At that time, I was working at Leixões – a team in Portugal’s third division, but one I believed had big potential to move up to the Premier.

I had already been working in the top division when the chairman of Leixões asked me to come. My friends said: “You are crazy! You have chances to stay in the Premier, why would you go to the third division?”

It was simple. I went to see one of their games; it was a Wednesday afternoon, and there were 8,000 fans in the stadium. Immediately after that game, I said to the chairman: “I want to come.”

With a powerful club like that, I believed we could put the team in the first division in two years.

That first year was amazing. We did something that nobody in Portugal had done before: took a team from the third division to the final of the Taça de Portugal (a competition like the FA Cup), qualifying them for the Europa League.

“A manager must take the decisions 100 per cent, because I’m the one who’s 100 per cent responsible – for the victories as well as for the losses”

During that cup run, we beat teams from the top two divisions. This is impossible if you are not better than them in strategic organisation because, absolutely sure, they have better players than us. So we must be more organised and have a very good strategy to beat them.

We must also think like the big teams. It’s what I said all the time to my players. Even if we are not the best, we must think and act like the best.

It was a great first season. But in the second came that moment.

One week, the chairman came down to training during one of our tactical sessions. He saw the way we planned to play in a big game that weekend.

Afterwards, he came to see me: “I need to talk with you. We must win this game.”

“Yes, I know.”

“It’s very important.”

I nodded. “Yes. I know.”

“But with these players, we will not win the game. Better you change this and this…”

I told him no: “We will play with the team I have chosen, and I believe that we will win the game.”

“Okay, but if you lose, you know what will happen.”

If we lose, I will be fired. I’m absolutely sure of this.

In the end, we win the game 2-1. Afterwards, I go to see the chairman and hand him the manager’s armband.

“You want to do the team? Then you can be the manager. I go.”