“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Besiktas hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Besiktas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Semih Kılıçsoy has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Besiktas know, and have known for weeks.
A 2-0 win over Adana Demirspor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Istanbulspor, and 5 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Besiktas, and 5 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Besiktas know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Besiktas, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The name of Kassoum Ouattara has come up in conversations Besiktas were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Besiktas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Hakan Kabak is back at Besiktas, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Besiktas, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The shirt still fits. Halil Yildiz is back at Istanbulspor, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Oguzhan Kabak is back at Istanbulspor, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Istanbulspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Besiktas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Besiktas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Besiktas would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Besiktas, and 4 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Besiktas know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: El Bilal Touré plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Taylan Bulut will call it something else in private.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Besiktas can pretend not to have heard.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Besiktas have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
The deal that would have taken Gökhan Sazdağı to Konyaspor has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Besiktas with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Oh Hyeon-Gyu has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Cengiz Ünder
Every debut is a small story about the future: Mustafa Hekimoğlu, 19 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Milot Rashica