Famalicão and Carvalhal end coaching contract by mutual agreement

At the final whistle at Estádio Municipal das Laranjeiras in Paredes on 18 October, Famalicão players protested a late goal-kick decision after an Abubakar header; police came onto the pitch as a confrontation formed. Gil Dias, sent off after a disagreement with Paredes players, had to be held back by Famalicão staff, while Famalicão supporters strongly protested the team, A Bola reported. Carvalhal said the players were very sad for the supporters and accepted their discontent. The 1-0 defeat sent the I Liga side out of the Taça de Portugal at the hands of a Liga 3 club.

CNN Portugal described the Paredes defeat as the tipping point in Carlos Carvalhal’s departure, after a league start that had left Famalicão with seven points from eight matches. They were 13th, only three points above the relegation places, according to CNN Portugal, and had lost 4-1 at home to Alverca the week before. Record reported that the points total fell short of the club’s ambitions, though Famalicão’s statement gave no reason for the departure. With the next league match approaching, Famalicão had to respond before the gap to danger narrowed further.

The league record was part of a wider run: Carvalhal won only one of his nine official matches in charge, with four draws and four defeats, according to CNN Portugal. The sole victory came away to Nacional, a 4-0 result on 19 September. That win stood out against a spell in which Famalicão had struggled to turn performances into a sequence of results.

Before travelling to Paredes, Carvalhal had promised to treat the cup tie like a league fixture and select his strongest available side. He also said the squad was confident it could respond to the Alverca defeat, a week earlier. The words set a clear expectation for a team already needing a result: Famalicão would not use the lower-division opposition as an excuse to rotate or lower its standards.

We will play in Paredes as if it were a league match. We know the difficulties they can cause us, but we are confident. The best players will play, and that is what will happen tomorrow. We will go at full strength, with the best we have.

Carvalhal’s post-match account did not blame the cup exit on bad luck. He said Paredes had been braver and deserved to lead at half-time; after the break, Famalicão had more possession and moved closer to goal, but failed to score from two or three chances.

Paredes had a very strong attitude and played a very good first half. They deserved to be ahead at half-time, without any doubt.

The difficulty, he said, was dealing with the visitors’ direct approach. Famalicão had prepared for long kicks from the goalkeeper, but struggled to close the channels and win the first ball, let alone the second. Carvalhal said Paredes’ speed also allowed them, at times, to get beyond his defenders.

Those problems had been part of a wider defensive repair. In early September, Carvalhal said Famalicão had conceded in each of their first three matches and needed urgently to stabilise at the back. After the goalless match with Gil Vicente, he pointed to more aggression and better defensive organisation as progress, but said the team still had to move the ball forward faster, create chances and score.

We had to stop the goals going in and stabilise the defensive process. That was an emergency. There is still a lot of work to do: play more progressive passes, get to goal faster, create chances and score.

The next day, Famalicão announced that Carvalhal and the club had ended their coaching contract by mutual agreement. Its statement thanked him and his staff, but offered no account of why the partnership was ending or what either side had decided. That left the formal wording to carry the announcement.

The club’s phrasing was not the only description of the exit. CNN Portugal and SIC Notícias described Carvalhal’s departure as a dismissal in their reports, while Famalicão’s own announcement presented it as an agreement between both parties. The distinction matters: the statement confirmed the contract had ended, but did not disclose who initiated the decision or explain how the agreement was reached.

Carvalhal had also made the case that this squad needed time to take shape. In September, he described Famalicão as young and newly assembled, with players who had played little the previous season and others still unfamiliar with Portuguese football. Building a team from those parts, he said, could not happen at once.

That was his strongest reason to resist a quick judgement: the work was still under way, and the players had not yet built the understanding he wanted. But after the cup defeat, he also admitted that Famalicão had not convinced in either its previous match or against Paredes, and said the players were deeply disappointed. The case for patience came with a clear concession about what supporters had seen.

In the last match, we did not convince, and today neither.

Famalicão’s poor start followed a fifth-place finish last season, the highest league position in the club’s history. That recent achievement gave the new campaign a higher benchmark than simply avoiding trouble, even as Carvalhal described a young, newly assembled squad still learning to play together.

Paredes’ win also belonged to a wider cup-round story. Six teams from the secondary divisions beat top-flight opponents in the third round, Record reported, making the result part of a broader challenge to clubs from the I Liga rather than an isolated surprise.

Paredes coach Agostinho Bento was careful not to let the cup run change his team’s priorities. The league campaign, he said, remained the central objective, and his players had already turned their attention to the next match.

Our main objective remains the league. We have already been talking about the next match, because we cannot lose focus.

At the final whistle in Paredes, the immediate uncertainty was whether Famalicão could turn a troubling afternoon into a response. The answer now begins on the training ground: assistant Ricardo Silva is to lead sessions while the club considers Carvalhal’s successor. That leaves the interim coach with little time before the next league fixture, and no permanent replacement named.

The next test comes away to Rio Ave. It will offer the first indication of how the side responds under interim charge, while the club’s search continues.

• The appointment of a permanent successor, when Famalicão announce their decision.