I didn’t get the Honka Espoo job in Finland. I suppose it was a bit much to ask for to go straight into the top tier of another country even if it was only Finland. In all honesty, I’m surprised I even got an interview.
Scottish League One – Matchday 13 Brechin City vs Cove Rangers
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, C.Taylor, A.Steele, D.Tremble (B.Eardley 61), M.Munro (J.Moreland 61), L.Callaghan, F.MacLeod (K.Bell 73), P.Nawrocki, M.Urquhart
A much improved performance to kick off this month and to be honest, we deserved the win. Their late equalizer was an absolute banger that we couldn’t really do anything about. We have every right to feel a little disappointed to have to share the points here.
I applied for the Grimsby Town job and was a little p*ss*d off that I didn’t even get an interview!
Scottish League One – Matchday 14 Alloa Athletic vs Brechin City
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking (Very Defensive on 87 mins)
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, C.Taylor, A.Steele, D.Tremble (B.Eardley 75), M.Munro (J.Moreland 84), L.Callaghan, F.MacLeod, P.Nawrocki*, C.Starrs (K.Paton 66)
With our recent drop in form, this had become a massive game for us against the club currently propping up the table! Both teams looked devoid of confidence and struggled to create many chances in this game, but it was us that just nicked it with a late strike from Przemyslaw Nawrocki when he rounded their keeper to slot home and take a massive 3 points!
Scottish League One – Matchday 15 Brechin City vs Greenock Morton
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, C.Taylor, A.Steele, D.Tremble (B.Eardley 63), M.Munro, L.Callaghan, F.MacLeod, P.Nawrocki, C.Starrs (K.Paton 63)
We gave a decent account of ourselves here and deserved a point, so it was hard to take when they scored and took the win late in the game. Nothing to be ashamed of though as Morton are one of the best teams in the division.
Keeping on the lookout for new jobs, I throw my hat in the ring for the FK Fotbal Trinec job in Czech Republic and they invite me to interview for their vacant manager’s role. Could I be moving to Eastern Europe?
I also applied for the Port Vale job, but didn’t make the shortlist. Clearly, my experience thus far is not good enough to land a job in England’s fourth tier just yet.
Scottish League One – Matchday 16 Brechin City vs Queen of the South
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, C.Taylor, A.Steele, B.Eardley, M.Munro (J.Moreland 68), L.Callaghan, F.MacLeod (K.Bell 68), P.Nawrocki, M.Urquhart*
We were brilliant here!! We are looking like we are definitely the thorn in Queen of the South’s side! We’ve smashed 8 goals past them in 2 games, beating them twice this season now.
This is a really tight division with only 10 points separating the top 8 teams in the division. We are very much in that mix and well clear of the bottom 2 for now, which is the main aim of the season!
Player of the Month
Dale Burgess (Form; 7.1, 7.4, 6.8, 7.3)
Our goalkeeper has been in decent form this month and has been a massive contributor towards the points we’ve picked up this month.
Our form has picked up a little and I hope we can finish the calendar year on a high with some good results again next month.
December 2022
I won’t be moving to the Czech Republic after all!
Scottish League One – Matchday 17 Annan Athletic vs Brechin City
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, C.Taylor, A.Steele, B.Eardley*, M.Munro, L.Callaghan, F.MacLeod, P.Nawrocki, M.Urquhart
With Annan below us in the league, this was a must win game and the lads duly delivered a good performance and all 3 points to go with it! A great way to start the month and this win moves further away from those bottom 2 positions.
A move to the Czech Republic could be back on the card as I am invited to interview for the Lisen job after declaring my interest in the role.
Our next game will be my 100th in charge at Brechin City.
Scottish League One – Matchday 18 East Fife vs Brechin City
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, F.Owens, A.Steele (B.Luissint 78), B.Eardley, M.Munro (J.Moreland 82), L.Callaghan, F.MacLeod, P.Nawrocki*, M.Urquhart (K.Paton 70)
Before kick off, I told my lads to go out there and get revenge for our previous defeat to East Fife. And in my 100th game in charge, my boys got their revenge! A Przemyslaw Nawrocki hat trick, and a headed effort from Greg Pascazio, doing the business to mark my special occasion!
With a move to the Czech Republic potentially in the background, Dunfermline Athletic offer me a job interview to maybe remain in Scotland?
Which might turn out to be a saving grace as I didn’t get the Lisen job anyway.
Or maybe not!! These rejections are becoming pretty hard to take!!
To make me feel better, the board agree to send me on a coaching course. Either they are funding it out of fear of me leaving the club and hoping it will encourage me to stay….or they really do appreciate what I’ve done for the club so far and are trying to help me progress my career. Either way, I’ll be qualified to National A License level in 4 months time.
Scottish League One – Matchday 19 Montrose vs Brechin City
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking (Very Attacking on 77 mins)
Lineup; D.Burgess, C.O,Neil, G.Pascazio, F.Owens, A.Steele, B.Eardley (D.Tremble 77), M.Munro (J.Moreland 77), L.Callaghan, F.MacLeod, P.Nawrocki, M.Urquhart (K.Paton 77)
Our rivals get the better of us again in a close game which could have gone either way. Hopefully we can bounce straight back from this and it will prove to be just a small blip in our current run of form.
Scottish League One – Matchday 20 Brechin City vs Forfar Athletic
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking (Very Attacking on 74 mins)
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, F.Owens, A.Steele, B.Eardley (D.Tremble 74), J.Moreland, L.Callaghan, K.Bell, P.Nawrocki, M.Urquhart (K.Paton 74)
This time it was our turn to get the late equalizer and it was no less than we deserved after dominating the second half of the game trying hard to level the scores!
Scottish Cup – Third Round Brechin City vs Brora Rangers
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, C.Taylor, A.Steele, D.Tremble, J.Moreland, L.Callaghan, K.Bell, P.Nawrocki, M.Urquhart*
The gulf in class between the two teams strikers was clear for all to see here. The amount of possession and chances created was pretty even but our superior finishing was the difference on the day!
We finish the calendar year in 6th place, comfortably clear of the relegation battle and only a few points behind the top 4. If you’d have offered me this at this stage at the start of the season, I’d have bitten your hand off!
Player of the Month
Przemyslaw Nawrocki (Form; 6.6, 8.9, 6.8, 6.7, 8.0)
Nawrocki has had a great month contributing with 4 goals and 3 assists.
A win over Airdieonians in January would massively help us close the gap between us and them in 3rd place. We have a big opportunity for points at the end of the month as we take on bottom club, Alloa, and in amongst all that we have the next round of the Scottish Cup to play.
January 2023
We welcome Premiership side, Kilmarnock, to Glebe Park for the next round of the Scottish Cup.
Scottish League One – Matchday 21 Brechin City vs Airdrieonians
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, C.Taylor, A.Steele, D.Tremble (M.Munro 81), J.Moreland, L.Callaghan, K.Bell, P.Nawrocki, M.Urquhart (K.Paton 81)
A game of two halves this one. We were the better side for the first 45 mins and took a 1-0 lead into the break, but our opponents were much better in the 2nd half and we struggled to deal with them in all honesty.
Well this came a bit out of the blue. I didn’t apply for the Kilmarnock job, but their board have come knocking at my door….the first club to do so during my career. I attend the interview and things seem to go well….I have to admit it’s a job that I’d be very interested in.
Scottish Cup – Fourth Round Brechin City vs Kilmarnock
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, G.Pascazio, F.Owens, A.Steele (C.O’Neil 62), B.Eardley, J.Moreland, L.Callaghan (C.Coupe 62), K.Bell, P.Nawrocki, M.Urquhart
Talk about conflicting interests going into this game….the club I currently manage against the club I could be managing soon?! To be fair, I didn’t expect to get anything from this game at all, but the lads gave me a valiant effort and twice we pulled back to within a goal and it looked like there might be an upset on the cards. However, the Premiership team shone through in the end and took the expected victory.
Turns out I won’t be off to our Scottish cup victors after all. In the interview, they proposed that they wanted me to play counter attacking football…something I questioned and couldn’t agree to, so they opted not to offer me the job based on that! Or it was just mind games before we played them in the cup!
Scottish League One – Matchday 22 Cove Rangers vs Brechin City
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, L.Bollan*, C.Taylor, A.Steele, B.Eardley, J.Moreland (C.Coupe 77), L.Callaghan, K.Bell, P.Nawrocki (K.Paton 84), M.Urquhart
Two goals right at the death secured a massive win for us which saw us leapfrog Cove Rangers in the table. We ramped up the pressure on our opponents as we looked for the winner and Urquhart’s neat finish into the bottom corner from 10 yards out was worthy of winning any game. Luc Bollan capped off a man of the match performance when he added a headed goal to secure all 3 points with only seconds remaining.
For the second time in a month, a higher ranked Scottish club come and invite me to interview for their vacant manager’s job, without me having to apply. This time, it’s Ayr United that come calling. I attend the interview and it seems to go well, but with all the rejection, I can’t be confident about any interview right now and out of all the jobs I’ve gone for, this is one that doesn’t hugely appeal with Ayr only one division above us and currently sitting 9th!
Scottish League One – Matchday 23 Brechin City vs Alloa Athletic
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, L.Bollan, C.Taylor, A.Steele, B.Eardley (D.Tremble 65), J.Moreland, L.Callaghan, K.Bell, P.Nawrocki (K.Paton 65), M.Urquhart*
With Alloa rooted to the bottom of the table and staring relegation squarely in the face, this was a must win game for us. I told the lads as much and they went out and got me the result I asked for! We smashed 5 past struggling Alloa as we piled on the misery for the bottom club and I have to say I don’t see any way they will survive the drop this year!
We are flirting with those top 4 places and remain in the hunt to make a surprise push for the playoff places. This season has thus far turned out to be a very good one and as confidence grows amongst us, who knows what could happen.
Player of the Month
Przemyslaw Nawrocki (Form; 6.8, 6.9, 6.4, 7.4)
His match ratings might not have been anything special, but 3 goals in 4 games is a good return for any striker and is enough for Nawrocki to take the player of the month award again.
We’re going into next month off the back of 2 wins and we’ll look to extend that run. However, it won’t be easy as we kick off the month with a game against 2nd placed Greenock Morton!
Can’t say I’m surprised as I get a rejection letter from Ayr United after interviewing for their manager’s role. To be fair though, this is probably the first job I’d interviewed for that I wouldn’t have taken anyway!
Scottish League One – Matchday 24 Greenock Morton vs Brechin City
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, L.Bollan, C.Taylor, A.Steele, B.Eardley, J.Moreland (C.Coupe 60), L.Callaghan, K.Bell, P.Nawrocki (K.Paton 60), M.Urquhart
Can’t really have any complaints. They were the better side and scored some really good goals that we could only sit back and admire.
The latest job I applied for is that of Louletano in the Portuguese third tier and they invite me for a chat! I have to admit that the lure of sunny Portugal from freezing Scotland definitely appeals.
Scottish League One – Matchday 25 Brechin City vs Annan Athletic
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, L.Bollan (Sent Off 24), C.Taylor, A.Steele, D.Tremble, J.Moreland, L.Callaghan, K.Bell (F.MacLeod 80), P.Nawrocki (G.Pascazio 24), M.Urquhart (K.Paton 75)
The sending off of Luc Bollan within the first half hour put us really up against it here and this was a huge opportunity for 3 points missed because of it. Fair play to Annan who capitalized on their advantage of the extra man, but it was a frustrating afternoon for us!
I genuinely can’t believe how many jobs I’ve been rejected for over the past few months now! I’m massively overachieving with Brechin, but nobody seems to want to take a punt on me.
Scottish League One – Matchday 26 Queen of the South vs Brechin City
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson (C.O’Neil 58), G.Pascazio (F.Owens 58), C.Taylor, A.Steele, B.Eardley, M.Munro, L.Callaghan, K.Bell, P.Nawrocki, M.Urquhart
An absolute goal fest that was great for the neutral, but not so great for us. Some real suspect defending from both sides in this game! We must perform better as the playoff places and quickly becoming out of reach!
My latest interview was with the club that currently prop up the Premiership….St.Mirren!
And for the first time in my career, there is some media interest around my most recent interview. It seems the press think I’ve potentially got the job in the bag? Has there been a leak from within the club that I don’t know about?
And it seems like the St Mirren fans are definitely up for it!
Scottish League One – Matchday 27 Brechin City vs East Fife
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, L.Bollan, C.Taylor (G.Pascazio 45), A.Steele, M.Munro, J.Moreland (B.Eardley 70), L.Callaghan, K.Bell*, K.Paton, M.Urquhart
With all the mounting speculation about me taking over the St Mirren job, I told my lads to keep their focus on this game and not worry about what was going on off the pitch. They followed my direction and we were sensational through the first half creating chance after chance, but just not finding the back of the net. We hit the woodwork twice, their keeper made some great saves and the ball must have skimmed inches over from two headed efforts….so when Kyle Bell scored a pen right on the stroke of half time, it was no less than we deserved. We continued to pile on the pressure in the 2nd half and continued to miss good chances, until typically we were punished when our opponents managed an equalizer with only quarter of an hour to go. We didn’t let our heads drop though and the relief amongst our dugout was clear to see when Kyle Bell hammered home from close range to seal all 3 points in the final minute of the game! A well deserved victory!
Injury; A massive blow for the club as we lose captain Cameron Taylor for the rest of the season, after he tore a hamstring in the match against East Fife.
We remain in 5th in the table and now 7 points away from the top 4, so it’s looking very likely we’ll be finishing somewhere between 5th and 8th in the table. The main thing is we look extremely likely to stay up which was the aim at the start of the campaign.
Player of the Month
Kyle Bell (Form; 7.0, 6.8, 7.2, 8.3)
It’s fair to say that Kyle hasn’t had as much of an impact this season as I’d hoped, but this month he has been brilliant. Some solid performances, along with 4 goals and an assist from his AMC role.
We go away to the league leaders first next month, before a match against our biggest rivals and we need a win for our fans after losing our last 2 games to them!
After all that hype last month, I don’t get offered the St Mirren job! I genuinely thought a job offer was coming my way this time after the press and the Mirren fans all jumped on the bandwagon!
Scottish League One – Matchday 28 Airdrieonians vs Brechin City
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, L.Bollan, G.Pascazio, A.Steele, M.Munro, J.Moreland, L.Callaghan, K.Bell (F.MacLeod 67), K.Paton (P.Nawrocki 67), M.Urquhart
Failure to put the ball in the back of the net cost us here against the league leaders. We actually played some really good football at times and created a number of good chances. Their keeper had a blinder to be fair, and a couple of their goals were crackers from well outside the box!
Scottish League One – Matchday 29 Brechin City vs Montrose
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson (C.O’Neil 78), L.Bollan (F.Owens 64), G.Pascazio, A.Steele, D.Tremble, M.Munro (J.Moreland 28), L.Callaghan, K.Bell, K.Paton*, P.Nawrocki
A Kyle Bell penalty and a late double from Kane Paton was easily enough to send our supporters home with the bragging rights against our bitter rivals today! No less than we deserved as we were the much better side!
Another potential opportunity to move to Portugal and manage in the country’s third tier….although I won’t get my hopes up!
Scottish League One – Matchday 30
Forfar Athletic vs Brechin City
Formation; 4-4-2 Diamond, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; D.Burgess, J.MacPherson, L.Bollan, G.Pascazio, A.Steele, B.Eardley, J.Moreland (C.O’Neil 45), L.Callaghan (K.Inglis 74), K.Bell, K.Paton, P.Nawrocki (M.Urquhart 18)
I wanted my lads to pick up where they left off against Montrose, but they did anything but! We were p1ss poor here and deserved to lose. A dreadful showing after such a positive win in the last game! Sure to say the boys got a good b0ll0cking at full time!
Well after nearly a whole season of being rejected for a whole host of jobs, I’ve finally been offered one with Portuguese club, Vilafranquense. Now the third tier of Portuguese football might not sound glamourous. However, in the European competition rankings, it sits 56th, which is quite a step up on the Scottish League One in 93rd! I’d also be moving to a club worth nearly half a million quid, where as Brechin are only valued at £162k. Finally, it’s a move that offers me a step up to managing a fully professional club with a national reputation, against Brechin who are part timers with only a regional rep. It’s a no brainer really!
Before I leave Brechin though, let’s have a quick look at my history with the club. I’ve managed a win ration of 40% from my 114 games in charge, which is impressive considering we were heavy favourites for relegation in my 1st and 3rd seasons in charge.
I won a Scottish League Two title along with 5 manager of the month awards.
When I took over the club, they were strong favourites to drop out of the Scottish football league, but as I leave them nearly 3 years later, they are in a position to easily avoid relegation from League One this season and have a foundation for my successor to build on. The finances of the club are in a much stronger position with the club now having nearly £100k in the bank, as opposed to the bank balance being in the red like it was when I took over. All in all, I think it’s safe to say I did a decent job at this little Scottish club.
So it’s official… I’m announced as the new boss of Vilafranquense! Brechin received a handsome little compensation package from my new employers to bring me here too.
New Club; Vilafranquense
As I take over at my new club, they currently sit 7th in the Portuguese Third Division, but are only 3 points off the top 2 and an automatic promotion place, with only 11 games remaining. There are no playoffs!
The club are effectively underachieving as they were predicted a 2nd place finish at the start of the campaign. The facilities at my new club are a lot better than I have been used to up until now too.
The board have informed me that they won’t be judging me on our final league position this season with me coming into the job so late in the campaign. However, it would be great to make a real push for promotion and get the board and the fans on side ASAP. I’ll have a six figure transfer budget for the first time in my career and my wage budget is 4 times what I had available to me at Brechin!
The club’s financial state doesn’t make good reading though with us over £1 million in the red. We’re spending over our wage budget too, so I’m sure I’ll be expected to sell on some players in the Summer.
Looking over the history of the club, there isn’t much at a higher level, but a few trophies have been won over the years in the lower divisions. The club’s recent league history shows that the last 3 seasons in the division above were the highest the club has been until their relegation last year.
As I look over my squad, it’s clear to see that my Assistant Manager doesn’t rate many of my players on their current ability, although he does see some potential in the squad. Majority of the players are Portuguese as expected, with 4 Brazilians in the squad as well. Chad, Jamaica, Guinea-Bissau and Switzerland are also represented.
The players are going to take some winning over!
My best player at the club is a 17 year old!! Antonio Lima is a quality keeper and clearly has a very bright future ahead of him! I might find it a real struggle to keep hold of this kid!
Rodrigo Rodrigues is actually the league’s top goalscorer, so it’s good to see I’ve got a man up top who can hit the back of the net. However, I’m not sure what that says for the quality of strikers in this league as Rodrigues only has 13 goals in the division after 35 league games have been played.
Another player worth mentioning is one of my Brazilians. Centre midfielder, Rafael, looks like a really talented player especially for this level. However, he is currently on the sidelines with injury for at least a month, so I probably won’t get to see him in action this season, but he’s certainly a player I’ll potentially look to build my team around next year.
After looking over the squad, I decide not to make any changes to the captaincy. Andre Ceitil looks likes the best fit to lead the lads on the field and is a player I will be looking to as a first team regular.
With the players I have available, my tactical setup will start as this. A 4-1-2-3 wide lineup, where the wing backs will provide all of our width, with the AMR/AML roles being predominantly narrow roles to crowd the middle of the pitch. A half back will sit deep and almost form a back 3 to provide cover for the bombing on wide defenders, whilst the two centre mids will focus on winning the ball back and supporting the attacking play.
Talk about thrown in at the deep end! We will play no less than 9 games during my first month in charge!!!
April 2023
The first thing I had to do at my new club is to bring in some backroom staff. Amongst a couple of new coaches, physios and sports scientists, I added Angelo Oliveira as my new right hand man.
Our opponents came into this game on a 6 match unbeaten run, so it wasn’t going to be the easiest of starts for me. However, my new bunch of lads rose to the occasion and got me off to a winning start. We looked a solid defensive unit under my new tactic and I was impressed with the way my team held it’s shape throughout the match. The lads held their concentration for the full 90 minutes and Andre Vieira’s 4th goal of the season was enough for the 3 points!
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 37 Vilafranquense vs Sao Joao de Ver
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; A.Lima, B.Saraiva, Davi Santos, P.Pinto (J.Silva 60), M.Silva, B.Biai (R.Sousa 67), A.Ceitil, A.Vieira, J.Tome, J.Antonio, R.Rodrigues* (M.Mouandilmadji 54)
Today’s opponents started the game in 20th in the table, but they had beaten us in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, so I wasn’t expecting a walk in the park. Rodrido Rodrigues got up highest to head home his 16th of the season to put us in front on the 20 minute mark. I handed a debut to 18 year old, Joao Antonio, who hammered home our second only 10 minutes later from about 7 yards out. Rodrigues had his second of the game before half time and this was working out easier than I expected. We started fast and furious in the 2nd period and it wasn’t long before young Antonio had his 2nd of the game on a debut he’ll remember for the rest of his life! It was time to start bringing players off for a rest with games coming thick and fast this month and as we did our opponents managed to pull a goal back, but it was already game over by then anyway.
My first dropped points as Vilafranquense manager and it really should have been another win. How we went into the break level I don’t know as we had 10 shots on their goal (2 clear cut chances) whilst they only had created 1 chance. They were better in an even 2nd half to be fair to them, but I still felt we should have won.
One of the first things I did when I came to the club was ask the board to set up a senior affiliate where I could potentially get some players in on loan. Pleased to say they delivered and we now have an affiliation with Sporting!
I can’t believe we lost this game! It’s the most dominant we have been since I’ve been here 62% of the possession and 28 shots on their goal! We just couldn’t find the back of the net! Needless to say it was their keeper that got man of the match!
In the last game we couldn’t score and in this game we simply couldn’t miss! We were electrifying in front of goal, playing some brilliant attacking football and smashing home 5 goals!
Both clubs came into this game with outside hopes of making those top 2 spots in the league as we sat 5th and 7th at kick off. For one of us, it was likely those hopes would be dashed by full time. Both teams looked nervy with what was at stake, but it was us that just prevailed in a very tight game, when sub Joao Tome came off the bench to score the winner with only minutes remaining.
I’ve completed my National A License coaching badge (thanks Brechin). I did ask my new employers to fund the next badge for me, but they are unwilling at this time. Can’t say I blame them as I’ve only been here 5 minutes and the club are in stupid amounts of debt.
A disappointing draw against a side in the wrong half of the table. It was a pretty even game so a draw a fair result, but we should have been better.
The promotion race has no less than 9 teams involved in it, but realistically it’s probably between the top 6, with Alverca pretty much already up as champions!
Espinho came into this game top of the form table and on a 5 game unbeaten run, so this was going to be a tough one for us! We soon put a stop to their run though with Chad Letts scoring a winner on a rare start for the club.
Alverca have just been crowned champions, so I was hoping they might not be that up for this game, that was until I realised that they are one of our fiercest rivals so of course they’d be up for it! And it did prove to be a very competitive and good game too, but we were on the wrong side of the final result today in a game that honestly could have gone either way!
With only 2 games remaining, it’s going to be extremely difficult for us to get that 2nd automatic promotion place now! 4 points is the gap between us and Vitoria de Setubal, with Varzim stuck between us too. We’d need both of them to lose or draw their last 2 games, whilst we would have to win both of us. Might be a little too much to ask!
Player of the Month
Rodrigo Rodrigues (Form; 7.3, 8.2, 6.7, N/A, 9.1, 6.9, 7.0, 7.2, 7.0)
My first player of the month at my new club has to go to the main man up front after he scored 5 goals and got 3 assists in his 8 appearances!
Just two games remaining now and I’d love to finish the season by giving Louletano a good whipping after they were one of the club’s who interviewed and rejected me earlier in the season!
May 2023
The conversation I was dreading as my talented young goalkeeper has approached me to say he wants a move to a bigger club! After a meeting with him and his agent, I have had to agree to sell him in the next transfer window.
That first half was the best 45 minutes of football we have played since I arrived. Absolutely brilliant stuff and really pleasing on the eye! Andre Dias was excellent as he bagged two goals and set up another. Hopefully, we’ll be able to play like this more often!
Not the way I wanted to end the season! We missed a few good chances to take the lead in this game and were punished late on when they bundled one over the line after a scramble in the box!
The final league table has us finishing 5th, which is an improvement of 2 places since I took over at the club so I suppose I have had a positive impact on the club. I’m looking forward to putting my own stamp on this team over the Summer and having a good go at this division next season!
Despite the club’s precarious financial situation, the board have still managed to offer me over £100k to spend this Summer and the wage budget has remained the same at £22k.
End of Season Review 2022/23
The club’s best new arrival didn’t feature once for me since I took over and maybe it was a mistake for me to overlook a player that had scored 8 goals in 26 games since joining the club. I might have to take a closer look at Nicolas Reis during next season’s pre season and see what he can offer.
The board don’t blame me for not reaching their pre season goal of getting promoted. It was a season where a few draws becoming wins could have changed the face of the whole campaign.
Despite only being here for 11 games, I produced the club’s biggest win of the season!
With the club being relegated last season, it’s no surprise to see most of the finances take a decline over the past 12 months, although sponsorship was up!
Rodrigo Rodrigues is clearly a very good front man in this division as he finished up on 20 goals which is a decent return. My wide men both chipped in with 8 assists a piece and also scored some goals and I’ll be looking to hold on to all of these front 3 over the Summer if I can. I feel that it’s in the defence I need to make improvements. We are very weak in the full back/wing back areas and that will be my main focus in the transfer window. I’ll also have to get a new keeper in if Lima gets his wish and leaves the club!
Joao Tome cleaned up on awards night picking up both the fans player and young player of the season awards!
The club have outlined their revised vision under my management and next season, anything other than promotion will be seen as failure and might see me out of a job! I’m not used to this kind of pressure!
The future looks bright as our U19s win their divisional championship which also included the U19s from Sporting, Porto and Benfica!!
Looking in the development centre, there are some players to really watch out for with bundles of potential!
Our first couple of fixtures of the season will be against Premier League ‘B’ teams.
Incoming Transfer; Felipe Vieira (LB) Signed From; FC Famalicao, Fee; £16k, Contract; 2 years (£625 p/w)
Our weakest position on the pitch was definitely the left back role, so I was quick to address this and Vieira comes in as the player most likely to fill that spot as first choice. He has good pace, with a decent work rate, can tackle, pass and cross and is a good addition.
Incoming Transfer; Simao Azevedo (LB/ML/AML) Signed From; Penafiel, Fee; Free Transfer, Contract; 1 Year (£550 p/w)
Azevedo comes in to provide competition for that left back spot with Vieira above. He doesn’t look quite as good as the above, but is better than any other option we previously had at the club.
Incoming Transfer; Paulo Estrela (DM/MC/AMC) Signed From; Portimonense SC, Fee; Free Transger, Contract; 1 Year (£750 p/w)
Estrela comes in and can play all the way through the middle. A bargain on a free and he offers extra cover across these positions I am looking to play in the midfield triangle and I needed more options there if we are going to have months where we have to play 9 games again!!
Incoming Loan; Goncalo Filipe (GK) Signed From; Sporting, Monthly Fee; £0, Salary Contribution; £0
I’m still worried that I’ll lose Antonio Lima this Summer to a bigger club, so I needed to bring in a replacement keeper. Filipe was available on loan from our senior affiliate, Sporting, and is almost as good as Lima so it was a no brainer to bring him in.
Fair to say pre season is going to plan so far!
Not all good news though as Rafael, who barely played for me last season picks up an injury that will see him miss the start of this year’s campaign.
Three more friendlies next month before the competitive stuff begins!
Outgoing Transfer; Davi Santos (CB) Sold To; Vitoria de Guimaraes, Fee; £135k
I didn’t want to sell Davi Santos as he was possibly my best centre back at the club. But when the big clubs come calling and the player becomes unsettled, it’s hard to keep them here. I managed to squeeze £135k out of Vitoria de Guimaraes with a 30% of next fee clause tied in as well for the future. Still, sad to see him leave though!
The bookies have us as their favourite to win the title. No pressure!
Incoming Loan; Rui Correia Signed From; Vitoria de Guimaraes, Monthly Fee; £500, Salary Contribution; £975 p/w
After signing Davi Santos from us, Vitoria de Guimaraes did the decency of loaning us a centre back to cover his absence. And to be fair, the deal has worked out well for us as Rui Correia is probably better on paper than Davi Santos anyway. He has some excellent defensive stats and is a quality player to add to the heart of my back line!
We rounded off our pre season friendlies with a couple more wins and a decent draw against Austria Wien.
We have two players in the pre season media dream 11. Goalkeeper, Antonio Lima, who hasn’t attracted any interest from bigger clubs yet this Summer (fingers crossed it stays this way), and new loanee signing, Rui Correia.
One of the only positions on the pitch I wasn’t really happy with my options in, was the right wing back role….until now! Welcome Renato Matos who joins on loan for the season from Benfica. We are paying a hefty wage every week to have him here, but he should prove to be well worth it!
We have to settle for a draw on the opening day of the season. Twice we let the lead slip which isn’t great from our perspective, but there were plenty of positives to take from the game as well, as we did play some very attractive football at times.
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 2 Vilafranquense vs CS Maritimo B
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; A.Lima, R.Matos, R.Correia, J.Silva, F.Vieira, A.Ceitil, B.Biai, P.Estrela, J.Tome, N.Reis, R.Rodrigues*
Our first win of the season was a big one as we stuffed Maritimo’s B team. We dominated from start to finish, with 56% of the possession and 22 chances created. We hammered home our advantage with 4 goals, with 2 coming from last year’s top scorer, Rodrigo Rodrigues!
We were well on top for majority of this game but it ends in a disappointing draw. Chad Letts came into the starting lineup to score his 1st goal of the season, but it was also his mistake that led to their equalizer, in what was a mixed game for the winger.
We make it 2 wins from 2 at home as we beat Torreense. The scoreline suggests this was a close game, but it really wasn’t and we probably should have won by 3 or 4!
Outgoing Transfer; Bavikson Biai Sold To; Portimonense SC, Fee: £80k
I didn’t want to sell Biai but the board took it out of my hands, when they said that the £80k offer we received was too good to turn down.
Outgoing Transfer; Rodrigo Rodrigues Sold To; Gil Vicente, Fee: £55k
Absolutely gutted with this one but again the board went over my head and sold one of my best players without me having a say! I appreciate the club is in some serious debt, but taking £55k for our top goalscorer (who’d made a great start to this season too) is surely massively undercutting ourselves!! I will desperately need to replace him!
Not spectacular but a solid enough, unbeaten start to the campaign.
Player of the Month
Paulo Estrela (Form; 7.3, 7.8, 7.5, N/A)
My new Summer signing has settled straight into life at the club and has made a superb start to the season, with some solid performances, along with a goal and an assist from his central midfield role as well.
We’ve got a couple of weeks off now before our next game, which means we have a quiet month in September, with only 3 league games on the agenda.
Incoming Loan; Martim Tavares (ST) Signed From; FC Porto, Monthly Fee; £120, Salary Contribution; £975 p/w
The first thing I had to do was get a replacement in for Rodrigo Rodrigues and the man I’m hoping he can fill his boots is 19 year old Martim Tavares who comes in on loan from Porto. The determination of this youngster is second to none and his composure in front of goal combined with a tidy finish means he should be able to bang in a few goals at this level! I’m excited about this kid!
Joao Tome’s goal was enough to give us our first away win of the season! Even after the sending off, we were still relatively comfortable with 10 men and they never really looked like scoring throughout the game. Just a shame, we couldn’t make it easier on our fans by scoring a 2nd goal.
Another win, but another game where we had more than 20 shots on our opponent’s goal and only managed to score once. Luckily, these missed chances are not being punished at present as my defence seems to be doing a sterling job!
The legend that is Edgar Davids has joined my coaching staff!
Another great defensive performance and another narrow win. We look really solid at the back at the moment, but our attacking prowess or lack of, is quite worrying.
I asked the board if they could fund a coaching badge for me and I’m pleased to say they’ve agreed. So in 4 months time, I’ll have progressed from the national badges to the continentals.
After 3 straight 1-0 victories, we finish the month top of the league and two points clear. We are the only remaining unbeaten side in the division.
Player of the Month
Joao Silva (Form; 7.2, 7.7, 7.8)
The centre back has now only been at the heart of a defence that hasn’t conceded a goal this month, he has also been the man that scored two winning goals for us as well!
We kick off next month with a cup game in the Taca de Portugal Placard, against the side that lies in 2nd just behind us in the league.
October 2023 Taca de Portugal Placard – Second Round Vilafranquense vs Sporting Covilha
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; G.Filipe, R.Matos, P.Pinto, J.Silva, S.Azevedo, A.Ceitil, Rafael, A.Vieira, C.Letts, A.Dias (N.Reis 70), M.Tavares (M.Mouandilmadji 63)
I rotated my squad a little for the cup game, to give some starts to players that haven’t had much game time in the league and it backfired on us as we were soundly beaten and knocked out of the first cup competition of the year. It’s disappointing to lose, but at the same time, I’m not too fussed as the league is my only priority this year and cup runs could be a major distraction as the season progresses.
With the amount of chances we’d created in our last few league games, I was sure that there would soon be a game where it would all click and come together. This was that game as we smashed 5 past struggling Leca. Martim Tavares bagged his first two for the club after I switched his role to a Poacher for the first time and this could be his role going forward assuming this wasn’t a one off.
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 9 AD Fafe vs Vilafranquense
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; G.Filipe, Maga (R.Matos 73), R.Correia, J.Silva*, S.Azevedo, A.Ceitil (Rafael 77), R.Sousa, P.Estrela, J.Tome, A.Dias, M.Tavares (M.Mouandilmadji 87)
Another 3 points chalked up in the league away from home against a side that was predicted a top half finish. Another 1-0 win….call us boring if you like, but we are solid as h3ll at the back!!
Varzim were right up there in the mix at the end of last season, so this was a really good win for us here and extends our unbeaten run to 10 games.
Our lead at the top of the table has extended to 5 points and we are proving ourselves to be the title challengers everyone expected us to be this year.
Player of the Month
Martim Tavares (Form; 6.3, 8.4, 7.0, 7.4)
4 goals in his last 3 games is enough to win Tavares his first Player of the Month award under my management.
Only 3 games scheduled for next month, before 4 weeks off without a competitive fixture.
If I told you that we had 15 shots at their goal and they had 3 at ours, you’d probably understand how I’m feeling after this result. I haven’t had to give my lads a kick up the jacksy for a while, but they certainly got one at the final whistle today.
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 12 Sao Joao de Ver vs Vilafranquense
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; G.Filipe, Maga, R.Correia, P.Pinto, S.Azevedo, A.Ceitil*, Rafael, P.Estrela (R.Sousa 79), J.Tome, A.Dias (A.Brito 84), M.Tavares (M.Mouandilmadji 61)
My captain popped up with a stunning strike to give us another 1-0 win! We should have had more after a solid 90 minute assault on their goal, but missed a number of good opportunities to extend the lead!
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 13 Vilafranquense vs Rio Ave B
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking (Very Attacking on 85 mins)
Lineup; A.Lima, R.Matos, R.Correia, P.Pinto (J.Silva 90), F.Vieira, A.Almeida, Rafael (R.Sousa 71), P.Estrela*, C.Letts, A.Dias, A.Brito (M.Tavares 71)
It took us 86 minutes here to get our winner, when Chad Letts hammered home a powerful first time effort from Estrela’s cross. It was a deserved victory though as we had limited our opponents to 1 shot all game!
Still unbeaten after 13 games and our lead at the top is 6 points as we are creating a nice little buffer for ourselves if we had a dip in form.
Player of the Month
Rui Correia (Form; 7.0, 7.7, 7.2)
Correia has proven to be a key member of our squad so far this season and his performances at the back have been a major contributor to our excellent defensive record so far!
A busy month ahead with 7 league games scheduled. Things are about to get interesting and some rotation will be necessary to cope with the games coming thick and fast!
We kick off a busy month with a good away win at Beira-Mar. I’m losing count of the amount of games that Paulo Estrela is controlling the midfield for us this season and he looks to be an absolute cracker of a signing back in the Summer.
Good enough, even if we weren’t great! The score should have finished 4-1 as Maga had an absolute banger from 25 yards unfairly ruled out in stoppage time for one of our players being offside when he struck his shot even though he was nowhere near interfering with play!
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 16 Real vs Vilafranquense
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking (Cautious on 21 mins)
Lineup; A.Lima, R.Matos, R.Correia, P.Pinto, S.Azevedo (F.Vieira 60), A.Almeida, A.Vieira, P.Estrela, J.Tome, N.Reis (C.Letts 60), M.Tavares* (M.Mouandilmadji 72)
Due to the busy schedule, I had to make 8 changes to my starting lineup in order to rotate the tired players in the team. It wasn’t an ideal situation as we came up against a Real side in 3rd place and on a 6 match unbeaten run. We started the game really poorly and our gung ho attacking style was simply seeing us caught out at the back too easily and our opponents raced into a 2-0 lead. With us staring our first league defeat of the season in the face, I switch up to a cautious, counter attacking approach and it saw us completely turn the game on it’s head. We dominated from that point and managed to chalk up 3 goals to nick a massive win!
After we beat Real in our last match, SP Espinho had replaced them in 3rd place in the league, so again we knew this would be a tough game for us. We were made to work hard for the 3 points, but we stepped up and turned in a great performance to ensure we recorded another massive victory to put more points between us and our closest challengers in the division!
We drew and lost to Louletano last season, so this had the potential to be a banana skin for us! However, we’re a completely different animal to last season and cruised to an easy 3-0 win here! Louletano simply couldn’t cope with us and we could have had 5 or 6 here!
The preview of the youth intake suggests there might be a couple of players to get excited about.
After playing a few teams in the top 8 lately, we now took on the side that propped up the table and a big win was expected by all! It wasn’t as big as I might have expected but it was as easy as any game I’ve managed during my career to date! Pleased to finally see Mouandilmadji get off the mark for the season as he’s struggled so far this campaign and hasn’t offered much competition for Tavares up front.
We were robbed of the 3 points here as their penalty was never a pen! A fair challenge by Azevedo where he got the ball, but the ref didn’t like it for some reason, or is a Uniao fan….one or the other.
It’s fair to say that at the moment we are simply running away with this league with a 10 point gap separating us to Real in 2nd now. Only 2 teams in this division look like they are going to give us any sort of run for our money!
Player of the Month
Joao Tome (Form; 7.0, 7.0, 7.9, 7.8, 7.7, 7.6, 7.1)
Possibly the best single month I’ve seen from one of my players in my career to date! Tome has been on absolute fire, chipping in with 5 assists and a goal along with some excellent all round performances!
We head into the New Year with another busy month ahead! Eight games to play in January with the biggest certainly going to be that clash on the 10th with 3rd placed Sporting Covilha.
If we avoid defeat in our next game, we’ll set a new record for the Portuguese Third Division for longest unbeaten run! We have already equalled the current record of 20!
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 21 Vilafranquense vs Benfica e Castelo Branco
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; A.Lima, Maga, R.Correia, J.Silva, F.Vieira, A.Ceitil, Rafael (R.Sousa 76), P.Estrela*, J.Tome, A.Dias (N.Reis 66), M.Tavares
We did it! We’ve set the longest unbeaten run record for the Portuguese Third Division with a solid 1-0 win over Benfica e Castelo Branco. A really unified and strong performance from my lads!
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 22 Vitoria de Guimaraes B vs Vilafranquense
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; A.Lima*, R.Matos, R.Correia, J.Silva, S.Azevedo, R.Sousa, Rafael, A.Vieira, C.Letts, A.Dias (N.Reis 81), M.Tavares (M.Mouandilmadji 52 (P.Estrela 88))
We held on to our unbeaten league record by the skin of our teeth. After going a goal down, it was only some very good saves from man of the match, Antonio Lima, which kept us in the game. Chad Letts bagged a 2nd half equalizer and after that it was a very even game that could have gone either way. Instead though, both teams shared the spoils.
Injury; This could be a problem. I only have 2 out and out strikers in the first team and Mouandilmadji is now injured for the next 2-3 months and may even miss the rest of the season altogether. I might need to look into a potential loan signing to replace him!
Injury; DISASTER!! Only days later, Martim Tavares picks up an injury in training that will also see him out for a few weeks! I now have no recognised out and out striker in the first team!!
A massive result for us as we get a bit of revenge over Covilha who beat us in the cup earlier in the season and are still the only team this year to beat us in any competition. Chad Letts did OK up front and worked hard in the absence of Mouandilmadji and Tavares, but the goals came from our defensive players from set pieces to bag us a massive victory against the team lying second in the league.
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 24 Vilafranquense vs SC Braga B
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; G.Filipe, Maga, R.Correia, J.Silva, F.Vieira, A.Ceitil, Rafael (R.Sousa 79), A.Vieira, J.Tome (D.Galvao 79), N.Reis, C.Letts
A bore draw….our first 0-0 of the season! A pretty drab match to be fair.
Incoming Loan; Danilo Luis (ST) Signed From; Sporting, Monthly Fee; £0, Salary Contribution; £1.2k p/w
To aid with our current striker crisis, I looked to our senior affiliate and bring in 21 year old Danilo Luis on loan for the rest of the season. Primarily a pacey winger, he also has the ability to play up top and could definitely do a job for us whilst we’re lacking good strikers.
Well this will likely p1ss Antonio Lima off. I cancelled his £950,000 move to Getafe at the last minute! The reason being that after Getafe offered and I accepted this bid, Porto and Benfica both came in with bids in excess of £1.7 million. I now know I can get a lot more for my prize goalkeeper and I’m not willing to allow him to leave for a cut price!
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 25 CS Maritimo B vs Vilafranquense
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; G.Filipe, R.Matos, R.Correia, J.Silva, F.Vieira, A.Ceitil, Rafael, P.Estrela, N.Reis*, A.Dias, D.Luis
Danilo Luis went straight into the starting lineup and gave a good account of himself despite not getting that debut goal. He did get the assist for Nicolas Reis’s winner though, with a good cross into the box before Reis hammed home a powerful half volley into the top corner.
Danilo Luis has announced his arrival in style now with a first half hat trick of the highest quality. His pace shone through here as he outran the Olhanense back line 3 times to find himself clean through and each time he held his nerve to coolly slot past the opponent’s keeper.
Another big win as we run all over Torreense here. Even with 10 men, we were hammering them and they just weren’t in the game at all and offered no sort of challenge for my lads who looked like they didn’t even get out of 2nd gear!
Lusitania are struggling at the wrong end of the table and this was every bit as easy as I expected it to be for us. We had 27 shots at their goal and probably should have scored more than the 3 we did, but it’s another win chalked up and another step towards promotion.
Injury; Unfortunately, we lose my captain for the next few weeks! Andre Ceitil is without a doubt the heartbeat of my team and he will be sorely missed!
Our lead at the top of the table is now 15 points and we’re 17 clear of 3rd meaning that it would be extremely gutting if we didn’t at least go up this year, but we’ve really got to be looking at winning the division now and it should only be a matter of time as to how soon we can wrap things up!
Player of the Month
Paulo Estrela (Form; 7.5, N/A, 7.1, N/A, 7.5, 7.1, 7.2, 7.1)
If he’s have played more games, then Danilo Luis might have won this, but Paulo Estrela takes it for his sheer consistency across the whole month. He has been mustard in the centre of midfield, chipping in with a couple of goals and a couple of assists as well.
Still busy enough next month, although the schedule isn’t quite as manic as the past couple.
Outgoing Transfer; Antonio Lima (GK) Sold To; Benfica, Fee; £2.6 million (potentially £3.2 million)
I didn’t want to see him leave the club, but this kid has a massive future ahead of him and honestly, we’d just be holding him back to keep him here against his will. Plus the massive £2.6 million that Benfica were willing to pay up front, clears all our debts and puts over a million in the bank! We could be looking at another £600k with appearance fees and I’ve also managed to negotiate a 30% profit of next sale clause in there as well, so if he ever gets a £20 million+ move to one of the big boys in Europe, we could be quids in!
Another bonus as I tick off one of the board’s expectations from the club vision when I took over! The financial damage at the club is officially repaired!
We had 24 shots, they had 3!! What more can I say!?
Incoming Transfer; Daniel Franzel (CB/DM) Signed From; Pacos de Ferreira, Fee; £75k, Contract; 2 years (£800 p/w)
Promising centre back Daniel Franzel comes in as I spend a little bit of money after the sale of Antonio Lima. I don’t need to strengthen any immediate areas of the first team, but Franzel is more of an investment into our future. At 18 years old, he is probably good enough to rotate in the team now at this level, but my hope is that he will become a much better player and be able to rise through the divisions with us and become a top player in the country….that’s the plan anyway!
We did our best to throw this one away, after racing to a 3-0 lead by half time. Focusing on the positives though, what a debut for Daniel Franzel who came straight in at the DM role and bagged a goal and an assist!
30 games unbeaten now!! Could an ‘invincibles’ season be on the cards??
Last time we played Leca, we smashed 5 past them, and with them languishing in 23rd in the league, I didn’t expect much of a game here. I was right as we cruised to another easy win over a side I just don’t see staying up this year!
Danilo Luis came off the bench to score a late, late winner for us in a surprisingly tight game against another side in the bottom 5. Still, a win is a win and our unbeaten run goes on!
The longer this game went on, the more I felt like we were going to suffer a defeat! So I have to admit I’m actually slightly relieved to come away with a draw and it’s probably the best draw I’ve had in my career to date!
Sao Martinho are well and truly involved in the relegation battle, and we did their cause no favours here as we had this one wrapped up by half time!
We maintain our 15 point lead at the top of the table, with just 12 games remaining now. 7 more wins required to have the league title in the bag, and that’s if our closest rivals win every single one of their remaining games!
Player of the Month
Nicolas Reis (Form; 6.4, 7.5, 8.0, 6.6, 7.0, 7.7)
Three assists and three goals for Reis this past month as he has hit a good run of form!
With five games scheduled for next month, there is a slim chance that if we win every game and other results go our way, we could have promotion or even the league title won by the end of March!
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 35 Vilafranquense vs Sao Joao de Ver
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; G.Filipe, Maga*, R.Correia (P.Pinto 45), J.Silva, F.Vieira, D.Franzel, R.Sousa, P.Estrela, N.Reis (M.Tavares 68), A.Dias (A.Brito 45), D.Luis
Just another day at the office as we steamroller our opponents! A stroll in the park as we record our biggest victory of the season!
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 36 Rio Ave B vs Vilafranquense
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; G.Filipe, Maga (R.Matos 60), D.Franzel, P.Pinto, F.Vieira*, A.Ceitil, R.Sousa, P.Estrela, J.Tome, A.Dias (N.Reis 60), D.Luis
We handed Rio Ave B a point here as we were awful in front of goal. We created 14 chances, but only managed 4 of them on target and none of them really troubled their keeper. Luckily, they offered nothing back and we play out our 2nd 0-0 draw of the season.
A solid 2-0 and that title is now within arm’s reach! Only 9 games remain and we dream of achieving the unthinkable and going the whole season unbeaten!
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 38 Olimpico do Montijo vs Vilafranquense
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; E.Esteves, Maga, R.Correia, J.Silva, S.Azevedo, A.Ceitil, R.Sousa, A.Vieira, D.Luis, A.Dias*, M.Tavares
Olimpico are struggling down in 23rd place in the league so it was no real surprise to see us win with ease here. The only surprise was that they scored a goal from their 2 efforts on goal in the whole 90 minutes.
Portuguese Third Division – Matchday 39 Vilafranquense vs Real
Formation; 4-1-2-3 Wide, Mentality; Attacking
Lineup; E.Esteves, Maga, R.Correia, J.Silva, S.Azevedo, A.Ceitil, R.Sousa, A.Vieira, D.Luis, A.Dias, M.Tavares
1st vs 2nd in the table, but the game doesn’t have the same competitive feel about it when there are 20 points separating the two sides at kick off! Now the scoreline didn’t reflect it, but there was a massive gulf in class out there today, as we registered 15 shots on goal, to their 1! It’s no surprise that their keeper got man of the match.
Fair to say our youth intake is rather underwhelming without any prospects looking like future first teamers.
We are just one win away from sealing the title now! I’ll be absolutely devastated if we don’t achieve the unbeaten season now as well having come this far!
Player of the Month
Andre Dias (Form; 7.7, 6.4, N/A, 8.6, 7.2)
Considering Andre Dias only played 45 mins and 60 mins of two of these games, he had an awesome month. The inside forward banged home a couple of goals and grabbed an assist as well.
We will play 4 of our last 7 games next month and it’s all about how quickly we can wrap up the league title now.
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