The Whisky Option

"By the ashtray lay a single sheet of paper and an unopened bottle of Scotch. Joao Rocha turning to his interlocutor without as much as a smile, said 'I'm afraid it's one or the other, Malcolm'. His time leading Portugal's famous green and white hoops, brief and glamourously successful, was over in one simple, dramatic Dartford Gunslinger moment."

In episode Thirty Three we look back to 'The Whisky Option' by Simon Curtis from Issue Seventeen, which details the often unmentioned Portuguese successes of the larger-than-life boss Malcolm Allison.

His brief and successful stay at Sporting, and subsequent mixed spells at Vitoria de Setubal and Farense mirrors the domestic career of one of football's great coaching innovators, and his legacy lasts to this day thanks to the impact he made on the son of Vitoria's goalkeeping coach.

Simon Curtis is a freelance football writer based in Lisbon. He contributes regularly to ESPN and Champions, and has written for FourFourTwo, Reuters, Worldsoccer.com, Portugoal.net and a variety of official Uefa publications. He is currently co-writing a book on the history and influence of Portuguese football. Twitter: @Bifana_bifana

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