HELP PLEASE - ENGLISH

[LowerzBWFC]

Thanks Andre.

10-15€ is very good value, all of the teams in the English Premier League charge at least double this amount for ALL games! It's a shame that the stadium does not fill it's capacity, Bolton have the same problem, with many big teams in the area such as Manchester United and Liverpool, as well as Manchester City, the big spenders!

I think Portugal have been the better team when we have met, and also our players have lost concentration such as Rooney getting a red card. Hopefully Portugal can get through a tough group by winning the last 2 games, starting with Hungary on Saturday 

[andre_carneiro]

Thanks Andre.

10-15€ is very good value, all of the teams in the English Premier League charge at least double this amount for ALL games! It's a shame that the stadium does not fill it's capacity, Bolton have the same problem, with many big teams in the area such as Manchester United and Liverpool, as well as Manchester City, the big spenders!

It is a shame indeed! I do my part every home game. I have a season ticket and don't miss no game.
Braga shouldn't have that "big spender team" problem! This is a 200.000 people city in a 800.000 region. If half of this people supported SCB we would definitely be a big spender (at least in Portugal). Anyway, the stadium only has capacity for 30.000, and thats not even 1/5 of the city's population... (it reminds me of hoffenheim that has a the same capacity for a 5.000 people village and always fills the stadium... impressive).

The problem is that history says that only 3 teams can aspire for titles: Sporting CP, SL Benfica and FC Porto. Besides those 3, only Boavista in 2001 and Belenenses in the far far 40's (I think) won the championship... (curious or not Boavista is struggling to survive and plays on th 3th division... we think there's a conspiracy against outsiders...   )

What is frustrating for Braga supporters is that we have clear notion that most of the times those three teams are pushed or helped by the media... for example: at this moment Braga is the leader but all the head-titles refer to the great season Benfica is doing or to how terrible Sporting is playing... about braga!? one or two individual articles... but always sending the message that even though we are playing well... we will fall sooner or later. It's hard to maintain a winning mentality when everybody is expecting you to lose...
And as you may know the media works as free publicity for those clubs... now, braga... well we have the poor local newspaper... local radios, etc... and thats not enough to gather a big number of supporters.

[Pedro_RBA]

I don´t know if you already answer that, but you had wrote that mail for the SCBraga marketing? And what they said?

Saudações Ultras

[LowerzBWFC]

So, is the problem that the people of Braga support the other "Bigger" teams? (Porto, Benfica & Sporting) If so, this is very difficult to change, unless the team can break into the top 3. When watching "Portugol" which is the TV magazine show about the Portugese league, I notice that many of the teams (Naval, Rio Ave) often get less than 5000 supporters in their stadiums, which must make it almost impossible to compete.

I agree with you about the media coverage, most people in England would struggle to name more than 3 Portugese teams, and they would not know any of the players outside of those teams. ESPN are showing live matches, but they all involve the "Big 3" teams. The same problem is starting to happen in England, the top 6 teams fight for Champions League football with their wealthy owners and large support, and the more unfashionable teams all fight to survive in the Premier League, as many that go down to lower divisions do not come back and struggle to survive (Leeds Utd, Nottingham Forest) The top teams are helped by the fact that they always receive the most media coverage, the most televised games, and this makes them even wealthier, so the gap increases.

I really hope Braga can keep up their winning form, as a top 3 finish and Champions League qualification would earn them some more money and recognition across the european media platforms (similar to Wolfsburg, the current german champion).

What happened to Boavista? I remember their brief rise to the top of Portugese football, and I heard about their reported money problems, did they overspend on players and wages after their success?

[LowerzBWFC]

I don´t know if you already answer that, but you had wrote that mail for the SCBraga marketing? And what they said?

Saudações Ultras

Hi Pedro, I have not mailed them yet, as one of the forum members on here has emailed me and said they may be able to get a shirt for me and sell it to me on Ebay, hopefully we can do this 

[andre_carneiro]

I don´t know if you already answer that, but you had wrote that mail for the SCBraga marketing? And what they said?

Saudações Ultras

Hi Pedro, I have not mailed them yet, as one of the forum members on here has emailed me and said they may be able to get a shirt for me and sell it to me on Ebay, hopefully we can do this 

I was actually thinking of that!

But anyway, do us a favor and email the club complaining! You'll be one more and this time they'll pay attention for sure!

[Pedro_RBA]

I don´t know if you already answer that, but you had wrote that mail for the SCBraga marketing? And what they said?

Saudações Ultras

Hi Pedro, I have not mailed them yet, as one of the forum members on here has emailed me and said they may be able to get a shirt for me and sell it to me on Ebay, hopefully we can do this 

I was actually thinking of that!

But anyway, do us a favor and email the club complaining! You'll be one more and this time they'll pay attention for sure!

Yes.. Afterall, if they don't care the complainings of their portuguese fans, I hope that they at least listen to you!

Saudações Ultras

[andre_carneiro]

So, is the problem that the people of Braga support the other "Bigger" teams? (Porto, Benfica & Sporting) If so, this is very difficult to change, unless the team can break into the top 3. When watching "Portugol" which is the TV magazine show about the Portugese league, I notice that many of the teams (Naval, Rio Ave) often get less than 5000 supporters in their stadiums, which must make it almost impossible to compete.

5000? That would be great! Two years ago I went to see Beira-Mar - Braga and there was about 1000 people (500 from Braga) in a 30.000 people stadium... absolutely depressing!!!!
No wonder why 90% of our championship clubs struggle to pay the wages...

The cause is actually multiple!
First, the games are systematically not amusing... often the weaker teams play like Greece in Euro'04 (Big disgrace) always defending and expecting the opponent error... sometimes it works but most of the times it doesn't... and because they are so used to play like that the games normally are very tactic and often end with withdraws (commonly without goals).
Then the time the games are scheduled are outrageous sometimes... 9.30 in the night in a week day! Normally every weekend we play at different times (two weeks ago we actually played at 11h in the morning) depending on the TV transmissions.
I would spend days explaining all the reasons... what I'll tell you is that they don't realize that football is interesting when people actually go to the stadium to see it... and even the TV would gain viewers! For instance the only Portuguese games I see is the Braga games and on TV I see your Premier League games (in the middle of the afternoon normally and much more interesting).

I really hope Braga can keep up their winning form, as a top 3 finish and Champions League qualification would earn them some more money and recognition across the european media platforms (similar to Wolfsburg, the current german champion).

Unfortunately we have to finish leading to go directly to CL or second to go to the qualifying rounds.

What happened to Boavista? I remember their brief rise to the top of Portugese football, and I heard about their reported money problems, did they overspend on players and wages after their success?

Corruption... bad management... the usual...

[LowerzBWFC]

Sorry- I forgot the champions league placings had changed for these new playoffs

O.K I will send the club an email anyway to try and help you guys out 

I had noticed that the number of draws is high, and also that the games are low scoring, this can be a problem as the neutral fans want to watch exciting games on the TV, and the paying fans want to be entertained at the stadiums. This is another problem that Bolton have faced, our defensive style of play has caused the TV companies to ignore most of our games, we have not been shown live on television yet this season!

So - although it would not be good enough for Champions League football, would 3rd place this year be a big enough achievement for the people of Braga? Do you think it will help the team to develop and attract better players, and hopefully more supporters?

That can be the problem with the new stadiums that were built for Euro 2004, the atmosphere can be lost, as the capacity is too big for the club that plays there, whereas teams like C.D Nacional enjoy an intimidating home atmosphere in a smaller stadium, or so i am told!

[Karl]

Here's a post I made for a blog. It's already on SuperBraga bt I thought I'd post it here so you can read it. And Hi. I didnt see this. I'm Irish and I've lived in Braga for 7 years. Currently back in Dublin since June but hopefully going back soon...

Jorge Jesus and his playstation....

Last season Sporting Club de Braga's manager Jorge Jesus stated that the only way they would ever win the league would be on a Playstation. They had just been beaten by Benfica in Estadio da Luz 1-0 to an offside goal and had been denied two clear penalties. It was a bodyblow that Braga would not recover from and they ended up finishing 5th but gaining their sixth consecutive appearance in Europe, a feat few clubs in Portugal have equalled. Eduardo, Braga's goalkeeper, had gone 627 minutes until that fatal offside goal. Earlier in the season he had gone over 700 minutes in Europe only to be beaten by AC Milan's Ronaldinho in the 93rd minute of a UEFA cup game in Milan.
Ironically Jorge Jesus moved to Benfica in the off season in an extended contractual mess that involved 'alleged tapping' and ended up with Benfica paying Braga €700,000 and Jesus losing €300,000 season bonuses. He has been labelled "The Special Two" (after Mourinho - The Special One) by Manuel Machado, who manages Nacional, the team that finished one place ahead of Braga in the League. Their ongoing 'spat' will see them square up in a little over two weeks in the next round of the Portuguese league.

The media in Portugal suffers from verbal diarrhea. There are three big teams(Benfica, Porto and Sporting) and then there are the rest. Rarely does a team outside the so called 'Big 3' (Tres Grandes) get a meaningful mention other than the odd sideline. The 'Special Two' has jumped from the lower classes to the higher classes and the benfits are plain to see. Not a day goes by without a mention of his name. Mourinho may not be forgotten but due to Benfica's meteoric return to the echelons of greatness The 'Special Two' has become the media's favourite son. Headlines such as "Nobody will stop 'Benfica" have hyped the nation into believing that Porto's twenty year dominance may be at an end.

There is no doubt that Benfica are the biggest team in Portugal, the team with the most supporters, the team with most league wins, the team with the most 'associate' supporters in the world and there is no doubt that they've started this season with a bang. They've only dropped two points and have scored twenty four goals in seven games. It's clear for all to see that they have taken this league by storm and already raced three points ahead of Porto and an incredible seven points up on their city rivals Sporting. They have one of the highest goals per game ratios in Europe. They have won one game 8-1 only conceeding a goal in the last minute. The powerhouse that is Benfica has returned to take the crown that has elluded them for many years but is soon to be returned to it's rightful owner.

But, hold on a second(second being the correct word). The lower classes, or 'small clubs'(pequenas), are also shouting. The media ignore the cries. They fall on deaf ears. Benfica's five penalties in the first six games may seem over the top. After all, the referees have to do their jobs. That's what they are paid for. The steamroller that is Benfica takes no prisoners. It crushes all those who oppose its dominance. The 'Special Two' wants to take Mourinho's crown and become the new 'Special One'. If he stays more that 12 months it will be special indeed. Benfica go through managers so fast that the media have to mention each one 50 times a day so people can rmember who the current manager is. Benfica have had 10 managers in the last ten years.

But, hold on a second(Second is definitely the correct word). Benfica are 2nd in the league. 2nd? yes! 2nd! Sporting Clube de Braga are in 1st place. They are not only in 1st place. They have been there since day 1 when they were were the only team to win(incredibly the other seven games were all draws). Braga have the best defensive record in the league and have won all their seven games so far. They have beaten Sporting (away) and Porto (home), neither of whom Benfica have faced to date. The new rules, created by the football federation, dictated that none of the 'Big 3' (Grandes) could meet in the first three weeks of the season. Porto played Sporting in week six and won 1-0. Benfica will meet Sporting in week 11 and Porto in week 14 of the season. Week 15 marks the halfway point in the season.

So, The 'Special Two' play against his old foe Manuel Machado in the next game and then go to his former employers in Braga. Will Braga continue to surprise or will the Benfica steamroller continue to roll? For many it's no surprise. Braga have consistently improved over the past five years. They have considerably outfought Benfica in term of buying and selling players for profit over the past few years. Benfica had to sell percentages of many of their players this season to pay for their 25 million euro influx of stars(which does not include Barcelona's 14 million euro signing who was loaned to Benfica). Braga record by comparison is Mossoro, a €700,000 signing from Maritimo last year.
The 'Special Two' declared after Braga were uncerimoniously dumped from the new Europa League that no blame was to be assigned to him due to Braga's failure in Europe and his extended negotiations between himself, Benfica and Braga in June. But after Braga won their first six games he had to say that the majority of the team were his from the previous season. Such humilty!

Braga, if they manage to win their next game (away to Rio Ave), will equal the third greatest start in the history of the Portuguese league. After that it's Benfica and possibly an attempt on Sporting's record 11 wins at the start of a season. Will the steamroller crush the small club? Will the rabbit beat the tortoise? Or will the Pequenas(small ones) show that they have grown up and are ready to fight the big boys? Children who bully are usually bigger than their victims. Football teams who bully are usually richer than their adversaries. But when children grow up, just as football clubs grow, they end the bullying and start fighting back. The end is nigh?

Braga have beaten two title condenders in Porto and Sporting(who finished 1st and 2nd for the last three years). Benfica have yet to face up to any team of strength. Braga are two points clear of Benfica, five in front of Porto and ten in front of fourth placed Sporting. You make up your mind.
I'm sure the 'Special Two' has made up his mind. The rise to the top is long and difficult. The fall form grace is short and sharp. With already three managers having packed their bags already there are surely more to follow. Braga's manager Domingos Pacienca was under pressure after failing in the Europa League but his amazing run in the league has already secured his place in the history of the club. He's not 'too special' and is very humble in his approach. He manages from afar and leaves coaching to the coaches. He's a disciplinarian as Man Utd's on loan Rodrigo Possebom found out (He hasn't played since an outburst in the Europa League). And obviously he's a decent manager. Otherwise they wouldn;t be unbeaten and top of the league after seven games. And so the story continues...

There is no better time than now. The time to live is now. The time to dream is now. The time to imagine and forget the past is now. The time to shine is now. The time to bleed, sweat, and determine yourself for the things you want most is now.

[LowerzBWFC]

Ok those of you who were asking about the e-mail, I have sent the following to the club

I live in England, but follow the progress of SC Braga with a keen interest, ever since my team (Bolton Wanderers) faced Braga in the UEFA Cup. I am interested in purchasing a Braga home jersey to help promote the club in England. However, i cannot find a link to purchase the shirt via the website, and i can not find the shirt on any of the major kit suppliers (Kitbag.com etc.)



Can you please help me by quoting me the price and telling me where I may purchase one?



Thank you in advance,

Paul

Nice to meet you Karl, do you work in Braga then? It looks a lovely place.

I have just read the Blog post now, fantastic writing, and I have to agree with you, i'm no expert but it looks as though from the outside that Braga is a well run club who have bought and sold astutely in the transfer market. While Benfica look very strong this year, Sporting look weak to me, and Porto have lost one of the best goalscorers in Europe in Lisandro. I see no reason why Braga can't give these giants a good game, they do not have the midweek distraction of Europe, and will surely have a decent base of points to build on, hopefully as much as 24 after the Rio Ave match. It would be fantastic for Portugese football, and fantastic for the people of Braga, I just hope that the crowds would start turning up to support such a good team.

Only time will tell I guess! Lets hope Jorge Jesus gets what he deserves!

[krugger]

So - although it would not be good enough for Champions League football, would 3rd place this year be a big enough achievement for the people of Braga? Do you think it will help the team to develop and attract better players, and hopefully more supporters?

Well I don´t know if it would be enough to attract more supporters, or at least "good" suporters, not only the ones that only come when the team is wining.

But in terms of recognition it would be a very good step, because it would solidify what has been done in previous years, and make the club even more attractive to good players, for instance, I don´t believe that Hugo Viana whould have come to Braga if our results in the previous championships weren´t good, as they were, and of course this is a circle, you attract good players, the team will give a better "show" in the field and practice a more attractive football, this will call more people to the stadium and eventually make more supports. The biggest problem of this all is the cost that such team would represent to the structure of the club, although players will be keen on coming to play for us they won´t give away a considerable part of their wage just to play here, and that´s the biggest problem, is the investment made in good players have the financial payback, not in terms of the sport, but in terms of the revenue??? Last year we have made a serious, and risky in my opinion, effort to make the team even more competitive, this year we did not sell many players, and the ones we did the deal wasn´t the best, maybe Orlando was but we are not sure of the terms of the deal,  so our finances aren´t that good, and we cannot handle another year like that.

But we are growing, one step at the time, there are a lot of things that have to be done, even in the structure of the Club, make it more professional, this takes time to present results and we must be patient.

[LowerzBWFC]

So - although it would not be good enough for Champions League football, would 3rd place this year be a big enough achievement for the people of Braga? Do you think it will help the team to develop and attract better players, and hopefully more supporters?

Well I don´t know if it would be enough to attract more supporters, or at least "good" suporters, not only the ones that only come when the team is wining.

But in terms of recognition it would be a very good step, because it would solidify what has been done in previous years, and make the club even more attractive to good players, for instance, I don´t believe that Hugo Viana whould have come to Braga if our results in the previous championships weren´t good, as they were, and of course this is a circle, you attract good players, the team will give a better "show" in the field and practice a more attractive football, this will call more people to the stadium and eventually make more supports. The biggest problem of this all is the cost that such team would represent to the structure of the club, although players will be keen on coming to play for us they won´t give away a considerable part of their wage just to play here, and that´s the biggest problem, is the investment made in good players have the financial payback, not in terms of the sport, but in terms of the revenue??? Last year we have made a serious, and risky in my opinion, effort to make the team even more competitive, this year we did not sell many players, and the ones we did the deal wasn´t the best, maybe Orlando was but we are not sure of the terms of the deal,  so our finances aren´t that good, and we cannot handle another year like that.

But we are growing, one step at the time, there are a lot of things that have to be done, even in the structure of the Club, make it more professional, this takes time to present results and we must be patient.

This is definitely true, if the club was to grow too quickly, the results could be disastrous, the club need to operate within what they can afford, which may mean that the growth has to be slow and steady, rather than bringing in a team of world beaters overnight. This is why loan deals are great, as there are no hefty transfer fee's attached, and also the team is not tied down with players on big wages and long contracts. it also means that if a player does not live up to his reputation (Possebon is a good example of this so far) then the club is not stuck paying the wages of an unwanted player.

[Karl]

I was working in Braga until June. Will be hopefully going back for the Benfica game at the end of e month and the derby gderby game in Guimaraes athe bdginning of November. The club is being built slowly and like all things mistakes are being made as the club grows. The merchandising side of the club is pretty much a disaster as they really dont know how to utilise such a big area that would bring in lots of money if it was done properly. The new jersey's weren't available until near the end of September. I know the company that supplied them got some big orders from big clubs and I dont know if its this or the fact that Braga have just taken their eye off the ball. I would be interested to hear if you get a reply back fom our mail. I wrote to them a month ago and still havent heard anything back yet.

I can't underestimate how large a jump the club hs taken compared to last season. At the half way point last season we only had 23 points. I wont complain about the ridiculous refereeing. Also having played two of the so called 'big 3' it takesa litle bit of pressure off. Those games obviously are huge hurdles that we have crossed already. You could imagine it would be equivalent of Bolton beating Man Utd and Liverpool in the first few games. Not exactly the same but you get my drift. Week 8 matches will be very decisive. Braga travel to Rio Ave and it's always a tough place to go for us. They knocked us out of the league cup there last season. Whereas Benfica play at home to Nacional. The managers of both teams have had an ongoing and very public dislike for each other over the past couple of seasons and even though Nacional haven't had a great start to the league they are well capable of getting apoint. Benfica on the other hand have played mostly understregth teams and without te referees giving them dodgy penalties they would be in 3rd place. They have lots of talented players but at times look very dodgy at the back. Ronaldo has nothing on these boys... They have mastered the dive.

Watched the game against spurs last week. Bolton played very well and were very unlucky not to get the full three points. The kind of game you remember at the end of the season when you wish you had those extra couple of points.

I saw Frank Worthington play in Dublin for Galway United against my local team St. Patrick's Athletic in the late 80's. He must have been about 41 or 42 at the time. The man's a legend. He played for about 20 different clubs.


Anyway Paul, I hope you keep posting and keep us up to date on your games too. Hopefully they might add an English thread here which would encourage more football fans like yourself to have their say. It's a good football forum. Its one of the few (If not the only) forum that has little or no crap going on in it. Most are administrated to kep opposing supporters out of heir forums. This is a free forum tha anyne can enter.
Thanks for joining in.

[andre_carneiro]

I suggested to the moderators to open a folder (or however it is called) to the english or foreign talk. Hopefully we'll have a appropriate space to discuss in english!

[Karl]

Nice one Andre!

For anybody who doesn't know who Frank Worthington was here's a video of his most famous goal.

Frank Worthington Super Goal!

[LowerzBWFC]

Thanks Andre that would be great, I know I am in the minority at the moment but hopefully more people will start taking an interest in Portugese football over here now that it is getting the coverage on television, something which we never had before.

I will keep you posted on the marketing email situation, I must admit that i was surprised at how far behind that side of the club was, and as for Benfica, it would seem that this is a huge game both for Braga to see how far they have advanced in 12 months, and for the return of the ex-manager.

As for Bolton, you probably saw us playing the best football we have played for 6 months, I just think that the manager has lost the fans now, and will struggle to get them back, but time will tell. As for Frank Worthington, a little before my time in terms of his playing career but I have met him at the Reebok along with a few of the ex players and they are a really good bunch, I wish I had the privilege of watching them play.

I will continue to post, as I have been welcomed on here by a lot of posters and have had some brilliant discussion which has really helped me pick up an understanding of the club. Hopefully I will get to see the team play in person soon! Would you recommend Guimaraes as one of the best matches to attend in terms of atmosphere with them being the local rivals?

Cheers

Paul

[LowerzBWFC]

Nice one Andre!

For anybody who doesn't know who Frank Worthington was here's a video of his most famous goal.

Awesome 

Almost as good as Alan 

[Luís Duarte]

Would you recommend Guimaraes as one of the best matches to attend in terms of atmosphere with them being the local rivals?

Yes, I would. It will probably be one of the best matches, attending to our rivalry and mutual hate (just kidding ).

[andre_carneiro]

Would you recommend Guimaraes as one of the best matches to attend in terms of atmosphere with them being the local rivals?

Yes, I would. It will probably be one of the best matches, attending to our rivalry and mutual hate (just kidding ).

Guimarães or Sporting. Since we won't play Porto for the league at home and Benfica is in a few weeks... besides I think SCB-Benfica is not a very good game to see... lots of tension and probably some stupid happenings... nothing serious though.