Villas-Boas refutes Redknapp jibe as Spurs boss celebrates belated first win

Andre Villas-Boas hit back at Harry Redknapp’s claim that modern managers baffle players with 'b*******' and '70-page dossiers' after two-goal Jermain Defoe secured his first win as Tottenham boss — 3-1 at Reading.

Former Spurs manager Redknapp, 65, told Sportsmail on Saturday that 'b******* can baffle brains at times' but his successor at White Hart Lane insisted a manager’s methods are largely irrelevant.

Villas-Boas, 34, said: 'In the end, it is not about the manager, it is about the players. It is the players that take us to success and different managers have different leadership styles and ways they go about their business.

First win on the board: Andre Villas-Boas celebrates Tottenham's victory over Reading

'I am not sure if Harry was mentioning that about Jose Mourinho but, if he is, I find it strange. He is not referring to me because I don’t use those situations.

'In the end, independent of the manager being modern or being old-fashioned or old school or looking towards the future, it doesn’t matter.

'The most important thing is you have to feel it. When you feel the way you lead and your convictions you can sell your ideas a little bit better and take your players to success.'

At the double: Jermain Defoe scored twice in Tottenham's win over Reading on Sunday

Beauty: Gareth Bale scored a stunner as Tottenham eased to victory at the Madjeski Stadium

The Tottenham manager insisted he 'didn’t feel under any pressure' coming into Sunday’s game after a defeat and two draws from his first three games in charge.



Villas-Boas also praised the 'prolific goal-scoring' ability of Defoe, who was selected ahead of fellow forward Emmanuel Adebayor.

He said: 'I am extremely happy for him. He is such a prolific striker for club and country.

'He is amazing at sniffing goalscoring opportunities — he makes the most of the small opportunities he has but he makes a lot of opportunities for himself.

'The others create a lot for him and he keeps on showing what a prolific goalscorer he is.'



Defoe was key to the performance, the 29-year-old converting Aaron Lennon's cross to put Spurs ahead before he killed the game off with a magnificent solo effort in the second half.



Defoe, whose place in the Tottenham squad had been in doubt this summer, hopes the victory will have silenced those who doubted Villas-Boas and Spurs.



'Hopefully the fans are happy and everyone who has been doubting us will hopefully look at us and think we'll do well this season and kick on from here now," Defoe said.



'It's normal that things take time when a new manager comes to a club. You have world-class players come to clubs and people think they will be unbelievable instantly, but it takes time.'

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