Ruben Amorim's replacement sacked after just six weeks in charge as risk backfires
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Sporting have sacked Joao Pereira as manager - just six weeks after he replaced Ruben Amorim. Pereira was promoted from his role as the club's B team boss when Amorim left to take over at Manchester United. Amorim took his entire backroom staff with him to Old Trafford and tipped Pereira for the top job.
But the risk of handing him his first senior job has backfire, with Pereira winning just three games. While Sporting had been top of the Primeira Liga with an unbeaten record when Amorim left, they now find themselves a point behind leaders Benfica. Their latest slip-up came on Sunday night when they were held to a goalless draw by mid-table Gil Vincente. And that has proven to be one bad result too far for club chiefs, who announced on Boxing Day that Pereira had been sacked.
Sporting president Frederico Varandas admitted that the experiment had not progressed as expected. But he placed the blame for Pereira's struggles on an injury crisis and poor refereeing decisions. “I would like to say a special word to former coach João Pereira. He came in at a time we are all familiar with, an extremely complicated and challenging challenge. The truth is that both we at Sporting and João, unfortunately, came to the conclusion that it did not go well," Varandas said.
"We knew about the difficulties, we knew about the brutal emotional shock caused by Ruben Amorim’s departure. We believe that he truly experienced Murphy’s Law. He experienced a wave of injuries that we have never had before, and a wave of unfortunate refereeing decisions, which damaged the coach’s career.
