TOTTENHAM MANAGER Andre Villas-Boas stressed he felt no pressure over job security ahead of Sunday’s 3-1 win over Reading.
Spurs had been without a victory this season before they eased past the newly promoted side at Madejski Stadium, with Jermain Defoe netting twice.
Speculation over Villas-Boas’ tenure at White Hart Lane had mounted after the London side’s lacklustre start to the season, but the Portuguese denied he was affected.
Asked if he was feeling extra pressure going into the game, the former Chelsea boss replied: “No, not at all.
“I am extremely happy because the players put tremendous commitment into the game, responsibility and concentration. They understood that we’ve been working so hard and they deserved to get this first win. The way they came into the game with that focus and wanting to put things in their place is very pleasing to see.”
A number of the north London club’s new signings put in good displays to help Spurs claim the victory, with Mousa Dembele making his full debut, and Jan Vertonghen and Gylfi Sigurdsson also starring. However, it was Defoe who made the biggest contribution, and Villas-Boas praised his influence.
“(I’m) extremely happy for him, he’s such a prolific striker for club and country,” Villas-Boas said. “He’s amazing at sniffing goalscoring opportunities; not only makes the most out of small opportunities that he has, he creates a lot for himself.
“I’m happy for him of course, there are questions being raised about him being played up front on his own and it being difficult for him. On his own or with (Emmanuel Adebayor) on his side I think Jermain can continue to produce attacking opportunities.
“Jermain deserves to be in this position because of what he has been doing in training, obviously when we started the season Adebayor wasn’t with us.
Villas-Boas’ Reading counterpart Brian McDermott said his side were ‘too submissive’ and concded Spurs were worthy of the three points. Reading are without a win from their opening four matches of the Premier League season and McDermott urged his men to start heeding the lessons from top-flight competition.
“I thought we were too submissive and didn’t get on the ball enough or in their faces,” McDermott told BBC Sport. ”I made some changes and we were much better in the second half. We came up against a very good side today and they deserved the win. We’ve got to move on very, very quickly. Today was a learning curve for all of us. Spurs is a team full of world-class performers, but we didn’t cause enough problems for them, especially in the first half.”
