In praise of Bulent

By: Musab | February 25th, 2009

I’ve noticed that many Turkish football fans feel that our new manager Bulent Korkmaz is not up to the job and that he is destined to crash and burn. Completely normal. However I’ve also noticed that many Galatasaray fans have denounced Bulent before him managing a single match insteading of welcoming with open arms. So I’ve decided to speak up in praise of Bulent. I’ll list reasons why he was the best candidate for this job and that no other person could do better.

1. He knows our football better than any others
Bulent’s tenure with Galatasaray saw him playing in the classic 4-3-1-2 formation for many years. Bulent knows the tactics of the fluid midfield, pacy wings, talented strikers, and the iron defence that this formation needs. Galatasaray has also brought in players to fulfill these roles, and they let Bulent know of the needs of the team and how to fill them. He’s seen action with many other managers all trying to perfect this system and he knows what kind of players are needed.

2. He already has a perfect team, he just needs to get it to work

It is a fact that we have the best squad in the league. However we’re 8 points off the pace because Skibbe couldn’t get his 116 million Euro squad to beat Kocaelispor, Eskisehirspor, and Antalyaspor (x2), all newly promoted teams. That’s 10 points right there. So what will Bulent do differently? Bulent will instill the desire and discipline that is absolutely non-existent in this team. He won’t be as strict as Feldkamp, but he’ll do whatever is necessary to right this ship.

3. He is a good manager

I watched Bulent’s matches with the clubs he managed. Erciyesspor was a crisis team which Bulent inspired to fight a mighty battle to escape relegation, something they nearly accomplished. He led the team to an impressive 1-1 draw with Fener (Semih’s tying goal being offside), and brought Erciyes to the finals of the Turkish Cup against Besiktas in which they were denied two clear penalties and Besiktas should have been playing with 10 men.

With Bursaspor he formed a very offensive team that in my opinion, was just unlucky. Bursa just kept either giving away 1-0 leads or lost matches in which they should have at least came away with a point. The Bursa-GS match is a perfect example. He brought in effective players like Tum in as well. This was his only job in which he started a season with.

Genclerbirligi is a completely different story. He joined the club after the dictator Cavcav promised Bulent job security and the right to rebuild the team before viciously sacking him when Bulent oppossed certain business dealings.

Bulent knows football better than most other Turkish players. He always had teh desire to win, no matter what the cost. That’s very important in management. He won’t be “pleased with the result” against Kayseri when it’s 0-0. He will insist on getting that goal, something that will have an impact on the players.

4. He loves this club

If a man loves his club, he’ll do anything to see his club be succesful, whether he be a player, a fan, a board member, or a manager. Bulent loves this club so very much. He gave playing in Italy as well as millions of dollars just so he could stay with his boyhood team. It’s only natural that he will work day and night to make Galatasaray succesful.

5. He’s from Malatya

Nuff said.

When Fatih Terim was put in charge of Galatasaray people criticized the board for putting a manager who was unsuccesful everywhere he went, even though he managed a “big team” (Turkey) beforehand. There are many similarities between Fatih Terim and Bulent Korkmaz. Both were legendary defenders who loved the CimBom jersey very much. Both were brought to this team in troubled times. And hopefully both will be remembered as great managers for our club.

That being said, nothing is out of reach. While our chances for the title are looking bad, theyre not gone. A good string of results from “new-manager-syndrome” could see us fight our way to a champions league spot. If we win this Thursday, we’re in the round of 16 against a team that’s around Hertha Berlin in the standings. Nothing is lost yet, and yet we have so much to gain.

I have a good feeling about Bulent and I know he is going to be very succesful with us. Could you imagine Bulent lifting up the UEFA Cup for a second time with us at Kadikoy? First as a player then as a manager. Could you imagine Bulent adding more trophies and medals to his cabinet. Bulent wants to be succesful, now can we please all get behind him and chant his name???