From Abel to Victor Pereira. Race to the succession of Rui Borges in Sporting

Rui Borges is going through what is the most delicate period since he was officially presented as the successor of João Pereira in the technical command of Sporting, on December 26, 2024, following a start of the sport season of 2026/27 that has been revealed to be below expectations, with eight wins, three draws and two losses after 13 official games, in all competitions.

Now, according to the Thursday edition of the newspaper The Ball, the Mirandelense knows that, at this moment, it is at least complicated that it will remain in office for much longer. Still, he does not give up turning the situation around, and he is preparing with normality the meeting of the tenth day of the I Liga, before the Casa Pia, which has initial whistle scheduled for 8:15 p.m. (hour of Continental Portugal) on Friday, at the Municipal Stadium of Rio Maior.

Frederico Varandas, for his part, stands on the side of the 45-year-old coach... without neglecting the future, so, he adds the same publication, he will even have begun to ‘sound’ the market in search of a possible successor, with the certainty that whoever is elected will have to have given proof. And there are already, even, a number of names that, not being discarded, go there.

It is the case that Abel Ferreira and Leonardo Garden, who, despite the appreciation they deserve from the president of lions, are, at this moment, ‘impossible missions’, given the high salary they earn, respectively, in Palmeiras and Flamengo, the main candidates for the title of Brazilian champion. The first contract ends in 2027, and the second already in December.

Vítor Pereira (who has been free since last summer when he left Nottingham Forest) and Sergio Conceição (in the same condition, after the ‘goodbye’ to Al-Ittihad Jeddah) are other names that have been pointed out with particular assistance to the bench of green and white alternates, but are ‘letters out of the deck’, for profoundly different reasons.

The state of play of Sporting

Sporting, remember, is currently in the third position of the I Liga, with 18 points, less nine than the leader, FC Porto, less four than the second ranked, Benfica, and as many as Santa Clara, after last weekend having left (surprisingly) defeated from the clash with the Academic of Viseu, in the middle of Stadium José Alvalade, by 1-2.

The situation is less worrying in the Champions League, as it lives in the sixth place (which gives access to the playoff), with six points won in six possible, as many as Barcelona, such as Manchester City, Club Brugge and Borussia Dortmund), as a result of two triumphs (over Galatasaray, by 3-1, and Lens, by 0-2) and a defeat (before LASK Linz, by 2-3).

In the League Cup, he guaranteed the clearance for the final half, when he received and beat the Marítimo, on Tuesday, for 2-1, while, in the Cup of Portugal, the entry on the scene (in the fourth elimination) is scheduled for the weekend of 21 and 22 November, against the Union of Serra, in the Stadium José Alvalade.