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You never make a club stronger when you sell your best player, but if anybody can survive losing somebody of the quality of Gareth Bale, it will be Andre Villas-Boas.

I’ve got to be honest, I thought the former Chelsea manager was the luckiest bloke alive when he got the job at Tottenham. In fact, I said so in this column.

But he’s done such a good job since then that I’ve ­completely revised my ­opinion and, after facing his Spurs side last week – and then

– I admire him even more.

Now, he’s getting ready to face the challenge of being without the player who was his team’s talisman last ­season. AVB, though, is handling it superbly.

For a start, it was a brilliant bit of strategy for Tottenham to go out and spend the money they will be ­collecting from Real Madrid BEFORE the world-record sale was concluded.

If everybody knows you have buckets of money swilling around, then the asking prices go through the roof.

And have you looked at the quality Spurs have been bringing in?

Roberto ­Soldado, Etienne ­Capoue, Paulinho – these are top players who can have an impact in Premier League games, and that’s prior to tying up some ­others before the deadline.

Will any of them be another Gareth Bale? No.

I don’t think there is another Gareth Bale in the world, with his pace, his ability to run at people, the goals he scores, the dazzling swerving free kicks, the way he strikes the ball – and even the times he gets back and heads corners and free-kicks away to help out his defenders.

But, sometimes, when a ­player wants to move on – and I don’t know for sure,

– you have to let him do so and then use the money to develop your team in a different way.

That’s something I’ve had to do all through my career. From selling Barry Hayles and Jason Roberts when I was first at Bristol Rovers, then Danny Shittu at QPR, and Charlie Adam at Blackpool, it’s a fact of life for most managers. It’s happened again to me with Wilfried Zaha moving on.

I suppose, if you are in charge of a really big club like Tottenham, you hope it’s a problem you won’t get, but it still happens. It seems to me that AVB has handled it with great calm and common sense.

They moved the ball around so well and the movement of their players was just as ­bewitching.

I like their ethos. And I’ve got to say I like AVB too. I met him properly for the first time a couple of weeks ago and he’s an articulate, intelligent man, who thinks deeply about the game and understands it.

That was probably why I got so upset with some of the ­refereeing decisions. My team were so close to containing them and showing we belong on the same pitch.

If we gain the ­confidence to relax and trust ourselves in possession, then we don’t need to be frightened of even the best teams in this league.

And, believe me, Spurs will be one of the best – despite ­losing their brightest star.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them back among the Champions League places by the end of the campaign.

(Image: Rex)

Ever since I took the job at Selhurst Park, I’ve learned more and more about how brilliant

Palace’s fans are – and they amazed me again.

I didn’t see it at the time because I was too locked into getting ready for the game, but a whole group of them organised a big flag with the jigsaw dummy emblem from the Saw horror films (below) and hung a giant banner saying: “Palace are here, let the games begin.”

I know there were a few that questioned whether it was in good taste – but I thought it summed up the excitement about being back in the Premier League and wanting to make our ground a tough place to come for visiting teams.

It’s ironic we were at Stoke yesterday because that’s one club who, after they came up, set an example of how loud fans can help your performances at home.

Our supporters didn’t stop singing and dancing right through 90 ­minutes – and I’m so thankful they are on our side.