'Don't insult my integrity, my human values, my professionalism': AVB's angry exchange with Sportsmail's Neil Ashton over his verdict on the Spurs boss... now read our man's view on the row



There was a moment during Andre Villas-Boas' post-match press conference when it became clear he was about to address some issues with the Daily Mail.



It duly arrived when Tottenham’s manager said that the ‘person was in the room’ and at that point it became obvious that it would go no further until we had made our respective representations.



A brief history lesson: he is upset with me for writing an online opinion piece questioning his achievements at Porto, when he won the treble in 2011 and struck gold by landing the top job at Chelsea.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch the moment Andre Villas-Boas directed anger at Neil Ashton



Getting personal: Andre Villas-Boas was unhappy at Sportsmail's Neil Ashton in his post-match press conference

The main thrust of my argument, among others, was that anyone could have had a pretty decent chance of winning the Portuguese league with a strike force (Hulk and Radamel Falcao) who scored 74 goals between them.



After a 6-0 ‘thrashing’ (Andre’s words) at Manchester City, it didn’t go down well with AVB on Wednesday morning, that much is clear.



But these are the opinion pieces that are part of the humdrum of life at a top Premier League club, the ‘noise of football’ as Gary Neville likes to refer to it.

Singled out: Villas Boas took particular exception to Neil Ashton's Ash Wednesday column

Opinion: Villas-Boas was also unhappy with Martin Samuel's column from Wednesday's paper

Read it, ignore it, have it out with the person involved, provide some context, some balance or plaster them all over the four walls of a press conference. But, ultimately, we move on from it.



My online column wasn’t a personal attack on AVB – how could it be when I don’t even know the guy?



Still, on with the press conference itself. He claimed that I ‘attacked him, chased him’, which cannot be true because I’ve only ever seen him about six times in my life.



Perhaps I could be accused of some professional neglect in relation to that because it does seem odd that I have so rarely come across him.



Where, perhaps, he had a point was when he claimed that we have never had the chance to ‘sit down and speak about it’. That is correct.



Dejected: Villas-Boas said Spurs should be ashamed of themselves after the 6-0 defeat at Manchester City

In a previous life at the Daily Mail, when he was manager of Chelsea and I was reporting on special projects for the paper, I never came across him. Not once. It simply wasn’t my job to see him.



It didn’t stop me writing about events at Chelsea, stories that he strenuously and consistently denied.



Give him his due, we never had the chance to set the record straight together. Still, he tended to do that in live Champions League press conferences instead.



It never bothered me: as a newspaper reporter working at the sharp end of the industry, I have to accept that managers will have a dig in my ribs. It’s only words, after all.



Crossed paths: Ashton says that he has only seen Villas-Boas six times while the manager has been in England

These events are not even humiliating: they are an inevitable consequence of the unique position national newspapers reporters are in.



Sometimes I wish I could walk away and back down, but somewhere there is a trigger that tells me to stay and fight my corner. If that is a crime then lock me up.



Initially, Sunday's events at Tottenham barely made a mark with me. It was an exchange without raised voices that, in my opinion at the time, barely registered as a newsworthy event.



Instead it has come to this, a rather unfortunate situation that has gathered a life of its own. I am in the eye of the storm as the Twitter backlash continues and scores of young Spurs fans tell me I have been ‘owned’ by AVB.



One of them, charmingly, told me he couldn’t wait to meet me in the street so that he could ‘smash me in the face’.

@neilashton_ AVB literally has shares in you #owned — Park lane lower (@ParkLower) December 1, 2013





Seriously, that’s life on the road as a football reporter working for one of the most notorious sports sections in the industry.



Back to Villas-Boas and the biggest ‘non-rant that has turned into a spat’ in history.



He claimed I misquoted him after the Manchester City game, when he claimed ‘we should be ashamed.’ For the record, Andre, no I didn’t.



Hunting the pack: Villas-Boas' comments came after Tottenham drew 2-2 with Manchester United

Through the gate: Kyle Walker scored the opener directly from a free-kick but Spurs couldn't hold on

In a piece I wrote for Tuesday’s newspaper, also printed online, I revealed that some of the players were furious with him for using such an antagonistic word.



Here is that element of the exchange, which all comes down to semantics. ‘Even mixing the words that I said in the press conference after Man City,' he said.



Me: Sorry, can you explain?

AVB: I never told that the players should feel ashamed of themselves. We, that includes me.



Me: But if you say we should feel ashamed of ourselves, you are including your group of players?



AVB: Obviously.



Me: So…



Simon Felstein (head of media at Tottenham): It’s not about dividing them, that’s the difference. It’s not a discussion for right now, not with the cameras on Neil. I think we can talk about this after.



Me: No, I am happy to talk about it now.



AVB: We is us. We are everybody at the club. Don’t you agree? Why do you think these is any intention to separate myself from it?



Felstein: Move on.



And we do move on, fairly quickly because in the time it took to write this piece Southampton went in front at Chelsea, Martin Jol was sacked by Fulham and Dave Jones lost his job at Sheffield Wednesday.



You see, everywhere you look in football, there is a crisis.

Never-ending: Martin Jol was sacked in the time it took Ashton to write this piece

ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS v NEIL ASHTON: THE FULL TRANSCRIPT

Question from another journalist: Your point is that you're under pressure so why is the United manager not under pressure? Villas-Boas: Well I think... I don't want to undermine other managers. You can easily compare situations. We have sat above Man City before and above Man United before and we haven’t seen any kind of these personal attacks to somebody, and they are in this room, so I think that is unfair.

It's something that obviously comes with the 6-0 thrashing but more important is the team and the response and I think the players did that in great, great fashion. Ashton: What was personal about it, Andre? Villas-Boas: You can easily understand. I don't need to explain. I think you have always chased people, you attack people. You don't attack them by the front, you attack them sitting when you write. You attack integrity, you attack competence, you attack the integrity of the person, their human values and you don't even know that person. We never got a chance to sit down and speak about it. Ashton: I’m happy to speak about it. Villas-Boas: Only when I give you that chance, when I know you and you know me are you able to reach conclusions like the one you did. I think yours and Martin's (Samuel) articles were completely out of order. That is my opinion. Ashton: And I’m entitled to mine. Villas-Boas: Of course, but I’m entitled to mine. Ashton: But you are the one who has the problem with it, not me. Villas-Boas: Ok but I’m making it public. Ashton: Surely you don’t think there is a personal agenda? Villas-Boas: I don’t think that, when I say there are articles that attack my integrity and human values. I think I don’t need to explain myself on that. Each one of us draws their own conclusions, that’s mine, obviously Neil and Martin have theirs and I respect their opinions as well but this is my opinion of what they write… even mixing the words that I said in the press conference after Man City. Ashton: Sorry, can you explain? Villas-Boas: I never told that the players should feel ashamed of themselves. We, that includes me. Ashton: But if you say we should feel ashamed of ourselves, you are including your group of players? Villas-Boas: Obviously. Ashton: So… Simon Felstein (Tottenham head of media): It’s not about dividing them, that’s the difference. It’s not a discussion for right now, not with the cameras on Neil. I think we can talk about this after. Ashton: No, I am happy to talk about it now. Villas-Boas: We is us. We are everybody at the club. Don’t you agree? Why do you think this is any intention to separate myself from it? Felstein: Move on. Question from another journalist: Paulinho, Dembele and Sandro, moved the ball quicker, is this the missing link?





