Sporting set to confirm appointment of new manager

Sporting are set to officially confirm the successor of Marcel Keizer.

Keizer, who was relieved of his duties as Sporting manager after a surprise 2-3 home defeat against Carlos Carvalhal's Rio Ave at the start of the month, had been in charge of the club for just under 10 months, having joined in November 2018.

Since his departure, Sporting U23 manager Leonel Pontes had taken interim charge, overseeing a 3-2 defeat against PSV in the Europa League and a 1-1 draw against Boavista and a 1-2 defeat against Famalicão in the Primeira Liga.

With no improvement evident in performances or results, Sporting have moved quickly to select their replacement, with former Belenenses manager Silas expected to be announced as the club's latest manager.

Silas, 43, has minimal first-team managerial experience to his name, his stint in charge of Belenenses for the second half of the 2017-18 campaign and all of last season his only point of reference, though his appointment has been greeted with enthusiasm by much of the Sporting faithful.

He did a good job with the Primeira Liga outfit, leading them to a 9th place finish last campaign before he was surprisingly fired after just 4 league matches this season, with Belenenses failing to find the back of the net in any of those fixtures.

Silas enjoyed an eventful playing career, spanned across 22 years and 13 clubs. Overall he played in four countries, though only briefly played in England for Wolverhampton Wanderers, playing in 10 matches over three seasons, spending most of his time at the club out on loan. He failed to be on the winning side in any of his outings for Wolves.

His best season as a player came in 2011-12, when he won the Cypriot league title with AEL Limassol.

He also represented the likes of Belenenses, Maritimo and Elche, representing the Portugal national team on three occasions in 2003.