AVB in Ntcham rammy

MARSEILLE have suspended manager Andre Villas-Boas after their manager offered his resignation over the signing of Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham.

In an explosive press conference yesterday, former Chelsea manager Villas-Boas claimed that the deadline-day signing from the Scottish champions was completed without his knowledge.

“I submitted my resignation saying that I did not agree with the sporting policy,” Villas-Boas said. “I don’t want anything from Marseille. I’m waiting for an answer – it could be no and then we would continue. I don’t want any money, I just want to leave.

“The transfer window finished with the arrival of a new player. A decision which wasn’t taken by me. I had nothing to do with this decision.

“In fact, I learned about it in the press this morning. It is precisely a player for whom I said no [to signing]. He was never a player on our list.”

Villas-Boas has already indicated his intention to leave Marseille in the summer, with the club languishing in ninth place in Ligue One.

“The results – it’s my fault,” he said. “I’m very upset. But if there’s something you cannot touch, it’s my professionalism.

“I cannot accept this. This club has already been through a couple of messy years in terms of transfers.”

Reports soon after that press conference ended yesterday suggested that Villas-Boas had been sacked, but the French giants outlined their position later in the afternoon.