The 2023 season for Botafogo was marked by a disappointing ending to the Brasileirao. Despite leading the standings for much of the competition, Fogao lost the top spot in the final weeks. One of the reaons behind the downfall could be related to the constant managerial changes throughout the year.
Luís Castro, the architect of a great start to the tournament, left midway through the season to coach Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr. Caçapa later won all four games as interim coach before the hiring of Bruno Lage. The latter didn’t do well and was fired as the team dropped too many points. Lúcio Flávio took over but lasted only seven games (two wins, one draw, and four losses). But in his opinion, the team still had a chance to win the title even after he left, until the draw against Santos on matchday 35. On that occasion, Peixe broke Fogao fans’ hearts with a last-gasp equalizer, extending Botafogo’s winless streak.
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Lúcio Flávio believes Botafogo had a chance until the Santos draw
“Looking from the outside, I believe the game that eliminated the possibility of winning the title was against Santos. If we had won, we still had three more games to fight for the championship. An opponent that eventually got relegated, but given Botafogo’s performance, conceding a goal practically in the last moment wasn’t expected. This brought the need to win to the other games,” commented Lúcio, who left the club after a 2-2 draw with Bragantino on matchday 34.
In an interview with Globo Esporte, he also criticized the Botafogo management: “I was not involved in the day-to-day activities of the professional team, and when Luís Castro left, they told me to show up there. They asked for my stay with Bruno Lage, and with Bruno’s departure, they informed me that I would be in charge until the end of the championship, but they were already talking about the arrival of a coach for 2024. I wasn’t there as the coach of Botafogo; I was called in as an employee of the club.”
“I took over against Fluminense, and if I hadn’t been successful there and against América-MG, they would have hired a coach. We won, and they continued with me. That’s why I said I felt unjustly treated. During this process, when they chose Tiago Nunes, I was the only staff member who left the club. Even in the game against Bragantino, I was informed that I would stay at the club as an assistant coach. Things didn’t turn out right. There was external pressure on the club owner, and he chose for me to leave,” he added.
AH, É LÚCIO FLÁVIO! 🎶🔥
Grande vitória no clássico, professor. Vamos juntos até o final!
📸: Vitor Silva/BFR pic.twitter.com/TkXkroCfQB
— Botafogo F.R. (@Botafogo) October 8, 2023
Lúcio also complained about not being recognized as a coach by the front office, despite holding that position: “I thought I would stay longer as an assistant to the club. I took Bruno Lage’s place, but the club didn’t officially appoint me as the head coach. I didn’t receive a single extra Brazilian real in salary because I became the coach of the main team. My salary remained that of a club employee.”
Furthermore, he argues that if he had continued in the position, the Lone Star could have achieved the goal of being champions.
“Since I left, if I met a thousand fans, all of them said that I didn’t leave because I did something wrong, in their view. Many spoke about injustice. As an athlete, I always tried to do my best until the end. In football, we depend on others; it’s not an individual sport. We had an interesting year in 2007; we didn’t finish as we had imagined for various reasons. And now, while I was there, I tried to do my best in leading the team. If I had stayed, perhaps we could have been champions. I worked until the game against Bragantino; we had one game less, and if we had beaten Fortaleza, we would have been the leaders of the championship again.”
