Andre Villas-Boas says Spurs criticism 'agenda driven'

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas feels the recent criticism he has received is "aggressive and agenda driven" and does not reflect his side's league position.

Spurs are ninth in the Premier League table, 10 points behind leaders Arsenal after drawing with Manchester United.

"It's an agenda by somebody that does not honour the club, players or me," said Villas-Boas.

When asked who was driving the agenda, he said: "I don't know. You can probably tell me."

The Portuguese became embroiled in an argument with a reporter in the post-match news conference and went on to criticise former Tottenham chairman Lord Sugar.

"A couple of people insult my integrity, my human values, my professionalism and one of these people is sitting over here," he said, referring to an article that he had taken exception to.

"It insults the success that I have achieved in other clubs and I don't think it's fair. I think it's a lack of respect and an attack on a person's integrity.

"I don't want to undermine other managers. You can easily compare situations. We have sat above Manchester City before and above Manchester United before and we haven't seen any kind of these personal attacks to somebody so I think that is unfair."

There was speculation that Villas-Boas's position as manager was in doubt following last weekend's 6-0 defeat by Manchester City and he was also unhappy at comments made by former Tottenham chairman Lord Sugar in a radio interview.

Lord Sugar was critical of the speed with which Spurs spent the £85m they received from Real Madrid for Gareth Bale and the tactics employed by Villas-Boas this season.

The Portuguese responded by comparing the loyalty of the club's fans with Lord Sugar's involvement, saying: "It's their team, their passion and they don't trade it for anything else, not like Alan Sugar who trades it for money."

Villas-Boas also added that he was delighted with the response of his side following their big loss at City.

"But due to fact that we took a heavy defeat against City, this was a great response from the players," he said.

"They played with no fear and great desire. Our performance showed the unity that surrounds us.

"For a team that has not won a trophy since 2008, we sit with the possibility of going into the semi-finals of the league cup, and we have qualified for the next stage of the Europa League with 15 points from our group. To have that kind of driven agenda is not correct in my opinion."