Jornada 0.875 results and a Small Club’s Manager is Out

By: Greg | August 20th, 2007

slbeagle 7/8ths of the first Jornada are complete, but apparently it’s never too early to start the coaching carousel a-turnin’. The first boss out for the 07/08 BWINLiga season is… Fernando Santos! Come on down, Fernando and we’ll tell you what you’ve won!

I usually would simply give notes of a manager leaving in a small caption, but since Santos was the head honcho over at Benfica, I figure it deserves a slightly higher character count. Santos headed the club for 49 total games and began with a mission to bring Benfica back to glory (in BWINLiga terms move them from 3rd place to 1st) and challenge seriously in any cup or international competitions. They placed 3rd in the Liga last season, placed 3rd in their Champions League group which included current UEFA Cup opponents FC Copenhagen as well as Celtic and Manchester United, were knocked out in the quarters of the UEFA Cup by eventual finalists Espanyol and, like fellow giants FC Porto, had a poor showing in the Taça de Portugal, losing to Liga da Honra side Varzim in the round before the quarterfinals. In the end, he finished with a record in all competitions of 29 wins, 9 losses, and 11 draws.

The rush to find a replacement has apparently already come to a close, with Benfica president Luis Felipe Vieira flying to Spain to woo former Benfica and Real Madrid manager Jose Antonio Camacho. He served for Benfica during 2002-04 when he replaced Jesualdo Ferreira after Ferreira suffered a poor start to the season. During these years, their best finish was 2nd place in the Liga and a Taça win over Porto in 03/04.

I don’t like this selection at all. I personally hate the idea of retreaded coaches who were “decent” being brought back into a situation basically in the name of familiarity. He hasn’t brought any major success anywhere he’s been and his vagabond-esque resume should raise eyebrows for any potential employer. Why not go after a monster name like Fabio Capello? He’s being courted by MLS right now and probably would cost a pretty penny, but his track record speaks for itself. Most recently, he improbably brought Real Madrid back from certain doom and to a Spanish Liga title just this past year. He also has a winning breed, winning a league title with Real Madrid, AC Milan, Roma and Juventus. In case you’re wondering, that’s also a list of all the teams he’s coached.

It might be a pipe dream to say that Benfica could lure Capello in, but this IS the team with the largest group of registered supporters worldwide. They’re perennial league and silverware challengers. But I digress back into reality, and being a newly devoted (as of basically the beginning of this blog a few months ago) supporter of Sporting (Chels will always be #1, but my mother-in-law loves her Sporting and it’s an easy way of keeping her happy), seeing Benfica hire a man who’s guided everyone he’s headed up to relative mediocrity, I have no problem with the hiring in that aspect. Here’s a run down of the results from the weekend. I’ll be back tomorrow with the final from the Belenenses-Naval game and reaction to the completion of the first Jornada. Also find below a nifty YouTube of one half of Quaresma’s brace from this past weekend’s win over Braga. A peach of a free kick.

Friday, August 17 @ 3:30PM — Sporting 4 - 1 Académica

Saturday, August 18 @ 11:00 AM — Marítimo 3 - 1 Paços de Ferreira
Saturday, August 18 @ 11:00 AM – Nacional 0 - 0 E.d.Amadora
Saturday, August 18 @ 2:15 PM – Braga 1 - 2 Porto
Saturday, August 18 @ 4:00 PM — Leixões 1 - 1 Benfica

Sunday, August 19 @ 1:15 PM — V.Guimarães 1 - 1 V.Setúbal
Sunday, August 19 @ 3:30 PM — U.d.Leiria 0 - 0 Boavista

Monday, August 20 @ 2:15 PM — Naval v. Belenenses