Sporting have sacked Joao Pereira after just eight games, the club said in the briefest of statements.
With just five minutes left of December 25th, the Portuguese champions put out a statement which read: “A Lion forever. Thank you, João Pereira.”
The decision leaves Pereira with a record of three wins, four defeats and a draw during his short tenure.
The former Sporting defender was brought up from his role coaching the B team to lead the Lions after Ruben Amorim left for Manchester United after unprecedented success with the Lisbon giants this century.
Pereira started with a 6-0 Taca da Liga win over Amarante and then was hammered 5-1 by Arsenal.
Things got far worse with back-to-back defeats to Santa Clara and Moreirense which saw their league lead evaporate, and then the final nail in the coffin was a 0-0 draw against Gil Vicente which saw city rivals Benfica leapfrog them into first in the table.
That may not be the only reason the decision was taken now, though, with the club set to unveil a successor on Boxing Day morning.
A press conference is scheduled to announce Rui Borges to the world, with the 43-year-old joining after just six months with Vitória Guimarães.
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