12 November 2006, by Marco Pereira

Coach merry-go-round reaches fever pitch

Beira-Mar, Naval and Braga play managerial musical chairs

It only took two days for ex-Braga coach, Carlos Carvalhal, to find a new job as he has been named the new coach of Beira-Mar.

Meanwhile, it is widely expected that Naval’s coach, Rogerio Goncalves, will fill the vacancy at Braga. In turn, Vitor Pontes looks likely to take the hot seat at Naval should Goncalves’ move be confirmed.

Carvalhal has signed a season-long contract with an option for one more year at Beira-Mar and will take over from Augusto Inacio, who left for Greek first division side Ionikos earlier this week.

His new surroundings will certainly not be unfamiliar for Carvalhal, who was a former Beira-Mar player back in the 1990s. Nevertheless, the move comes as a surprise given that Carvalhal had stated that he needed a break from the game upon leaving Braga, fuelling speculation that he jumped before being pushed by the ambitious northern club.

“I can say that the time between my leaving Braga and the telephone call from the president of Beira-Mar was no more than half an hour. It gives me great satisfaction to see this belief in my work.”

“I did not accept immediately because there were still some problems to resolve at Braga. But there were certain aspects that I did not have to worry about: honesty and honour.”

“The only thing that I had to understand was what Beira-Mar needed this season and what was required for the future.”

Carvalhal’s words only add to suspicions as to what really occurred at Braga, but the coach insists that all is well between him and his former employers.

“The problems at Braga have been solved. This will be the last time I will speak about this. I was not threatened, no one was threatened. I did not have any problems with anything beyond the normal pressures of coaching a club.”