Beşiktaş faces crisis after losses in Turkish Süper Lig

ISTANBUL

Beşiktaş seems to be toppling into a crisis as two back-to-back losses in the Turkish Süper Lig increase the pressure on coach Sergen Yalçın and drive a wedge between him and the club administration.

The latest loss came on Oct. 4 when the Istanbul club lost 1-0 to visiting Gençlerbirliği.

The away side broke the deadlock in the eighth minute as Romanian forward Bogdan Stancu scored with a header to give his side its first win of the season.

After making a flashy start to the season by winning 3-1 at Trabzonspor in its opening game, Beşiktaş was held to a -1-1 draw by Antalyaspor before being hammered 4-1 by Konyaspor the next week.

With four points in as many games, the team sits in the 15th spot in standings, and Yalçın is not happy.

“The results we’ve got in the first four weeks have made us very sad,” he said after the Gençlerbirliği loss.

“It’s bad enough, if not too bad. The performances on the pitch do not give hope. There may be a defeat, but the lack of hope for the future creates big question marks and takes us beyond expectations.”

Beşiktaş was also knocked out of the European competition, losing to PAOK in the Champions League qualifications and Rio Ave in its Europa League bid.

Many believe the quality of the squad is not sufficient for success and immediate transfer is a must.

Yalçın complained that he is being portrayed as the reason for the transfer failures.

“The club administration says, ‘we are getting the players requested by our coach,’ leaving the responsibility on me,” he said.

“There are also those who wanted [among players signed], but it would not be correct to say that they got what I wanted.”

Yalçın said he would not shy away from taking responsibility, “but I am not responsible for everything.”

“I am responsible for the team, training,” he added. “I’m responsible for the bad game and the score, but I’m not responsible for everything.”

The Süper Lig will return on Oct. 17 following an international break, and with Beşiktaş having a bye week, Yalçın believes that the squad will shape up during the three-week interval until its next game.

Yalçın is not the only Süper Lig coach having problems with club administrations.

Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim, whose side lost 1-0 at Kasımpaşa on Oct. 4, also lamented the lack of depth in his squad.

“I shared the list [of players needed to be signed] both during the season and at the end of the season,” said Terim, who left the pitch with five minutes to go in the game.

“It’s nobody’s fault, I am the guilty. You can also write that to me, no problem. It was probably because of me. Even debts are on me,” the experienced coach added in a sarcastic tone.

Terim said he left the pitch early because there were “some situations that were against the spirit of football.”

“I did not leave the game, I neither left Galatasaray nor my team,” he added.

“I just quit the match. Frankly, it is a team that is a shame not to me and Galatasaray but to itself.”

Elsewhere in Turkish Süper Lig Week 4 games, Alanyaspor maintained its unbeaten run buy hammering newcomer Hatayspor to climb atop the standings, Fenerbahçe won 2-1 over Kasımpaşa, Kayserispor beat Ankaragücü 1-0, Gaziantep held Trabzonspor to a 1-1 draw, Antalyaspor lost 1-0 at Malatyaspor and three games, while Erzurumspor vs Rizespor, Başakşehir vs Göztepe and Denizlispor vs Konyaspor ended in goalless draws.