How would you describe the failure of that first season?
– There are different reasons. First of all, for the same reason, Fenerbahçe is currently 10 points behind Trabzonspor and is having a bad season. (November interview) It was already like that in 2018. Nothing has changed. But going back to your original question, the first mistake we made… We shouldn’t have had a foreign sporting director. In other words, the trio of inexperienced new president, foreign sports director and foreign coach did not work. In my opinion, when there was an inexperienced president in the first season, either the sporting director or the coach should have been Turkish.
One of both?
– Yeah. I wanted to bring Abdullah Avcı. That was my priority when he was in Başakşehir. We couldn’t do that. Or the club should have brought a Turkish sporting director if it prefers a foreign coach. But when everyone was new, it was a mistake to choose a sporting director and a coach who had just met Turkish people. Then, you know, we tried to explain the structure. We had a structure, we had a sporting director. There was a president, there was a vice president to whom I reported. There was a sports director. There was a trainer. But no one in Turkey understood this structure, the people in Fenerbahçe and the club did not understand this structure and tried to demolish this structure from the very first day. So, take a look at what’s going on right now. The club is currently failing and I can assure you it is failing for the same reasons as in 2018. There were many different things. And the annoying stuff: We took Slimani, for example. Everyone said it was a disaster. But Slimani later played in Monaco and now plays for Lyon. We signed with Ayew, they said you weren’t good enough. A year later, he scored 18 goals and provided 11 assists with Swansea. We agreed with Frey, everyone said that Frey was the worst player Fenerbahçe had ever seen. Currently the best striker in Belgium. A few weeks ago I spoke to the sporting director of his club in Belgium. He said many clubs in Europe wanted him. You know. We made a long-term contract with Ferdi. We signed a long-term contract with Berke. We started to make things right at the academy. For example, Mami, Muhammed Gümüşkaya, was an actress that we found and started to develop. If we had time, if they’d let us, if they’d given us time, the team would have been filled right now with a very good Slimani, a very good Frey or a very good Zanka who still plays with Brentford in the Premier League. I can guarantee that Brentford will beat Fenerbahce today. Brentford are a very good team. And Zanka plays for that team. But he was not good enough to play in Fenerbahce! So it would be a mix of Ferdi, Berke, Frey, Zanka, Slimani, Ayew and Vedat. And if we had time, we would have found more Vedat, more Ferdi and more Berke. So the failure is about the structure. It’s about how this club is run… This club is in perpetual self-destruct mode. That’s the main problem.
Who didn’t let you continue working?
– Everyone.
In the club?
– Oh yes, of course. A lot was happening every day. I will give you an example. I wanted to make Emre our coach. For a few months, I said, “Emre should be a coach,” and I said that to Emre as well. The board said “no”. I leave, then they make Emre the coach. But I told the board of directors that if Emre worked with an experienced sporting director, he would be successful in Fenerbahçe. It could be me or someone else. It didn’t have to be me. Emre is incredibly smart, incredibly passionate. He’s a great leader. He knows football, loves Fenerbahçe. He can be a great coach. However, it needs to be supported by an experienced sporting director and board of directors. They told me “No”. I left, they made him a coach. Look how well he is doing in Başakşehir now. I believe Emre will be an incredibly talented trainer. I’m 100 percent convinced of that. I mean, it’s such a negative atmosphere all the time… I said to the board of directors that we have to ask ourselves: “Why are the players who are very good outside not good at Fenerbahçe? Why are they good again when they leave Fenerbahçe?” You know, in general, Frey, Slimani, Zanka… So Zanka was transferred from Fenerbahce free of charge. Signed for Brentford, he plays regularly for Brentford. How is this possible? In essence, I know what it is, and I’m not the only one who knows. Emre thinks the same thing. In my last season, before I resigned, or rather left the club… Because I resigned almost 10-12 months ago. Before halftime, we played against Beşiktaş inside. We beat them 3-1, we ruined it. I remember Emre got injured after that match, he came to me and said, “We shouldn’t take anyone. Let’s stay calm. Let’s keep working and we will win the championship.” I totally agreed with him. In the next match, we went to Rize, we won. In the next match, I left, they played in Gaziantep, they won. The next match, Başakşehir and they played indoors. I still remember watching the match at a friend’s house in Istanbul. They absolutely ruined Başakşehir on the field. I think I said to my friends around the table, “There is no way Fenerbahce will not be champions”. Then Fenerbahce exploded from inside. I really felt like we were clamped to the championship in 2018-19. Really because we had the best team, the players were confident. When we played at high tempo like we played against Beşiktaş or Başakşehir, there was no way, no way for anyone to stop us. It was not possible. But there was so much going on that it was almost impossible to run the club every day. And they finished that season seventh, they are 10 points behind Trabzonspor this season. It’s really a pity.
Last year, you told The Athletic site that there was always some kind of negative atmosphere in Fenerbahçe. Was that the reason for the failure?
– Certainly! Instead of praising and encouraging, players are being destroyed from within. Instead of encouraging the team, supporting the structure of a sporting director, then a coach and others, this structure is being tried to be demolished. And it all comes out of the club. And there is so much wrong with the club that they had great players last season and they didn’t become champions. Things are not going well again this year. I can assure you that we have a great team in the 2019-20 season, when we can control things, good or bad. Gustavo was on point. Vedat was over the top. We got Emre. We were definitely a brilliant team. We could have won the league. I can give you a guarantee. But for the championship you need peace. You need structure, you need non-interference, and you need people to be interlocked. In Fenerbahce, I’m sure that’s still the case now, none of that exists. As a result, you can have the best players, the best coach, but the club collapses on its own. Not being champion that season was a huge disappointment for me. First I had to leave and second I couldn’t see the club win the championship. I’m still so sorry. This devastated me.
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