Unexpected events overtook Portimense football club last week. The erstwhile Liga de Honra (English Coca-Cola Championship equivalent) leaders woke up on Wednesday morning to find that their successful coach Lito Vidigal had been poached by top tier União de Leiria. While the departed manager claimed that irregularities in the payment of his salary helped him in making his decision, the Algarveans are contemplating legal action.
By Thursday, former Estoril coach “Tulipa” was expected to travel south to fill the vacancy but 24 hours later the experienced Madeira-born Litos had taken charge of Friday’s training session.
Saturday’s away fixture at Penafiel came too soon for the new man however, with Portimonense suffering their first away defeat of the season and subsequently losing their place at the top of the table to Sunday winners Feirense.
To add insult to injury, the debacle was rounded off by Lito Vidigal’s victorious 2-0 home debut on the bench against Naval. If Portimonense can recover from their latest setback, they can be seen during this Saturday’s live televised home game against Santa Clara (7pm kick-off).
