AVB claims some credit for CL win

[skeeo 37]

Is the guy delusional?

Claims he put the squad together, that Roman gave up on him and he left the squad in good shape in that we were still in and fighting for the FA Cup and CL.

Pretty amusing really.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jul/11/andre-villas-boas-roman-abramovich-chelsea

Chelsea regrouped under Villas-Boas's former assistant Roberto Di Matteo and won the Champions League and FA Cup. The Portuguese did not seek any credit for the trophies but did note that he had assembled the squad to win them at the start of the season. He added that he had been denied the opportunity to collect the silverware, with the suggestion being that he would have backed himself to have done so.

"The decision to terminate what was going on at Chelsea was not mine, it was the owner's. It is all very well that you cut the project short and Chelsea go on to win two trophies and [you] say how wonderful the squad was, but at the beginning nobody believed in that squad when we put it together.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Well if it weren't for him we might not have even made it out of the group stage, so he does deserve some credit.

[chealsist 23]

what the fuckin' credit he talk man..best thing of abramovich is when he sack villas fuckin' boas

[Chelsea? 892]

I can't believe what he said about Roman. He claims nobody believed in the squad and we quit on him. So: why didn't we sign more? Didn't AVB not want Willian?

Wouldnt he dropping some of our vets be considers Quiting on them too?

[DDA 9,989]

It wasn't the squad he put together that was the main problem, It was how he managed that squad of players and it is as simple as that. If these words are accurate then evidently Andre hasn't learned a damn thing and is still led by blind ignorance. I doubt very much that he actually thinks the squad that won the Champions League and FA Cup was in the same shape that he had left it, If he does then hopefully he keeps on managing with this kind of arrogant bullshit at Spurs. Could only be a good thing for us!

[Waterfall 893]

He obviously deserves some credit but his biggest contribution was motivating the Old Guard by disrespecting them - something even a troll could have done.

[Sheva. 5,373]

There's no way he believes he would have won the CL and Fa cup had he still been manager?!

All he has to do is watch the last 5-6 games we played under him and be the judge, we were freaking hopeless and half the players looked like they had already given up.

[Blue Armour 4,477]

Is this discussion really necessary? The only talking point is that he and Roman disagreed on the direction in which the club had to move in during the middle of the season. Nowhere does he "claim credit" for the club's success. And he goes on to say that no-one really had faith in the squad at the start (people commenting on how old it was, how Torres was flopping) yet the same squad goes on to win 2 trophies.

That's pretty much it. He could have said something more vehement, but this is trivial.

[francozola 2,040]

Read the whole fucking quote first

[capriccioso 2,545]

It's true that in the latter part of his reign the team were horrific, but still, Di Matteo couldn't have won two trophies if AVB didn't manage to keep us in them.

[francozola 2,040]

Once again people are just believing everything the media writes. Yes he did say that part about "putting the squad together" etc but there was actually more to that quote. He said that the success was down to RDM and the magnificent players. Typically the media will only report on the first part, trying to cause conflicts everywhere and as usual everyone is falling for it.

Anyway I'd just like to move on from AVB. It's done now, we have RDM and lets just look to the future.

[francozola 2,040]

Chelsea regrouped under Villas-Boas's former assistant Roberto Di Matteo and won the Champions League and FA Cup. The Portuguese did not seek any credit for the trophies but did note that he had assembled the squad to win them at the start of the season. He added that he had been denied the opportunity to collect the silverware, with the suggestion being that he would have backed himself to have done so.

"The decision to terminate what was going on at Chelsea was not mine, it was the owner's. It is all very well that you cut the project short and Chelsea go on to win two trophies and [you] say how wonderful the squad was, but at the beginning nobody believed in that squad when we put it together.

[final post on this matter lol]

He was our manager for 8 months or so and he did have some part in our CL win. As I said in the other thread, if we hadn't beaten Valencia we wouldn't have had a chance to reach Munich. BluesMaster said that we shouldn't have been in the position where we needed to beat Valencia in the first place, and yes that's kind of true but you really can't think about things in that manner. The situation that we were in, it was a critical match and we won, doesn't matter how much part you think he played, that was still a victory

[manpe 10,861]

Lmao at the thread title and then...

The Portuguese did not seek any credit for the trophies

talk about contradiction

[Clevemayer 764]

sorry guys, just read before you start to jump on the media train... wankers...

The AVB Quote and What It Means

SO THIS MORNING I read a piece (of shit, if you will) on SkySports about Andre Villas-Boas with this subtitle: "Andre Villas-Boas believes he is entitled to take some of the credit for Chelsea's success last season and hopes to achieve similar feats at Tottenham Hotspur." (Emphasis added by me.) If you already dislike (or HATE if you must) AVB for some reason, that subtitle will definitely make your blood boil. Even if you don't have any strong feelings, one way or another, about the former Chelsea manager, that sentence will make you say, "Wait a minute! Is this guy CRAZY?"

Funnily enough, those are exactly the type of reactions the writer/editor of that piece (of shit, if you are still up for it) wanted from you, the readers. We will talk about why they would want that to be the case later but let's see what AVB actually said.

"For Chelsea to have won the FA Cup and the Champions League, it means we were still present in those competitions at that time (of sacking). The squad was being put in place towards the future and the owner took the decision,

which I have to respect, but I never accept it

.

I was very honoured that I was able to put that team together

.

You could say part of what they achieved is also down to that squad being put together by myself, but what was done after was down to Robbie's work and the work of those magnificent players

. It was never a one person failure and I will never take it like that. You always learn from experience. Chelsea was not so gratifying in terms of success, but it was very gratifying professionally for me. I have learned from a couple of things I did wrong, and also you have to trust the right people at the right time. This gathering with Tottenham gives me even more stability towards the future."

That is the totality of AVB's words quoted and sprinkled all over the article. The first sentence says he was still in charge when Chelsea were still in the two competitions they end up winning at the end. It is a factual statement and he should get credit for what he did for the club up to that point in those competitions. But is he suggesting that he would have won these cups if he weren't sacked? It is possible, but it would also be a cynical stretch of the imagination.

The second sentence says he disagree with the decision of the club to sack him. Well, by show of hands, who likes being fired?

The third and the fourth seem to go together. And it is the fourth that SkySports has tuned into -- they even made it Quote of the Week! If I may repeat,

"You could say part of what they achieved is also down to that squad being put together by myself, but what was done after was down to Robbie's work and the work of those magnificent players."

If you only read the part of that sentence before "but", you get exactly what the subtitle says -- AVB thinks he is entitled for Chelsea's success. However, it is crucial to read the whole sentence, especially when it has two parts that are connected by a "but," suggesting one part of the sentence is exactly the opposite of what the speaker intends by the whole sentence. "You could say X, but it's actually Y" means "I endorse Y". Therefore, the Portuguese essentially said, rather diplomatically, that the success of Chelsea after he was sacked was all down to Di Matteo and the players.

The rest of the quote is not that relevant to the point of this post but it is fair to say that there is a hint of bitterness in what AVB has said. By saying "It was never a one person failure and I will never take it like that," he seems to imply that the failure of his tenure was down to both him and the players, in the same way that the success after his management was down to both Di Matteo and the players. But it is not something to get your pitch forks out for. We were be a bit bitter too if we were in his position.

It is also helpful to remember that this came out of an interview/press conference, not a written statement composed for the occasion by Villas-Boas. That means he was more than likely to be responding to questions posed to him, like say, "Do you, Mr. Villas-Boas, take credit for the success Chelsea had after you were sacked?" Or worse: "Do you take credit since you are the one who put the team together in the first place?" A leading question asked to get a controversial quote? Now, why would they do such a thing?

It gets a rise out of people who will read and spread this article now. But it will also add to the list of "talking points" before, during and after every match between Tottenham and Chelsea come the new season. It's good for the media now and the future to have that narrative going. The fact of the matter is that there are plenty of reasons for Chelsea fans to either dislike or criticize Villas-Boas but this is not one. His quotes do not suggest malice and arrogance that SkySports claims they do. Someone's trying to start a fire; don't get burned.

Carefree, wherever you may be...

http://www.carefreechronicles.com/

[Jase 43,479]

He is still so intense and philosophical as ever in the things he said regarding with Roman.

And funny thing is, Scolari never tried to claim any credit in any way for the FA Cup we won 2009. Just saying...

[Clevemayer 764]

again:

You could say part of what they achieved is also down to that squad being put together by myself, but what was done after was down to Robbie's work and the work of those magnificent players

EDIT:

and I would quite frankly be bit surprised about it, when he wasnt bitter about being sacked, plus he did say this:

the owner took the decision, which I have to respect, but I never accept...

...It was never a one person failure and I will never take it like that. You always learn from experience. Chelsea was not so gratifying in terms of success, but it was very gratifying professionally for me. I have learned from a couple of things I did wrong

[Spike 12,049]

Fucking journalists.

[Jase 43,479]

again:

You could say part of what they achieved is also down to that squad being put together by myself, but what was done after was down to Robbie's work and the work of those magnificent players

EDIT:

and I would quite frankly be bit surprised about it, when he wasnt bitter about being sacked, plus he did say this:

Good that he admitted the mistakes he made here but only time will tell whether he has truly learned from it.

[Melanicus 5,208]

[blue_swaggin_96 96]

Do you really think we would have overcamed napoli if avb was in charge? i highly doubt it, the egos would just lose it on purpose... just to get em sacked i felt... the highline destroyed us with those slow players.

the manure 3 0 to 3 3 game made roman rethink!