What was said outside

Four days passed between Roberto Martínez's departure and the official announcement, and that gap is where a succession is really decided — in the speculation, in the sums over who is available and in the name that keeps gaining substance until it stops being a hypothesis.

This section keeps the temperature around the decision: how Jorge Jesus's name gathered pace and how the choice was received once it was made, with the analysis calling it "obvious and reassuring".

In October the thermometer changed: the Ronaldo affair. Bruno Fernandes asked the country not to take sides, the national team manager's name drew whistles at the Dragão, the captain's mother regretted the "small door", Pedro Proença spoke of "a misunderstanding" and a poll put the majority on Jesus's side.

It is the part of the archive that ages fastest and, for that very reason, the part worth keeping dated.