According to the latest reports from the Scotsman, Andre Villas-Boas has once again entered the race to become the next Celtic manager and some bookies have even placed him as favourites for now over the likes of Rafa Benitez, Jose Mourinho and David Moyes.
Villas-Boas’ name has been doing the rounds for quite a few months, but his agent had initially distanced his client’s interest in Celtic. However, later he commented claiming that Villas-Boas has the ”deepest affection for Scotland”. If Neil Lennon goes on to deliver the treble, then he would think that he has done enough to get the Celtic job permanently, but honestly, the Hoops would be better off appointing someone else in his place.
Why isn’t Lennon the answer?
Lennon hasn’t really shown his tactical nuance, and Celtic have laboured to win their games in the past few months. Moreover, we feel that its the overall quality of the players which has got them this win instead of Lennon’s strategy. Therefore we don’t see the Northern Irish manager being able to take this team to the next level, and Celtic should look elsewhere.
Villas-Boas has been out of football management since November 2017 as he wanted to follow different endeavours. He had left the Chinese club Shanghai SIPG to take part in Dakar rally where he suffered an injury. It remains to be seen whether he would want to jump back to football management.
The rise of Villas-Boas and why he might be a suitable option?
The Portuguese man has a fascinating story about how he became a football manager. The former Chelsea boss had never played football at any level. It was his chance encounter with Sir Bobby Robson who was then the manager of Portuguese heavyweights Porto that made Robson realise Villas-Boas’ football knowledge, and he asked Porto to keep him under observation.
Villas-Boas got a chance to manage Porto in 2010, and he achieved great success in his first season itself. He took them to the Europa League title in 2011, and went the whole domestic season unbeaten winning the title by more than 20 points, having conceded only 13 goals all season.
He was signed up by Chelsea soon, but he didn’t manage to settle in there. However, we wouldn’t like to blame him for that as the Blues have often been impatient with their managers. The Portuguese did a decent job for Tottenham in his first season as he guided them to 72 points, but he was let go in his second year.
We believe that the Portuguese would be a better option than Lennon as he can reinvent this side and play an eye-catching brand of football. Villas-Boas has also got the experience of managing some of the top jobs, and he could be a decent bet for the Hoops.
