Ex-Bundesliga coach Thomas Reis has been training the Turkish first division club Samsunspor on the Black Sea since July 2024. With his balance of freedom and discipline, he shaped a European Cup candidate from a relegation candidate. The team is currently in third place in the table. Six points in front of the Istanbul Großklub Besiktas.
The training area of the first division club is located directly on the waterfront of the idyllic Black Sea city of Samsun Samsunspor. An almost scary banner at the entrance: “The Kingdom of the North”,, The kingdom of the north can be read. game of Thrones Greetings.
Next to it the coat of arms: a horse in the jump on which the Turkish founding father Kemal Ataturk sits. Framed in the club colors red-white and black. We are on the spacious club premises of the Samsunspor Kulübüfounded in 1965.
The entrance to the training area – based on the successful HBO series “Game of Thrones”
Challenge For Thomas Reis
The coach is a friend of the Bundesliga. Thomas Reis, 51 years old, welcomes in a good mood in the club lounge with a view of the club’s own lake and the sea. Reis played as a professional for a long time, then trained his heart club Bochum. In autumn 2022 he moved to Schalke 04, the district rival of Bochum and direct competitors in the relegation battle. It should be his last coaching station in Germany so far. Schalke relegated from the Bundesliga in May 2023, after a messed up start to the subsequent second division season, rice was released.
He has been head coach of Samsunspor since the end of June 2024. An adventure, as he says. He took over the job from Markus Gisdol, also a German ex-Bundesliga trainer who left the club for private reasons. And the starting conditions for rice were not optimal. The club had just kept the class, but it was prohibited by the Turkish Football Association for financial problems to sign new players. The coaching post in Turkish clubs is considered a ejection seat.
But Reis says that everything was not very interested. He approached the matter openly and got involved in the challenge. With his coaching staff, he turned up the club and tried to realize his own philosophy, he says.
Integration figure trainer
Thomas Reis takes a lot of time for the ARD team before training. He is noticeably happy about the German visit. It is Ramadan, two thirds of the players fast, the training has to be dosed. “It is of course a big change. I am in a foreign country. I was very warmly welcomed here. But this is a completely different culture”,, says Reis. But he quickly learned, adapted the training plans and the training dose. And apparently the right words found.
What is striking: The German trainer is very much appreciated among the players and the many employees. He will never be loud, talk to everyone, always have an open ear, a club employee tells us. It is a great art to lead players from ten nations. Discipline is important to him “Without wanting to reproduce everything”says Thomas Reis. That is accepted here and “So far it is not that bad”.
So far a dream season
It runs with Samsunspor. The association was considered a classic elevator team. After the foundation, very successful, then after a tragic traffic accident in 1989, in which several players came up, record and relegated in the Turkish. In the summer of 2023 the club rose again and was just able to hold the class last season.
And then rice came. A success story started. 15 victories in 26 games. Third place in the league. A placement in front of one of the mighty Istanbul clubs, Besiktas. And the current third place could even be the ticket for one of the European competitions.
The balance between freedom and discipline
The final training begins against four under high summer temperatures. “Four weeks ago it was still snowing “, says rice and laughs. Today all players are full. Because there is an important game at the weekend. About the second in the table Fenerbahçe Istanbul. An almost insoluble task. Again and again processes, tactics and pressing are practiced.
Right in the middle: Kingsley Schindler. Schindler played long Bundesliga for 1. FC Köln. He has been in Samsun for two years. The 31-year-old native of Hamburg is a regular, kicking on the right outer lane. He is full of praise about his trainer and says “He gave us a lot of freedom on the pitch. We can decide a lot ourselves. But he also gives clear instructions who has to stand and how. What helped us a lot.”
Rice carefully pays attention to mistakes in the positional game – with ball he also leaves his offensive players for a long time
A conspiratorial community
This is also confirmed by Zeki Yavru, the Turkish captain of the team. Between two training sessions, he talks to us about the new team spirit. Like Schindler, he also emphasizes that this team is a conspiratorial community – guided by the trainer. “Thomas is a inventor”, says the captain.
From day one, he would have shown that he had a game idea. Thomas Reis is calmly prepared for the top game second against third parties. He looks forward to the cauldron and also, José Mourinho, the coaching legend at the opponent, he says. “For that you live as a footballer. And I hope that my boys are just as much in the game as I do.”
Away game in Istanbul
Then on Sunday the time has come. Samsunspor play against Fenerbahçe. The game is of course sold out. Thousands collect hours in advance Fenerbahçe-fans in the parks around the stadium. It is celebrated and the local rival, the leader hated here GalatasaraySilited. Here everyone is expecting a clear victory against the outsider from the Black Sea coast.
Some fans from Samsun have also come along, believe in a sensation. At one of the rear goals, the police ensure a strict separation from the opposing fans. One tells us that he had a firm descent this year. But now you are on the European Cup course. “We owe this to the discipline and structure of Thomas Reis. We love him.” Then he sees that Samsunspor-Bus drive to the ülker stadium and run away.
Thousands of Fenerbahce fans expect the arrival of the team buses
Drawed like a victory
It will be a defense battle – but a successful one. After an uneventful first half shoots Fenerbahçe 25 times on Samsun’s goal in the second half. Without success. Despite a red card, Samsun captivates a point at 0-0 on the 28th matchday of the Süperlig. And the away from the big favorite, which probably loses all title chances. The Samsunspor-Fans celebrate exuberantly in the stadium. Thomas Reis can be satisfied.
It is nine games until the end of the season. The lead over the fourth place in the table and the other pursuers is comfortable.
Concentration on the final sprint
Turkey is a challenge and adventure for Thomas Reis. “I learned a lot. I became more open. So far I have taken a lot with me”, ” he says in the ARD interview. But he still has an eye on the Bundesliga, especially his heart club Bochum. After the game against Fenerbahçe He approved a short home leave, the first since Christmas. Of course it goes to Bochum.
Then he wants to start preparing for the last games. “The framework conditions in Samsun are great”he says. And he, his team and players will enjoy this mad season to the fullest. Maybe on the Black Sea coast in the “Kingdom of the North“Yes, football history.