His character is hard to stand not only for the management, but also for his teammates (at least that is what Marek Jóźwiak said in an interview). It is not a mystery that he has a super-big ego.
Some "fresh" article about Goncalo Feio, if anyone is interested, translated by Google translator:
Fights, arguments, spitting, insults. Sending the club president to hospital. Fight with security. Contrary to appearances, this is not the record of the leader of a hooligan militia or a stadium thug. This is the CV of coach Goncalo Feio. A coach with huge ambitions that we couldn't wait to see come true until... someone started seriously considering him as Legia Warszawa's coach. According to Tomasz Włodarczyk, the Portuguese is to be candidate No. 1, after Kosta Runjaic was fired today.
The label of a moneymaker and a brawler with a big ego has accompanied Goncalo Feio almost always. His career was developing quite well. He played for Benfica Lisbon and was an internship at Arsenal. In Poland, he started with Legia Warszawa, then joined Wisła Kraków, and finally co-founded one of the best training staffs in the country - Marek Papszun's team in Raków Częstochowa.
He started working on his own account on an interesting project with great aspirations, as we should talk about Motor Lublin. At the same time, it was no secret that he was considered for employment in Arka Gdynia or Radomiak Radom. He appeared as a person with a fresh idea and great competences, which is not untrue.
The problem was that there was an imp sitting on Feio's left shoulder. A pest that at one point caused the Portuguese to be unable to stop himself from activating the self-destruct protocol. The community turned a blind eye to this for a long time because his coaching skills raised hopes. – Oh, maybe he'll finally get his act together, there's no point in bothering him – many people thought, which is why Goncalo's subsequent antics, even if they were an open secret, got away with him.
However, the events in Lublin changed the approach to Feio's explosive temperament. He may not have another chance to redeem himself.
“Goncalo Feio got into a scuffle with security, starting a brawl in the VIP area. After Wisła Kraków's home matches, it is customary for players and coaches to meet in the VIP box with fans and club sponsors. To enter the lodge, everyone receives an ID badge. Feio didn't take him with him, the security guard said he couldn't let him in. The Portuguese started behaving aggressively. Manuel Junco, Wisła's sports director, tried to calm down Feio, who pushed the woman away from security. A few minutes later, Feio started shouting at the security guard and ended up spitting on him.”
This is the report of "Gazeta Krakowska" from the match between Wisła Kraków and Piast Gliwice. Goncalo Feio's first jump that made it to the media. The Portuguese later apologized to the security staff, although he initially claimed that he had been provoked by them. The situation calmed down, also because Feio was just one of the staff members. His role was not significant enough for inappropriate behavior to come back to him at every turn. However, this was not the first warning signal sent by the coach. Even when he worked for Legia Warszawa, his behavior was questionable.
– It's not about any specific situation or crossing a border. We just sometimes felt like he had no control over his emotions. This intensified especially around the match, when he seemed to be in a sort of frenzy. He was nervous, he didn't remember some situations - we hear from the Warsaw club.
However, Goncalo Feio's problems seemed to grow along with his position in Polish football. From Wisła Kraków he went to AO Xanthi, where Kiko Ramirez worked. It was he who introduced Feio to the staff of the first White Star team. They both stayed in Greece for a short time, and then they ended up in Raków Częstochowa. The Portuguese formally: he was hired as the second coach, assistant to Marek Papszun. This was the beginning of the best period of Feio's career, which grew from month to month.
Goncalo Feio in Raków Częstochowa. Papszun's right hand and a knockout during the game
Goncalo Feio definitely didn't limit himself to setting up cones. Marek Papszun quickly established a rapport with him and appreciated his knowledge and skills. Feio, in partnership with Dawid Szwarga, became his two closest collaborators. – The person I had the opportunity to work with, who improved and updated many things, was Goncalo Feio. Coach Papszun's greatest strength is that he looks for people from whom he can get some knowledge - the aforementioned Szwarga admitted to us.
Dawid Szwarga: They said I watch too much League+ Ekstra
At some point, the Portuguese began to be mentioned as a natural candidate for Papszun's successor. Someone who will step into his shoes when Raków proves to be too tight for the first coach. In Częstochowa, not everyone shared this enthusiasm - behind the scenes it was said that Marek Śledź did not like him - but the atmosphere around Feio was positive for a long time. The first signals about the young coach's recalcitrant nature appeared when Papszun was linked with Legia Warszawa. Goncalo apparently took the claims of being the rightful heir to the throne for granted, because he was said to have sulked that the leadership had not designated him as the successor.
Ultimately, however, there was no change in the position of the first coach, so there were no reasons for tensions. Well, except with rivals. During the Polish Cup final, in which Raków Częstochowa played against Lech Poznań, Feio harassed Kolejorz employees. Rumor has it that the Portuguese started a fight with Maciej Palczewski, the goalkeeping coach of the Polish champion. This information (confirmed in several sources) seems to clearly suggest that Goncalo loses his cool head and common sense in stressful situations. After all, Palczewski is a nearly two-meter tall guy who - to put it mildly - is in a slightly different weight class.
Feio lacked a cool head in another altercation with a member of the coaching staff. This time, however, it was about his co-worker, and this time the matter could not be nipped in the bud. During Raków's training game, members of the staff played a short sparring match with each other. At one point, the Portuguese got angry with the team manager and jumped into a fight with him. He chose the wrong rival, because not only did he end up on the boards, but he was also forced to look for a new job.
Feio was not saved by coach Papszun's competence and respect. The medallions made a nod towards him anyway, presenting his departure as a desire to develop, to go on his own, not to mention an internal problem.
Goncalo Feio: Life is too short not to play in European cups
Goncalo Feio at Motor Lublin. Reconstruction and enchantment
The environment was already abuzz with gossip. Łukasz Olkowicz from "Przegląd Sportowy" asked the Portuguese directly whether it was really necessary to sacrifice one of the people involved in that clash. Feio denied it, people knew better. Another row caused question marks to be placed next to his name. He pulls a security guard, spits on a security guard, and fights with his co-workers. Difficult character. However, there was still a BUT at the end, which pushed the trainer's problematic temperament into the background.
He was still a damn talented, promising young coach.
Goncalo Feio is great at talking about football. He is a grateful interlocutor and a sought-after expert, because he can sell great analyzes in such a way that even a layman quickly understands what he means. He comes from Portugal, a land that breeds many talents and is able to diagnose what we lack to follow in their footsteps. He talked to the owners of clubs, including those in the top league, and was able to convince them of his vision and sell them his view of football. He was uncompromising and honest in all this.
His arrival at Motor Lublin, a club plagued by problems and unable to use its potential, was a very interesting move. For both sides.
– Lublin is a city that feels the ball. As long as I was outside, I wasn't fully aware of it. If I have the right support, Motor can be the project of my life. I'm convinced of this, that's why I came here. Before I made the decision, me and President Tomczyk talked with Mr. Jakubas for a total of several hours - also about things that need to be changed immediately and which need to be changed in the long run. We agreed all this in advance, that's why I decided - explained the interested person himself.
Goncalo Feio: Motor Lublin could be the project of my life
It quickly turned out that words follow actions. Goncalo Feio turned Motor Lublin into a team that can play good football and score well. He helped the team out of the bottom of the table and charmed the players with his approach. The conditions in the club have also improved. Out of the considerable chaos, a place emerged with conditions for training and regeneration that were comparable to those available to teams from higher leagues. The engine finally started to look like a team with a big budget should look like. In the winter, when the second league player talked to potential new acquisitions, they didn't even want to hear about other offers.
Paweł Tomczyk vs. Goncalo Feio. What is the conflict at Motor Lublin about?
– This is a person I trust and who showed me that he is always on my side. We have a similar vision for the development of the club, the team and the people we want to surround ourselves with. I know that he is a man of his word who, if he declares something, then follows through. He can expect the same from me. President Tomczyk is from here, he is a student of Motor and he will do everything to make us successful, because it is "his" club - Feio told us in the conversation mentioned earlier.
It was Paweł Tomczyk who introduced him to the club from Lublin, so his warm words were not surprising. It was surprising how this relationship fell apart over the course of a few months. Tomczyk was not a favorite of the fans, who were particularly disliked when Motor increased ticket prices for the Polish Cup match with Raków Częstochowa. He bravely defended this decision in interviews, but it is hard to disagree with the fans who criticized him for his excessive desire to cash in on his historic success and warned that it would have the opposite effect. Goncalo quite unexpectedly used this case to attack the president. Suddenly he sided with the fans and began publicly attacking Tomczyk at press conferences.
– I am on an equal footing with the president, he cannot fire me.
– We are the only club in Poland where the president is smiling after defeats.
This is just a small sample of the Portuguese coach's taunts. He stopped being outspoken only when the owner and the president announced a joint press conference. Then Goncalo Feio said that he would not appear because the pitch spoke for him and he did not have to add anything.
However, when these words were uttered, the conflict was already in full swing. The bomb exploded when Goncalo Feio posted his statement on a private channel after one of the sparring matches. The coach took a tour of the city's companies and, not for the first time, put forward the thesis that a lot of people in Lublin are making things difficult for Motor and are not helping the club get back on its feet. It's not that the Portuguese was completely wrong, but the club said that the coach had exaggerated and releasing such words through the official channel at a time when Motor is negotiating a new contract with the city and MOSiR would be a shot in the foot.
Feio became furious.
There was a strange atmosphere in the club corridors, the coach did not greet the president, and the players began to wonder what it was all about. While they appreciated the coach and believed that he had won better working conditions for them, they felt that Feio was starting to fight at windmills and create unnecessary conflicts. There were also rumors in Lublin that the origin of the dispute with Paweł Tomczyk was not the president's unprofessional approach. Goncalo himself said that, together with Tomczyk, he won many cases with the club's owner, Zbigniew Jakubas. The coach couldn't complain about the lack of reinforcements either: he got basically everything he wanted.
Everything except one. Feio was supposed to be trying to get a better job for his partner, who also joined Motor from Raków. Tomczyk allegedly stated that employing her in the Lublin club was a sufficient favor. Especially since the potential promotion was not supported by the competences of the person we are talking about. It was then that the relationship between the coach and the president would finally break down.
Motor Lublin. Coach Goncalo Feio sent president Paweł Tomczyk to the hospital
Goncalo Feio went to war with Paweł Tomczyk. He took advantage of the fact that the president is not the fans' favorite, so every time he sided with them and attacked the alleged dilettantism of the helmsmen, he fell on fertile ground. For years, the problem in Motor Lublin has been activists who dragged the club down by making a number of disastrous decisions. The Portuguese has actually brought professionalism to many areas of the everyday functioning of the second league, so why not believe him when - seemingly - he is fighting for further changes? The problem is that such actions were effective externally. There, it was possible to spread lies that Feio's partner is being tormented and that he himself is becoming a victim of too much involvement in the affairs of the Motor.
When the Portuguese started looking for allies in the club, he found less fertile ground. Calls to the owner did not help, and it was not possible to convince the employees that Tomczyk was evil incarnate. The failure of this mission caused tension on subsequent fronts.
– It all started because of misunderstandings between the president and the coach. I was between them, I had to cooperate with both of them, that's logical. The coach thought I should be 100% on his side. I replied that if the president tells me not to do something, I don't do it. The trainer has behaviors in which he cannot control himself. He's nice and smiling for five minutes, and then suddenly he starts attacking you, explains Paulina Maciążek, spokeswoman for Motor Lublin.
This brings us to the return of league games and the home match against GKS Jastrzębie. Goncalo Feio was attacked by people from the press office from the beginning of the day. He didn't respond to "good morning." He didn't want to send the squad, which wasn't a problem before. Finally, before the press conference, he insulted the club's spokeswoman, who ultimately - to the journalists' surprise - did not appear in the conference room.
– This was not the first action of this type by the coach. Aggressive behavior, threatening, insulting... After a certain expression was said to me, I went to the president and said that I was no longer able to put on a mask and pretend that everything was fine. Every person has their own emotions and a threshold beyond which it becomes difficult. The president and the owner heard this and told me to explain the situation to journalists, Maciążek tells us.
The sequel resembles an action movie. Paweł Tomczyk decided to defend the press spokeswoman, and there was a dispute with Feio, who threw something like a tray or a document folder at him. He hit the temple, the president of Motor Lublin was covered in blood. The entire incident took place in front of several witnesses. Tomczyk was taken to hospital and had to have stitches. The Portuguese, however, packed up and left, and the club's lawyers got to work, which clearly means that this matter will not be swept under the carpet. Feio will definitely lose his job, but this is not the end of his problems. If the case goes to court, he will also lose the opportunity to practice as a coach for some time.
In the background there is also the PZPN Trainers' School, where the 33-year-old continues his UEFA PRO course. In the past, coaching candidates were kicked off the course for minor offenses. – We are waiting for official information and letters on this matter. When we receive them, the Disciplinary Committee will meet and, as a School of Trainers, we will make a decision. If the media reports are confirmed, we will act, says Paweł Grycmann.
Troubles, troubles for Najman Feio? Understatement. With such an entry on his CV, the ambitious Portuguese's career in Polish football is in serious doubt. A question mark should also be placed on the topic of the future of Motor Lublin. We are receiving more and more serious signals from the Lublin region that Zbigniew Jakubas, who has recently become involved in the club, is starting to have enough of the chaos and problems he has encountered. If the billionaire's patience runs out, the second-tier player may lose its owner.
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We tried to contact Goncalo Feio and hear his side of the story. However, the coach does not answer the phone, does not respond to messages or any attempts to obtain his position. Paweł Tomczyk also did not comment on this matter.