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Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that Andre Villas-Boas has been sacked after just under a season and half in charge. Villas-Boas leaves the club in seventh place in the Premier League, five points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
The Portuguese manager came to Spurs following a disappointing stint at Chelsea. At the time, few teams wanted him, but Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy believed that AVB was the man for the job at Tottenham. At the time Levy stated, "Andre shares our long-term ambitions and ethos of developing players and nurturing young talent, and he will be able to do so now at a new world-class training centre."
Seventeen months later, those long-term ambitions seem to have fallen by the wayside. In fairness to Levy, results were mixed under Villas-Boas. Last year, he helped Tottenham achieve a record point total, but detractors would argue that he was regularly bailed out by Gareth Bale's brilliance and that his side did not play attractive football. This season also featured a record start, but again, more good fortune than quality team play. Spurs found goals consistently hard to come by and suffered some heavy defeats against direct rivals.
A number of new candidates have been mooted as replacements, including Michael Laudrup, former boss Glenn Hoddle and everyone's favorite hot-headed Argentine, 'El Loco' Marcelo Bielsa. For now, Academy Director Tim Sherwood will likely take over coaching the first team while Daniel Levy and Franco Baldini seek a replacement. Sherwood (or whoever takes over on an interim basis) will be without Michael Dawson and Paulinho for upcoming matches through suspension, and between their absences and the club's long injury list, he may be in for a rough start as Spurs boss.
