Gil Vicente’s brilliant season reflected in monthly awards | OneFootball

César Peixoto voted coach of the month; Striker Pablo wins forward of the month award

César Peixoto has done a superb job in guiding Gil Vicente to fourth place in the standings. (Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

It’s been a remarkable start to the season for Gil Vicente. The team are named after a 16th-century playwright known as “the father of Portuguese theatre” but there has not been much in way of drama associated with the football club in recent years.

Gil are usually too good to go down, although occasionally getting themselves embroiled in a relegation battle. And while a visit to the northern club is always a tough fixutre and it is not uncommon for the Big Three to drop points there, they are rarely strong enough to challenge for Europe.

At the start of the current season few expected the Barcelos-based outfit to thrive, especially given the loss of their two star players in the summer. Félix Correia was sold for a club record €7 million fee to Lille and has been a big hit at the French club, and Japanese midfield schemer Kanya Fujimoto left at the end of his contract for Birmingham City in England.

Confounding expectations

Yet, with a third of the season played, Gil Vicente are sitting pretty in fourth place in the standings having won 7, drawn 2 and lost 2 of their 11 Primeira Liga matches.

In goalkeeper Andrew Ventura, defenders Marvin Elimbi and Ghislain Konan, midfielder Luís Esteves and striker Pablo Felipe, they have five players who arguably have been as good as any other player in Portugal in their respective positions in 2025/26.

Much of the credit must go to coach César Peixoto. The former Porto and Benfica player has shown glimpses of ability since becoming a coach, but he never stuck around long enough at any of the six clubs he previously managed to allow a definitive conclusion to be drawn as to his coaching prowess.

Colleagues acknowledge Peixoto

Back at the club where he ended his playing career, Peixoto has done a superb job in the opening chunk of the season, and was duly rewarded by winning the “best coach award” for the months of September and October, as voted for by the head coaches of the 18 Liga Portugal teams.

Peixoto earned 32.03% of the votes, beating FC Porto manager Francesco Farioli (26.8%) and Sporting’s Rui Borges (11.76%). Should the 45-year-old coach keep Gil performing at the same level until the end of the season, he will put himself in a strong position to take a step up to a more ambitious club.

Pablo voted best forward

But that was not where the awards ended for the Gilistas. Striker Pablo Felipe picked up the gong for the best forward in the league, also for the months of September and October.

Son of former Porto striker Pena, Pablo has hit the net 8 times in 11 games this season, which puts him second in the Primeira Liga top goal-scorers list, just one behind Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis.

Pablo earned 35.95% of the votes, ahead of Sporting’s Luis Suárez (16.99%) and Pavlidis (10.46%).

Gil are just two points behind 3rd-placed Benfica in the standings and will be looking to keep pace with the front runners after the international break when they welcome struggling Tondela to the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos.