Feirense was unquestionably the biggest positive sensation of the league, this season. Having just arrived from second division, Feirense was expected to be having nothing more than a relegation avoidance race during the season. And the way it started, it really seemed that it was Fogaceiros fate for the year to be struggling in the bottom side of the table. With experienced José Mota in charge, the team never showed the enthusiastic football that eventually would capture everyone’s attention in latter stages of the season.
With José Mota at the helm, Feirense played mostly with defensive minded midfielders and even in the wings, players like Vitor Bruno were being picked. As a result, not only Feirense played a charmless football, the results were also not appearing and, by the 14th round, Feirense was in relegation zone, having gathered only 3 victories in 14 matches. The board decided to sack him, and interim Nuno Manta picked up the team. The results were immediate, and the board decided to sign the young coach permanently. Manta brought more creative players into the team, with the likes of Tiago Silva having more and more minutes. The team felt comfortable in this new approach, and the results couldn’t be clearer: from a relegation position, Feirense reached a fantastic 8th place in the table. This was the very first time Feirense actually managed to avoid relegation when in First division, so the 8th place is, by far, an absolute record position for Feirense at Portuguese top flight.
The aforementioned Tiago Silva gave plenty creativity to the midfield, while Etebo and Luís Machado were the main agitators in the attack. Karamanos had a competent season in the striker position, having scored six goals, while Platiny showed also good striking skills, but unfortunately picked an injury in the best period of the team. Some team-minded players like midfielders Ricardo Dias and Cris Santos, as well as defenders Vítor Bruno, Ícaro Silva and Luís Rocha deserve all a mention, but the man who shine the brightest was goalkeeper Vaná who, after stealing the position to more experienced Peçanha, had a good season and a couple of memorable performances, especially the one he picked at Estádio do Dragão, holding a 0-0 draw almost by himself.
