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Andre Villas-Boas Goes A-Poaching

New Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas may not have managed to convince former assistant Vitor Pereira to join him at Stamford Bridge (Periera instead opted to remain with FC Porto as their new manager), but that doesn't mean he hasn't managed to bring some of his talented backroom staff to SW6. Jose Mario Rocha and Daniel Sousa will be joining the club, two names I bet you've never heard of.

Rocha served as fitness coach with Porto while Sousa was head opposition scout - the role Villas-Boas once filled with Chelsea. Both are hugely important roles in a modern club, and considering all of the problems Chelsea have had with injuries over the last year or so one hopes that Rocha in particular can do a better job than his predecessor. we still, of course, don't know who will serve as Villas-Boas' assistant manager, but considering he's already tried to bring in Pereira one imagines that he's looking to shake things up.

Villas-Boas, of course, is also apparently looking to poach players as well as backroom staff, with Radamel Falcao and Joao Moutinho at the top of the 'people we can afford' list. Since they're both on release clauses, it's not entirely clear why the Blues would be taking any time at all to snap them up - either they want to spend the money or they don't. I can't imagine Porto will be in any mood to negotiate.

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