sotnas
Player Valuation: £10m
Portugal has always been a destination for visitors from Britain.
In football, however, there haven't been so many visitors. But still some.
First, came the managers. Sporting has been pretty adept of managers from Britain.
Some with great success, like Randolph Galloway or Malcolm Allison. Others absolutely unsuccesfully, like Ronnie Allen or Keith Burkinshaw. The greatest name of them all was Sir Bobby Robson who ended up being champion at Porto.
Oh John Toschak was here too. Although he didn't win trophies, he still left a comendable job done. I know he isn't english and he's a red [Poor language removed] former player. But we have him in high regard.
Other names include Bob Kelly, in the 40's and Charlie Bell.
I remember Mick Wadsworth at Beira Mar in the nineties and Graeme Souness, also in the same decade.
On the players. My memory can go back 'till the eighties, when we had Tony Sealy and Ralph Meade at Sporting. Mick Walsh had a good career at Porto also. Can't really remember how they played, as I was kid.
In the nineties, Benfica had a few players coming from Britain. First was Scott Minto who made some impact. He wasn't a fantastic left back, but he had something different of what we were used to see. Came on a free and left for 1 million to West Ham.
When Souness arrived he brought Michael Thomas, Scott Harkness, Gary Charles, Scott Pembridge and Brian Deane. From those, I'd say that Pembo and Charles had decent performances; Deane made great impact, again his attributes were different and that made him a very decent striker who was sold back to England with a considerable profit. Harkness and Thomas were big time failures. As was the manager who impressed at first, by challenging Porto for honours. But, in the second season he flooded Benfica with more English players and the initial impact was weakened. Souness was sacked and seemed to want to have a go at anybody at the club.
Sporting had Phill Babb and Alan Mahon, both Irish. Babb had a good career here. Mahon stayed for one season and then was loaned and sold to Blackburn.
Paul Murray played for Mick Wadsworth's Beira Mar. Stories are told about a night that saw Murray falling into a river channel because he was drunk. He didn't last long. As Mick went also.
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to see top players from Britain here. Maybe that's the reason most of them fail. They just don't have enough quality. And portuguese fans and managers are not the most patient ones.
In football, however, there haven't been so many visitors. But still some.
First, came the managers. Sporting has been pretty adept of managers from Britain.
Some with great success, like Randolph Galloway or Malcolm Allison. Others absolutely unsuccesfully, like Ronnie Allen or Keith Burkinshaw. The greatest name of them all was Sir Bobby Robson who ended up being champion at Porto.
Oh John Toschak was here too. Although he didn't win trophies, he still left a comendable job done. I know he isn't english and he's a red [Poor language removed] former player. But we have him in high regard.
Other names include Bob Kelly, in the 40's and Charlie Bell.
I remember Mick Wadsworth at Beira Mar in the nineties and Graeme Souness, also in the same decade.
On the players. My memory can go back 'till the eighties, when we had Tony Sealy and Ralph Meade at Sporting. Mick Walsh had a good career at Porto also. Can't really remember how they played, as I was kid.
In the nineties, Benfica had a few players coming from Britain. First was Scott Minto who made some impact. He wasn't a fantastic left back, but he had something different of what we were used to see. Came on a free and left for 1 million to West Ham.
When Souness arrived he brought Michael Thomas, Scott Harkness, Gary Charles, Scott Pembridge and Brian Deane. From those, I'd say that Pembo and Charles had decent performances; Deane made great impact, again his attributes were different and that made him a very decent striker who was sold back to England with a considerable profit. Harkness and Thomas were big time failures. As was the manager who impressed at first, by challenging Porto for honours. But, in the second season he flooded Benfica with more English players and the initial impact was weakened. Souness was sacked and seemed to want to have a go at anybody at the club.
Sporting had Phill Babb and Alan Mahon, both Irish. Babb had a good career here. Mahon stayed for one season and then was loaned and sold to Blackburn.
Paul Murray played for Mick Wadsworth's Beira Mar. Stories are told about a night that saw Murray falling into a river channel because he was drunk. He didn't last long. As Mick went also.
Unfortunately, we haven't been able to see top players from Britain here. Maybe that's the reason most of them fail. They just don't have enough quality. And portuguese fans and managers are not the most patient ones.
