Marked for Şahin Dik
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Dec 2026
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Trabzonspor, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match7 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Alanyaspor
Position 16 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match5 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Alanyaspor
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Alanyaspor can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alanyaspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Paolo Fernandes has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Şahin Dik commits to Alanyaspor for another 4 years.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Alanyaspor dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Alanyaspor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ruan in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alanyaspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Alanyaspor know it.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Ruan beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Alanyaspor lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Alanyaspor's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Alanyaspor has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The step up is real for Şahin Dik
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Match17 Oct 2026
Galatasaray left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Florian Loshaj was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Besiktas in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market19 Oct 2026
The Ruan story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruan signs something — a contract at Alanyaspor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
In brief
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The dugout
Baran Gezek has been promised minutes
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The dugout
Bruno Viana is not enjoying his job description
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Player ratings
Ruan runs at them all day