A new book has revealed that Burnley decided against appointing André Villas-Boas as their new manager in 2010 after his application left the club's chiefs baffled.
In his upcoming autobiography, Burnley's former chief executive Paul Fletcher reveals that the current Tottenham Hotspur boss was interviewed for the vacant position at Turf Moor after Owen Coyle left to join Bolton Wanderers in January 2010.
Then a relative unknown, despite his upbringing with José Mourinho at Chelsea, the Portuguese was in charge of Académica de Coimbra in his home country, and made it known he wanted the post.
But the then 32-year-old lost out on the job after confusing the Burnley executive staff's with his hi-tech presentation and meaningless esoteric jargon.
An excerpt from Fletcher's "Magical: A Life In Football" reads: "Mickey Walsh, an old playing colleague of mine, got in touch with me to describe André as being a real up and coming hot prospect.
"He sent a very detailed and lengthy application for the job. His CV and Powerpoint presentation were amazing. Even by today's standards there was some complicated stuff in it, with some things that I didn't understand.
"Tommy Docherty used to say he never said anything to his players his milkman wouldn't understand. I don't think any milkman would fathom the meaning of a lot of André's presentation.
"The language and jargon of football gets worse by the day. Villas-Boas uses a lot of it. Would Burnley players have ever understood what he wanted if he'd told them to 'solidificate' or some of his other terms?
"It's a fascinating thought, one of the many 'ifs' in football. If André Villas-Boas had been manager of Burnley's Premiership team; would he have saved the season? With hindsight, we might have appointed him, but at the time it would just have been too big a risk."
Brian Laws eventually got the job but failed to save Burnley from relegation.
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| André Villas-Boas' managerial career in England almost began at Burnley instead of Chelsea Photo: Getty Images |
In his upcoming autobiography, Burnley's former chief executive Paul Fletcher reveals that the current Tottenham Hotspur boss was interviewed for the vacant position at Turf Moor after Owen Coyle left to join Bolton Wanderers in January 2010.
Then a relative unknown, despite his upbringing with José Mourinho at Chelsea, the Portuguese was in charge of Académica de Coimbra in his home country, and made it known he wanted the post.
But the then 32-year-old lost out on the job after confusing the Burnley executive staff's with his hi-tech presentation and meaningless esoteric jargon.
An excerpt from Fletcher's "Magical: A Life In Football" reads: "Mickey Walsh, an old playing colleague of mine, got in touch with me to describe André as being a real up and coming hot prospect.
"He sent a very detailed and lengthy application for the job. His CV and Powerpoint presentation were amazing. Even by today's standards there was some complicated stuff in it, with some things that I didn't understand.
"Tommy Docherty used to say he never said anything to his players his milkman wouldn't understand. I don't think any milkman would fathom the meaning of a lot of André's presentation.
"The language and jargon of football gets worse by the day. Villas-Boas uses a lot of it. Would Burnley players have ever understood what he wanted if he'd told them to 'solidificate' or some of his other terms?
"It's a fascinating thought, one of the many 'ifs' in football. If André Villas-Boas had been manager of Burnley's Premiership team; would he have saved the season? With hindsight, we might have appointed him, but at the time it would just have been too big a risk."
Brian Laws eventually got the job but failed to save Burnley from relegation.
Related links:
Personal
Also see:
