Fatih Terim

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Fatih Terim
Personal information
Full name Fatih Terim
Date of birth September 4, 1953 (1953-09-04) (age 54)
Place of birth    Adana, Turkey
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7+12 in)
Playing position Manager (Former Defender)
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1969–1974
1974–1985
Adana Demirspor
Galatasaray
 ? (?)
327 (?)   
National team2
1974–1985 Turkey 51 (2)
Teams managed
1987–1989
1989–1990
1990–1993
1993–1996
1996–2000
2000–2001
2001–2002
2002–2004
2005–present
MKE Ankaragücü
Göztepe
Turkey U-21
Turkey
Galatasaray
Fiorentina
AC Milan
Galatasaray
Turkey

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 20 October 2006.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 20 October 2006.
* Appearances (Goals)

Fatih Terim, is one of the most successful football players and managers of Turkey. He is considered to be one of the best managers due to his ability to motivate his players and aggressive game strategies. Currently, he is the coach of the Turkish national team.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

Born on September 4, 1953 in Adana, Turkey into a poor family, he attended a vocational high school but soon dropped out of school to become professional football player.

[edit] Professional football player

In 1969 Terim's professional football career began as a junior player with Adana Demirspor. Because of his financial difficulties, he was the only player in the team who was being paid secretly by the club at the time. Three years later he became the captain of the team. He recalls his first game with the captain badge:

Just before the game, I cheered up my teammates, as a captain has to do, and ran out to the field. As I looked back on the field, no one was behind me. I was so fast that nobody could follow me. I was so excited.

Terim played 6 more years with Adana Demirspor. As a successful central defender, he joined Galatasaray SK in 1974 and played for 11 years for the club. However, during his time with Galatasaray, the club was not able to win the championship trophy in the Turkish league. Terim was capped to the Turkish national team 51 times, from 1974 to 1985, and was the national team captain for 35 international games, establishing the national record for both categories at his time. He ended his playing career in Galatasaray in 1985.

[edit] Managerial career

After retiring from professional football his initial training came from Jupp Derwall while they were at Galatasaray. Terim's coaching career began when he was appointed the coach of MKE Ankaragücü. He coached the club for two years and moved on to coach Göztepe in İzmir which lasted one year. He did not have any significant success with these teams.

In 1990 he was appointed as assistant to Turkey's national coach Sepp Piontek, where he also coached the U21 team. After serving as assistant coach for three years, he was appointed Turkish national team coach in 1993. Three years later, the Turkish national team succeeded in qualifying for the final tournament of the Euro '96 for the first time in its history under his management. Although the national team did not perform well in the tournament (losing all the games, and not being able to score a single goal), the qualification to the tournament was still considered a great achievement for Turkish football.

After Euro 1996, Fatih Terim signed a contract with Galatasaray S.K.. Under his management Galatasaray won the championship in the Turkish league for four consecutive years, crowning his achievements by winning the UEFA Cup in 2000, making Fatih Terim the most successful Galatasaray manager in its history. Unfortunately his departure allowed Mircea Lucescu to clinch the UEFA Super Cup in 2000 for Galatasaray. After this victory big clubs were chasing after him, clubs like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Valencia and AS Roma.

[edit] Italian Serie A

His success with Galatasaray lead Terim to Serie A, signing a one year contract with ACF Fiorentina, Italy.

His aggressive and offensive style of football, and his tense relations with the club president and owner Vittorio Cecchi Gori made Terim a favourite amongst Fiorentina fans. In Fiorentina, Terim had a significant start, beating AC Milan (4-0) and holding Juventus to a 3-3 thrilling draw, and eliminating Milan 4-2 on aggregate to reach the final of the Coppa Italia. However, in the middle of the 2000-2001 season, Terim declared that he was not going to extend his contract with the club since Cecchi Gori did not intend to make the investments that he requested. After his declaration, the team's performance declined significantly, and his continuing clashes with the club president urged him to resign before the season ended.

In the summer of 2001, he was named the coach of AC Milan turning down offers from big clubs like FC Barcelona and Liverpool. Immediately he signed Rui Costa and Umit Davala to the club. He transformed AC Milan's system, playing with a system very similar to the Total football style of Rinus Michels. It was a simple 4-3-1-2 formation with Rui Costa as the playmaker. While he was coaching AC Milan, the team reached the third round of the UEFA Cup. However, after several disappointing results, his contract was terminated and making his AC Milan career last only 5 months.

[edit] Back to Turkey

Terim, a coach who values professional discipline and organization and amateur passion, was nicknamed "Imparator" (Turkish for "Emperor") in Turkey; this nickname is also widely used in Italy in his reference. In a survey conducted by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) in 80 countries, Fatih Terim was placed among the best eight soccer coaches in the world. He received his award at a ceremony held in Rothenburg, Germany on January 8, 2001.

In the summer of 2002 he returned to Galatasaray. Due to internal problems amongst Galatasaray’s management, financial difficulties of the club, and failure of his transfer policies, he had a disappointing performance. In the first year his return Galatasaray lost the championship title to rival Beşiktaş J.K.. Second year was a complete failure, not qualifying from the Champions League groups and bad performance in the Turkish Super League, which led him to resign and take a break in his managing career in March 2004 in the meantime clubs like Internazionale and AS Roma tried to lure Terim back to the Serie A but with no success. In the summer of 2005, Terim was asked to coach the Turkish National Team. He signed a contract with the Turkish Football Federation, where he still coaches.

In December 2007, Fatih Terim's monthly salary was mentioned during the Turkish parliament's session discussing the 2008 government budget. Sırrı Sakık, a member of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), said that Terim's monthly salary was 130,000 Turkish New Liras (approximately 103,500 US Dollars), which equalled 130 times the minimum wage. In response, Minister of State Murat Başesgioğlu said that "Terim's salary can be discussed, but doing this at the parliament would hurt the National Team."[1][2]

In May 2008, Terim confirmed rumours that he has been offered positions from foreign sports clubs (such as Chelsea FC.[3] ), however he stated that he will be discussing these offers after the European Championship matches are concluded.[4]

[edit] Achievements

As coach

  • Other
    • Nomination for UEFA Coach of the Year 2001 (eventually won by Gérard Houllier)
    • IFFHS's 6th best club coach in the world 2001

[edit] Decoration

On May 8, 2008, Fatih Terim was honored with the rank Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana (2nd Class / Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity) by the Italian state at a reception hosted by the Italian Embassy in Ankara .[5]

[edit] References

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Sepp Piontek
Turkey national football team Manager
1993-1996
Succeeded by
Mustafa Denizli
Preceded by
Graeme Souness
Galatasaray SK Manager
1996-2000
Succeeded by
Mircea Lucescu
Preceded by
Alberto Malesani
UEFA Cup Winning Coach
1999-2000
Succeeded by
Gérard Houllier
Preceded by
Giovanni Trapattoni
ACF Fiorentina Manager
2000-2001
Succeeded by
Luciano Chiarugi
Preceded by
Cesare Maldini
A.C. Milan Manager
2001
Succeeded by
Carlo Ancelotti
Preceded by
Mircea Lucescu
Galatasaray SK Manager
2002-2004
Succeeded by
Gheorghe Hagi
Preceded by
Ersun Yanal
Turkey national football team Manager
2005-present
Succeeded by
incumbent