The second Ertuğrul Sağlam era at Kocaelispor has come to an end

The Ertuğrul Sağlam era at Kocaelispor has come to an end. In a statement shared on his social media account, manager Sağlam included the following remarks:  

"I must make an assessment regarding developments that I cannot remain silent about during these days as we take step-by-step progress toward our targeted championship. I would like to state clearly once again that the happiness of our fans has always been one of the most important issues for me. As football fans, everyone wants more. I understand this. However, in some situations, more is not easily attainable. Contrary to what is believed, despite serious financial difficulties, while we were continuing our path in the Turkish Cup without incident and had established a 4-point lead over our 3rd-place rival in the league, unfortunately, some off-field issues have begun to occupy our agenda. The dissatisfaction resulting from this is extremely saddening. Our Mayor, Tahir Bey, the city's leading business people, and a portion of our fans believe in our struggle. I owe them my thanks.

However, I must state with regret that there are those who try to deliberately direct our fans and manipulate the community through football-related dissatisfaction. Those who brought up the issue of 'firing the coach' while the team was league leader and there was no unsolvable problem, reflected this situation onto the Esenler Erok match as a protest in a planned manner. Unfortunately, some of our fans also acted upon these directions. Personal ambitions and whims should not affect our community. Unfortunately, the statements made by the Club President after the Esenler Erok match showed that there is no unity of thought or heart. As someone who has been in professional football for exactly 40 years, I have never exceeded my duties and areas of authority. Today, it is impossible for me to remain silent while a process that is going well is practically sabotaged by a malicious mindset. Given the point we have reached, it unfortunately does not seem possible to succeed in being of one heart under the same roof, while being kept away from a goal that I am certain will end in a championship. For this reason, I am terminating my contract as of today, not remaining indifferent to the demands indirectly conveyed by the Club President. I wish the Kocaelispor community and its fans success in the remainder of the league season."

ERTUĞRUL SAĞLAM'S KOCAELİSPOR RECORD 

Ertuğrul Sağlam, who managed Kocaelispor in 16 matches, placed the team 2nd in the league with 32 points.