Tears all round when Spurs sacked Villas-Boas - Walker

 

Kyle Walker says former Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas "started crying in front of us" when he was sacked by chairman Daniel Levy in December 2013.

The Manchester City defender, who spent eight years at Spurs between 2009-17, described his former manager as "so, so nice," on the latest episode of the You'll Never Beat Kyle Walker podcast.

Walker says he will "never, ever forget" the moment Villas-Boas addressed his Spurs team following his sacking, revealing that members of the squad also broke down in tears.

"I've got tears running down my eyes... Michael Dawson is welling up," said the 34-year-old. "That's how much he meant to the lads."

Portuguese manager Villas-Boas took charge of Spurs in July 2012 and almost guided the club to the Champions League in his first season - finishing just one point behind fourth-placed Arsenal in the Premier League.

Spurs' squad that year included 2012-13 PFA Player of the Year, Gareth Bale.

The Wales star made a then-world record £85.3m move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 and, despite reinvesting in the squad, the team struggled the following season.

After a string of poor results, a chastening 5-0 defeat by Liverpool in December 2013 saw Villas-Boas given his marching orders.

Walker says he regrets the fact the team did not perform well enough to keep their manager in his job.

"Bale was a massive, massive loss," he said. "They signed seven players off the back of the Bale money. There's a lot of changes there and we just never really gelled in time for him [Villas-Boas] to then do well."

Despite the fact that the team "didn't do him justice", Walker says of his former boss, "for 10 or 12 men to be crying because the manager's gone, he's done something well in the dressing room".

Kyle’s Gaffers

'Really hurt' by selection call

Walker also spoke on the podcast about his relationship with former Spurs manager, Mauricio Pochettino.

He had been a stalwart for Tottenham, but during his final season he faced competition at right-back from fellow England international Kieran Trippier.

He said he has the "utmost respect" for Trippier, but felt it was "a little bit of a low blow” when Pochettino opted to start the former Burnley defender ahead of him for Spurs' last ever game at their former ground, White Hart Lane - a 2-1 win against Manchester United in May 2017.

"He [Pochettino] brought me on at, like, 84 minutes or something like that," said Walker. "That's the one thing that really hurt me.

"I just felt that I've been here for so long. That ground actually meant so much to me."

Walker said Pochettino gave him permission to leave the club in the summer of 2017 after telling him Trippier would be his first choice right-back.

However, the 34-year-old said he "doesn't have a bad word to say" about his former coach and that, "I say thank you and whenever I see him, I give him a hug and a cuddle and that's it".

Hodgson's angry side

During the podcast, Walker revealed which managers have delivered the most severe tellings-off during his career.

He said former England manager Roy Hodgson was generally "very formal and polite" but that "when he lost it, something else would come out".

He remembered one time when the 77-year-old kept the team back "for about half an hour" after a poor performance at Wembley, "just hammering us".

Walker also singled out former Tottenham manager Pochettino, saying: "If I was going to say someone who lost it, I'd probably say him just because of how passionate he was about the game."

"He was quite calm, but when he lost it, he could flip," he added.