Hard line: Andre Villas-Boas did not take Tommy
Langley's criticism well
No longer required: Langley described Villas-Boas as
'vindictive'
Chelsea's super-sensitive manager Andre
Villas-Boas has had lead pundit Tommy Langley removed from his own
club’s TV channel for criticising the Portuguese’s hardline
treatment of disenchanted players.
Former club favourite Langley was told he was no longer
required at Chelsea TV after he described AVB as ‘vindictive’ for
allegedly not allowing Nicolas Anelka and Alex to park their
vehicles in the first-team car park after they had been banished
from the squad for handing in transfer requests.
Langley, who was the club’s player of the year in 1979,
has been an admired analyst on Chelsea TV for a decade and does
co-commentary as well as co-hosting discussions before and after
matches. Friends of Langley say he is extremely upset but does not
want to say anything that would jeopardise a return to his TV role
if AVB has a change of mind.
The Chelsea boss has proved to be remarkably thin-skinned
when it comes to negative media comment, and notably labelled Gary
Neville’s description of David Luiz playing like he was
controlled by a 10-year-old on PlayStation as
‘ridiculous’.
Villas-Boas believes Neville and other pundits such as
Alan Hansen have a ‘likely biased position in their opinion-making
because of a direct past related to a single club, which is their
favourite’.
Yet his dumping of committed Chelsea supporter Langley
points to him not accepting strong adverse comments on the home
front, either.
A Chelsea spokesman said: ‘For a number of reasons we are
reviewing the structure and output of Chelsea TV.
'We are waiting for these reviews to be completed before
we make a final decision regarding staffing and
content.’
