Villas-Boas ‘must make his mark’

Robinson believes Villas-Boas needs to show single-minded determination

New Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas needs to stamp his authority on the squad at Chelsea, according to the youngest manager in English football.

At 33, Portuguese Villas-Boas is the youngest manager in the Premier League.

“His age does present special challenges,” said 30-year-old MK Dons manager Karl Robinson.

“If you show any signs of weakness, footballers will pick up on that almost immediately. It would be difficult to come back from that.”

Robinson was 29 when he took charge of the Dons last summer and narrowly failed to win promotion from League One last season, his team losing to Peterborough in a play-off semi-final.

And he believes that Villas-Boas will be constantly reminded of his age if results do not go well for his team.

“If results are poor, I guarantee the media will question his lack of experience,” said Robinson. “It only adds to the pressure of the job, but you just have to get over it and deal with it.

“There will always be that tag but the question is whether or not he is a good enough coach. He will not fail because of his young age.”

Villas-Boas takes over a Chelsea squad boasting numerous experienced players, including Didier Drogba, John Terry and Frank Lampard, all of whom are understood to have a considerable influence in the dressing room.

Robinson was on the coaching staff at Blackburn Rovers under Paul Ince and Sam Allardyce before taking over at MK Dons, and during his time at Ewood Park he quickly realised the importance of standing up to experienced players.

“The first time I ever questioned my age was when there was an incident on the training ground at Rovers with former Turkey international Tugay,” added Robinson.

“He was 10 years older than me and a player I greatly respected but you have to throw down the gauntlet and put your views across. In the end he accepted my point of view and we moved on. Players either abide by that or they go and seek a new football club.”

Robinson had a short non-league career before concentrating on coaching, and had acquired his Uefa Pro Licence by the age of 28. Villas-Boas did not play at all to any great standard, but started his coaching career in his teens.

“If I had retired as a player at the age of 36 then I would be the equivalent of 48 now because I have been coaching for 12 years,” said Robinson.

“But you have got to be brave enough to accept that people will judge you on your age and surround yourself with good football people.”

Robinson includes Allardyce, Ince and Robbie Fowler as trusted figures he can call to discuss football, and has the vastly experienced John Gorman as his number two at MK Dons.

“If you do not sit down and speak to experienced people then you will fall short,” said Robinson.

“You have got to find your own footballing godfather, your mentors, people that you can bounce ideas off. They can tell you things that you can only guess about.”