Ex-Chelsea boss, Andre Villas-Boas, has taken a swipe at his former West London employers.
The Portuguese Zenit Saint Petersburg manager was unceremoniously bowled out of Chelsea after a run of 19 wins in 40 matches over nine months.
It was reported at the time that some senior members of the playing staff had some part in his departure after disagreements over his coaching style.
The 37-year-old has now spoken out about this unsavoury period in his managerial career.
When he was asked if he felt he had been let down by the Chelsea players, Villas-Boas replied:
‘Yes, and it was even public.
‘Ashley Cole even admitted it and, although it’s good that he’s come out with it now, it was unacceptable at the time.’
Villas-Boas has admitted that he made a few mistakes during his time at Chelsea and subsequently Tottenham Hotspur, but added that he felt let down by a lack of support.
‘I made plenty of mistakes in England and maybe I was too aggressive with the press,’ he said.
‘I wanted to defend my players and the club and, at the end, I looked around me and saw that I didn’t have anyone else with me. I was treated badly all the way through.’
Few would disagree that Villas-Boas’s time in the Premier league was anything but ‘difficult’, but he is now beginning to resurrect his failing reputation after a good run so far with Zenit since his move there in March 2014.
To be fair, if I needed to move to Russia to regain respect, I think I would think twice. I have just investigated St Petersburg…and it’s pretty cold, with one website saying ‘The good news is that, as a maritime city, St. Petersburg is never really cold – at least by Russian standards – with temperatures rarely dropping much below -10 ºC even in the depths of winter’.
-10 ºC…..that’s cold. Very cold. We hope it works out for the man from Portugal.
Written by Michael Horne
Follow me on Twitter @MichaelHorne777
