Ian Cathro: 'The most Portuguese Scot there is' rebuilding his managerial reputation

Estoril had just lost 3-1 to Sporting at Alvalade, but Ian Cathro was in an incredibly positive mood in his post-match news conference.

"Can I put a question to you?" he asked a journalist in native-level Portuguese the last time the team from the Lisbon coast faced Sporting away, in March 2025.

"What type of football do you like to watch? Did you enjoy the game? Probably you were all around here in other matches and I assume you fell asleep [at some point]. We want to do things differently."

That night, despite the result, at times Estoril, who play in a 5,000-capacity stadium, managed to silence more than 35,000 home fans.

Cathro couldn't have been prouder to witness it.

On Friday, the 39-year-old Scottish coach will be heading back to Alvalade hoping to achieve the same, albeit with a better outcome on the pitch.

His Estoril side are one of the most exciting teams to watch in Portugal, averaging two goals per game with 46 in 23 matches, the fourth most, and more than league leaders FC Porto (44).

Along with Sporting, they've had the most games scoring four or more this campaign (six). For the second consecutive season, a team used to fighting relegation finds itself comfortably in the top half of the table, albeit with the most porous defence, having conceded 39 goals.

The club's record top-flight points tally of 54, achieved in the 2013-14 season, when they recorded their best finish of fourth, is perhaps out of reach this term given they are on 33 with 11 games remaining, but even Benfica boss Jose Mourinho admitted being impressed by Cathro, saying "he's leaving his mark".

The Scotsman's secret? As he always emphasises, they play with no fear, regardless of the opponent.

"I'm young, but I've already been through a lot, in a lot of places. I think I've already seen almost every film you can see in a career in this industry," Cathro tells BBC Sport.

"I'm not here trying to win five games in a row just to make the jump. I look at this project and I genuinely feel my responsibility is to help the club take a step to another level. And that other level is more stability, so that no one - absolutely no-one - is afraid anymore."

The recognition for that is certainly coming.

In January, Cathro was voted the Portuguese top flight's coach of the month by his peers.

The Dundee-born manager has had previous experience in Portugal, as an assistant to Nuno Espirito Santo at Rio Ave from 2012 to 2014. Cathro then followed Nuno to Wolves, Tottenham Hotspur, Valencia and Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad.

But he has now found a home away from home in Estoril and has changed the mentality of the club.

Such is Cathro's impact that, in an unusual move last summer, the club extended his contract until 2028, following his appointment in July 2024.

If he fulfils it, he will become their second longest-serving coach, behind only former Portugal manager Fernando Santos.

Cathro feels he has done enough to change perceptions around him back home to no longer be referred to as the "ex-Hearts coach" - he was dismissed after seven months following a shock Scottish League Cup group-stage exit in 2017 in his only other managerial post.

"I know there will be far less visibility for everything I do here compared with a club in Scotland, if we're talking about the United Kingdom," says Cathro, who was also an assistant manager to Steve McClaren and then Rafael Benitez at Newcastle.

"But knowing that everything we do in life matters and is relevant, it's true that I spent seven months as Hearts' head coach and what happened, happened. If we're going to go into the details of that, we'd need another two or three hours, and it's not really worth it.

"But any doubts that might have existed after that short spell, if someone looks at everything that's been done and what's being built here, I think those seven months are already in the past.

"And I look at this job at Estoril as my first one. Because here I've had normal working conditions, and that's why I refer to Estoril as my first team. I want to be a positive figure in the club's history, someone who helped. I'm not here to perform miracles, but to bring more stability."

Cathro doesn't hold back when speaking and that's something that has made his Estoril news conferences a must-watch.

He has not always been like this in the past and it's something he regrets.

So whenever he sees something wrong nowadays, he brings it up - whether it's the league calendar, the local time-wasting culture or the ball-boy system.

"I don't have any problem saying what I feel, knowing that sometimes I'll say the right thing, sometimes I'll say the wrong thing. I'm not going to hide from something I think is important," he explains.

That straightforward approach is very Portuguese.

It's no coincidence to find references to him in the local media of being "the most Portuguese Scot there is", "a Scot who could have been born in Estoril" and "a Portuguese soul".

"This is something that makes me very proud. I've said several times that my life changed completely when I went to Rio Ave," says Cathro.

"I learned - and I became a man - in that Portuguese context. I'm absolutely certain that, in footballing terms, I feel a thousand times more Portuguese than Scottish.

"What I like most is the fact that time moves a little more slowly here. I live at a completely different rhythm here with my family than I did in Scotland, for example. We're able to make more memories and more meaningful moments as a family."

Estoril sporting director Helena Costa recently told Record that she believes Cathro "will make the step to a big club".

For now, though, he prefers to live in the moment.

"I think I've got far more experience than I've got years of life. And because of that, I don't waste much time on anything that isn't exactly what I have to do today," adds Cathro.

"I know tomorrow isn't 100% under my control, and I don't want to live in the past or in the future either. I've got a big responsibility to help the players and help the club, and I'm not going to do anything that could complicate that."

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