Andre Villas-Boas got some backing today from a somewhat surprising source. Former Chelsea center back Alex was essentially banished from the first team by AVB in the months leading up to his transfer to PSG. He's always seemed a classy guy, and when asked about AVB today he responded with the following:

Andre should have been given more time. After all, the club spent a lot of money getting him from Porto and needed to take into account that there was a new manager with new players to settle in. Everybody at Chelsea was starting to look over their shoulders because Manchester City had arrived in the top four and Spurs were catching up.

I didn't really expect Alex to bash the old manager, but suggesting that he was possibly treated unfairly was a big surprise. I know Alex is currently in a bit of a turbulent situation at PSG with all the roster changes taking place, but AVB didn't have nearly the level of roster turnover to deal with at Chelsea. To assume he'd need a few seasons to gel the team doesn't really make sense, as it was more or less the same roster that had been successful under several different managers before him. In the end it's nice to see Alex maintaining his usual class, as bashing management just never seemed his style. Here's hoping he and Carlo have a great season, I'm looking forward to seeing them back in action against us on Sunday.