Turkish Super League club Trabzonspor announced Monday that the club bilaterally cancelled the contract of coach Ersun Yanal following the humiliating 6-1 defeat against Teleset Mobilya Akhisarspor in their home ground.
The official statement regarding Yanal's dismissal from Trabzonspor was announced on the team's official website, whereas the Black Sea club also notified Borsa Istanbul (BIST) of Yanal's departure.
Yanal, in his third term with top contenders Trabzonspor, could not find a solution for improving the team's defense, and as a result Trabzonspor had conceived 21 goals in the first 8 weeks of the Turkish Super League.
According to Turkish media outlets, former Turkish Men's National Football Team director Fatih Terim, and retired Turkish international footballer and former manager of Antalyaspor Rıza Çalımbay, are the candidates for Trabzonspor's head coach position.
A renowned football coach in Turkey, Yanal has impressed many football followers with excellent wins against Blackburn, Parma and Sporting Lisbon in the 2003-04 UEFA Cup while coaching Ankara club Gençlerbirliği. The impressive run in the UEFA Cup and offensive football increased support for him to be named as the head coach of the Turkish national team, however, this stint only lasted nine games.
Following two mediocre seasons with newcomers Manisaspor, where Arda Turan rose to prominence, Yanal first trained Trabzonspor in the 2007-2008 season for a period of 24 matches. His second term began in the 10th week of the 2014-2015 season, but the club parted ways with Yanal to replace him with former player Shota Arveladze of Georgia.
Yanal returned to Trabzonspor once again in the 2016-2017 season with high hopes of restructuring, and finished sixth. However, this season turned out to be a total disappointment for the Claret-Blues since the team managed to gain only two wins and three draws in eight weeks.
Yanal became the sixth coach to be sacked from his position of the 18-team Super League since the season started eight week ago.
Trabzonspor, which won six Turkish championships in the late 1970's and early 1980's, is the first Turkish club from outside of Istanbul to reach the title. The club's fervent fans are famous for their strong support, and infamous at the same time for violence.
