A real story of courage
CARLOS CARVALHAL knows just why the threat of relegation must be put into perspective after writing a real-life survival story.
Swansea manager Carvalhal has produced a book about his former captain, who is battling a form of motor neurone disease, and insists such a story puts his team’s relegation worries into perspective.
He said: “Jose Antonio was my player at Portuguese club Leixões when we got to the cup final. He suffered with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and was very sick.
“He had this problem so I wrote a book in order to raise money for him and his family. I just wrote a book about football and life to support his family.
“He is fighting. The medics gave him five or six years, but it is 13 or 14 years now and he is still here. These things happen in our lives and when they do, everything becomes relative. All of us, when we have these incidents, see life completely differently.
“In football players might say they have a lot of problems, that someone does not like playing right-back, or someone does not pass to them. A problem is something in your hands, an illness, a death in the family or a friend.”
The Swans travel to the Amex today to face a Brighton side who are just a point ahead of them in the fight to avoid relegation. And Carvalhal is full of admiration for Brighton manager Chris Hughton.
He said: “I voted for Chris for best manager of the season when I was in the Championship.
“They are a strong side. They missed out on promotion but they came back the next year and took another step with many of the same players.”
Hughton wants his Brighton team to bring the crowd to their feet as they begin a sequence of four home Premier League games out of five.
“The biggest thing that can get a crowd to their feet is a performance,” said Hughton. “Lots of clubs will do different things with the crowd – banners, clappers and so on. But ultimately, you have to lift the supporters. And you have to lift them with a team that is motivated and shows that on the pitch.”
Swansea are the form team, but Brighton are going well too – unbeaten in five games in all competitions.
“We have a team that is in decent form,” said Hughton. After today’s game, Arsenal, Leicester and Huddersfield visit the Amex, where Brighton’s three defeats represent the lowest total outside the top six in the Premier League. And Hughton knows that survival is more important than winning the FA Cup. Albion reached the quarter-finals of the cup for the first time in 32 years last Saturday by beating League Two Coventry before being drawn away to Manchester United.
In 1983 the Seagulls were relegated from the top flight as well as losing the cup final to United but Hughton said: “For me it’s quite obvious, it’s about making sure this club is a Premier League club next season.
“That’s the only way you give yourself and the club a chance to develop at the highest level over these years.
“The FA Cup is a wonderful trophy and we’re absolutely delighted to be in it, but the biggest priority for us is the Premier League.”