Let's take a quick view at the first half of the season and see what is waiting for us in the second half. Firstly, last year's champions, Fenerbahçe, sacked their successful coach Ersun Yanal in a humiliating plot before his assistant took his position with open arms. Galatasaray started the new season with a reformist coach and long term promises, but the chairman left the club after one month with a huge debt that threatens the club's future in European football. Beşiktaş lost their home advantage because of awful stadiums and their on-field advantages because of Slaven Bilic's shortcut plans. Trabzonspor wasted two months with Vahid Halilhodzic before they were reacquainted with successful results and quasi-Fight Club congresses. The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) broke their word and changed the foreign players' limitation in just one year and, maybe most crucially of all, the biggest sponsor of Turkish football, Ülker, declared it would no longer support Turkish football. What we have from the first half is plots, debts, awful and empty stadiums, frustrated sponsors and fans, and terrible games.
One of the main actors in this collapse is Fenerbahçe. Chairman Aziz Yıldırım's unquestioned power within the club only strengthened after the match fixing scandal in 2011 and most of the time he puts his authority before the sake of the club. All of his plans, like founding Fenerbahçe Bank, having a million club members and pulling Fenerbahçe out of the TFF's contract with the broadcaster of the Super League only raised his popularity among Fenerbahçe fans, but none of them ever actually happened. However, his statements also destabilized Fenerbahçe's situation, making it harder to implement long-term plans. For example, his "a million Fenerbahçe members" project involves regular payment to the club, but does not give members the right to vote and does not include any kind of interactive administration. On the other hand, his threats about pulling Fenerbahçe out of the broadcasting contract is completely surreal because the legislation has strict punishments. Given these circumstances, it would be illogical and irresponsible to talk purely about Fenerbahçe's performance. As long as this kind of an administration exists at Fenerbahçe, the club will never find stability and consistent success.
Galatasaray, on the other hand, were driven by a pretty local-minded executive Abdurrahim Albayrak. After all the professional propaganda by former chairman Ünal Aysal, it was sad to see one of the biggest clubs in Turkey give the keys to an "abi." Of course, the very first thing he did was sack the unwanted man, Cesare Prandelli. In the short term, Hamza Hamzaoğlu's appointment satisfied Galatasaray fans, nevertheless Galatasaray only adapted to the local rules of the game. The club's performance on the pitch did not provide much promise for long-term success, nor did it help the economic situation. Even, former Galatasaray executive Mehmet Helvacı claimed that Galatasaray would be banned from European football because of the club's debt. Seeing as sponsors are withdrawing from Turkish football one by one, Galatasaray might face serious repercussions from their financial mismanagement by the end of this season.
Beşiktaş have a relatively fair financial policy compared to their biggest rivals. Nevertheless, the stadium issue was the biggest problem for Beşiktaş and it looks like it will continue to be. Added to that, the TFF's sudden amendment on the foreigners rule was harmful for Beşiktaş. In theory, of course it is always better for a coach not to be busy with foreign player limitations, nonetheless Beşiktaş built a, again relatively, local squad. In that regard, the previous foreigners rule was kind of an advantage for Beşiktaş. However, Bilic still insists on defensive-minded strategies at Beşiktaş. Just as we saw in the two derbies that Beşiktaş lost, the team rarely moved the ball smoothly into the opponent's half and consistently allowed their rivals clean looks on goal. Bilic must review his strategy and tactics if he wants his team to win the title.
Finally, given all of these facts, it is obvious that Turkish football is in crisis and it looks like it is getting worse. Modern regulations, like financial fair play and unlimited foreign players, have created threats that weren't there before. Thus, fundamental changes are needed to save Turkish football. It is impossible to continue with the present strategies and actors.
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