Porto trailing Mourinho

FC Porto are hoping to tempt UD Leiria coach José Mourinho to the Das Antas stadium after they parted company with Octávio Machado following a run that has seen the club drop to fifth in the table and exit the Portuguese Cup.

Weekend defeat
Porto have won just four of their last ten matches and supporters expressed their dissatisfaction with Machado following the 2-0 derby defeat by champions Boavista FC on Sunday, a result that left Porto seven points behind leaders Sporting Clube de Portugal - their worst position for 26 years after 19 games of a season.

'Best interest of both parties'
Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, the Porto president, confirmed on Portuguese television that Machado had left the club in "the best interest of both parties". Da Costa said there had been no acrimonious split, even though Machado only took over last summer following the departure of Fernando Santos: "I'm sure I am more of a friend now to Octávio than when he joined the club eight months ago. He has been treated in an excellent way by the club."

'Number one choice'
Da Costa also revealed that Mourinho was the board's preferred choice to replace Machado. "If we can reach an agreement with Leiria then he is our number one choice to be at training at Das Antas on Wednesday." Da Costa warned, however, that Porto will not be held to ransom in their attempts to secure the services of Mourinho. "We won't be paying compensation to Leiria," he said. "If we can't agree a deal then we have several other possibilities."

No decision reached
Leiria official Antonio Santos Serra said: "We will continue this meeting [on Tuesday] because we haven't had time to reach decisions." Rui Oliveira, who was Machado's number two at the Das Antas, has also parted company with Porto.