Amid all this COVID-19 pandemic and the suspended league games, one news from the football world that is constantly making the headlines is the takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi’s Public Investment Fund. The sheer finances involved in the deal is enough to spin the heads of the supporters of the league with the takeover reportedly worth £300 million! If you want a detailed breakdown of Bin Salman’s proposed £300m takeover of Newcastle United from Mike Ashley, you can read it here.
Needless to say that a takeover of this magnitude would start, what many would call “The Newcastle Project”. If money flows in, so will the talent, thereby requiring an able manager to take charge of the talent. One name that was doing the rounds to take up the post of the manager of Newcastle was André Villas-Boas, who had previously managed Chelsea and Spurs. But now the Portuguese manager has made it clear that he has absolutely no intention to take up this job.
Villas-Boas has stated to RMC Sport that he has absolutely no interest in taking up the Newcastle job, or for that matter return to the Premier League altogether. He insists that he wants to be in charge of Olympique de Marseille for the foreseeable future and take part in the Champions League being in charge of the club.
Villas-Boas is not untested in the Premier League, being in charge of two London clubs previously. After a successful spell with Porto, Villas-Boas was appointed as the manager of the Chelsea side in 2011. The team’s performance starkly deteriorated under him, and after the team got knocked off the fourth place, Chelsea relieved him of his duties, nine months into his contract.
Tottenham Hotspur was the next destination for Villas-Boas, and here he guided the team to a fifth-place finish in his first season with 72 points, a club record then. His second season was not so productive though, and eventually, he left the club in December 2013.
The latest news of Villas-Boas not willing to take up the Newcastle job only points in one direction; Mauricio Pochettino now being the lead man to take up the Magpies job. The Argentine manager, who was last seen at Spurs, would be the ideal man to lead Newcastle United to their glory, having made remarkable progress with Southampton and Spurs.
Pochettino’s injection of fresh ideas into the squad and his steady handling of the team have earned him plaudits from the supporters as well as the experts alike. As many feel, his high pressing tactics and man-management is the main reason behind his team’s success. Many have felt extremely disheartened by the way the Spurs board dismissed him within six months of leading the club to a UEFA Champions League final.
Mauricio Pochettino is one of the finest gaffers in the world at the moment and absolutely the man to be in charge of an ambitious club, with an enormous purse. The comments from Villas-Boas should only work as a boost to the Newcastle United board, who could now focus on the right man for the job.
