 is an achievement that cannot be underestimated, considering that L’OM have spent the last seven years outside the Champions League places.
But a man who hung on to Sir Bobby Robson’s every word as a wide-eyed teenager during the Englishman’s spell in charge of Porto does not appear to have much support among the Newcastle fan base.
When the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Max Allegri and Rafa Benitez are in the frame, AVB perhaps feels like a risk not worth taking with so much at stake.
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