The Andre Villas Boas renovation hits Spurs

As if undeterred from his experiences at Chelsea where his attempts at radical change without waiting for the commodity of father time to have his say were stubbornly rebuffed by his playing staff with such determination that his future fell before them, Andre Villas-Boas is willing to go down the same route at Spurs in a desperate attempt to stamp his own identity on his new squad.

It is far too simple to say that a defeat to Newcastle on the opening day of the league season would have been the catalyst for Villas-Boas to believe his Spurs squad is in obvious need of being placed under the knife, yet it must be from that 2-1 loss that rammed home to the Portuguese coach that funds must be raised in order to address the failings that were in obvious effect; the distinct lack of fire-power underneath Jermain Defoe being an obvious cause for concern, plus the lack of creative drive from a midfield that is 99.9% sure to be short of Luka Modric when the transfer window shuts in ten days’ time.

So, just like his attempts at overhauling his Chelsea squad that blew dramatically back in his face with the phasing out of Frank Lampard and the eventual Champions League hero Didier Drogba, plus the thoughtless dismissal of Alex and Nicolas Anelka, Spurs are now watching it happen to them. Defender Sebastien Bassong has been the first to go, rather understandably for a defender who has been blighted by injuries at White Hart Lane and for a decent fee, a club record deal for Norwich to the tune of £5.5 million. Then, strangely, Michael Dawson has been allowed to follow his fellow centre-half through the exit door, this time to QPR for a £9 million fee. Such a deal will represent good business for Spurs who will collect a rather attractive sum of money for a centre half who also has a history with injuries; he played just 13 times for Spurs last season as problems with his ankle surfaced.

Now to cash in a decent slice of cash for two centre-halves with fitness issues will be particularly appealing to Daniel Levy who will be looking to tighten the purse strings following the lavish spending of Villas Boas’ predecessor Harry Redknapp, but their extradition has all the air of the Villas Boas rashness about it, to quickly dispense with a pair of players without properly casting his eye over their talents. There must be more to Michael Dawson for instance, whom Redknapp saw fit to grant the White Hart Lane captaincy back in 2010 in a year he was named the club’s player of the year, than to be cast aside without appearing in a competitive game for the new coach. Plus, with Dawson’s departure, it now leaves Spurs with four centre-halves, Younes Kaboul and Jan Vertonghen who are both adept enough, then with an injury-prone William Gallas and Steven Caulker, who has just one Premier League season with Swansea to his name, as cover.

The manager may have covered himself with enough resources in order to ensure the departures of Bassong and Dawson will be as soft as can be and arguably, it is sensible to watch them go whilst they are still carrying decent price-tags, but it is another example of Villas Boas being particularly unforgiving when it comes to trimming his staff. Reported to be next on the list are Tom Huddlestone and Giovanni Dos Santos who have both failed to be earn regular playing time in recent seasons, whilst the seemingly forgotten David Bentley is continuously linked with MK Dons. Steven Pienaar and Niko Krancjar have previously left this summer to ease the swelling of a team left behind by Redknapp, but while Gylfi Sigurdsson has been brought in, it can be argued that with a further 3 midfielders to leave, together with Modric, Spurs will leave themselves thin on the ground in that area, especially if a proposed move for Joao Moutinho, with the clock already ticking, fails to materialise.

Emmanuel Adebayor, a striker to ease the burden off Jermain Defoe, has been signed from Manchester City following his impressive loan spell of last year which carried 17 goals in 33 games as Villas Boas’ spending spree begins to kick-start after a single weekend of persuasion and a summer of slow action to which only Sigurdsson and Vertonghen have been the only imports. But even Adebayor’s arrival has had to be rubber-stamped through a complex financial deal that puts the selling club out of pocket more than it does Spurs. Levy will understand the need for Villas Boas to improve his squad, this was after all a team that centred around a main core of a small number players last year and relied upon them to the extent they faded badly towards the end of the season, plus with the likelihood of Modric’ exit increasing by the day, any restriction of Villas Boas spending seems to be of irrational folly.

The chairman has relented it seems, but not without the compromise of selling players first and draining down the transfer window until it reaches the dregs of value as clubs panic in the face of the pound signs being flashed in front of their eyes. Yet, Villas Boas has done the quick sell and hastily buy practice before to negative results, he will be hoping that in the next ten days that is likely to provide a hive of transfer activity for Spurs, this side adapts better to a drastic squad overhauling better than the one at his last job did.