Dirk Kuyt will take charge of Fenerbahce on an interim basis following Ismail Kartal's resignation, the Turkish club said on Wednesday — setting the Liverpool cult hero up for a Champions League reunion with his old club next week.
Kartal departed on Tuesday in the wake of Monday's 2-1 defeat by bitter rivals Galatasaray, and Fenerbahce moved quickly to promote from within. "Following Ismail Kartal's resignation, our club has assigned Dirk Kuyt as the technical supervisor of our Football A team until our new head coach is determined," the club said in a statement reported by Reuters. Kuyt had been working as Kartal's assistant since June.
A familiar face in both dugouts' histories
Kuyt, 46, is no stranger to either half of this story. He played more than 200 games for Liverpool — 285 appearances in all, according to The Sun — before moving to Fenerbahce in 2012, winning the Turkish league title two years later. At Anfield he became a cult figure for his work rate and big-game goals, scoring in the 2007 Champions League final defeat by AC Milan and lifting the League Cup before his move to Istanbul.
His coaching path since hanging up his boots has run through the Netherlands and Belgium, with spells in charge of FC Dordrecht, ADO Den Haag and Beerschot before he returned to Fenerbahce as Kartal's assistant in June. Now, four months on, the assistant has the job — at least until the board settle on a permanent head coach.
Three games to make his case
According to De Telegraaf, reported by The Sun, Kuyt is expected to stay in charge at least until the international break. His first match is a league game against Goztepe on Saturday, with Fenerbahce fifth in the Super Lig and six points behind leaders Galatasaray after the derby defeat that ended Kartal's fourth spell.
Then comes the fixture that writes its own headlines. Liverpool visit Istanbul on Wednesday 4 November in the Champions League, and Kuyt will be in the home dugout against the club where he spent six seasons. Fenerbahce have just two points from three European matches and can ill afford another defeat, but a famous night against his old side would transform Kuyt's interim spell into something much harder for the board to end.
So what does it mean for Fenerbahce?
The appointment buys the board time without handing the dressing room to a stranger. Kuyt knows the squad, knows the club's politics and knows what the supporters demand — but interim spells live or die on results, and his first three games include a title-race test and a European night against an unbeaten Liverpool side.
It also underlines how fast Kartal's return unravelled. A coach talked out of resigning in September was gone by late October, and a squad built for more than 100 million euros is now being led, temporarily, by his assistant.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This is the smartest short-term move Fenerbahce could make — and the most dangerous one for Kuyt. The board get a beloved figure who steadies the club for free, while Kuyt risks his hero's welcome on a run of fixtures that could break any coach. Beat Liverpool, and the clamour to keep him will be deafening; lose heavily, and the interim tag will look like a life jacket thrown to a man already underwater.
Is Kuyt the right man to steady Fenerbahce — and could he earn the job permanently? Let us know in the comments.
