This has not been the easiest of seasons for Espinho manager Shama Deadman, but it could still end in glory!
In Part 16, a spate of injuries forced Shama to do some troubleshooting, which led to an upturn in form. It’s now March 2024, and the Tigres have plenty of momentum as they target an unlikely promotion from the Terceira Liga.
By the end of this chapter, Espinho could be a Segunda Liga club. Can their journeyman coach complete a remarkable recovery, or will injuries disrupt Shama’s side again?
MARCH 2024
Espinho entered the final quarter of the Terceira Liga season in 4th place – just eight points behind the promotion spots. We were on a five-match winning streak, having recently gone through a sequence of winning 1-0 at home and then coming from behind to win our away fixtures…
…and incredibly, that sequence continued for another two matches!
First up, we had a HUGE let-off against Marítimo B, as despite registering some eye-watering stats, we only scored ONCE against the Verdes Rubros. Even Miguel Pereira‘s decisive penalty wasn’t that convincing, but at least Drago was back on song with his 10th goal of the campaign.
Our midweek performance at Gondomar was much more convincing, even if we did fall behind after just five minutes. Ex-captain Mica Conceição spearheaded a magnificent comeback from the right wing, scoring two goals and setting up a third for Pereira. Holding midfielder Ibrahima Guirassy then completed a 4-1 win – our biggest on the road this season!
After winning a second term as Espinho president, João Gama offered me a new two-year contract, which would double my salary. With my current deal expiring in June, and the team performing way above expectations, João was obviously keen to tie me down ASAP.
As much as I was enjoying life here, I wasn’t ready to commit my future to the Tigres just yet. I wanted to finish the season, see if there were any potential job openings, and then decide whether to stick around or move on. Sorry, Presidente Gama, but please be patient…
Meanwhile, Pereira continued his scoring streak after just two minutes against relegation-threatened Viseu… but that was where our purple patch ended. A lapse in concentration from Mica allowed a visiting forward to get past him and beat goalkeeper Kadú at his near post, gifting Viseu an equaliser. They finished strongly and could’ve taken all three points, but we were just grateful to still have one.
Then came an awful away game against Braga B, which we only won after Pereira scored a penalty in the 94th minute (our only shot on target, I might add). That was Miguel’s fourth goal in as many games, but he couldn’t follow it up in a similarly drab 0-0 home draw with Felgueiras.
That impressive run pulled us even closer to the promotion places, cutting our deficit from eight points to only three! If we hadn’t drawn twice at home, we would actually have leapfrogged Fafe into 2nd… but hey. We were massively overachieving, so I couldn’t complain.
APRIL 2024
Youth intake time now, and this year’s crop probably isn’t one to get excited about. Even so, there were a couple of lads who looked like they could make the grade.
Luis Moreira is an aggressive and fearless left-back with a professional attitude, so he’s got every chance of breaking through once he’s developed his technical and physical attributes. I also have high hopes for Mário Jorge, whose best role is apparently as a left-winger. However, with those Tackling, Work Rate and Stamina attributes, I actually think he would be more useful in a ball-winning midfield role.
Back to the promotion hunt now, and what better way to kick off the run in than by… losing our 11-match unbeaten run against 23rd-placed Caldas? [Sigh]
I think we got a tad complacent, and we struggled badly with 10 men after Guirassy came off with a knee injury following my final substitution (something which has happened far too often this season). But there can be no excuse for our defence basically giving up and letting Caldas score the winner in the 87th minute.
We did get away with a similarly limp performance against rock-bottom Rio Ave B, who wasted at least three golden chances in the first hour. Those scares eventually woke us up, with Pereira scoring one goal and selflessly teeing up inside-forward André Raposo for another to clinch a 2-0 victory.
Miguel was also our hero when we went to promotion rivals Vitória de Guimarães B and pinched an away win. The decisive move came from a 34th-minute counter-attack, when José Maçãs‘ through-ball from attacking midfield sent Drago clear to tap in his 15th goal this season.
With three of our final four games coming at home, we fancied ourselves to at least push Fafe all the way… or at least we did until we lost the first of them to Vizela. Injury-prone right-winger Franculino Djú banged in an excellent response to the visitors’ 25th-minute opener, but it was their second goal just before half-time that really irked me.
Does Ben Davis call that ‘tackling’? Bette Davis would have done a better job, for goodness sake!
Bette might’ve converted some of the chances we had too, especially after Pereira strained his hamstring… which was exactly what we needed right then.
Those two April defeats looked decisive. Fafe had picked up eight points from their matches, thus building a five-point lead on us ahead of our season-defining clash at the Estádio Marques da Silva.
Victory would cut the gap to just two points, and also give us a crucial head-to-head advantage over Fafe in case we finished level. If we lost, our promotion dream would officially be over, while even a draw would make it very tough for us to overtake the Justiceiros.
MAY 2024
Well. What else did you expect other than yet another toothless attacking performance at home? To be fair, this goalless draw also showed exactly why these two teams had the best defensive records in the Terceira.
Of course, Fafe were much happier with their point than we were with ours. It meant that they only needed two more points to seal promotion, while we had to win our final two fixtures to have any chance of denying them.
We couldn’t even take it to the final day, drawing 1-1 with a Vitória de Setúbal side who put us under huge pressure and almost ran riot. You may remember Vitória stole a late draw against us in January, but after they scored an 80th-minute opener, Paulo Agostinho gave them a taste of their own medicine with his first goal in two-and-a-half months.
Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered had we won the game, as Fafe defeated Vizela to secure 2nd place. That meant we only had pride to play for in our final fixture.
I brought in several youngsters for the dead rubber with Leça. Goalkeeper Cláudio Lascarim (17) didn’t cover himself in glory when he conceded after just 12 minutes. It took us until 12 minutes before full-time to respond, when target forward Alexandre Videira (16) set up winger Nélson Martins (18) to ensure that we didn’t finish on a losing note.
Despite picking up just three points from our last four games, and winning only one of our final six home fixtures, we had still made it onto the podium – pipping Gondomar to 3rd place on head-to-head. Not bad, eh?
2023/2024 SEASON REVIEW
The board expected us to avoid relegation. We were just six points away from promotion. Need I say more?
Our overachievement in the league also stretched to the Taça de Portugal. In Round 3, we knocked out Gil Vicente, who would be promoted to the Primeira Liga via the Segunda play-offs. We then gave top-flight Marítimo a real fight in Round 4, only losing that match to an early penalty.
Off the pitch, the board were satisfied that I was staying within my wage budget – but in fairness, they had offered me MUCH more than I needed. And that isn’t to say our financial situation is particularly rosy, as I’ll discuss a bit later.
Before that, though, let’s look at some awards and stats, so I can see who our outstanding performers were, where we overachieved – and, most importantly, where we still have room for improvement.
| Fans’ Player of the Season | Kadú |
| Young Player of the Season | Rodrigo Gui |
| Signing of the Season | Paulo Agostinho |
| Goal of the Season | Ibrahima Guirassy (vs Braga B, 6 December) |
| Top Goalscorer | Miguel Pereira (15) |
| Most Assists | Álvaro Milhazes & Rodrigo Gui (8) |
| Most Player of the Match Awards | Miguel Pereira (7) |
| Highest Average Rating | Kadú (7.23) |
Kadú absolutely was our player of the year. The goalkeeper conceded just 32 goals in 43 Terceira matches, kept 21 clean sheets, recorded an 83% save ratio, and made hardly any mistakes. I’m not exaggerating when I say the Angolan has probably made the difference between us finishing 3rd and 13th.
Our 38 goals conceded was the lowest in the Terceira, so I should also give due credit to some of our other defensive players. Tiago Palancha has been a steady presence at centre-half, certainly compared to the more erratic Sylvestre Costa. At wing-back, Conceição has enjoyed a much-needed resurgence on the right, and 33-year-old Gonçalo Cardoso has had one of his best ever seasons on the left.
As you can see from the charts below, our defensive efficiency is very impressive. At the other end of the pitch, though…
Yeahhhhh. While we conceded about 14.45 fewer goals compared to our xGA, we also scored fewer goals compared to our xG (only 1.74, but still enough to be a problem). Our shot conversion rate was also the fifth-lowest in the league.
Okay, so we did at least improve on our 1 goal-per-game ratio from last term, but scoring 57 times in 46 matches will not get you promoted. That’s the kind of haul you should expect from a mid-table team.
Miguel Pereira was our top scorer with 15 goals, but fell three short of his haul from last term. Next up was Daouda Guèye, who bagged 10 goals in a season plagued by inconsistency and injury. Nobody else even got to five.
Pereira and Guèye are decent strikers for this level, don’t get me wrong… but are they a strike partnership who can guarantee you 40 goals a season? I doubt it, which is why I hope Agostinho will really kick on next term after a steady but unspectacular first few months at Espinho.
It would help massively if we made better use of our more creative players. Wing-back Álvaro Milhazes and playmaker Rodrigo Gui were our top assisters with eight apiece, while I expected more than the five that Maçãs served up from midfield. Indeed, simply retaining and distributing the ball more effectively would be a start, as we rank only 12th for average possession and 14th for pass completion.
Oh, and there’s one more problem…
Like Ashley Cole in his pomp, we much prefer to play away than stay at home. We collected 41 points on our travels (a tally beaten only by runaway champions Oliveirense) but only 37 in our home fixtures, which meant we finished 11th in the home form table.
PLAYER-BY-PLAYER STATISTICS
WHAT’S NEXT?
Oh boy. Our finances DO NOT look good.
Our weekly wage bills for the playing and coaching staff have more than doubled, and we’re not making anywhere near enough in gate receipts to cover that. Our average home attendance has only increased from 938 to 1,236, which doesn’t quite fill half the 3,000-capacity Estádio Marques da Silva. Mind you, it’s still the third-highest average attendance in our division.
I’ll take full responsibility for our spiralling debt, but I must add that we had to spend big on wages to build a squad that could compete with the better teams.
That said, we really will need to be more careful next season. The board have slashed my playing wage budget to £12,000 a week… which is almost exactly what we’re paying them right now. I’ll clearly have to sell players, get rid of any expensive hangers-on, and perhaps rely more on loan signings.
But hey, it’s not a disaster. I still believe we can challenge for promotion again next season, though I’ve downplayed expectations for the players and told them we’re simply aiming for another top-half finish.
Erm… Claudio… we finished THIRD, in case you didn’t notice!
Kadú was literally the only player who reacted positively to my expectations, but he’s a ‘model citizen’, so he’s naturally very determined, loyal and ambitious (not to mention professional). We could probably do with a few more Kadús in this team, that’s for sure!
So, with our finances going down the pan, and the players expecting us to struggle next season… is it time to look for another job? Or should I stick it out and see if we can take that extra step into the Segunda Liga?
A year and a half after leaving my first job, I’ve reached another career crossroads and have another big decision to make. Speaking of that, let’s check in on my old team Cambrian & Clydach and see how they fared in their first season in the Cymru Premier…
Yikes. Looks like that step up from the Cymru South was just a little too steep!
No promotion for Shama this time, but the future’s still looking bright for him as he ponders his next move. Please come back on Monday to find out whether he stays at Espinho for a third season… or moves on to a third club in four years.
Thanks for reading!
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