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Jargon ruled current Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas out of Burnley job

 

Jason Mellor
Monday 10 September 2012 16:34 BST
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Andre Villas-Boas: 'I don't think any milkman would fathom his presentation,' said Paul Fletcher
Andre Villas-Boas: 'I don't think any milkman would fathom his presentation,' said Paul Fletcher

Burnley overlooked Andre Villas-Boas for the manager's job at Turf Moor because of an over-reliance on unfathomable jargon from the Portuguese.

The Tottenham Hotspur manager was in line to launch his career in this country more than 18 months before eventually taking charge at Chelsea, but talked his way out of contention after applying to replace Owen Coyle in 2010.

Villas-Boas, back then a largely unknown 32-year-old coach with the Portuguese side Academia, failed to earn an interview as the Clarets played it safe with ex-player Brian Laws.

In his soon to be published book Magical: A Life In Football, ex-Burnley chief executive Paul Fletcher reveals: "The most surprising name put forward was Andre Villas-Boas. Mickey Walsh, an old playing colleague of mine got in touch to describe Andre as a hot prospect.

"He sent a very detailed application. His CV and power-point presentation was amazing. Even by today's standards there was some complicated stuff. Tommy Docherty used to say he never said anything to his players that his milkman wouldn't understand. I don't think any milkman would fathom the meaning of a lot of Andre's presentation. Would Burnley players have understood what he wanted if he told them to 'solidificate'?"

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