30 March 2007, by Tom Kundert

Domingos Paciencia resigns as Leiria boss

Player indiscipline leads to departure of coach

Domingos Paciencia has resigned as coach of Uniao de Leiria. “I confirm that as from four o’clock this Friday I am no longer the coach of Leiria,” said the former Porto striker.

Player indiscipline is at the heart of the decision which comes as a surprise given Leiria’s solid results this season which has seen the club challenging for a Uefa Cup place.

January signing Rossato reacted badly to being told by Paciencia that he would not be selected from the start of Leiria’s match against Academica and stormed out of the training session.

The coach informed the board of the incident and added that he would not pick Rossato again. However, club president Joao Bartolomeu has invested heavily in the player and it was mutually decided that the best solution was for the coach to leave his post.

In spite of his good results, Paciencia has found it difficult to impose discipline in his squad, with star midfielder Harison involved in a similar incident recently. “Maybe it’s easier to let the coach go rather than getting rid of four or five players,” stated Paciencia.

In any event, the president and coach left on good terms, with the club agreeing to pay the remainder of his contract to Paciencia.

Assistant coach Paulo Duarte will take over until the end of the season.