{"id":6985,"date":"2014-03-18T13:16:43","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T13:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=6985"},"modified":"2014-03-18T13:16:43","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T13:16:43","slug":"andre-villas-boas-agrees-deal-to-manage-zenit-st-petersburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/03\/andre-villas-boas-agrees-deal-to-manage-zenit-st-petersburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Andre Villas-Boas agrees deal to manage Zenit St Petersburg"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Former Tottenham and Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has agreed a two-year deal to manage Zenit St Petersburg, according to the Russian club.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The 36-year-old, who was sacked as Spurs manager<\/a> in December, will replace Luciano Spalletti.<\/a><\/p>\n “Zenit has agreed terms on a contract with new head coach Andre Villas-Boas,” said a statement on the club’s website.<\/p>\n “Mr Villas-Boas will be presented in St Petersburg as Zenit’s new head coach on 20 March.”<\/p>\n Spalletti was sacked after the club lost their Champions League last-16 first leg tie 4-2<\/a> at home to Borussia Dortmund and dropped to second in their domestic league.<\/p>\n Sergey Semak was appointed as acting head coach but now Villas-Boas will assume the managerial reins a day after Wednesday’s second leg against Dortmund.<\/p>\n Villas-Boas was part of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho’s backroom staff before moving into management with Academica and Porto in his home country of Portugal.<\/p>\n He won the league, cup and Europa League in his first season at Porto before taking over as Chelsea boss in June 2011, but was dismissed in March 2012<\/a> as his side struggled for form.<\/p>\n Tottenham appointed him in July 2012 and he led them to fifth in the Premier League in his first season in charge as the club narrowly missed out on earning a Champions League qualification place.<\/p>\n Spurs were seventh in the Premier League following a 5-0 defeat by Liverpool<\/a> in December when they decided to part company with Villas-Boas.<\/p>\n He now takes over at Zenit, who are owned by state-controlled gas company Gazprom and are one of European football’s biggest spenders.<\/p>\n They signed Brazilian striker Hulk<\/a> from Porto and Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel from Benfica for a combined total of \u00a364m in September 2012.<\/p>\n Villas-Boas worked with Hulk during his time at Porto, while Portuguese duo Luis Neto and Danny are also part of Zenit’s squad.<\/p>\n In December 2012, the club’s largest fans’ group, Landscrona, called for gay and non-white players to be excluded from the team.<\/a><\/p>\n