By PAUL JIGGINS
ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS knows he is only ever 90 minutes away from making a complete ass of himself.
The Tottenham manager is currently giving a kicking to the critics who branded him a donkey.
His team have trotted to fourth in the Premier League and cantered into the last 32 of the Europa League.
And AVB is in danger of being crowned ‘London’s Most Popular Top-Flight Boss’.
Quite amazing given the manure that was thrown at him before, during and after his ill-fated 256-day spell in charge of Chelsea last season.
Villas-Boas said: “The fans are the best critics of performances. When they don’t like it, they criticise you. When they like you, they congratulate you.
“At the moment it is positive because we are on a good run. But everything can change.
“In this business we go from being the best to being donkeys very quickly. That is the nature of the game and management.”
Villas-Boas’ team travel to Everton today with the bit between their teeth.
The Portuguese chief was hardly the fans’ choice to succeed Harry Redknapp in the summer.
He is still not everyone’s cup of tea. He was jeered by fans as recently as last month after a 1-0 defeat at home by Wigan.
But four straight wins have put him back on track.
Tottenham’s Belgian duo Jan Vertonghen and Mousa Dembele today face international team-mate Marouane Fellaini.
The bushy-haired Toffee has scored five in five games and is the Premier League’s top-scoring midfielder with eight goals.
Villas-Boas said: “Fellaini is an extremely good player and so are Dembele and Vertonghen.
“Fellaini is more of a goal-scorer — he arrives in the box and uses his physical presence.”
AVB will decide whether to stick with Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe up front after both scored in Thursday’s 3-1 win over Panathinaikos.
