A New Era

Andre Villas-Boas has been charge barely 36 hours and yet already the press are talking him down. About how much he has to prove after indisputably failing at Chelsea, that he has much to learn and that his appointment by Tottenham is a gamble. However, Phil McNulty of BBC Sport gave the game away somewhat when, in his article, he spoke about how Villas-Boas alienated the press while he was at Chelsea. My favourite quote in particular is this line, after a Chelsea Champions League victory:

"It is unfortunate for you guys in the media because you have to report on a brilliant win for Chelsea and we qualify first in the group. It is difficult for everybody and today this is difficult for you."

Does that not sound like something Jose Mourinho would have uttered? Followed by newspapers eating it up and pining about how much they miss "The Special One".

The biggest adjustment Spurs fans are going to have to make over the coming year is not one of playing style, or personnel, but of perception. Harry Redknapp, the tabloids' golden boy, has gone - and who is Daniel Levy to sack him? Scour the many articles after his departure and you'll see the same refrain, essentially that two fourth place finishes were somehow not good enough. Any spurs fan familiar with the situation will correct you on that. Redknapp made his position at the club untenable through his inability to keep quiet.

The media circus surrounding the England job was followed by despair when the "People's Choice" was overlooked for someone with, to put it bluntly, a more accomplished background. The fact is, Tottenham threw away what should have been their best season since the establishment of the Premier League twenty years ago. Third in the league in January with an apparently insurmountable lead over their closest rivals in 4th. England job or not, what followed was a catastrophic run of results that would put many a man on the hot seat. In fact, at the very same time, Liverpool were undergoing a similarly horrendous period, and they ended up sacking club legend Kenny Dalglish. If it's not good enough for "King Kenny", then why should Redknapp, a man whose loyalty has been proved again and again to be to himself, be spared?

All this was before his ill-timed comments about his contract. Unhappy at how slowly negotiations were progressing, Redknapp did what Redknapp does best and moaned to his mates in the media (probably out of a car window) while the chairman was on leave after the death of his mother. Levy and Redknapp were already on thin ice, this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Already, in the few hours that Villas-Boas has been in charge, you can feel the tone towards Tottenham beginning to change. Media darlings last season, with a quote-a-minute manager, now arguably looking more stable, but with a young, self-confident manager who does not care much for how the British media go about their business. 

Already you can feel it, reading between the lines, and I fear it is a mood that will be prevalent throughout the coming campaign. I worry what effect this may have on the supporters who take tabloid stories as gospel, who will believe what they are told and will become alarmed at the first sign of a "crisis". All I ask of them is that you follow these instructions: