1.4 The rise and fall of Bruno de Carvalho - Jesus Walks

In part three of the rise and fall of Bruno de Carvalho we followed the 2014/15 season which was the club president's second full season in charge of team affairs. His first had seen him hire and fire Leonardo Jardim despite finishing second place and automatic qualification for the group phase of the Champions League. His choice of successor was the up and coming new kid on the block Marco Silva who had taken Estoril to the Liga 2 title before 5th and 4th place finishes in the Primeira Liga with qualification for the Europa League in addition. Silva could only lead the lions to third place which only brought with it qualification for the Champions League play-off round. He did however lead the club to their first silverware since the Supertaça win of 2008 as his side came back from 2-0 down with ten men in Jamor to force Sporting Braga into extra time. After the additional half hour the two sides couldn't be separated and the final went to penalties where the lions would triumph 3-1. Silva was relieved of his duties just four days later having only completed one year of his four year contract. There apparently exists a four hundred page document which cites just cause as to why Bruno de Carvalho was able to dismiss his second coach in the space of twelve months. However, only one reason as to why persists to this day, which was Silva not having worn his official club suit in an earlier round of the Taça de Portugal against Vizela in December. As part of the deal to remove Silva a clause was included that he would have to pay the lions if he took a job with another club in Portugal which is why he would eventually go to Olympiacos in Greece where he'd comfortably help them become league champions once more. Behind the scenes both Jardim and Silva had massive fallings out with de Carvalho who was forging a reputation for his volatility. I keep reiterating the point about him choosing to sit on the bench during games which wouldn't have helped either mister who it should be noted would both go onto win league titles with their respective new clubs, even if it took Jardim until his third season with AS Monaco to do so in Ligue 1. So whilst de Carvalho may be good at spotting potential talent in his misters, I think we all know that he thinks he could do the job of mister better than anyone else. If only he didn't fire them and allowed them to get on with the job then maybe it would have been Sporting that benefited from their talent. Just a thought.

As I alluded to at the end of the last part Silva's dismissal was really just smoke and mirrors because a deal had already been struck behind the scenes to bring in the new mister and it was a move which would shock all of Portugal. A decision that felt like bringing the devil incarnate himself to the helm which may be somewhat ironic given the man's name. If I write that it was like taking Alex Ferguson from Manchester United and putting him in charge of arch-rivals Liverpool you'll get a feel for how big a choice for his third mister was. Step forward Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus on a €5m contract per annum. That's five times the amount he'd been paying the mister Marco Silva. Jesus being the coach who brought unparalleled success to their biggest city rivals Benfica. Yes de Carvalho had done the unthinkable and possibly the unforgivable and hired a coach who had forged a reputation as a Benfica legend.

The one thing you cannot deny about Bruno de Carvalho is that he lacked ambition to take Sporting back to the top of the domestic tree and break the dominance of the other two members of Os Três Grandes FC Porto and the clubs biggest rivals Benfica. Home attendances were certainly improving with a season high of 49,076 against Benfica on February 8th, 2015 and even the season low of 9,035 v Boavista on January 14th, 2015 was significantly up from a low of 6,157 under the previous president Lopes. For now he retained the backing of his fans, but football fans as we know can be a fickle bunch. Maybe best not to unveil the man who's brought unprecedented success to your biggest rivals as your new mister especially given you'd just sacked the popular young coach who'd won you the Taça de Portugal.

Now all being said, yes Jesus came from Benfica, however it's not like he didn't have prior connections with Sporting. His father Virgolino António de Jesus played for Sporting in the 1940s. He himself began his senior playing career with the club, albeit with no great distinction making a total of just 12 appearances between 1973 and 1976 scoring once. Previous to that he'd been in the lions academy set up for two seasons though he'd actually started out in football in Estrela's academy in 1969 before his switch to Sporting in 1971. Even so it's not as if in his hiring de Carvalho was marking the return of a Sporting club legend.

He joined Benfica as their mister on June 17th, 2009 and promptly took them to their first Liga title win in five seasons. His side reached the Europa League quarter finals losing to Liverpool but did also add the Taça da Liga for a league and cup double. Whilst he couldn't repeat his league title win of his first season in either the 2010/11 or 2011/12 seasons he did win the Taça da Liga in each to record three straight wins in the competition. In the 2012/13 season he led Benfica to their first European final in 23 years however Béla Gutmann's curse still held strong as they lost 2-1 in the Europa League final to Premier League Chelsea. He would also lose the Taça de Portugal final in Jamor and the club would finish trophyless for the first time since the 2007/08 season. In the 2013/14 season he led Benfica to the title again. They'd won the Taça da Liga against Rio Ave earlier in the season. They reached the final of the Europa League for a second successive season but lost on penalties to Sevilla. Again the Gutmann curse refuses to die. He did however beat Rio Ave for a second time in the Taça de Portugal to complete Benfica's first ever domestic treble since their inception. Not only that but he became the first ever coach in Portugal to achieve the treble. In August they won the Supertaça and therefore Benfica became the first club to win all four trophies in the space of a year, again making Jesus the first ever coach to do it and it was his eighth title in total as the Benfica coach. On May 17th, 2015 Benfica secured their second successive league title. It was their first back to back title since Sven-Göran Eriksson 31 years before. Just for good measure they won the Taça da Liga again, his tenth title as the mister of Benfica. That tenth title gave him the honour of being Benfica's most successful coach ever and he became their first ever coach to win three domestic league titles in successive seasons though as I made the point in the last post, the Supertaça only counts when you win it.

Jesus’ contract was due to expire on June 30th, 2015 and you'd be forgiven for thinking that surely their club hierarchy was trying to get him to renew? They'd be mad not to right? Well, talks were held and concluded on June 4th, 2015. It's reported that talks broke down because they wanted to re-sign him on reduced financial terms despite the success he'd brought them, especially in the previous two seasons where OK, they hadn't won in either Europa League final, but they had still reached successive European finals. The Belá Gutmann curse isn't his fault now is it? Now granted he was already Portugal's highest paid coach but success always comes at a cost. But it was a price Benfica were unwilling to pay.

Now negotiations had clearly been ongoing between himself and Bruno de Carvalho for sometime despite Marco Silva being the Sporting mister. With their 400 page document citing just cause enabling them to dismiss him, the way was now clear for Jesus to make the shock move across the city and on June the 5th, 2015 just 24 hours after talks with Benfica concluded with no deal being struck, de Carvalho unveiled him as the new mister of Sporting on a three year deal. Thanks to documents in the football leaks exposure I'm able to confirm his basic monthly salary would be €416,667 per month. No wonder he didn't have any qualms about jumping ship across town to their biggest rivals. If this was a Tom Cruise film someone would be shouting down a phone - Show me the money. Let's not forget this was 11 years ago. The Portuguese game has never been awash with money and Sporting were still up shits creek without a paddle financial wise so making your new mister the highest paid coach in the league has to come with a guarantee of success for you which sadly no club president can have because football doesn't work like that. Well not unless you bribe match officials but I'm still saving that for another blog so hold your horses. If José Mourinho stays next season with Benfica his salary will rise from €3m to €4m though one assumes it was €4m pro rata this campaign but reported as lower because journalists are maybe not the sharpest tools in the box. I wonder if any of the journalists in Lisboa around that time were huge Kanye West fans and simply went with the headline - Jesus Walks.

Let's have it right, the fans of both clubs don't just hate each other, they fucking detest one another. Moves like this are pretty much unprecedented. I'm trying to think of a similar one that caused the same level of controversy and the only one that springs to mind is when Harry Redknapp moved from Portsmouth to Southampton. Now if you're thinking that Pompey and the Saints isn't that big a rivalry in the grand scheme of things then think again. Redknapp would have been better off getting caught with his pants down shagging someone's granny up the arse whilst fingering the family cat. It was the south coast derby that came with the largest matchday policing cost of £500,000. Yes that's right dear reader half a million large to stop two sets of fans beating the shit out of each other when they'd have been better off hiring a local sports field and letting them get on with it whilst everyone else went and watched the game. Post whistle the police managed to escort the Southampton fans off the island without the Pompey fans being able to get to them so instead they rioted with the police for several hours setting cars alight and clocking up the best part of 100 arrests. So the point being in short Redknapp’s choice wasn't a wise one. Everything suggests in turn that neither will this one be long term. Not that de Carvalho seems to be able to do long term with his coaching appointments. Ironically Redknapp would end up relegating Southampton and come back to Portsmouth and win an FA Cup and he'd been forgiven for his sins until he then fucked off to Spurs and everyone went back to calling him a Judas Cunt. Some people like a pound note far too much. My point being however that these moves don't happen frequently and there's a clear and obvious reason for it, because they're generally doomed to failure before you even start. If you read between the lines of de Carvalho's fractious relationship with both Jardim and Silva who'd come before him, personally I take that as him meddling in first team affairs and if you think I'm wrong then please tell me why he's sat on the team bench during match days? I don't see Jim Ratcliffe sat next to Michael Carrick or Todd Boehly sat next to… OK I have no idea who Chelsea's interim coach is after they sacked Leroy Rosenior midweek but you get my point hopefully. Jorge Jesus is not going to want Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie sat behind him looking over his shoulder. Bruno de Carvalho is clearly confrontational. Jorge Jesus was no shrinking violet. In September 2013 after a game in Guimarães against Vitória SC, police attempted to remove Benfica supporters from the pitch and Jesus became physically involved in the confrontation and obstructed them for which he received a 30 day suspension and a fine of €5,355. This was a move that screamed as a recipe for disaster from day one. It's OK though at least his first official game wouldn't be an overly significant one in terms of opponents, but we'll get to that in a short while.

In the transfer market that season Cédric Soares fresh from his disastrous Taça de Portugal performance was dispatched to Southampton for €7m. Fredy Montero was sold to TJ Jinmen Tiger for a further €5m. Maurício went to Lazio for €2.65m, Naby Sarr to Charlton for €2m, Diego Capel to Genoa for €1.3m, Shikbala to Zamalek for €570,000. Zakaria Labyad joined Fulham on loan for a fee of €230,000, Tanaka went back on loan to Kashiwa Retail for a fee of €170,000 and Jonathan Silva went on loan to Boca Juniors for a fee of €100,000. Three free transfers, seven loans without a fee and Nani returned to Manchester United. This brought in a reported €19.02m.

Having gone deep into the clubs non-existent coffers the season previous under Marco Silva over the course of the 2015/16 the spending would be far less. Teófilo Guitiérrez was their most expensive signing from River Plate for €3.4m. Naldo cost €3m from Udinese, Ewerton made his loan move permanent for €1.5m from Anzhi. Bryan Ruiz came in from Fulham for €1.32m, Marvin Zeegelaar from Rio Ave for €300,000 and they paid a loan fee of €250,000 for the Sunderland centre back Sebastián Coates. Six free transfers including João Pereira from Hannover 96 and Bruno César from Estoril. One loan and one free agent. Total spend €9.77m making a net spend of -€9.25m. The majority of their budget was being spent on funding their new mister at the top.

Top scorers in all competitions last season were Slimani and Montero with 15 apiece and the pair were obviously the heroes of the Taça de Portugal final in May as both scored to force the game into extra time. With Montero going to China you imagine the Algerian was much happier given the Colombians pretty boy looks whereas he looks like Sloth from the Goonies. Hey you guyssss!

Sporting would have one very obvious problem before the season kicked off in anger. Their mister has just created and left behind a back to back title winning side across the city. You have to wonder if de Carvalho had really thought this through at all on any level. It wasn't like Sporting had pushed for the title the previous two seasons under his club presidency and yes having a good coach helps, but good coaches still need a higher calibre of players on the pitch to bring about that change in success. None of the names brought in exactly screamed marque signings. It's not like the previous seasons signings had proven to be a massive success either. Naby Sarr had come and gone. Tanaka, Jonathan Silva and Simeon Slavchev were all promptly sent out on loan. Still if anyone can turn this bunch of rag tag underperformers into a title contending team you imagine Jorge Jesus stood a better chance than any.

Pre-season began with two games in Alcochete where the lions would first beat Mafra 3-1 and 3 days later Atlético CP 5-0. They flew to South Africa for the Cape Town Cup where they first drew 2-2 with Ajax Cape Town in the semi final progressing 4-2 on penalties before beating Crystal Palace 2-0 in the final. We'll park that trophy alongside the Taça da Honra won the previous summer in terms of zero importance. Their last friendly was the 2-0 win over AS Roma in the Troféu Cinco Violinos. It would take some top level pedantry to claim that Jesus had already won two trophies before the season started. Whilst technically true, only the late Walt Disney had he been a Sportinguista would have been excited and ensured either win counted for anything.

Marco Silva's winning of the Taça de Portugal combined with Jorge Jesus having led Benfica to the league title would mean that the misters first competitive fixture would come in the Supertaça against one another and in Lisboa no game is bigger then the Dérbi and no Benfica coach had won this game more than Jesus. Sorry did I say originally that this game wasn't overly significant? I might have had my tongue pushed firmly into my cheek when I wrote that). If you were looking for positive omens that the balance of power could shift in the nation's capital over the coming season then Sporting delivered the first blow as Jesus’s side won 1-0 and they had some silverware that counts. Well, as I like to say, silverware that only counts when you win it. If anyone else lifts the Portuguese equivalent of the Charity Shield, then that's how it should rightly be viewed. Fickle? Me? How dare you? I mean you're right but still…

But at least Jesus has rubbed his old bosses noses in it for not giving him the contract he wanted and there's nothing quite like a Dérbi win to get more fans on your side as the new mister.

Unlike Silva twelve months previous Jesus did get off to a winning start with that having come 2-1 away to Tondela.

Sidebar - I'm living the life of sobriety by now but that doesn't mean I'm any less chaotic than the man as the club president. As you learned in the last part Silva's season was my first watching the club and I've not only come back for season two but fully declared myself a lucky charm after the Taça win in May. Well my family does hail from the emerald isles so it's in my blood. Buoyed by the Taça de Portugal and Supertaça wins I make the suggestion that if Sporting win the Liga title that me and my lady friend at the time have to get married. So no pressure Jorge. My future happiness is in your hands not mine. For her part, she's seen it all as a Sportinguista before, otherwise I imagine she wouldn't have been daft enough to agree.

And back to the post…

August 22nd, 2015 and Jesus welcomes Paços de Ferreira in round 2 for his homecoming nearly forty years after he'd left as a player and they promptly ruined the party coming away with a 1-1 draw. Never mind best made plans and all that malarkey. They did bounce back to win the next 3 games beating Académica 3-1 away, Rio Ave 2-1 away and Nacional 1-0 at home before the run came to an end with a 0-0 draw away to Boavista.

Not to worry because they would go on a seven game winning run which started with the 5-1 thumping of Vitória at the José Alvalade. Next up the Dérbi de Lisboa in the Estádio da Luz on October 25th, 2015. New signing Guitiérrez leaves his mark on the club's history books as he made it 1-0 after just 8 minutes. Slimani makes it 2-0 on 20 and another summer signing Andy Ruiz made it 3-0 after 35 minutes. The lions win the Dérbi de Lisboa 3-0 and like his namesake in the Bible the new mister is busy converting all the non-believers. Estoril are beaten 1-0 at home, Arouca 1-0 away, Belenenses 1-0 at home, Marítimo 1-0 away and Moreirense 3-1 at home. Jesus has dropped just 4 points from a possible 39 and remained unbeaten. Well unbeaten until the point they weren't when their winning run came to an abrupt halt losing 2-0 away to União de Madeira. 

By way of apology Sporting won O Clássico in the first game of 2016 beating Porto 2-0 at the José Alvalade. Vitória de Setúbal were dispatched 6-0 away and they beat Braga 3-2 at home before only managing a 2-2 draw with Tondela at home. Then followed a pattern, two wins and a draw, two wins and a draw. Then what proved to be the biggest game of the season, the Dérbi de Lisboa at the José Alvalade on March 5th, 2016. With ten games of the 2015/16 season remaining no one could know how pivotal the result would be come the end of the season but Jesus could only watch on as his new side lost to his old one by one goal to nil. Jesus' side responded to the Dérbi defeat with nine straight wins to round out the season but it would all prove to be in vain. Benfica were crowned league champions for a third straight season by a difference of just 2 points, de Carvalho's big gamble had failed and I wasn't about to get married anytime soon. Sad times all around.

It was in fairness an impressive run which took in another win in O Clássico as Sporting won 3-1 at the Dragão. Braga were thumped 4-0 on the last game of the season, Belenenses thumped 5-2 in their back yard, Arouca 5-1 at the Alvalade and Setúbal 5-0 also at home. Yet ultimately it all counted for nothing. Jesus' win percentage 79.41%. His record read: Played 34, won 27, drawn 5 lost 2. GF 79, GA 21. Benfica would lose 4 times that campaign, double that of the lions but the critical statistic were the two additional wins in the other column. Automatic qualification for the Champions league was scant reward by way of consolation.

Jesus who'd previously done so well in Europe and the domestic cups with Benfica found his magic touch evaded him here as well. Braga won 4-3 after extra time in round 5 of the Taça de Portugal, the trophy that Marco Silva had won just six months before. The lions again failed to make it out of the group stage of the Taça da Liga with Portimonense the side to have progressed. In the Champions League qualifiers they beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 at the José Alvalade only to lose 3-1 in Russia and lose 4-3 on aggregate and would instead have to settle for a place in the Europa League. Not what de Carvalho and the Sporting accountants needed having decided to shell out €5m a year on the new misters salary. Still he had led Benfica to back to back Europa League finals. However…

Lokomotiv Moscow compounded their misery against Russian teams as they won 3-1 at the José Alvalade. Beşiktaş held them to a 1-1 draw in Istanbul. They beat Albanian side Skënderbeu Korçë 5-1 on October 22nd only to lose two weeks later the reverse fixture 3-0 in Albania. They did however bounce back to win in Moscow 4-2 and beat the Turkish side 3-1 at home and progress to the knockouts finishing second in the group. Bayer Leverkusen won 1-0 in the José Alvalade and 3-1 in Germany to progress 4-1 on aggregate and that, was that. €5m to lift the Supertaça. Sorry, what was that Jorge? Oh yes I'm sorry, €5m to win the Supertaça, Cape Town Cup and the Troféu Cinco Violinos. My hero. As for the departed Marco Silva, let's remind you he was busy winning the title with Olympiacos and Jardim was getting ever closer to leading AS Monaco to a title win in France.

Despite any initial scepticism from some fans the clubs attendances continued to rise as they average a gate of 39,998. The season high in the Dérbi with a crowd of 49,699 on March 5th. The low the 5-1 thumping of Skënderbeu which drew 20,567. Slimani has his breakout season scoring 27 in the Liga and 31 times in all competitions.

Bruno de Carvalho had painted himself into a corner. Whereas the previous two seasons he'd been able to extradite the club from it's contracts with the misters, sacking Jorge Jesus would land the club with a €10m bill to pay off the rest of his contract. You can bet your bollocks to a barn dance that had he been told to wear a chicken costume on the sidelines, for five million euros a season over three years you'd have said fuck it, why not?

And so, for the first time in his reign as club president, de Carvalho would begin the next league campaign with the same coach in charge.