With nervous Fenerbahçe fans watching closely, Istanbul's football giants Beşiktaş easily defeated Çaykur Rizespor side. The match on Sunday was followed around the league, especially by Fener supporters, because a loss for Beşiktaş would have seen the Yellow Canaries fall into the relegation zone. Fenerbahçe and its fans breathed a sigh of relief, at least for now, as Beşiktaş came to the rescue with a 4-1 thrashing of the underachieving Rizespor to keep its archrival afloat – albeit just barely. The Yellow Canaries currently sit in 15th in the league, with only nine points in 10 weeks – the club's worst Super League performance in recent history. Fenerbahçe's sacking of Phillip Cocu after just four months has shown that the Super League remains a difficult terrain for Dutch coaches to navigate. He paid the price for one of the worst starts to the season in Fenerbahçe's 111-year history.
Newly-elected Fenerbahçe Chairman Ali Koç had convinced the 47-year-old to join Fener from the Dutch-side PSV Eindhoven in the summer. But, the appointment was a disaster for Cocu and the club.
Dutch coaches no good for Turkish teams
Phillip Cocu is not the first of Dutch coaches failing to garner success in the Super League. In the 1989-90 season, Istanbul club Sarıyer's Cor van der Hart was fired after six draws and six defeats. In the 1990-91 season, Fenerbahçe was thrashed 6-1 in the very first match, against Anatolian minnows. Another Dutch coach Guus Hiddink was also sacked after a bad season with Fenerbahçe. Nevertheless, the club gave the top job to a Dutch coach one more time. In 2016-17, a nearly-retired Dick Advocaat also failed to uplift the Yellow Canaries. Fenerbahçe's archrival Galatasaray also worked with two Dutch coaches. Under Frank Rijkaard, Galatasaray completed the 2009-10 season in the third spot. And the next year he was fired in game week 10, after four defeats.
Galatasaray appointed its second Dutch coach Jan Olde Riekerink when he was working for the youth team in 2015-16. Although he won the Super Cup that season, he could not save himself firing after 20 weeks in the 2016-17 season.
Kemal Özdeş
Istanbulspor coach Leo Beenhakker and Kasımpaşaspor coach Jan Vouters were also sacked after very short spells at their clubs. Fenerbahçe's Hiddink also failed in his term at the helms of the Turkish national team in 2012 and was fired after just 16 matches.
Laurent Blanc
Here and now, Fenerbahçe is looking for a savior after 10 miserable weeks under Cocu. According to Turkish media, there are two candidates being considered – with former Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc being the front-runner. The 52-year-old is yet to join a club after his tenure with Paris Saint-Germain from 2013 to 2016 for 173 matches and he has good relations with Fenerbahçe's sportive director Daniel Comolli. Among the Turkish coaches in consideration, Kemal Özdeş, who parted ways with Istanbul minnows Kasımpaşa on Oct. 1, is rumored to be the favorite.
