Adieu to the Casio King

When João Pereira found himself fast tracked into the firing line as the mister of Sporting CP and quickly discovered he was out of his depth he still retained the backing of Varandas. Therefore I must admit that it came as a shock to me when he made the decision to part ways with the present encumbant Rui Borges just two days out from their Champions League tie away to Shakhtar Donetsk. Borges is afterall the most successful ever coach the lions have had in the competition in terms of total wins. It's a decision which proves if nothing else there is no room for sentiment in football. It feels like a hatchet job on a man who has led the club with dignity and humility throughout his time in charge of the club. A man who never complained, a man who provides a shining example of how you should carry yourself in life and who leaves with my utmost respect and gratitude. Some sections of the fanbase will rejoice and to those I say be careful what you wish for because football has taught us on many, many occasions that a change in coach is no guarantee of success. Circling back to Pereira it wasn't just him that received the backing of the president, Ruben Amorim had that luxury too so I do find it baffling that the man would seemingly have kowtowed to outside pressure. Borges definitely wasn't helped by the statement from the Juve Leo calling for his head or by the boos inside the Estádio José Alvalade and the waving of white hankies. Here's a coach who in his first full season in charge had Viktor Gyökeres sold from beneath him, the best player in Portugal the previous two seasons by a country mile and then some. This summer he lost his captain, his leader in Morten Hjulmand. He watched as his best central defender was sold to Nottingham Forest in the form of Ousmame Diomande and replaced by Ba who was struggling with injuries and wouldn't be fit for the best part of three months. Yet you never heard any complaints from the man. 

I've no idea how much say he had in the signings of players but even in his relatively short tenure we watched a succession of players come and go without making any impact at all. Souleymane Faye came last winter and went out to Lorient in the summer. Biel has bounced between loans and finds himself in Cyprus with Pafos FC. Vagiannidis has failed to shine as backup to Fresneda in the right back role, he was given Zekri as back up left back to Araújo who like Ba has only now just recovered from injury to be included in the matchday squads and made his full debut in last week's 2-1 win over Marítimo in the Taça da Liga. Before Zekri we had Ricardo Mangas who is more a characteur than a footballer and Kochorashvili never lived up to his hype. Jesse Derry has flattered to deceive, the clubs most expensive signing ever out injured for weeks in Rodrigo Zalazar. In fact the injury roster during his time in charge has been never ending. Alongside the sales of Hjulmand and Diomande he said goodbye to Trincão, Gonçalves, Morita, Bragança, Quenda and Travossos. Last season he lost Alisson and Reis in turn. The man has been doing his job with one hand tied behind his back ever since he came in. 

So many people refuse to give him any credit at all. Apparently the league title win belonged to Ruben Amorim in all but name after his departure to Manchester United. Well if it was that easy then João Pereira would still be the mister now and Rui Borges wouldn't have been tasked this season with what is essentially an engine rebuild. These things take time. 

Last season he and the club became victims of their own success and in the final weeks the players were physically and mentally done. Yet the mister never shirked his responsibilities, he rolled his sleeves up and was ready to go again this summer. Losing to Torreense was never going to help his cause but he's not the first Sporting mister to lose a final to lower league opponents and knowing this club he probably won't be the last either. Would things have been different had Fotis Ioannidis not been injured throughout the final months leaving him with Rafael Nel as the only backup to Luis Suárez who was on his knees by that point having been flogged to death? We'll simply never know but we can hazard a good guess. 

This side needs leaders right now. It needs an injection of experience to lead them through the times of adversities on the pitch. Someone who can inject some calmness and conduct this relatively inexperienced group of men. This side is a project there's no two ways about it. Yet fans have to accept that fact, an engine rebuild takes time and patience. Whoever is in charge it's not going to happen overnight. 

Portuguese football is brutal on a domestic level. There really is no room for error. There will be coaches all around the world that would kill for a palmarès like Rui Borges’ from his time in charge. A league record that saw him lose 3 times. Not 13 or 23 times, just 3. He leaves after 10 games played with 6 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss. GF 23, GA 11. Add that to his record in his only full season where the lions finished second having played 34, won 25, drawn 7, lost 2, GF 89, GA 24. Despite being the top scorers and having the second best defensive record as stated above they ran out of gas. 

His first ever game in charge was the Dérbi de Lisboa which he won 1-0 at the Estádio José Alvalade. His league record that season played 19, won 13, drawn 6, lost 0, GF 39, GA 17. He led them to the league and cup double after João Pereira's complete disaster which has all but derailed the lions season. So overall played 63, won 44, drawn 16, lost 3, GF 151 GA 52. That's a goal difference of plus 99 which is frankly fucking ridiculous. That's 2.4 goals scored per game on average, 0.82 conceded. A win ratio of 69.84%, losing 4.76% of his league games in charge. Unless he specifically chooses to, you don't imagine he'll be out of the game for very long.

I don't ever remember criticising the man which in 40 years of watching football feels like the one and only time I've never criticised the mister. He's not been helped by his players many of whom suffer from mental fragility, a rush of blood to the head or an innate ability to make mistakes at the worst time. Football is a game of fine margins and Rui Borges has been fucked on so many occasions on the pitch by things out of his control. You cannot expect miracles from this current crop of players. They'll need time, support and patience. All the things that Rui Borges has just been starved of. I don't care if I'm a rare voice at the end of his tenure but I'll always be eternally grateful to the man for the way he not only conducted himself on the face of adversities, but as a true brand ambassador of what the club represents and how it chooses to conduct its affairs compared to the likes of FC Porto. But mostly for the memories on the pitch. For the Taça de Portugal win after extra time against Benfica, possibly the best ever performance by any Sporting side I've ever watched when beating Bodø/Glint 5-0 to overturn a 3-0 defeat in Norway in the first leg. Guiding them to the second league title when it felt like under Pereira we'd come away with nothing. Yes there have been disappointments along the way but this is Sporting CP. It's embedded into our DNA. For every high it follows in the natural order there must be a low. So obrigado for all the highs, for helping us beat the current back to back European Champions 2-1. Losing his services to me at least feels like a gigantic loss and I'm sorry to see him leave and wish him all the best in his future endeavours with whoever they may be.