February 3 – It isn’t every day that the manager of a top-flight club openly and publicly criticises the way it operates and offers his resignation.
No surprise then that Marseille have suspended Andre Villas Boas after he said the arrival this week of midfielder Olivier Ntcham from Celtic was “never on his list”.
Villas Boas made the claim in a news conference Tuesday which Marseille said were “unacceptable”.
“The transfer window finished with the arrival of a new player. A decision which wasn’t taken by me. I had nothing to do with this decision,” he said. “In fact, I learned about it in the press this morning. It is precisely a player for whom I said no [to signing]. He was never a player on our list.”
Marseille said the decision to suspend the 43-year-old Portuguese was “inevitable” because of “actions and attitudes which seriously harm” the club.
A few hours beforehand, Villas Boas actually challenged to club to get rid of him. “I don’t want anything from Marseille. I don’t want any money, I just want to leave,” he said.
Villas Boas led Marseille to second in Ligue 1 last season but said last week he was unlikely to get a contract extension beyond June and was set to leave at the end of the 2020-21 campaign. He added that that club “needs a clear-out, including myself”.
Marseille are ninth in the French top flight and Villas Boas’ suspension comes three days after the home match against Rennes was postponed following violent scenes at the training ground by protesting supporters.
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