From the championship to today... Lemi Çelik speaks to 12punto: "Berat Albayrak said, 'Mr. Ahmet Ağaoğlu, resign'"

Selçuk ÇELİK - 12punto.com.tr

Former Trabzonspor player and sports writer Lemi Çelik made significant statements regarding Trabzonspor. Çelik provided important evaluations regarding the process after Trabzonspor became champion, from the Ahmet Ağaoğlu administration to the current management, and the events that took place during the pandemic season.

THE SQUAD WAS WEAKENED

Stating that Trabzonspor had a very strong squad when they became champions but that this squad was weakened by unnecessary additions, Lemi Çelik said, ''When Trabzonspor became champion, they had a very high-quality squad. Unfortunately, they failed to protect this strong squad. While they did not pay 7 million euros to the most important player who carried the team to the championship, like Nwakaeme, they transferred Trezeguet, who was much less efficient, and spent 15 million euros on him. So what happens here? You become much weaker as a squad. And the club is also going bankrupt economically. Unnecessary expenses are being made. After becoming champion, Trabzonspor should have both protected the squad and transferred 3 or 4 star-level players who could perform in the Champions League. Instead of making only 4 transfers, they bought 10-12 players, and none of these incoming players were at a star level. These players could not provide the expected contribution to the team. These incoming players were much less efficient compared to the names in the existing squad. As a result, the squad lost strength. And a situation arose where the championship-winning squad became insufficient both economically and sportingly,'' he stated.

"THERE IS NO ONE IN THE CLUB WHO UNDERSTANDS FOOTBALL"

Emphasizing that there are no managers in the club who understand football and that this is a very important problem, and conveying that as a result, no strategic planning can be made in the short, medium, and long term, Lemi Çelik said, ''When there is no former player or coach who has played in this club, done this job, and lived it, and who can serve the club for many years, unfortunately, the club has no planning. In other words, there is no strategic planning in the short, medium, and long term. When there isn't any, the team naturally loses strength and experiences financial problems with day-to-day operations. If there were a former player, a sporting director, a scout, a good scouting committee for the youth academy, and at the same time former players who know this business at the head of a scouting committee for the A-team, at least the squad formation would be done correctly with the right strategic planning. Ultimately, what needs to be done here is the right transfer, making transfers to the area that is needed. How would a contractor or someone busy with another business know this? That's why there must be a team in the club that has played football and done this job. Every team in the world definitely has someone who has played for that club for many years and has done this job. Apart from the coach and the management, they determine the squad formation of the club strategically.''

"MR. AHMET, PLEASE STEP DOWN"

Stating that the ruling party did not want former Trabzonspor President Ahmet Ağaoğlu, Lemi Çelik said, ''Politics, meaning the government, sent word to Ahmet Ağaoğlu saying, 'Mr. Ahmet, please step down.' Look, this is a headline. Politics is sending word to Mr. Ahmet to leave the presidency. Ahmet Ağaoğlu told me this himself. I am one hundred percent sure of this. At that time, the President's son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, who was within the state, said, 'Mr. Ahmet Ağaoğlu, resign. We don't want you anymore,''' he said.

ERTUĞRUL DOĞAN AND BERAT ALBAYRAK ARE BUSINESS PARTNERS

Emphasizing that Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan has very close relations with politics and is a business partner of President Erdoğan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak, Lemi Çelik said the following:

''Ertuğrul Doğan is Berat Bey's partner in the energy business in Samsun. They have an energy business in Samsun together with Berat Albayrak. Ertuğrul Doğan provides the money. Berat Albayrak says, 'Ertuğrul Doğan provides the money, but you (Ahmet Ağaoğlu) are doing nothing, so you will leave the post.' He says, 'Goodbye.'''

Saying that politics is involved in football in Turkey and emphasizing that the AKP has started to manage Trabzonspor, Çelik stated, ''Unfortunately, in our country, politics appoints the president. After the AKP came to power in the country, they started to manage Trabzonspor completely. They appointed all the presidents. They dismissed all the presidents. All the presidents were made dependent on the AKP,'' he expressed.

TAKEN FROM TRABZONSPOR AND GIVEN TO BAŞAKŞEHİR

Stating that Trabzonspor's rights were violated in the 2019-20 season in the Super Lig and that Başakşehir was made the champion, Çelik said, ''In 2020, the government took the championship from Trabzonspor and gave it to Başakşehir. The same people did these things again. Because Başakşehir is their team. In the Başakşehir-Trabzonspor match, a Başakşehir player grabbed Nwakaeme with both hands and pulled him down. That position was a 100 percent penalty and a red card. The referee of that match let the position continue and that match ended in a draw. Afterwards, they took the championship from Trabzonspor. Otherwise, Trabzonspor would have been the champion by a wide margin that season. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says, 'Başakşehir is my team, that's why it needs to be the champion.' When you look at the championship celebration of the Başakşehir team, you can see that the person lifting the cup is the President's son, Bilal Erdoğan,'' he said.

FOREIGN COACHES ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL

Evaluating Nenad Bjelica, the former coach of Trabzonspor, Lemi Çelik said that Bjelica was a good coach but could not be successful at Trabzonspor.

Stating that foreign coaches cannot be successful at Trabzonspor, Çelik continued his words as follows.

''I don't think foreign coaches can come and contribute to Trabzonspor. Now, in the past, there was a squad of players from Trabzon, coming from the youth academy in the club. In other words, there was definitely a skeleton squad. These newly arrived foreign coaches got along well with this squad. For example, in our time, there were very good names at the national team level coming from the youth academy, such as me, Hami, Ogün, Kemal, Soner, and Hamdi. This was the skeleton squad of Trabzonspor. The foreign coach who came to the city would sit down, talk, and understand these players. The players took more ownership of the team than the coach. But in the later processes, when the number of foreign players in the team increased, everything became about money. As the incoming coaches saw this situation of the players, they stopped creating a team spirit.''

SOME PLAYERS CANNOT EVEN PLAY IN THE 1ST LEAGUE

Speaking about the second Abdullah Avcı era at Trabzonspor, Lemi Çelik said, ''Avcı is definitely a good coach. He will be useful to Trabzonspor. But if the player quality is low, what can coach Abdullah do? Some footballers at Trabzonspor cannot even play in the 1st League with their current state. The important thing in football is the adequacy of the squad. In other words, what will carry you to the championship is the player squad,'' he said.

''ABDÜLKADİR HUMILIATED TRABZONSPOR''

Finally, evaluating the words of Trabzonspor legend Hami Mandıralı regarding Abdülkadir Ömür, Lemi Çelik said, ''Hami said it absolutely correctly. Many A-National players came out of the youth academy like Abdülkadir Ömür. None of them humiliated the Trabzonspor club this much. None of them grew up in the Trabzonspor youth academy and made such humiliating statements about the club. But Abdülkadir says such arrogant, such ignorant things that he says things that will put the club in a difficult situation. Of course, these don't suit him at all. The Trabzonspor fans booed me for 15 years, did I ever come out and say a single word about the club? I didn't. After that, they shouted 'Prime Minister Lemi.' The fans get angry if you play badly, they applaud if you play well. Go out and fight, play well, the fans will applaud you. Trabzonspor fans are not a stupid group of fans. They know very well who is doing what,'' he said.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Speaking on the Youtube channel of Karadeniz Gazetesi last week, Mandıralı stated that he heard rumors that Abdülkadir Ömür told Trabzonspor Club President Ertuğrul Doğan, "I will not go to that team, and I will not wear this jersey again," and said, "The jersey he said he wouldn't wear is the burgundy-blue Trabzonspor jersey. I don't understand where they find this power. How can the own children of Trabzon, who play in a team like Trabzonspor and wear the Trabzonspor jersey, say this? I couldn't say it, my friends couldn't say it. Where do they find this power to say these things? I was astonished and very sad. You should not forget where you came from. You are now coming to the facilities you used to come to by minibus in the most luxurious car. You didn't buy this with money you found on the street. You got this money and car because you played for Trabzonspor. That's why you live in the most beautiful house, you wear the most beautiful clothes. You should not forget this. You will also forget the person who forgets this,'' he had stated.

News Source: Selçuk Çelik