The official statement on Andre Villas-Boas’ appointment said he will his begin work with Chelsea immediately. That must really be the case. Just like any newly signed manager, he’s got a couple of months to finalise on the new way of working for Chelsea. He did mention about the new leadership and new communication but he also warned us that there wouldn’t be any drastic changes. Some key questions for Boas now would be: (a) Is he happy with our approach to football (b) Is he happy with our mentality (c) How good are our fundamentals (d) Will the current mindset at Chelsea work with his football philosophy.

Boas is known to be an intelligent man and a very good student of the game. The president of Academica had mentioned how swiftly Boas explained him on the problem with Academica then and what needed to be done to resolve it. That’s the conversation that got him his first job in club management. Chelsea though, is nothing new to him. He had worked here for three successful seasons. He knows the players, the staff, the officials and most importantly should understand how the structure and hierarchy work in this club. This knowledge should definitely help him in getting on with things.

I think his immediate actions would be around the way Chelsea go about playing and winning their games. There is a philosophy or simply put an approach that Chelsea as a team is known to have. Boas can look if this philosophy requires a review or just some tweaks or just better conviction and implementation of the same. Similarly, he needs to see whether he has the right set of players. He might need to buy some players, sell some players and review the unwritten playing-time agreements with some players. Thirdly, Boas might also look at our tactics, our formation and the roles of our players for the next season.

Chelsea’s approach is built on grit, determination, siege mentality and robust defence. When Roman bought Chelsea, he needed some success quite urgently. We needed to announce to the football world that we have arrived. Roman also might have needed to confirmation that he’s done the right thing by buying this football club and investing millions in it.

The first thing we started working on was making ourselves difficult to beat. Defensive solidity and organisation was identified as quite key for our success. Between 03-04 and 04-05, while the goals scored improved a little bit, the number of goals we conceded halved in 04-05. We ended up conceding only 15 goals all season in the premier league in 04-05 (as against 30 in 03-04). This was quite key to our success.

This approach was so well implemented it ran and probably still runs in the veins of our players – especially the ones from back-to-back titles period. And in fact, Boas was very much part of this system and was also a key member who helped in this implementation. Given the circumstances in that era, this was probably the right approach and that had really launched Chelsea big time into the European scene.

This approach would continue at Chelsea and only under Carlo Ancelotti, in his first season, we saw a change in Chelsea’s approach. We started playing in a more expansive way and giving some real importance to scoring goals than to just winning.

In the second season, when things didn’t go in our way, Chelsea’s new approach didn’t work. This new approach didn’t help at the times of adversity. We needed to have our steely resolve and bulldog mentality to deal with such situations. Unfortunately, our desire to play expansive football had undone some of our strong mental characteristics. Our mental attributes had paved way for our technical attributes. Carlo did a good job with his attempt to improve but only that the implementation was not complete. It was not wholesome.

Now, Boas is known to give a lot of importance to attacking, free-flowing football. Though the Europa final was a drab affair, Boas even apologised for the poor show of football in the final. For Boas, he has two sides of this coin for his analysis. Under Carlo, season one we created a goal scoring record in the premier league and in season two, we were just poor. He can see the good and bad side of this method.

I don’t know how the Chelsea of 2011/12 would play. Would we take a cautious approach to secure the wins or we would play to the galleries? It’s quite clear that what happens on the pitch is secondary to what happens at the end of the season.

Pretty football + Success = Massive bonus + Extension.
Pretty football + Failure = Sack.
Not-so-pretty football + Success = Big bonus.
Not-so-pretty football + Failure = Unceremonious sack.

That’s pretty much the formula as I see it.

Luckily for Boas, defensively, we’re one of the best in Europe. There’s no too much work there except promoting the back ups and replacements for Ashley Cole and John Terry. These are issues for tomorrow. For today though, he has one of the finest defensive set ups to work with. He can even afford take the defensive side for granted and start looking at the attacking side of things.

Going by the reports, Boas would want his team to play attacking football with lots of goals. Only few teams have managed to blend fluid attacking play with robust defensive organisations. Actually, it’s quite hard to blend these. Of course, this needs time and support from the club but is expected to happen not at the cost of success. So that makes it a tough proposition.

The challenge for Boas would be to have Chelsea play expansive football and still ensuring that this does not affect our results/successes in any way. As we all know, there’s no honeymoon period or transition period at Chelsea. You’ll be paid crazy money but you bring the sun and the moon in return. That’s how it works and Boas should know it.

And this is Boas’ first big job in Europe. I’ve heard that Porto is a bigger club than Chelsea and all that but the Chelsea job is massive when compared to Porto. There are vultures out there waiting for his first series of bad results to say ‘he lacks experience at the high level’ or ‘he is too young to control this dressing room’ and stuff like that. Many have said that Boas has got this job a little too early and even to the extent of saying it’s undeserving.

Boas seems to be a very strong character. He comes across as a very intelligent person too. He’s got only good things being said about him. He’s managed Porto to unprecedented success. Porto in Portugal is bigger than Chelsea in England. He’s found a way to bring success, with his philosophy of football. He only needs to repeat it here.

The whole world is watching. Boas should make this big opportunity count. He can have his ideals and principles but they won’t keep him in his job, success will. He needs to balance between what he wants to see and what his club wants to see with a clear understanding what counts for more. How do you think Boas will cope up with this pressure? Do you think he would value his values, principles and philosophy more than efficiency and results? Do you think he would be keen to make this Chelsea job count and thereby would put results above everything else? Or do you think he would find the magic formula for blending art and science with Chelsea too?

I’m super-excited. We’ve gone and signed the best young manager in Europe. He was the best out there in his class and we’ve just landed him here in style. I could feel the air of belief and confidence among the Chelsea fans. Everyone seems to be happy and rejoicing. There are some who think this is a risk but the feeling that overwhelms this is that of excitement. If you’re a Chelsea fan, you have to be very excited. We’ve got a bloke who has the potential to be a great manager. He’s young, he’s hungry and he’s a winner.

Andre’s achievements are well documented and much discussed. I don’t want to go into them too much. It’s enough to say that his records last season were no mean feat. It’s no one season wonder or a fluke. You can’t get those kind of results in one season by chance. One thing’s for sure. He’s a winner. He puts success right on top of his agenda. We need that kind of characters and in fact, only those kind of characters.

By hiring such a manager, Roman now also gets a second chance to deal with things better. Now we have another young, successful and ambitious manager. He can build his squad, tweak this squad, get his philosophy embedded, drive home his style and approach and slowly develop the team organically. Bo may or may not be successful early on but here is a man with whom we can build the club.

Much has been said about Andre being too young to manage a club like Chelsea. That’s utter nonsense, in my humble opinion. Either you’re capable or incapable. You can 100 years old and still fail miserably. Just because someone’s young doesn’t mean they won’t get respect. This guy is a European champion. None of the Chelsea players is. Boas has got one of the top job in football purely through merit. The fact that he’s got this job is enough reason to command respect.

Also, Boas knows the premier league inside out. During his stint at Porto, Chelsea and Inter under Jose Mourinho, Boas was reportedly the opposition scout. He used to prepare detailed dossiers on oppositions, their players, their strengths and weaknesses, their game plans etc. So, he knows all too well about the teams in the premier league and their players. Plus, he also knows our players and hence he’s quite a familiar face in the dressing room.

By all means, this looks like a brilliant appointment. If ever Roman wanted to settle down with a manager and bring some stability to the team management, here is the man. Boas has already mentioned about the tolerance level won’t change for him and what does he need to do to stay at Chelsea. Basically, he knows how things operate at Chelsea. He knows about the high standards and benchmarks here. He knows he needs to keep winning.

As I’ve always stated, I don’t mind a trophyless season provided there’s progress and promise. I hope and expect that Boas will bring in the progress and promise that we’ve been waiting for. And in this process, if we need to go through some tough phases, I hope Roman values the progress of the long term over the results in the short term.

I’m a bit surprised that his contract is only a 3-year contract. For a man of his age, he could have a got a longer contract but then the club might want to see how copes with the new challenge. If he does well in his first or second season, I can his contract being extended by another two or three years.

I’m very curious to see how Boas prepares us for the next season. What kind of players he would buy, who would he dispose off, what changes in roles in the squad he would bring in, what formation he would play and all that. The next couple of weeks could be crucial as being a new manager he might want all his players (incl the new purchases) to join him in the pre-season tour. We will have to wait and watch on this one. And, make no mistake – Boas’ arrival should be a good news for the like of Josh McE!

With this appointment, Chelsea FC has once again announced to the whole world about its aspirations and ambitions. Trust me, the rivals will be slightly worried by this move. Fergie is counting his years. Wenger has overstayed his welcome. Dalglish is hardly the long term manager. The knife is still there for Mancini. In these circumstances, we have hired a 33-year old manager who has very clear philosophy and has a burning desire for success.

I’ll give anything to know the objectives agreed between Boas and the club. What would he have been told? Win a trophy every season? Win the champions league within the next 3 seasons? Win two premier league titles in 3 seasons? Or build the club for a better future so we have a sustainable plan for growth and success. Boas’ first interview confirms that he’s quite clear of the expectations and demands at Chelsea. Also shows that he’s up for the challenge. By the way, his interview was good. He sounds a bit scholarly. Goes in depth with every response. Sometimes even wanders. If anything, he’s not a man of few words. As tweeted yesterday, I particularly liked his response on his football philosophy. I’d look forward to hearing from him more.

Lot more to reflect on Andre Villas-Boas. Too less time. In the next few days/weeks, I’ll try to post my views on Boas from various perspectives. For now though, will make a move. Meanwhile, you stay happy. This is a mighty positive thing for Chelsea. I’d like to pick this post a year later and say ‘Wow! I was right!’.

So it’s Andre Villas Boas then? No confirmation from either clubs or Andre’s agent but now they look only like a formality. As Chelsea fans, we are very familiar with this feeling of ‘all but done’. We’ve seen this a million times. Most of these haven’t gone in our favour but the last few occasions have been quite memorable – the ones involving Torres and David Luiz.

Bets are off for Andre Villas-Boas as the next Chelsea manager and this is what Chelsea FC has had to say:

We hope to be able to make an announcement regarding the new manager in the next few days or so, but until then we will not be commenting further on the speculation surrounding that appointment.

Few weeks back when I wrote about ‘The Right One’, I had spelt out my expectations for the next Chelsea manager:

I really hope someone who’s under 50 and comes to Chelsea to prove a point than to treat this as a retirement plan. For me, lack of track record is not a problem, poor track record is. A young, confident, courageous and ambitious manager is what I’m looking for. Not easy, I know. Anyway, it shouldn’t be that easy to find a manager for a club like Chelsea FC. After all, we’re talking about ‘The Right One’.

I think Andre Villas-Boas fits the bill perfectly. Some might think that he doesn’t have the pedigree to be the manager of a club like Chelsea. I didn’t think even Pep had enough pedigree (despite being their player and B team manager) to manage Barcelona. I think Andre has the fire in his belly to be successful in football management. Plus, he has his ideals and principles. He speaks very good English. In my books, he ticks all the boxes.

Some are of the opinion that he’s too young to gain the respect of the Chelsea players. I think this one’s a weak argument. He’s a European title winner at 33 with Porto. This is no joke. He will demand respect for his managerial talent and not for his age. That’s how it always works in sports. The talent matters and not the age.

This is a sport where young captains have led the teams that had older and more senior players. Tony Adams was 21 when he became the captain and he was one of Arsenal’s best captains ever. George Graham didn’t think if young Tony would get the respect of his colleagues. He made the right choice and Tony would continue to captain Arsenal for more than a decade.

Will Andre Villas-boas be able to cope up with the much-reported ‘player power’ at Chelsea, if it really exists? I don’t see a reason why he should not. He’s young, he’s so young that there could be some Chelsea players older than him. John Terry wasn’t the oldest when he became our captain. He too was young but he meant business. That’s all Andre needs to do. If he means business, he’s home. By the looks of it, he looks like someone who means business.

This episode hasn’t changed my stance one bit. I would still love to have Hiddink at Chelsea, probably as a football director and as a link between the owner and the team management/players. Under the support and guidance of Hiddink, a young and hungry manager like Andre should really do well. If age and experience are a concern, Hiddink and Andre should complement very well.

This whole ‘Andre to Chelsea’ has got me hyper-excited. I think Roman will once again show how much he cares about Chelsea FC. Expect him to pay the release clause of £12m to get ‘The Right One’. Fingers crossed.

Possibility of Andre Villas-Boas as the Chelsea manager. You are . . .

• Excited!


• Disappointed!


• Unsure!



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