“My goal is to stay in the competition”: Yakin with dream debut in Turkey

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His debut in the Turkish Super Lig could not have been better. Hakan Yakin leads Istanbulspor to its first win of the season in the 9th round in his first match as coach. 2-1 win at Esenyurt Necmi Kadıoglu Stadyumu over Ankaragücü in Istanbul.

The “Bulls” win after five bankruptcies in a row. Of course Yakin is happy with his debut. “This victory is very important, especially for the players, for their morale,” he told Blick. In the few days since he signed, he has shaken up the team hierarchy to reinvigorate the competition, tweaked the system a bit for the game and had a lot of one-on-one conversations. And tries to remove the players’ uncertainty.

Everything opened on Sunday. But the 46-year-old former Nati star wants to keep the ball flat. “The start was great, but it was only one game.” A match in which he enjoyed moral support from the stands: Nati coach Murat Yakin did not miss his younger brother’s first appearance as Süper Lig coach. By the way, there was another national coach next to him, Vincenzo Montella. The Italian has been coaching the Turkish national team for a month.

Yakin has a car with driver

Yakin has signed a contract in Istanbul until summer 2025. He and athletics trainer Harun Gülen, with whom he already worked at FC Schaffhausen, still live in a hotel. And they don’t seem to be in any real hurry to move. When asked when his goal was to move into his own apartment, Yakin replied, “My goal is just to stay in the league.”

Istanbulspor has initially provided the new coach with a car and driver. It is “ideal,” says Yakin, “Istanbul is huge, there is something to do in the city 24 hours a day and the traffic definitely takes some getting used to.” So far he only knows the route from the hotel to the training ground.

“I didn’t think it would happen so quickly.”

Yakin feels completely comfortable in Istanbul so far. He just misses his family. For the time being, she will remain in her usual environment in Zurich, where sons Diego and Dylan and daughter Selin go to school and kindergarten. In January the Yakin family wants to decide what to do next.

“First of all, I am happy that my wife supports me so well,” he says. For the time being he is separated from Tanja and the children. “I was aware that this would happen. I’ve always said that I don’t get my coaching diploma just to hang it on the wall at home. But I didn’t think a new job would come up so quickly.”

His older brother Murat has just discovered how quickly things can happen in football. After recent poor performances against Belarus, Kosovo and Romania, the Nati coach is suddenly being criticized. «Muri is currently experiencing the other side of coaching life. Not so long ago it was celebrated and now it is suddenly counted. I don’t want to say more about it, there are already enough people giving their opinions. Exactly this: criticism is part of the job, and Muri can deal with it.”

Source : Blick