It is impossible to ignore the shift in mood, the supporters singing the name of their charismatic Portuguese head coach, parachuted in to solve myriad issues but chiefly miserable results and a leaky defence with a particular weakness at set pieces. Determined to immerse himself in the local culture, he spent Christmas Day enjoying lunch at a local pub a few miles out of town.
Then there is the friction between those who pay their money in the stands and those who spend it in the boardroom. An unhappy backdrop has been brewing for a while, some presumably plotting an appropriate escape route. The problem for Ruben Amorim is that Vítor Pereira was the manager who triumphed here.
