Porto coach Vítor Bruno sacked at midnight following Gil Vicente implosion | OneFootball

“I feel I am part of the solution, not part of the problem,” said FC Porto coach Vítor Bruno in the post-match press conference after last night’s 3-1 defeat at Gil Vicente, the Dragons’ third consecutive loss.

Porto’s president André Villas-Boas and the board evidently felt differently. The entire squad and coaching staff were summoned to the stadium at midnight where Bruno’s dismissal was communicated.

Controversial appointment

Vítor Bruno’s time as Porto’s head coach had been a turbulent one, right from the moment of his appointment by the newly elected president Villas-Boas at the end of last season. Bruno had been the assistant of former coach Sérgio Conceição, and his acceptance of the job was seen by Conceição as an act of betrayal.

A very public spat ensued, with barbs and accusations flying across social media between Conceição and his family and Bruno. The two had worked together successfully for over a decade. The fact that Sérgio Concieção’s son, Francisco, was in the Porto squad was therefore problematic, and it was little surprise when the Portugal international transferred to Juventus ahead of the new season.

After a bright start, Porto’s season took a dip in terms of performance levels and results, the team knocked out of both domestic cups early alongside poor displays in the Europa League, a competition that AVB said the club had aspirations of winning.

Missed chance in Madeira

In the Primeira Liga, however, despite rarely hitting top gear, Porto won the vast majority of their matches, and last week could have gone top of the table if they had beaten Nacional. But a dreadful display and 2-0 defeat in Madeira put paid to those hopes.

Yesterday the wheels well and truly came off. As if the chastening defeat at Gil Vicente was not enough, Porto completely lost their composure as star players Nico González and Samu Aghehowa were red-carded, the latter after the final whistle had blown.

Pepê row

Worse was to follow as Vítor Bruno was asked about the exclusion from the matchday squad of Brazilian forward Pepê in the flash interview. “Pepê is not here on his own volition. When you self-exclude yourself in games… Some want it, others don’t want it so much… This is for those who want it.”

The Brazilian, who has been one of Porto’s best players in recent seasons and last year earned a call-up to the full Brazil squad, quickly responded on social media:

“’Pepê isn’t here because he doesn’t want it’ says the guy who excluded me from training because I scored a goal in the mini-net by shooting too hard, who ordered me to train all week by myself running around the pitch. I’ve always been honest and I knew I wasn’t playing well, and that I needed to improve, but I NEVER stopped being professional or disrespected anyone or the club, like some say…”

Bruno’s erratic selection decisions with constant changes to the starting XI and players taken out of the picture completely for weeks at a time (Vasco Sousa, Iván Jaime, Otávio) only to be suddenly reinstated only added to the sense of a coach who had lost his way.

Who’s next?

Speculation is rife as regards Bruno’s successor. With Porto still in the title race and likely to make progress in the Europa League, AVB will be looking to bring in a new coach quickly to rescue the season.

Three contenders have emerged: Xavi Hernández, Paulo Fonseca and Daniel Sousa.

Xavi was coming through the ranks at Barcelona when Porto’s current sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta was at the Catalan club.

Fonseca knows the club inside out having been Porto manager at the start of his career. It did not go well but Fonseca has since matured and enjoyed significant success in several countries around Europe.

Daniel Sousa is considered one of Portugal’s brightest up-and-coming coaches and has a strong relationship with Villas-Boas, having been his assistant for over a decade at Porto, Chelsea, Spurs, Zenit, Shanghai and Marseille, although Sousa’s reputation has taken a hit this season following two surprise sackings at Minho clubs Braga and Vitória in record time.