Management, technical team and staff stability were the most important factors in the success of Galatasaray, which progressed to 4 consecutive championships and 26th championship in total in the Trendyol Super League.
The yellow-red football team experienced the worst season in its history by finishing 13th in the Super League in the 2021-2022 season. After the season in question, the club went to elections and Dursun Özbek was appointed as the president after Burak Elmas. In the football A team, the Spanish coach Domenec Torrent parted ways.
Galatasaray entered the 2022-2023 season with its renewed management and technical team. President Özbek appointed Okan Buruk, the unforgettable football player of the yellow-red club, who won the Ziraat Turkish Cup with Akhisarspor and the Super League with Istanbul Başakşehir, as the technical director.
While some experienced and potential players in the team were kept in the squad, players such as Mauro Icardi, Dries Mertens, Lucas Torreira and Abdülkerim Bardakcı, who would leave their mark on the following seasons, were transferred. The yellow-red team started the season with the aim of ending their 3-year championship drought.
THE ADVENTURE DID NOT START WELL
Okan Buruk could not make a good start to his dream career as Galatasaray Coach.
The yellow-red team, which entered the season with the aim of lifting the team and the community after a historical trauma, won in the first week, but lost 1-0 to Giresunspor in the second week. While Okan Buruk’s first home game as the manager of Galatasaray was lost 1-0, new transfer Abdülkerim Bardakcı’s mistake in the goal plunged the community into despair.
While Galatasaray got only 2 wins in the first 4 matches of the season, question marks arose in minds about Buruk and his players. The yellow-red team, which passed the 9th week of the league, experienced 2 draws and 1 defeat in the 8th, 10th and 11th weeks. “Cimbom” finished the 11th week in 8th place, 5 points behind the leader Fenerbahçe. President Dursun Özbek and the board of directors stood behind coach Okan Buruk and his team, where the criticism was increasing.
The yellow-red team reached the peak of its performance in the process that started with the 12th week, winning 14 in a row and breaking the record in the history of the Super League. While the management’s choice of stability brought success, Okan Buruk and his students finished the season at the top, 8 points ahead of its closest follower, Fenerbahçe.
STABILITY BROUGHT CONSECUTIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Galatasaray, which had a happy ending in the first season under the management of Okan Buruk, won consecutive championships in the following 2 seasons with the stability of its technical team and staff.
The yellow-reds continued their journey with coach Okan Buruk in the following 2 seasons. “Cimbom”, which retains quality football players, has also strengthened its squad with sensational transfers such as Davinson Sanchez, Kaan Ayhan, Wilfried Zaha, Hakim Ziyech, Gabriel Sara, Roland Sallai, Alvaro Morata, Eren Elmalı, Mario Lemina, Ismail Jakobs, Victor Osimhen, Wilfried Singo, Uğurcan Çakır, Leroy Sane, İlkay Gündoğan. Maintaining stability, Galatasaray won the championship in the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons.
“Cimbom”, which retained its good players despite many offers, continued to strengthen its squad by paying astronomical transfer fees. The yellow-red team entered the last 3 weeks of this season as the leader, 7 points ahead of its closest follower, Fenerbahçe.
If Galatasaray gets 3 points in the remaining 3 weeks, it will win its 4th championship in a row and its 26th championship in total, regardless of the scores of its opponents.
THE COACH DIRECTOR DOES NOT RELY ON HIS OPPOSITIONS
While Galatasaray achieved success with the stability it provided in the last 4 seasons, the teams with which it was in historical competition showed an opposite pattern.
Jorge Jesus, İsmail Kartal, Jose Mourinho and Domenico Tedesco were the coaches of Fenerbahçe, one of the rivals in which the Yellow-Reds won the championship under the management of Okan Buruk in the last 3 seasons and this season, where they were ahead with a great advantage.
Beşiktaş, which said goodbye to the seasons early, worked with Valerien Ismael, Şenol Güneş, Burak Yılmaz, Rıza Çalımbay, Serdar Topraktepe (three different periods), Fernando Santos, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and Sergen Yalçın, who is currently the head of the team, during Okan Buruk’s tenure.
In Trabzonspor, in the same period, Abdullah Avcı (Two different periods), Orhan Ak, Nenad Bjelica and Şenol Güneş, as well as Fatih Tekke, who continues his current position, served as the coach.
DURSUN ÖZBEK MAINTAINED MANAGEMENT STABILITY
Since 2022, when Dursun Özbek was elected president of Galatasaray, 8 different presidents have served in Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Trabzonspor.
President Özbek was appointed president at the elective extraordinary general assembly in June 2022. Özbek is preparing to leave 4 years behind in his second term. Galatasaray’s rivals, who achieved successful sporting results in this process with the stability of their management, technical team and staff, could not provide stability in their management as well as their technical staff.
Since June 2022, Ahmet Nur Çebi, Hasan Arat, Hüseyin Yücel and the current Serdal Adalı have served in Beşiktaş, and Ahmet Ağaoğlu and the current president Ertuğrul Doğan have served in Trabzonspor. During this period, Ali Koç and Saadettin Saran served as presidents of Fenerbahçe, which was constantly in the championship race.
