LIGA NOS: PORTIMONENSE 0-0 PAÇOS DE FERREIRA
Portimonense put up another disappointing performance against direct relegation rivals Paços de Ferreira last Saturday afternoon, getting away a meagre six shots on target, none of which seriously threatened visitors’ keeper Ricardo Ribeiro.
If anything, opposite number Ricardo Ferreira had even less to do in the Portimonense goal, ending up with the ball on four occasions, in what can at best be described as a bore draw.
On the three second-half occasions that want-to-be striker Aylton Boa Morte did find himself in a dangerous position, the 26-year-old sadly failed to produce anything resembling an attempt at scoring.
Portimonense will have two more opportunities to get out of trouble in the immediate future with trips to Aves (Saturday) and Belenenses (January 26) during the next fortnight, the two clubs which currently sandwich their second-from-bottom placing in the league table.
And yet under fire manager António Folha appears strangely untroubled, stating that he is not one “to leave a sinking ship” while enjoying the full confidence of the board. “I will not abandon my post, I am not afraid,” said the former Porto ‘B’ team coach, faced with increasing discontent from fans.
Worryingly, the players brought in to rectify the situation last week all share the same characteristics – inexperience, lack of physical presence and a collective goal drought to mirror the team they have joined.
On-loan 23-year-old Japanese forward Takuma Nishimura measures 1.78m and has not found the back of the net in a league match this season so far for parent club CSKA Moscow; 22-year-old 1.74m ‘tall’ Porto signing Bruno Costa shares a similar distinction, while diminutive Ghanaian winger Evans Mensah, 21 years old and a statuesque 1.65m, has not exactly set the world alight with Qatari side Al-Duhail.
Another prospective addition, 22-year-old Portimão-born naturalised Chinese citizen Pedro Delgado, currently in the service of Shandong Luneng, does have a height advantage over his contemporaries, standing 1.88m in his socks, but he too has failed to get his name on the score sheet this season.
In conclusion, this observer cannot see the Algarve’s only top division club halting its inevitable return to relative oblivion, having cashed in on players such as Nakajima, Manafá, Paulinho, Ruben Fernandes and Ewerton, to leave its medium-term ‘project’ dead in the water.
By SKIP BANDELE
