After lengthy and delicate negotiations Olhanense manager Daúto Faquirá and his coaching staff of Nuno Presume, Gil Henriques and Diamantino Figueiredo were set to sign new 12 month contracts as the paper was going to print.
President Isidoro Sousa was keen to keep the astute manager at Olhão. Faquirá took the Premier League team to near the top of the league in the first half of the season and has a good eye for scouting
new talent.
Last year’s recruits, Jardel went on to sign for Benfica and Vinicius for Sp.Braga in the January transfer window. Another favourite, Paulo Sergio, has been snapped up by V.Guimarães.
Daúto Faquirá’s first job will be to talk to Delson, Rui Duarte, Jorge Gonçalves, Mauricio and Carlos Fernandes who are all out of contract.
Goalkeeper Fábio Freitas, a 23 year-old Brazilian U21 international, currently with São Paulo and defender Tony (V.Guimarães) are on the Olhanense radar. Nottingham Forest and Peterborough United, who played pre-season friendlies at Olhanense last year, both reached
the play-offs in their respective leagues.
While Nottingham Forest lost in the semi-finals, Peterborough, under the leadership of Darren Ferguson – Sir Alex Ferguson’s son – went on to win their final against Huddersfield and thus move up to
the Championship.
