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Flagging Fener in hot water after Ankara debacle
“I have been in this business for many years, and I say that with this kind of refereeing, the Turkish league can never progress,” he noted. “And I am praying that someday we will be freed from these referees.”
The Canaries, with 48 points going into this match, were placed third in the 17-strong league and therefore needed victory at all costs to stay in contention for this season’s title along with Bursaspor, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş.
But the Canaries did exactly the opposite. The result means the Fenerbahçe Yellow Canaries will drop from second to third if, as expected, defending champion Beşiktaş drubs the Denizlispor Roosters away this evening.
This is a time when every point counts; the naysayers also know it and therefore wasted no time in holding under-fire German coach Christoph Daum to account.
The embattled German was particularly blamed for benching star strikers Dani Gonzalez Güiza and Semih Şentürk and starting with lethargic Gökhan Ünal, acquired during the January transfer window from Trabzonspor -- which had already declared the striker persona non grata.
The German coach tried to defend his team selection at his post-match news conference. “There are other strikers at Fenerbahçe aside from Güiza,” Daum said.
“Güiza did not play badly in the last match [against Antalyaspor in week 24], but he was not in top form. Gökhan performs well in practice sessions, and I think he deserved to be selected,” he noted. “In the first half, we played well and had several chances but just could not convert our chances into goals,” he further stated.
Asked what he would do if Fenerbahçe were not successful at the end of the season, Daum said: “I am a coach, that is it. Even if the team is not successful, I have do what has to be done. But I say, without mincing words, that I will do everything humanly possible for the success of Fenerbahçe.”
That’s what Daum thinks. But the German, on his second stint with the Canaries and his third coming to Turkey, is no stranger to how things work in topflight Turkish soccer -- Fenerbahçe in particular. This is a club where finishing second in the league is equal to finishing last.
There are numerous examples, with the experience of Brazilian coach Arthur Antunes Coimbra (2006-2008), better known as Zico, being the latest case. Zico led the Canaries to the 2006-07 league and Turkish Super Cup triumphs. He also led Fener to the UEFA Champions League 2007-08 group stage for the first time in the Canaries’ history. But Fener finished second behind rival Galatasaray in the league that season and Zico was considered an absolute failure and given his marching orders.
Hopefully Herr Daum and the Canaries will win the league title. If not, the German should expect a polite “tschüss” from the Fener monarchs come May.
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