Portuguese and Brazilian youth football legends in new deal

Sporting Clube de Portugal has signed a partnership with Internacional de Porto Alegre, focusing on youth training and the sharing of scouting information. Representing Sporting CP were Alvalade board members Rui Caeiro and Luís Roque, in addition to SAD administrator Guilherme Pereira. For the Brazilians, vice-president Roberto Melo and director of football Deive Bandeira were on hand.

"Inter is one of Brazil's most historic clubs in term of youth training", said Luís Roque reflecting on the deal, continuing: "The club has sent a lot of players to Europe in recent years and they have a really rich training tradition. That is why we wanted to sign this partnership. Our histories coincide and so do out interests. This will be about sharing information on players...These agreements include players who are at the advanced stages of youth football and who can come into our B team. It complements what we already do and who knows, maybe even a Sporting Academy in Brazil could materialise."

Roberto Melo was also visibly satisfied with the deal, noting: "It is a pleasure to be here to sign this partnership, which I think is really important to our two clubs, who are both known for their youth football. Both clubs have more than 100,000 members and more than 100 years of history. I am sure this will translate into a successful partnership."

Octávio Machado speaks about recent events on the pitch

Sporting's director for football, Octávio Machado, sat down with the press this weekend to speak about Sporting CP's current form and standing in Liga NOS. Refereeing was inevitably the overtone of his comments, but the Alvalade director did not dismiss the influence of some of Sporting CP's recent performances.

Paulo Oliveira on Saturday's draw against Marítimo

Sporting CP centreback Paulo Oliveira was the player chosen to speak with radio journalists at the final whistle this Saturday, after his side's draw in Madeira.

"We always try and win the three points, but today we just couldn't do it in a stadium where it is always hard to play. We played well, but set pieces put us in a tough spot. We came from behind and we scored a third goal, but all we can do now is keep on putting the work in", said Paulo Oliveira in an interview with Sport TV, continuing: "Results reflect what you do on the pitch and once again we couldn't get the win. We did everything we could today and we are all responsible for it. We have to keep our heads up, because this is our job and we still believe in winning the title."

Jorge Jesus highlights his side's improvement in Saturday's draw against Marítimo

Jorge Jesus spoke with the press in a flash interview at the final whistle on Saturday. The Alvalade coach liked what he saw on the pitch, despite a harsh final result.

"It was a good match. Marítimo are a good team, but we were better today than we were against Chaves. We were really close to our usual form. Marítimo were really good from set pieces and that gave them two goals, so we were always chasing the result. We did score a third, but the linesman didn't want to give it. Today I can't point the finger at the players and say they didn't want to win, because they did. Credit to Marítimo, because they played well", opened Jesus, adding: "We have fewer and fewer matches to play and the points gap is growing, which makes it all the more difficult. We have to take each game as it comes and there are still a lot of points to win."

Disallowed goal denies Sporting CP of a deserved three points

Sporting CP were held to a 2-2 draw in Estádio dos Barreiros this weekend, on Liga NOS matchday 18. A disallowed goal for a wrong offside call against Alan Ruiz dictated the final result, after a spirited display which saw Sporting CP come from behind twice.

Jorge Jesus made five changes to his last 11 (Patrício, Schelotto, Zeegelaar, Bruno César and a debut for João Palhinha) and Sporting CP started the encounter well. However, some sloppy passes forced Paulo Oliveira into making a foul and Éber Bessa converted on the resulting free-kick with low shot that wrong footed Rui Patrício.

The early below did little to unsettle Sporting CP and the team from Alvalade continued to pile forward in search of goal, courtesy mostly of some darting runs from Schelotto and Gelson Martins down the right. However, Marítimo largely limited Sporting CP's chances to dead ball situations, but it was precisely from one such incident that the equaliser came, when Bas Dost rose highest to head in from an Adrien Silva cross.

Sporting CP would have been expected to take charge after the equaliser, but it was actually down the other end that the next few opportunities materialised. Dyego Sousa hit Patrício's crossbar in the 31st minute, just before Raúl Silva made the most of yard of space to put Marítimo back into the lead.

The second-half was much of the same, with the hosts relying on the counter-attack. Edgar Costa has two good chances, but Sporting CP grew into the action again after the introduction of Alan Ruiz [on for Zeegelaar]. With Campbell and William Carvalho also on off the bench [for Palhinha and Bryan Ruiz], the team from Alvalade began to up the tempo and Bruno César dragged on a cross back on the hour mark that Gelson did well to control and slot home.

Neither outfit was able to seriously threaten in the dying stages, with the exception of a goal from Alan Ruiz that was wrongly ruled out for offside.

Jesus announces squad for the weekend's trip to Madeira

Jorge Jesus has named hsi squad list for Liga NOS matchday 18 against Marítimo, kicking off on Saturday at 18h15:

1 – Rui Patrício
2 – Ezequiel Schelotto
7 – Joel Campbell
10 – Bryan Ruiz
11 – Bruno César
13 – Sebastian Coates
14 – William Carvalho
15 – Paulo Oliveira
20 – Luc Castaignos
23 – Adrien Silva
26 – Azbe Jug
28 – Bas Dost
31 – Marvin Zeegelaar
34 – Beto Pimparel
35 – Rúben Semedo
47 – Ricardo Esgaio
66 – João Palhinha
73 – Matheus Pereira
77 – Gelson Martins
99 – Alan Ruiz

Bruno de Carvalho reveals his confidence for the three points this weekend in Madeira

Speaking at the Leões da Madeira Sporting Supporters' Club in a hosted lunch this weekend, president Bruno de Carvalho laid out his expectations for a run of good results, starting in Madeira: "It is great to be with the fans. It is always really special to come to Madeira and I am confident that this will be an important day for us to start the second half of the season. Let's get a turnaround started in Madeira. I was elected by the fans to work and I am not going to start speaking about the elections. I am fully aware of the responsibility we have and of the frustration the fans are feeling right now. We promise to to work as hard as possible and to never turn our back on what has to be done."

Pedro Madeira Rodrigues sets out his idea for the senior team coaching role

As part of his electoral programme presentation this week, Pedro Madeira Rodrigues announced that he plans to break ties with Jorge Jesus should he win the race for the Alvalade hotseat. The decision was taken following Jorge Jesus' inclusion in Bruno de Carvalho's Honour Commission.

"Bruno de Carvalho should not have invited him and Jesus should not have accepted it. However, that is what appears to have happened. Jesus should be focused on the team and not on the elections. The team has to be isolated from the electoral process, which is what I have been trying to get across. He chose his side and that has consequences. The immediate consequence is that Jorge Jesus will not be my coach when I enter office on the 4th of March", affirmed Madeira Marques, adding: "Jorge Jesus is a man of character and he will stand by his word. I have no doubt about that whatsoever."

To finish, the presidential candidate set out his idea for a replacement: "I will look for a coach who fits into a profile we have already identified and who can serve Sporting CP, to get the club winning again."

Jorge Jesus on the weekend's Liga NOS action

Jorge Jesus sat down with the press this Friday ahead of the weekend's Liga NOS matchday 18 trip to Marítimo (Saturday, at 18h15).

Although a tough challenge, the Sporting CP coach is fully focused on the three points: "The match will be difficult for a few reasons. Firstly, because we are a bit behind in the league and we cannot drop any more points. On top of that, Marítimo are really strong at home. However, we are ready and we know we cannot let more points slip away", opened Jesus, continuing: "I wouldn't say that everything is lost right now, but we have to take on our responsibilities. As a coach, I am responsible for results, but this will not be a season to forget. Every coach goes through bad spells and this isn't the first time it has happened to me. The only way to get out of it is if we all show a bit of confidence, especially the players. We had a superb season last year and we created some big expectations, but obviously the book stops with me. I trust my players to get out of the situation we are in."

To finish, Jesus spoke about president Bruno de Carvalho's visit to the dressing room after the first loss in Chaves: "Presidents go into the dressing room before and after the match, which is completely normal. I couldn't be there and the president usually speaks to me at the end of the match. I wasn't there, so he spoke with the team captains (Adrien Silva and William Carvalho). The president is the head of the club and he has every right to do that, because the coach wasn't there. Our relationship honestly couldn't be better."

Bruno de Carvalho speaks in radio interview with TSF

Bruno de Carvalho spoke in an extensive radio interview with TSF this Friday, reflecting on everything from his proposals for the coming elections to how the season is shaping up on the pitch.

"Things are tough right now and we have to focus on the objective we still have. Contrary to our expectations, we have missed out in two competitions that we wanted to win. It is not true that I have an alterative to Jorge Jesus. I have said in several interviews over the last month that Jorge Jesus is my coach, even if we don't win...Like any fan, I feel frustrated, because we had other expectations for this season and things haven't gone well in terms of football. However, Sporting CP is must more than that. I don't see any other candidate speaking about the other sports we are involved in, or the profits we have been making, or the biggest ever transfers we oversaw. I don't want to belittle anyone, but I don't think a successful project should only be supported by football. Our other sports and financial restructuring are going well."

Speaking about the consequences of the recent pair of loses against Desportivo de Chaves, Bruno de Carvalho guaranteed: "We had four objectives, which have been set back to just one. That changes a lot of things. We took some gambles which did not work out, but I am not going to start pointing the finger in public. The players know perfectly well what is going on. At the start of the season we had a meeting with the coach and, independent of what happened in Chaves, we had already spoken about shrinking down the squad. The job had already been done and their is no issue in the dressing room. Our policy is that no fundamental players will leave."