France Bleu Gironde: What is the image of Gerard Lopez in Boavista?
Matthew Montero de Gulaco In Portugal, the clubs are sports limited companies and when Gerard Lopez arrived in Boavista, he bought the majority of SAS, thus the rest goes back to the socios who are shareholders in the club. For two years, since the arrival of Gerard Lopez in the summer of 2020, the relationship has not been exceptional. Boavista’s supporters are not happy about having a majority shareholder who can make decisions on their behalf, and there have been instances of it being misinterpreted. In addition to the sporting results that were very difficult in the first season with maintenance obtained on the last day as in Lille during Gerard Lopez’s first year and the second season this year which ended better. We have the feeling that we have a bit more Portuguese organizational and organizational structure in the decision-making process, with coach Petit arriving during the last season and starting to take the reins in restructuring the club, both at the level of its technical staff and at the level of the recruitment and performance unit.
If you were in the position and the relationship was really complicated in the first year, you seem to describe that things will improve a little bit in the second season?
Boavista finished 12ᵉ this season, a better season than last when the club barely lasted, the club reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue sparking a lot of emotions and not much since his return. In 2014. The second season was a little better at the level of the athlete. There are players who put in their bids, like Peter Moses who just signed with Benfica, which was good for the club’s finances. The performances were consistent and even of a very good quality and maintenance was acquired very quickly, and finally the young coach who arrived, who is nonetheless a legend for the club, a very nice player for the Boavista champion in 2001 and the vice-champion in 2002. So he is someone who somewhat eased the tensions around the club. during the last season.
We heard about us in Bordeaux from Boavista because of the recruitment difficulties after the €200,000 that would not have been paid to Adil Rami. Are Boavista’s finances today, what you know about them, are they somewhat healthy or are they complicated?
Today, it’s settled for Adel Rami. Last week, with the Portuguese championship over, the licenses to participate in the tournament were validated or denied, and Boavista’s licenses were accepted a few days ago, so far. So at this level, there is no problem. Boavista has already been recruited, a transfer window that started very early and that surprised fans a bit with three players already arriving. So it’s also part of that tension easing around the club, who can recruit and look forward to next season more calmly.
In conclusion, Matthew Monteiro, from Gerard Lopez to Boavista, started poorly but is progressing.
We can say it this way, even if mistrust is still very present at club level. There was this story in particular with Adel Rami that could have led to a possible conscription ban that eventually won’t happen. In the winter of 2021, Boavista failed to sign a second-tier player due to such financial problems, thus creating great anxiety among Boavista fans. They also see very well what is happening in Bordeaux and especially what happened in Mouscron. So we will not talk about the starry sky in Boavista. The mistrust remains, but it is true that sporting results and having a coach who means a lot to fans have calmed things down a bit over the past few months.
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