Sporting Lisbon’s season of tumult took another turn on Saturday when the Liga Sagres club sacked manager Paulo Sergio.
The 18-time league champions’ financial problems have led to the sale of several key members of the playing squad, while things have hardly been better off the pitch.
President Jose Eduardo Bettencourt and football director Costinha have both departed the club in the past month, with the former resigning and the latter sacked.
Key midfield pair and youth-team products Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso were both offloaded prior to the season to raise much-needed funds, while long-time leading scorer Liedson was sold back to Corinthians in January.
Despite the key departures and the club’s inability to match the spending of rivals Benfica and Porto, Sergio had guided Sporting into third on the Liga Sagres table and into the last 32 of the Europa League.
But bowing out of the continental competition at the hands of Rangers on Thursday and a winless streak extending back to January 24 in all competitions ultimately led to the end of Sergio’s 10-month spell at Sporting’s helm.
Sergio was philosophical about his sacking at a press conference on Saturday: “I leave without bitterness but disappointed because I did not manage to be champion at this club, which was my ambition, my dream and the reason I embraced this project,” he said.”We thought this was the right moment to end our working relationship. We had a sensible conversation and concluded that at this point in time it was better for another face to lead the group and lend the team the discernment necessary to win games. I hope a new discourse will bring immediate success to the team.”"I want to say thank you for the opportunity I was given. It was a privilege and an honour to serve this institution. I leave with a stronger bond to Sporting and I will root for a brilliant future for the club.”
General manager Jose Couceiro will guide the side for the remainder of the season, with stints at Porto and Lithuania on his managerial resume.
Sun 27 February, 2011
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