‘I think we’ve done extremely well so far guys, since the end of August to now we’ve played 10 games in all competitions, picked up 10 points from a possible 18, that’s certainly not relegation form like the pundits predicted’ I tell Ruben Parraga who relays my message to the team. ‘The wins we’ve had have been big wins and we’ve definitely deserved them, there’s no doubt in my mind we will stay in the league by the end of the season’
After my first 3 months in charge of this club, we find ourselves sitting 2nd in the group E in league, with a fantastic return of 6 wins from 9. The team have definitely gone against the season preview saying we’ll be the league whipping boys, and I’m confident we can continue this run of form and secure our safety. Okay so we got knocked of the cup, but I’m not too concerned, without the added games in that competition we can focus solely on staying in the Campeonato Nacional.
From November onward we crumbled. 7 games taking us into January 17 and we picked up 4 points from a possible 21. The thing I noticed from this run is that once this team get low on confidence, they stay low. Not only that but the strikers have been playing poor, but they’ll tell you it’s the midfield not getting the ball up to them, and the midfield will say the defence is at fault, but ultimately the buck stops with me the manager. I have to change something, and change something quickly
20th January 2017
‘I don’t know when this form will end. The poor performances happened after 10 games, we’ve got to change it up, I’ve got an idea’
‘Go on Vince, I’m listening’ Ruben Parraga replies
‘It seems as though teams have figured us out, figured out we’re happy to sit back. Well we’re moving the anchor man in midfield up top, and we’re going 4-4-2’
‘But I don’t think….’
I cut him off. ‘The forwards have been struggling playing on their own, we played Dentinho from the start and he’s not played well since the start of the season, when Nilson has come on he’s run around enough and tracked back, but he’s isolated up top. But, if we play them together, I’ve got a feeling they’ll work well’
‘If you think this’ll work I’m all for it. We can’t be accused of not trying to address the problems’
He’s on board. We’ll go 4-4-2 for the next game against Operario dos Acores. We drew 1 all when we played them at home, and they were by far the better team in that game, but we’re going to be the away team this time, and the pressure is all on them to get a result.
Just before the game, we’re in the dressing room and I haven’t told the team who’s playing yet. I call Dentinho & Nilson over, the clubs only recognised strikers.
‘Right, you 2 are both playing in today’s game’ I say to them, and before Ruben has chance to translate I can already see the confused look on both their faces. ‘Tell them what we discussed, 4-4-2 when 1 drops deep the other stays high up the pitch. We’ll use the runners form midfield to get the ball forward, when 1 drops deep it will create space for the other’.
Ruben tells them both what I want, I hope. I need to crack on learning Portuguese, I’m sure it’s hindering my effectiveness, but that’s a worry for another time.
The game wasn’t all plain sailing. We were under the cosh for a lot of this game, however we managed to get the win due to getting goals from set plays. The first, in the 27th minute saw a long hanging ball from a corner come over and get knocked in at the far post by Tiago Gomes. The rest of the game both teams have chances to score but ultimately we grabbed another, this time from a free kicked which got nodded in by captain Fabio Andre. After the game I congratulate the team on finally grabbing a win, as well as confirming we’ll be sticking to the 4-4-2 for the time being.
They all head off as our next game is next week. I speak to the coaching staff with Ruben translating for me, and we decide we’ll need another forward, at least until the end of the season. As we’re playing 2 up top now, we don’t have a striker on the bench.
The next day we speak with Rodrigo Boaventura who is the clubs Director of Football, and go through not only the clubs scouted players but players from my own shortlist I have been keeping.
‘Ideally, I want someone that’s experienced at this level, and who’s got a decent amount of pace. I’m not sure how much that narrows down the pool of players that would be interested but I’m keen to hear your thoughts’ I speak to the group.
After a bit of back and forth, we agree on 2 names, either of which would be welcomed here. I leave it to Rodrigo to reach out and make the initial contact. He’ll update me when he has news.
Our final game before the league splits, we played another away game, this time at Sertanense who we thumped 4-0 at our place in the reverse fixture. Whilst we stuck to the 4-4-2, and the stats say this was an even game, I felt it wasn’t. We managed to take the lead but ended up conceding with over 20 minutes to play. Despite the length of time left we couldn’t create any clear chances, and a draw whilst not the best result in the world, is welcomed.
With that game finished, the league now splits into 2 groups, the promotion & relegation stages. We’re drawn in relegation group E and have 25% of our points gained so far. This is where it can get nervy, we’re currently only 3 points off automatic relegation so going down could be a possibility, but if we can stick to playing well like we have these last 2 games, we can be confident with staying up.
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An Aussie's Journey, man. 
Good read, man. Hope the 4-4-2 works out for you!
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Cheers mate, glad to have you on board.
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