HILL UNFAZED BY GUIMARAES COACHING CHANGE David Smith - Wednesday, July 8, 2009
vitoriasc.pt
Hill training in Portugal
One week into his initial pre-season at Portuguese club Vitoria de Guimaraes, Kamani Hill is optimistic for his and the team's chances in the upcoming term, despite the team's recent coaching switch.
"Things have been going well," Hill told YA. "I've been here for a week now but we have only have two days of training thus far, a total of four training sessions."
Hill signed with the northern Portuguese club in May after a successful trial prompted by former Wolfsburg teammate Alex Costa, ending an increasingly frustrating two and a half year stay with the Bundesliga club which saw him drop out of the team's plans after the arrival of coach Felix Magath.
With the team's pre-season barely underway, the California native knows that the onus is on himself to impress new coach Nelo Vingada, as the roster can expect to see significant trimming as the mid-August start to the season approaches.
"Right now there are 33 on the roster, a number which the coach has expressed he wishes to cut down to about 25," he explained. "It's very competitive for spots."
"However it is a long process so we'll just have to watch and see how things unfold."
The team comes off a relatively disappointing 2008/09 season in which they were only able to manage eighth place, falling off considerably from their previous third-place campaign. The former UCLA player is however confident that his new team has sufficient quality to vie for the upper reaches of the league, with hopes to ultimately gain entry into European competition.
"We have a good preseason schedule to prepare us and I'm looking forward to playing the likes of Sporting, Benfica, and Portsmouth this month."
"I think the group has the possibility to make to make a good team," he continues, "and achieve the primary goal of the club which is to finish top five and qualify for Europa League."
In a move which has frequently led to the frustrating standstill in the overseas careers of other American players, Guimarães underwent a coaching switch shortly following Hill's signing, bringing in Vingada to replace outgoing Manuel Cajuda, who terminated his three-year relationship with the club by mutual consent in early-June.
In contrast to many of the high-profile changes which have often left his countrymen out in the cold, Hill has not sensed any adverse effects resulting from Vingada's arrival, and has been even impressed by the coach's clear efforts to keep the lines of communication open with his new player.
"I don't know yet exactly how the change in personnel is going to affect me," he admits. "So far I've played wide right everyday in training, so that remains consistent."
"The coach speaks English and even though I somewhat understand Portuguese he takes the time to explain things to me in English, which is cool."
The team departed Monday for an extended training camp in the coastal region of Figueira da Foz, where they will remain until July 15.
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