Fenerbahçe part ways with coach İsmail Kartal

Following Fenerbahçe's derby loss to Galatasaray, the future of head coach İsmail Kartal became the club's top agenda item. Club president Aziz Yıldırım, along with football department executive Cihan Kamer, traveled to the Can Bartu Facilities in Samandıra to meet with İsmail Kartal and Oğuz Çetin. It emerged that the majority of the board had expressed the view during this meeting that a coaching change would be the right move.

According to reports, Aziz Yıldırım met with İsmail Kartal again later that evening. The two sides are said to have mutually agreed to part ways during this conversation. Fenerbahçe is expected to issue an official statement on the matter shortly.

During his time in charge of Fenerbahçe, the experienced coach recorded 9 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses across all competitions, achieving a points-per-game average of 1.78. Under Kartal, the yellow-and-navy blue side finished the 2014-2015 season in second place, three points behind champions Galatasaray, though they did claim the Turkish Super Cup on August 25, 2014, defeating Galatasaray on penalties to end the season with a trophy.

Fenerbahçe also finished second in the 2021-2022 season, during which Kartal was in charge for half the campaign, and ended the 2023-2024 season in second place again with 99 points, three behind Galatasaray. With the Kartal era now over, attention at Fenerbahçe has turned to the search for a new head coach. Fans and observers are now awaiting the club's official announcement and the decision on who will take the helm next.