Roberto Martinez appointed Portugal manager

Fooking hell thats some friends in high places hes got

Belgiums golden generation was given to him now hes in charge of a geniune football powerhouse

I dont think this is a sideways move

Hes got a geniune chance of winning something with the young talent theyve got coming through and theyre always in the discussion amyway along with Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain, Italy and Germany

Theyre a big name nation now in my opinion whereas Belgium never will be

Well I guess it is good for Martinez, but is it good for Portugal?

Jan 10, 2023 -- 1:13AM, tobermory wrote:

Well I guess it is good for Martinez, but is it good for Portugal?

Absolutely not. Would the fans of any PL team (besides perhaps Southampton and Chelsea) swap their manager for Martinez?  I think not.

Portugal would do better with Southgate

I thought Fernando Santos retired but he was sacked for getting knocked out by Morocco in the quarter finals.

So they replace him with a guy who was knocked out by Morocco in the group stage.

I was expecting Martinez to pop up at Sheff Wed or Portsmouth, not another contender at major tournaments

didn't do that bad a job at Belgium, not his fault people created the narrative that Belgium's golden generation  should win a tournament, reality was they were never the best team on paper in any tournament they entered, 2018 lost to the winners France, who were the best team in the tournament, 2020 lost to the winners Italy who on top form and in Munich it was virtually a home game for them with Italians crossing over the border, in hindsight he stood no chance in 2022 World Cup, the defence was old, Hazard and Lukaku were both fit for the knackers yard, De Bruyne was well off and told the rest of the world he thought they were too old to win, and Batshuayi was leading the line.

They can't just pick and choose elite level manager, who were they going to get that was out of work and wanted the job and speaks the lingo ? Spanish and Portuguese are fairly mutually intelligible languages (Portuguese understand oral Spanish speakers a bit better than vice versa), Portugal the country have an economy smaller than Romania and Ireland and not much bigger than the begging bowl paupers of Europe, Greece. I doubt the Portuguese FA have much money to go and get a Zidane or whoever. Kind Regards.

Martinez is elite level all of a sudden?

who said that?

I don't think anyone is saying that. I took it that Mes said Portugal cannot attract an elite coach so had to make to with Martinez.

Though you'd think an up and coming coach might have been an option.

Thought Figo might have become a manager, seemingly
no interest.

Jose Mourinho has revealed he turned down the opportunity to take over as Portugal manager after the dismissal of Fernando Santos.

Santos, who led the national team to Euro 2016 glory, was relieved of his duties after the 2022 World Cup. Portugal topped their group and beat Switzerland comfortably in the last 16, but suffered a surprise defeat to Morocco at the quarter-final stage.

Mourinho admitted he was "proud" after the approach from the Portuguese FA. However, having won the Europa Conference League with Roma last season, he ultimately opted to remain in the Italian capital.

"The fact that the president of the FPF said that I was not his first choice, but his only choice, makes me proud," the former Chelsea manager said, per Cabine Sport. "But I decided not to go. I'm here and that's what matters. Mourinho admitted he was "proud" after the approach from the Portuguese FA. However, having won the Europa Conference League with Roma last season, he ultimately opted to remain in the Italian capital.

Football management is one of the few lines of work where you can fail repeatedly and go from strength to strength stealing a living.

Politics too.

Wonder what his next job will be?

Surely sacked, finishing with 3 games without a goal.

Ronaldo made the difference this time. Mourinho would have been the only guy who could have binned him and survived. Players like Ramos, Felix, Jota been living in his shadow far too long and the others suffering the same fate United did with him. He doesn't score 40 a season any more and the team scores less with him in the team.

I think he did a half decent job there managing what had the potential to be a circus. Bit braver in normal time and they could have won it. They looked the more likely to score.

They played better  in this tournament than at the last WC and at least looked a semblence of a team.

He should be sacked for only giving Ramos 24 minutes all tournament when it was crying out for him to start never mind barely kick a ball, Ronaldo is too static in his movement yet the team as set up to serve him, whenever Silva, Fernandes or Leao got the ball they looked for him because they were instructed too but you could see at times they didn not want to pass to him. If he survives he may actually do well at the World Cup because the cry baby is retiring from international football now so there is no longer the Ronaldo problem.

Having said that, I always thought the Portuguese FA didn't have a pot to piss in but it turns out Martinez was the 3rd highest paid manager at the tournament on a bigger salary than Deschamps so maybe they could actually attract a higher calibre manager, Martinez has done OK but he's the same as Sven, wouldn't drop Beckham even when half fit because he was a big Beckham fanboy and Martinez probably wants to be a apart of the Ronaldo story so persisted with him hoping for the best. It's a good job for someone with the players they have, could be a real contender in 2 years time.

Kind Regards.