The Turkcell Super League 2009-10

The season kicked off last weekend so here goes with a guide, predictions and other stuff.

The top tier of Turkish football has been dominated by the three Istanbul powerhouses and Trabzonspor for the whole of its existence. Their budgets, fan base and general media coverage give very little, if any, chance to any of the predominantly Anatolian sides. In the past ten years many Anatolian sides have had decent league runs (Kocaelispor, Gaziantepspor, Gençlerbirligi and Sivasspor) and upset the status quo but only in a limited way. None has ever got as close as Sivasspor did to actually winning the league though; they lost three of their last two games to lose the title. This chance to make history will probably not come along again for a long time.
Expect the usual suspects to be at the top again, with Bursaspor being the surprise package and Sivasspor struggling.
Expect the usual managerial merry-go-round, we lost count last year and it has already started, Nurullah Sağlam lasted less than a week at Diyarbakirspor before quitting and Ziya Dogan has taken over.
Expect the intense media scrutiny of absolutely everything going on in the league, this goldfish bowl means that players are built up and destroyed quicker than anything in the UK. Four sports dailies covering 95% football have pages to fill, 90% from the big four and rarely with anything from any club, even when Sivasspor looked like serious league challengers they did not warrant any real coverage in most papers.

Here goes with the predictions:

Ankaraspor: struggled in the second half of last season, new manager and the loss of key players will see them struggle again. Bottom half finish.

Ankaragücü: in their centenary they will survive and as we saw from the Darius Vassell transfer they take things seriously and expect much from him. Mid-table.

Antalyaspor: always just above the relegation zone after appointing Sifo Mehmet, again expect a similar season after average transfers. Relegation battle.

Besiktas: the lack of a set formation was offset by the best set of supporters which brought them a title. The Champions League will distract them though. Fifth.

IBB: after looking in all kinds of trouble in March they had a great run, good transfers have added to the squad but an empty 80,000 seat stadium will always cost them. Top half finish.

Bursaspor: Etugrul Saglam brought them so much; some sensible transfers and two of the most promising young players in Turkey should carry them into Europe. Fourth.

Denizlispor: again more comings and goings with a new coach and more player changes. Erhan Altin lost all of his six pointers at Kocaeli, expect a relegation battle again.

Diyarbakirspor: one of the promoted sides, came up amongst rumours of political help as they are from a largely Kurdish city. Huge debts and an almost new squad. Will be difficult to beat at home but that won’t be enough. Relegated.

Eskisehirspor: some canny signings, Burak Yilmaz the best of them, should see them consolidate and stay up comfortably. Mid-table.

Fenerbahçe: anything after Aragones will be an improvement, Daum has got the squad looking fit but a striker and a centre half are still needed but with Guiza looking sharp expect a runners up spot and some decent European games.

Galatasaray: since the departure of Eric Gerets and the catalogue of injury problems it is easy to forget that they have a squad of some depth. Arda, Kewell and Baros may not scare the big sides of Europe but they will do the business here. Rijkaard to win the league.

Gaziantepspor: the attack has been strengthened but the defense is weaker, should get enough goals to survive but not much else. Mid-table.

Gençlerbirligi: after years of being the model for all Anatolian sides, producing young players and buying cheap foreigners to sell on for profit, their turmoil continues. Can Thomas Doll stop the rot? Probably but only just. Survival.

Kasimpasa: sound finances and a small but passionate support, the retention of their promotion winning coach are positives but the lack of a striker will cost them. Relegated.

Kayserispor: the departure of Mehmet Topuz and the acquisition of many young players will see a season of transition. If Tolunay Kafkas can ride out the storm the future looks good but expect a difficult season. Bottom half.

Manisaspor: losing their major sponsor and bringing in many new players will see them struggle. The new manager Mesut Bakkal has always kept sides up, expect his luck to fail this time. Relegated.

Sivasspor: the bubble has burst, humiliation by Anderlecht, loss of Bilica and a huge hole at the back yet to be filled. A season of transition in mid-table before Bülentss Üygün leaves for the national team.

Trabzonspor: after bringing in 21 players last season they have now got their consistency, a new coach will see them improve but still a title after 26 years of waiting looks too much. Third.

Rafael has indeed signed for Omiya in the J-League, AE.

Signing Elano is a bit of a coup for Gala as well. His attitude is supposedly questionable at times but I think he'll put in the effort in a World Cup year.

It might be unfair to judge his attitude on his time at City, he started well but when they started bringing in lots of other players to play in his position he got a bit fed up. I hate City.

Cok tesekkurler, AE. It's really good to get an insight into a league like Turkey's.

I'm surprised to see Guiza still actually there. Undoubtedly a good player, but not one you'd rate high on the 'will adapt to foreign cultures' scale. How is he regarded in Fenerbahce/Turkey?

The whole Rijkaard signing - seems a bit incongruous that they have one of the most highly-regarded managers in Europe, and his best players are a pair of Liverpool dropouts. Is it just that Galatasaray had money to spend on only one of a good manager or a big-name player, or is there more to this than meets the eye?

Are Besiktas' fans 'the best' because they are the loudest or most loyal or whatever, or is there something more?

and his best players are a pair of Liverpool dropouts.

I don't know that much about the Turkish League, but it seems to me that Elano and Arda Turan are both better than Milan Baros and Harry "honest, I won the champions league" Kewell.

This is a really good thread. I'm really interested in the Turkish league, but get exactly zero chance to watch it.

Yeah, neither do I know exactly who the best players are in Galatasaray's team, but my point was rather - if others are better than them, why buy that low-quality pair at all? Why not splash out on a good foreigner? ... And if others are not actually better, then, well, it says something negative about Galatasaray's quality, especially when contrasted with their glamorous coach ...

I heard Kewell filled in at centre half for a while last year. Is this true, and if so, what the fuck?

Workingstiff wrote:
I heard Kewell filled in at centre half for a while last year. Is this true, and if so, what the fuck?

News to me. He spent quite a bit of time on the pitch for an injury prone player at a club with serious injury problems.
Tobias Linderoth had no injuries, he arrives here and has played 16 games in two years, since his first injury he keeps getting injured in his comeback. Mehmet Topal is similar but he did hide his injury from Rijkaard, aggravated it and is out again.

Thanks for the comments too WS, I enjoy posting as it's good stress relief.

Furtho wrote:
Rafael has indeed signed for Omiya in the J-League, AE.

What is the standard of the foreign players like in Japan?

Here is pretty average, in the second division they lifted the ban on foreign players but with the condition that they were under 23, the players that arrived did not last long as their contracts were terminated, basically they were shite bar one or two exceptions.

Kid A wrote:
Signing Elano is a bit of a coup for Gala as well. His attitude is supposedly questionable at times but I think he'll put in the effort in a World Cup year.

No idea how much they paid for him, if anything as Mustafa Sarp, Gökhan Zan and Leo Franco were all frees.

Dunga told him he must play regularly according to the media here, he should do that in a three man midfied with one of Ayhan, Mustafa Sarp, Baris and the currently injured Mehmet Topal.

Lodzubelieveit wrote:
Cok tesekkurler, AE. It's really good to get an insight into a league like Turkey's.

I'm surprised to see Guiza still actually there. Undoubtedly a good player, but not one you'd rate high on the 'will adapt to foreign cultures' scale. How is he regarded in Fenerbahce/Turkey?

The whole Rijkaard signing - seems a bit incongruous that they have one of the most highly-regarded managers in Europe, and his best players are a pair of Liverpool dropouts. Is it just that Galatasaray had money to spend on only one of a good manager or a big-name player, or is there more to this than meets the eye?

Are Besiktas' fans 'the best' because they are the loudest or most loyal or whatever, or is there something more?

Eyvallah.

Guiza, bar the girlfriend and the nightclubbing issues or perhaps because of them, is regarded highly here. The fans like him because he works, chases back and puts in the effort that others do not. When he did not turn up for pre-season there was nothing said by them really, the goals he has got so far mean that he has already won over any doubters and is expected to stay.

Rijkaard has arrived at a club in financial turmoil, the new stadium keeps getting delayed, the contract has been given to a third set of contractors and keeps getting cancelled. The players lacked motivation and seemed to have no respect for their managers but despite all of that he has inherited a decent squad. After their win in Antep at the weekend the media made a huge deal of the fact that he congratulated every player as they went back to the dressing room, he stood outside the door and patted them all on the back. Not much but he seems to be able to communicate with his players and most importantly his record as both a player and a manager is well known here, instant respect with no piss taking by the players. Arda is the captain this year, so expect him to leave at the end of the season as he has also been given the number ten shirt.

Besiktas fans play their team, they support them for 90 minutes even if they are unhappy. A famous incident is when the well known Carsi group went to a match, turned their backs to the pitch and sang and supported for 90 minutes without stopping, they were protesting against the board and showed it like this. Only Bursaspor can match them.

No idea how much they paid for him, if anything as Mustafa Sarp, Gökhan Zan and Leo Franco were all frees.

Leo Franco, I thought was a pretty good keeper at Atleti. Apparently I've missed him making some real howlers though.

The ban on foreign players in the second division is an interesting idea; how did that come about?

It'll be interesting to see where Turan goes; He's been lined to Spurs, but presumably spanish sides would be more attractive due to the tax situation, and the fact the league's perceived to be a bit stronger.

Antepli Ejderha wrote:
Kid A wrote:
Signing Elano is a bit of a coup for Gala as well. His attitude is supposedly questionable at times but I think he'll put in the effort in a World Cup year.

No idea how much they paid for him, if anything as Mustafa Sarp, Gökhan Zan and Leo Franco were all frees.

Dunga told him he must play regularly according to the media here, he should do that in a three man midfied with one of Ayhan, Mustafa Sarp, Baris and the currently injured Mehmet Topal.

The report I saw on BBC reckoned the Elano fee was around £8M. Elano said on leaving Man City that he needed regular football with the WC coming up, to echo the Turkish media view.

As WS said, I too will be interested to follow this thread through the season. I thought Fenerbahce looked an exciting team going forward in their home game v Arsenal last season, esp Guiza, but were pretty ordinary at the back (yes I can hear you all saying much like Arsenal).

What is the standard of the foreign players like in Japan?

Very mixed, and Omiya's track record at identifying good 'uns is more mixed than most. As I mentioned before, his height may be a more significant advantage in Japan than elsewhere. I think that what may have swung it is that a few weeks ago we signed a Brazilian guy who was the top scorer in the K-League last year, but who had most recently been with a club called Tombense back in Brazil. Guess where Rafael went after leaving Turkey?

I like this as well. Interesting read.

The ban on foreign players in the second division is an interesting idea; how did that come about?

Not sure how it exactly came about but it was in force when I came to Turkey in 97. Nobody was able to give me an explanation of why but the most common one was to protect Turkish players.

In about 2001 clubs that were relegated were allowed to play their foreign players, a relatively big advantage for those that were able to keep them. Before those clubs were not and there were some cases of players with relegated teams not being allowed to play, not being allowed to move for free and stuck in limbo. Some clubs had foreigners who had taken Turkish citizenship playing before the ban was lifted. Some clubs tried to play foreiners as amateurs to get around the ban too.

Last season the TFF changed the rules to allow two foreign under 23s to play per second division (Bank Asya Lig/League). As I posted before not all the clubs took up this chance and those that did had very mixed results with some clubs terminating contracts very quickly.

The foreigner rule in the first division (Turkcell Super League) is 6+2, 6 players on the pitch at anyone time and 2 on the bench. Fenerbahçe will at some point field a side consisiting of no players born in Turkey, foreign born Turks, naturalised Turks, Brazilians and Guiza.

Doc Stanton wrote:
I like this as well. Interesting read.

Cheers, amazing what a change of name for a thread can do for interest!

Have been posting on the Turkcell Super League for a year now.

AE - assuming you're Turkey based (pun there, I notice), what's the gossip on Tuncay Sanli?

Also, what are the relative supports like for the three big teams in Istanbul? Are there the same concerns about police resources, can only one team play in Istanbul on the same day?