TEAMtalk's resident Tottenham fan Rob McCarthy gives his verdict on Andre Villas-Boas' appointment and reckons it's a gamble that will pay off.

When Harry Redknapp was unluckily removed from his position last month my first thought was that Everton's David Moyes should be the man to replace him.

I've always been a Moyes fan as, like Harry, he is the sort of manager that players want to play for. But there was always this nagging doubt in my mind as to why other clubs had not taken a chance on the Scot, who has been overachieveing on a limited budget in his 10 years at Goodison Park.

But despite Moyes initially being a leading contender for the role it was clear that that was a direction Spurs chairman Daniel Levy never intending going in, and that AVB was the man he wanted.

The decision to appoint the 34-year-old is being looked upon as a massive gamble by many, given what happened to Villas-Boas during his ill-fated tenure at Chelsea. But there must have been some reason why Roman Abramovich was willing to pay out over £13million in compensation to land him.

With that in mind, I'm optimistic that Spurs will reap the benefits of the man that led Porto to a remarkable season in 2010-11 and not end up suffering at the hands of the one vilified by Chelsea fans.

AVB was handed a tough assignment at Stamford Bridge and ultimately fell victim to player power and admittedly some of his own shortcomings. But hopefully he will have learnt from that and can channel the negative aspects of his time at Chelsea into positive ones across the city in north London.

For starters I believe that the current Spurs squad is more suited to the way that AVB lined up his Porto side.

The Portuguese outfit lined up in a flexible, fluid 4-3-3 formation with a central striker, usually Falcao, flanked by two wide men. The full-backs were encouraged to get forward, knowing that they had protection from two holding midfielders, while Spurs target Joao Moutinho pulled the strings centrally.

Looking at the current Spurs squad, Kyle Walker is one of the best attacking right-backs in the league, Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone and Sandro can all play in front of the back four, Rafa van der Vaart and new signing Gylfi Sigurdsson can play the attacking midfield role (assuming Luka Modric leaves) and Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon provide searing pace and width.

The expected arrival of Jan Vertonghen will supplement a strong central defensive unit of Michael Dawson, Younes Kaboul and promising youngster Steven Caulker, with Ledley King likely to be handed a coaching role and William Gallas almost certain to move on.

The only areas in need of strengthening could come at left-back, where Benoit Assou-Ekotto is fairly reliable but is still capable of costing the team points at times, and the central striking role, with at least two new additions needed.

AVB might also look to bring in a younger, more mobile goalkeeper, despite Brad Friedel having an excellent first season with the club. Villas-Boas likes to play a fairly high line and needs a keeper capable of sweeping up, not something Brad is famed for at 41-years young.

But, for me, the most important thing for AVB to do is to create the right impression and atmosphere around the dressing room. Getting the players on side is half the battle these days and if he can do that then I'm expecting big things from AVB and the club moving foward.

However, if things don't work out Mr Levy could always give Harry a call again!