Setúbal is getting an expert on last minute salvations. For the third time in the current century, ‘Sadinos’ got into the last match in trouble and managed to save themselves from relegation. This time, things were really ugly for Setúbal; in a group of five teams that were fighting to avoid relegation right until the last minute, Setúbal was the only team that could have been dropping to second division even with a win. Fortunately for the historic Portuguese team, things went good for them, and the 1-0 win in the last round was enough.
It was such a draining and demanding season, however, that coach José Couceiro admitted right after the final match that he was “exhausted” and had no conditions to continue at the helm of the team for the next season.
Things didn’t start so badly for Setúbal. Although nothing fancy, Setúbal’s first phase had only three defeats in the first 9 rounds, all of them while on the road and against tough opponents like title contenders Sporting; it even included two great home wins over European contenders Braga and Marítimo. The 10th round would become a turning point for Setúbal. For bad. A 2-5 heavy defeat to newly promoted Portimonense seemed to have shaken the team’s spirit, and from then on Setúbal went on a 11 games without winning, which started with 6 consecutive defeats, including two heavy ones against big teams Benfica and Porto (0-6 and 0-5). By the end of these 6 consecutive defeats, Setúbal was on the very bottom of the table.
With Gonçalo Paciência in great form (particularly on cup matches), Setúbal got back on track, and collect 14 points out of the next 10 rounds. More than that, Setúbal built a good home form that allowed them to collect a vital sum of home points that would turn out to be decisive in the end. From round 16 until the end, Setúbal lost at home on only two occasions, one of them against the title contenders Benfica. While it wasn’t certainly enough to take Setúbal out of any trouble, it was at least good enough to get them in a respectable 13th position, by the time we were entering the final 6 rounds.
Without Gonçalo Paciência, who was called back home to FC Porto for the second lap of the season, and with João Amaral struggling with physical problems, Setúbal’s firepower was not that sharp to attack those final games, even if the winter signing André Pereira was proving to be a valuable piece for Couceiro. In those final – and crucial – six rounds, Setúbal messed up in pretty much almost all of them. After the predictable home defeat to Benfica, and a home draw against Guimarães, Setúbal lost all the next three games, including two direct games against relegation contenders, Feirense and Estoril. This threw Setúbal into the last place of the table for the very final round. And then Setúbal pulled out a last minute safety net to avoid the final clash. A one goal victory over Feirense was enough to save them from getting relegated.
While Gonçalo Paciência, well supported by João Amaral, picked Setúbal into a reasonable first half of the season, André Pereira and Edinho led the attacks to avoid a relegation scenario in the final lap. But if we were up to pick up a name that was there for the whole season, playing in a more than decent level, we would have to go with attacking midfielder João Costinha, on whom José Couceiro relied on during the entire year to get things working on the creative department.
