Turkish team Trabzonspor's coach reads Bible to empathize with foreign players

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

Turkish football club Trabzonspor’s new coach has begun reading the Bible for “better communication” with his team’s foreign players.

“I will find the way to reach my players’ hearts, I have been dealing with the Bible for the last six weeks. I’m spending my time on Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and trying to understand with which perspective they look at the life, what sort of faith and love they have ... That’s why I believe that my connection with them will not be so hard,” Mustafa Akçay said in a press conference on June 27.

Akçay, who was last month named Trabzonspor coach to replace Tolunay Kafkas, said this was only the spiritual side of his management, but added that he was willing to change those players with his experience and education in technical and tactical issues.

On the other hand, Akçay said the number of foreign players at the club had to be decreased in order to match the official Turkish football league foreign player quota.

He said there were more than enough foreigner players in his cadre. “It’s not their fault. They are the players who joined us in previous years. Sometimes things do not go their way ... For instance, there are two left backs in the team, one of them may seem a luxury, we need to tell this without hurting their feelings. We are expecting them to understand,” he said.

“The players have strong contracts with the club and if we can manage to come to a deal, we will amend those contracts. If we cannot agree, we will say ‘Thanks, your money has been transferred to the bank,' and part ways with them. Sooner or later, we will solve this issue. If you ask me if we gained ground on this issue, I cannot say we have been successful,” Akçay said.