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| Tuesday, 29 November 2011 15:15 |
Liga de Honra: ten rounds inAtletico still lead the way After ten rounds of action, the Liga de Honra (also known as the Liga Orangina) table is beginning to take on a more settled look – though there are still just three points separating 2nd and 8th. Ben Shave assesses the current state of play in Portugal’s second tier.
Back-to-back promotions are a rare thing in any country. Whilst Norwich City hit the headlines in England for jumping from League One to the Premier League in two seasons, the last side to achieve such a feat in Portugal were, funnily enough, the Canarinhos of Estoril. The Liga Orangina is a fiercely competitive division, but the vast majority of new arrivals look to secure survival in their first season and build from there.  However, 2011/12 is beginning to look as if it could provide us with another fairytale from the Lisboa District. For after ten rounds, Joao de Deus’ Atletico Clube de Portugal are two points clear at the top of the table, and although the boys from Amadora (the crumbling old Tapadinha is still being put back together, unfortunately) aren’t exactly sweeping all before them – four of their six wins have come by a single goal to nil – they appear to have found the consistency that many of their peers sorely lack. Crucially, Atletico have already flexed their promotion credentials against their rivals for the title. Victories at Santa Clara and Leixoes have opened up the aforementioned gap, with the latter a particularly rugged performance having taken the lead after just four minutes.  Round ten had blockbuster written all over it, with Atletico hosting one of their nearest challengers, Moreirense. The northernmost club in the division have consolidated well over the summer, bringing in former Porto youth player Fabio Espinho from Leixoes, and plucking Brazilian forward Wagner (pictured) from the regional leagues. Goals from that duo were enough to give Jorge Casquilha’s side a 3-2 win in a pulsating encounter. However, such is the slimness of the margins between sides in the top half of the table (Santa Clara, Moreirense, Leixoes, Estoril, Oliveirense, Penafiel and Naval are separated by just three points) that it is likely to be consistency rather than impressive performances that make the difference come May. Litos' Leixoes reversed a three-game losing streak with an entertaining 2-1 home win over Penafiel in round nine, ending their opponents’ three-game winning run. Leixoes are – despite that three-game losing run – one of the more accomplished sides in the division, led by the evergreen Nuno Silva, who made his first professional start way back in 1996. Litos’ side have struggled with both scoring and conceding, but are likely to be there or thereabouts.  Predicting results week-on-week is an impossible task given the parity throughout the division, but with that caveat in mind, a number of contenders are nevertheless emerging. 2nd-placed Santa Clara have flattered to deceive in recent years, but if Bruno Moura can improve his side’s discipline (the Azores club have received an incredible ten red cards in nine rounds), the likes of Portuguese Under-20 World Cup finalist Alex, new signing Sylvestre and the ever-reliable Moreira possess the firepower to be challenging come May. Despite making a number of shrewd summer signings, Naval have struggled to establish any sort of rhythm under promising young coach Daniel Ramos, who led Uniao to promotion from the II Divisao last season. The Figueira da Foz club have managed to score more than once in a match on just two occasions in 2011/12, with Fabio Junior’s departure for Al-Ahly leaving a hole in the forward line that Roberto (prolific with Tirsense during 2010/11) has thus far failed to fill.  The lower half of the table is a fairly fluid environment, with the eight sides currently in it separated by just five points. Aves impressed in dumping Vitoria de Guimaraes out of the Taca de Portugal, and if veteran forward Pires (who impressed at times during last season, spent in the top flight with Portimonense) can maintain fitness, then they represent a decent outside bet for a promotion challenge. Freamunde are heavily reliant on the goals of Fernando ‘Super’ Bock (pictured), who has yet to recapture the prolific form that saw him net fifteen times in 2010/11.Arouca have suffered since parting company with coach Henrique Nunes. The 56 year-old was replaced by another man with over two decades of experience in the Portuguese lower leagues, Vitor Oliveira, but his safety-first approach has yet to compensate for the departure of last season’s top scorer Jeremie N’Jock to Moreirense. Sporting de Covilha fully merited a recent 0-0 draw at Atletico, but Tulipa’s problem is clear: his side have managed just five goals in 900 minutes of league play.  Just below them lie Belenenses, who after a promising start are now without a win since September 25th. With Antonio Soares’ re-election as president having filled the leadership vacuum boardroom level (for the time being at least), Jose Mota (pictured) will have hoped to follow suit on the pitch – but it has yet to transpire. Ominously for Mota, Soares was quoted in Tuesday's O Jogo as declaring that the winless cycle ‘has begun to linger too long’; and a coaching change at the notoriously unstable Restelo before Christmas would surprise few. Soares’ trigger-finger may have begun to itch even more this past weekend, as he watched Portimonense register a shock 3-0 win at previously high-flying Penafiel. The Algarve club have been revitalised since the arrival of one Carlos Mozer in the dugout, with the Brazilian (who almost saved Naval from relegation out of the top flight last season) throwing himself into another dogfight with gusto. Portimonense matched Atletico for 74 minutes before falling to a late goal in his first match, and displayed an impressive combination of incisive attacking and composed defending at the Estadio 25 de Abril this past weekend. Nigerian centre forward Simy, promoted from the youth teams, looks a real find; whilst Ricardo Pessoa and Ruben Fernandes will at least guarantee tigerish defending.  The bottom two spots are currently occupied by Uniao Madeira and Trofense, both of whom have had to contend with a host of problems this season. Having lost Daniel Ramos to Naval, Uniao handed former Nacional and Maritimo fitness coach Joao Abel his first head coaching job, Uniao started well but soon slumped down the table. Abel’s resignation was accepted at the third time of asking, and President Jaime Lucas pulled a potential masterstroke when he appointed Predrag Jokanovic (pictured) to be his replacement. The Serbian has been living in Funchal since he signed for Uniao in 1993, and has represented the city’s three major clubs as both a player and a coach. The fiery 43 year-old was last seen departing from Nacional citing a lack of fan backing, and whilst he has a major job on his hands at Uniao, Jokanovic is certainly capable of motivating players. Failure to secure a return to the top flight at the second time of asking last season saw Trofense slash their budgets, with director-turned-coach Porfirio Amorim replaced by Antonio Sousa, and the spine of the squad that missed out on promotion by just one point in 2010/11 allowed to depart. President Rui Silva can hardly have been surprised by what has followed. With one-third of the season completed, the temptation to apply labels to teams, to appoint the runners and riders for promotion and relegation, is growing. However, a brief glance at the table ought to caution against doing so. The Liga Orangina still has any number of twists left in the road. Ben Shave For coverage of Portugal’s second tier throughout the season, be sure to keep tabs on PortuGOAL.net, and follow Ben on Twitter @cahiers_dusport. Related: Exclusive interview - Caleb's stock continues to rise at Atletico |
This is truely a "local" club. If you go to their website, it's still mostly about the swiming school, Bingo and donations to help the less privelaged.
As much I would love to see Atletico get promoted, it's almost too much too soon. It could actually criple the club financially instead of helping. If you were to tell me that they would remain ok, I'm all for it. If not, I would prefer for them to remain here and get settled. I haven't forgotten Estrela da Amadora.
Either case, I will make a point to go watch one of their games, hopefully at the Tapadinha.
Raffy, it would be incredible if Madeira were to have three teams in the SuperLiga. Highly unlikely due to Uniao's struggles in the Liga de Honra. That being said, I still find it incredible that there's two in the SuperLiga. The clubs aren't that apart so the fan base has to be smaller. Also, most of the fans root for one of the Big Three as well.
I find it more incredible that either Nacional or Madeira always seem to be in the thick of it. It's like they take turns at their shots.
Aren't we all waiting for Santa Clara to disapoint once again. Maybe now that they changed their logo so it doesn't look like Benfica's, they will be able to break through.
What has happened at Belenenses? Oh yeah, I'm sure some pockets got filled and the team is paying the price. Let me add that through all the hardship Belenenses is 15th in total attendance between the two leagues.
There are two others from Liga de Honra in the top 20 in attendance, them being Penafiel (17th) and Portimonense (18th).
Lastly Ben, you hit it right on the nail, and what you said pertains to both leagues. If a team is able to show and keep any sort of consistency, they can go a long way. Clubs from both leagues tend to have these huge peaks and valleys to their seasons. If they were just able to maintain, they coulld be very successful.
Thanks for the report. It was great.
It is always great to read up on the liga orangina. I always try to watch about 1 game a week and I must say that it can be very entertaining. I know that they are not as good as the big 3, but the league is extremely competitive from start to finish which makes it quite interesting.
One negative though is that i wake up on the weekend to check the livescores and i get sick to my stomach nervous as i would now consider it to be a nightmare if Maritimo or Uniao got relegated.
Luckily Maritimo have not worried me for a second this year, hell they have been one of the best teams in the whole league, Uniao are another story though they are getting me so nervous and stressed!
If Uniao dont get promoted (which is not looking likely) then i hope Atletico and Santa Clara get it, im liking those 2 at the moment.