Villas-Boas plays down expectations

Pa
Wednesday 22 June 2011 16:57 BST
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Villas-Boas is no stranger to Chelsea, working there under as part of the backroom staff under Mourinho, whom he followed to Inter Milan
Villas-Boas is no stranger to Chelsea, working there under as part of the backroom staff under Mourinho, whom he followed to Inter Milan

New Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has played down the significance of his arrival at Stamford Bridge, telling fans: "Don't expect something from one man".

Villas-Boas was confirmed as Chelsea boss this morning on a three-year contract after the west Londoners agreed to pay a reported £13.3million to release him from his Porto contract.

It is a significant outlay from Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich for the 33-year-old Portuguese, who has earned a burgeoning reputation after leading Porto to domestic and European success last term.

Given those circumstances obvious parallels have been drawn with Jose Mourinho's appointment at Chelsea seven seasons ago.

However unlike his countryman, who famously labelled himself as the 'Special One' upon his arrival in England, Villas-Boas has used his first interview to tell fans that any success under his stewardship will be down to the club rather than him alone.

"Don't expect something from one man," he told Chelsea TV.

"Expect us to create a group dynamic of everybody getting together, with the fans getting together, with people getting excited with the motivation that is in and around us.

"In the new way of communicating and the new leadership - this is the most important thing.

"It is not about my arrival. It is about the continuos success of this club."

Villas-Boas is no stranger to the west London club, working there under as part of the backroom staff under Mourinho, whom he followed to Inter Milan.

During that time Villas-Boas saw the club's elevation to perennial title-contenders and he is determined to maintain the strides made in that time.

"Let's reflect on the success of the past six years at this club and what we have achieved and now what we can achieve in the next six years again," he added.

"There is no doubt that the challenge for me is to keep winning.

"I am an individual who has that hunger for success and I want to keep it that way."

Chelsea confirmed that Villas-Boas is due to begin work immediately after labelling him as the "outstanding candidate" for a job that has been vacant since Carlos Ancelotti was sacked immediately after the final day of last season.

Villas-Boas tendered his resignation with Porto yesterday, with last night's confirmation of the receipt of the compensation payment paving the way for him to move on to a new club.

All that was left was for Villas-Boas to agree the formalities of a lucrative £4.4million a year salary on his return to Stamford Bridge, but this time as the man charged with delivering the Champions League trophy.

"Andre was the outstanding candidate for the job. He is one of the most talented young managers in football today and has already achieved much in a relatively short space of time," the club statement read.

"His ambition, drive and determination matches that of Chelsea and we are confident Andre's leadership of the team will result in greater successes in major domestic and European competitions.

"Andre will bring his coaching experience back to a club he is already very familiar with, having previously worked here for three years.

"He has always been highly regarded at Chelsea and everyone here looks forward to welcoming him back and working with him."

One of his first moves as the new Blues boss could be to sign Porto's star striker Falcao, the £25million-rated Colombian having impressed as the Dragons won the Europa League final at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, where the 25-year-old netted the only goal against Braga.

However, at just 33 Villas-Boas will be the youngest manager in the Barclays Premier League and must quickly integrate himself back into the Stamford Bridge dressing room where he will be the same age as veterans such as Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard.

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