Ruined our youth system? I mean, sure, he loaned out and got rid of guys who came through our youth system. Some of those guys have done absolutely nothing. Iuri can't even get minutes at Genoa. Esgaio and Wilson Eduardo are on Braga, doing well, but not good enough for SCP. We needed to raise our standard of football instead playing scrubs like Esgaio, Wilson, etc. Zero trophies? Super Cup, Taca de Portugal and Taca da Liga. No league titles, which upsets me too, But as we know, there's a lot of external influences. Examples: Rio Ave getting robbed against Benfica witha fake PK for Jonas, Belenenses getting robbed by the Paixao Special of 10 minutes stoppage (3 minutes over the allotted time), etc. We can't change that, only the FPF can. And they are Benfica dick riders. No one is saying he's a saint.Bu the is easily one of the most successful Presidents we've ever had. Can't deny that. I don't want to go back to the dark ages.
Lol well I think he meant they shouldn't watch those programs which are just full of cartilheiros and lampiões. But of course everyone took it as "don't watch any other channel but Sporting TV". Although the way he delivered the message is questionable, he's not entirely wrong. A Bola for example is probably one of the worst offenders. And yes that blog is anything but unbiased. Not one article about LFV being indicted and Benfica with suspicions of corruption but when BdC opens his mouth its fascism. I don't get the whole dictator thing - our club is still being run democratically and he is still subject to the will of the people. He was voted in with almost 90% of the votes a year ago which means he's earned the right to preside over the club on his terms. And barring any major scandal I see him being at the club for many more years. About our youth system, I think that's more about giving JJ a lot of control over the football side of things - and we know how JJ handles youth. The BdC from the first 2 years was overseeing football directly and wanted the youth to flourish.
I don't mean so much about the youth being given a chance to play, I mean the general quality of our youth has vastly decreased. Our scouting has been atrocious. Granted that may be because Aurelio Pereira is getting really old, but we need to do something to counteract it. Haven't really had any standouts since Gelson's generation. We're getting like 1 to 2 players getting called up to the u-21 teams.
It's a cycle, there are some talented players like Rafael Leao, Diogo Bras and Daniel Bragança that look really promising and hopefully get a shot at pre-season next year.
Apparently we're trying to appeal the red card for Petrovic - while I get it wasn't justified, why do we even want to play this bum? Sporting CP announce as of the end of February a profit of 10M euros and the club debt going down 40M euros
Pretty gutted right now...don't recall the last time at the beginning of February we had a legit shot at the title....now 5 weeks later that seems like a distant memory as it has all flushed away
Not Sporting news - but Fiorentina captain Davide Astori passed away suddenly at age 31 in a hotel where the team was staying for an upcoming match vs Udinese. The rest of the Serie A Matches have been postponed this weekend. Sad sad news. RIP. Fiorentina has always had a close relationship with our club and I hope our supporters do something next game to pay tribute.
Coentrao said in an interview to Marca that he would love to retire at SCP. I've been pleasantly surprised at Coentrao - I was skeptical about his fitness levels and whether he would be coming here on loan to actually play or just earn an easy paycheque. But he's shown the kind of "garra" we need
Porto finally drops a game. What’s difference a win last week would’ve made. Watch after all this Benfica is gonna win again.
Game against Benfica could be huge depending on what they do against Porto. Tiebreakers in the standings is head to head first correct? Not GD?
Correct. We would need to win all our games and hope Porto loses twice to have a chance. At home they'll probably win but they travel to Benfica who will also be desperate to win. Is it tough? Yes but with Marega injured they lose a lot of their strength up front.
That’s what I’m thinking, Porto’s biggest liklihood to drop 3 points will come at the Luz against Benfica. If they drop another 3 somewhere a long the line that puts us in a spot to take care of business at home against Benfica and put ourselves on top. Will Porto collapse that badly in 8 games? I suppose it’s possible... a loss to Benfica plus a slip up somewhere else isn’t completely unfathomable. League is certainly not entirely as out of reach as it felt last week, but we can’t get to ahead of ourselves. 1 game at a time. Just win. That’s what it comes down to really.
Yes it starts with us playing better than we have been and winning games we should be winning. Do or die for us now.
Nani got into a bust-up with fans on a plane (not sure why players are travelling with fans) and reportedly asked his agent to find a new club. He's not exactly welcome at Valencia either (he's on loan to Lazio). Could we see Nani back in Sporting colours? Or maybe he'll go back to Turkey? He's already 31 - would you want to see him back with us?
Yeah I'd love to see him back as long as it's on a reasonable contract. This team sorely lacks speed and even at 31 probably only Gelson is faster than him.
Yup I would take him back in a heart beat...on a team friendly deal..he may go back to Turkey or even China to get one last big contact??