Manager Profile: Fatih Terim

Following Galatasaray's impressive display during their Champions League match with Manchester United at Old Trafford this week, this article will put the manager of the Turkish giants under the spotlight.

Terim enjoyed a hugely productive playing career in Turkey before his transformation as a manager. After enjoying five years in Adana Demirspor's first team, he joined Galatasaray, a side he would be heavily involved with in years to come. Despite his failure to win a Turkish league title Terim became a fans favourite and captained the side for many years as he did also with the Turkish national side, where he earned himself 51 caps.

His early managerial experiences were short lived and hugely forgettable. He was first appointed as manager of Ankaragucu for a year and a half before moving on to spend a year as coach of Goztepe.

In a similar vein to the role currently undertaken by England's Stuart Pearce, Terim was appointed as Turkey's assistant manager and also coached the U21 team. He impressed enough to then be appointed as Turkey's manager and secured qualification to Turkey's first ever European Championships in 1996. This success is widely recognised and appreciated even today by Turks and Terim secured a place in the eventful history of Turkey.

This success opened the door wide open for Terim to rejoin Galatasaray where he experienced huge success. Winning four consecutive league titles in any league is a major achievement but then managed to cap it off by a UEFA Cup success in 2000. Terim became the most successful manager in Galatasaray's history, his reputation explained.

Terim then decided the time was right to spread his wings and take his managerial prowess into Europe where he joined Fiorentina in Italy's Serie A which proved to be a short lived affair. This did not deter AC Milan from signing Terim but again he failed to stamp his authority and style of play onto the side and was quickly shown the door after only five months.

Another short lived stint at Galatasaray followed that was heavily influenced by internal financial difficulties before leading Turkey, dubbed the “comeback kings”, once again to a European Championships in 2008, this time securing a Semi-Final berth. His exploits led to his nomination as the Euro 2008 manager of the tournament which was a deserved recognition of one of Europe's finest managers.

Unsurprisingly after Terim's exploits with the Turkey national side Galatasaray welcomed Terim back to the club with open arms where he once again lifted the Turkish 'Super Lig' title and followed that with a TFF Super Kupa this year. Terim now seems to have finally found his place in football at the age of 59 and is in a position where he could stamp his personality on the club and secure its long term future and, ultimately, create his own legacy.

Despite his failings in his attempts to move away from the Turkish domestic league into Italy's Serie A he is undoubtedly one of the greatest football managers of the modern day. With Galatasaray now impressing in this season's Champions League, Terim has the managerial capabilities to go deep in the competition and possibly contest a Champions League Semi-Final or the final itself at Wembley Stadium in 2013. Definitely his experiences in Euro 2008 with Turkey will provide him with enough experience to handle the situation and whilst Galatasaray aren't as technically gifted as some of Europe's finest teams, they have one of the finest managers to lead them.

Tomos Llewellyn

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