It was a strange season for the newly promoted Desportivo das Aves. Despite their condition of a team just arriving at top flight football, Aves started the season under big expectations: there was a big outside investment on the team, made by sponsors and investors, that resulted in a squad filled with well known names in Portuguese football, like Paulo Machado, Vítor Gomes, Pedrinho, or the loaned Ryan Gauld, Derley and Arango. However, there was a simultaneous fear that it would all become too artificial and the collection of names wouldn’t gel and form a team.
Those fears would prove to be quite accurate. Dramatically accurate, in fact. By the time league was on its 10th round, Aves had only collected a single win, when playing at home against Belenenses. Other than that, it was 6 defeats and three draws. It was too bad to even believe. Ricardo Soares only lasted 8 rounds as Aves’ gaffer. Then, Lito Vidigal arrived, but the first two matches were defeats.
After a good three games, including a home draw against leaders Porto and two away wins, Aves got back at a very bad phase, with 6 defeats and one draw in between the rounds 14 and 20. Lito Vidigal wouldn’t resist it, and left the club during that period, having lasted the very same 8 rounds as his predecessor.
After one match under the management of the interim Professor Neca, the experiences José Mota took control, and after some weeks, things improved. But not too much. José Mota brought a bigger focus on the defending side of the game, and Aves had their best period of the season when the picked a good sequence of 5 games without defeats: it was three wins, two draws and four clean sheets. Unfortunately, Aves was not able to get a good continuation to that phase, and defeats started to appear again.
Up to a point where Aves was in deep trouble at one point. After losing their 31st round match against Tondela, Aves was only one point away from relegation spots. They knew they would have to play their very best in the final three rounds in order to avoid relegation. And they did. Aves managed to clinch two victories in the very two first attempts, being officially free from relegation already on the 33rd round.
The best part of the season, however, was Aves’ performance on Taça de Portugal. Not only did Desportivo das Aves granted a spot on the glamorous final, they managed to win it by getting a great 2-1 victory over a Sporting in deep crisis.
Despite all the sounding names that populated Aves squad, this season, it was a second division star to shine the brighter. Amilton was playing in second division, precisely on Portimonense, in the previous season. The Brazilian winger/forward continued his great form this time on top flight and was responsible for most of Aves success in the attack. The big squad meant that there as many changes in the lineup from one round to the other, almost everytime, and that ended being a reason for Aves inconsistent performance during the season. Another effect was that there were very few other players to have a consistent good season. Vítor Gomes was always a stand out when playing, but whether because of physical problems, or simply in order for other players to get their shot at the first team, Vítor Gomes was not always being picked to start all matches. Carlos Ponck, being a centre-half, was one of the few that played most matches, and most of the times he did it with clean efficiency. Nildo Petrolina, just like Vítor Gomes, had a few moments of brilliancy, but was not always a first team pick.
Player of the Season: Amilton Minervino Silva
