FORMER Liverpool star Dirk Kuyt is helping take charge of Fenerbahçe after their manager’s shocking resignation following the Champions League draw with Roma.
According to reports in Turkey, Dirk Kuyt and Zeki Göle were at the helm of the team for training today.
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Ismail Kartal, the manager who handed in his resignation, did not come to the facilities for training.
Fenerbahçe officials will meet with Kartal at some point today as they have refused his resignation thus far.
Kuyt, who scored 71 goals in 285 games for Liverpool, only joined the Turkish giants in June to be Kartal’s assistant.
The Dutchman did spend three years at the club as a player directly after leaving Anfield, but his managerial career to this point has featured roles with ADO Den Haag and FC Dordrecht in Holland as well as Beerschot in Belgium.
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Bottle job
Moment Fenerbahce boss is hit by bottle from stands ‘causing him to quit’
The chaos has stemmed from fans throwing a water bottle at the manager’s head.
The 65-year-old Kartal told a news conference he was leaving “never to return”, adding that he had taken the decision “to clear the way for the club”.
But just moments later, Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildirim would contradict his manager and told reporters that Kartal “continues in his role”.
Yildirim said: “Some fans threw a bottle at the coach’s head this evening during the game. He is upset about it.
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“I just spoke to Ismail Kartal. He mentioned the bottle incident and he also complained about being under pressure.”
Asked if Kartal had told him that he would stay, Yildirim said: “There’s no need for him to say (openly) that he’d continue. I am his senior, I told him to continue and that’s it. We are a family.”
Englishman Archie Brown was left gobsmacked when reporters informed him after the game that his manager had quit.
When informed, Brown replied: “What do you mean resigned? As what? As coach?
“He is not the coach anymore? He said this just now?”
Fenerbahçe is littered with stars like Mason Greenwood, Ederson, N’Golo Kante, Marcos Asensio, Nathan Ake and many more flocking to Turkey.
But Kartel has proven to be a turbulent character. The Turkish coach had only been in charge for three months prior to this outburst and it is his FOURTH spell at the club.