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Ex-Trabzonspor midfielder John Mikel Obi warns his former manager Jose Mourinho about Turkish football.
Super Eagles legend Mikel Obi has sent a warning to his former coach, Jose Mourinho, about the football fan culture in Turkey.
Mourinho was recently announced as the new manager of Fenerbahce, who recently finished second in the Turkish Super Lig and was received to a rapturous reception. Mikel, who played for Trabzonspor in Turkey from 2019–2020 warned Mourinho that all of that goodwill could disappear quickly.
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What Mikel said
Speaking on the ObiOne podcast, Mikel, who played under Jose in both of the Portuguese’s spells at Chelsea, gave his former gaffer some insight into Turkish football.
He warned Jose that Turkish fans are a football-crazed people, and the love they showed him at this unveiling could easily turn into resentment if he does not provide results.
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“I was lucky enough to play in that part of the world, and I must tell you they are not the easiest crowd to please,” Mikel said.
“They will love you; they will give you everything you want when you win games. But they are so impatient more than in the Premier League or Italian league. They are crazy about football, especially the Fenerbahce fans, the Galatasaray fans, and the Trabzonspor fans where I played. They are crazy; they live football, they breathe football, they eat football.
“They will love you, whoever you are; they will give you time, but if you’re not winning, or things are not going well, they will turn on you very quickly; you’d be surprised. So Jose needs to be careful. I understand he’s trying to carry the fans along, but he has to perform. If he doesn’t do that, he’ll be surprised at how quickly they will turn on him.”
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Fenerbahce finished on 99 points this recently-concluded season, three points behind league winners Galatasaray.
Despite coming so close, and only losing one game, it was not enough to Ismail Kartal’s job. Also, clips made the rounds on social media showing fans of the club vandalising properties in protest of losing the league title to their rivals Galatasaray; all of which lends credence to Mikel’s warnings to Jose Mourinho.
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