VILLAS-BOAS: IN PROFILE Andre Villas-Boas returns to Chelsea after a gap of just under four years. He was our scout responsible for assessing opposition teams throughout Jose Mourinho's time in charge of the team which was between the summer of 2004 and September 2007. He remained part of Mourinho's staff when Inter appointed the ex-Chelsea manager as their new coach for the 2008/09 season, allowing Andre to extend his experience of working in Europe's big clubs and experience more trophy success as the Italian club won the Serie A title. Shortly after the start of the following season came the chance to move into management in his own right, the offer coming from Portuguese club Academica from the city of Coimbra. Raising the previously struggling club up to 11th in the table by the end of the season and into a League Cup semi-final impressed Porto sufficiently for Andre's former club to give him the senior coaching position with less than one year's experience of that role. He did not disappoint them. The club returned to the type of silverware haul they enjoyed under Mourinho, winning the Portuguese Super Cup at the start of the season and progressing to win a domestic league and cup double and the Europa League by beating another Portuguese side, Braga, 1-0 in Dublin in May. Aged 33, Andre became the youngest manager to win a European trophy. At home Porto had broken their own record for games unbeaten at the start of the season in all competitions, previously set in the Mourinho era. They played 36 times before losing a group stage League Cup game. They went through the league campaign unbeaten, drawing just three games out of 30 and scoring 73 goals as they finished a record 21 points ahead of second-placed Benfica, earning praise for their attacking style of football both at home and in Europe. Andre was the first at Chelsea to hold the opposition scout role as a dedicated, full-time position and was innovative in the use of up-to-date computer and video technology to brief the coaching staff and players. It played an important part in bringing back-to-back Premier League titles and FA Cup and Carling Cup victories to Stamford Bridge. His involvement in professional football began as a 17-year-old when then Porto manager Bobby Robson moved into the same building in the city. A young enthusiast for the sport, Andre soon enjoyed conversations with the highly-experienced ex-England manager. With an English grandmother, he spoke the language to a very high standard which also helped his work when he moved to Chelsea. He was invited along to Porto training sessions and Robson recommended his new protégé travel to the UK to take courses. He became the youngest person to gain the FA's coaching qualification. Robson then made Andre the youth team coach at Porto where he remained until Mourinho's arrival seven years later, when he began working in the role he fulfilled at Chelsea first time around. Porto won two Portuguese League titles, the Portuguese Cup, the Uefa Cup and the Champions League before the coaching team moved to London in 2004. chelseafc
