Sergen Yalçın: If our fans want us to leave, we will

In the Ziraat Turkish Cup semi-final, Beşiktaş was eliminated from the tournament after a 1-0 home defeat to Konyaspor. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Beşiktaş manager Sergen Yalçın said, "We are sad. The cup was the last goal we had left. We couldn't manage it. I don't think there is a need to interpret the game. We lost a match where the opponent didn't even have a single shot on target. These things can happen to you in football. The game is a living game. We are sad, I hope our sadness is evident. My players are also very sad. They were very focused, they wanted to play in the final. As of today, we have drifted away from our goal. There are 2 matches left in the league. They are not target matches either," he stated.

"We have experienced the referee's effort to keep the opponent in the game before"

Reiterating that the team was very focused on the final, Yalçın said, "We gave the impression of a team that dominated the entire game. The opponent's only shot on target was the penalty. The boys fought well. The luck factor is also important in football. We have gotten used to this penalty business. It happens to us in derbies too. I don't consider it normal for the referees to be this malicious. We have experienced the referee's effort to keep the opponent in the game before. It is very interesting that the referees are so negative and try to keep the opponents in the game. It was a match played between the team that was playing and the team that was trying to waste time. This is not the first time we have been eliminated. One should take such results naturally. I take the fans' reaction normally. The fans want to win the cup, but we cannot always achieve what we want in life," he said.

"We don't have much squad depth"

The 53-year-old manager stated that they have limited squad depth and that this could lead to a decline in performance. Yalçın said, "We don't have much squad depth. We are constantly playing with the same players. We made rotations in the Gaziantep match, and we received a reaction there too. Unfortunately, there is a lot of criticism. I am trying to do my job. Beşiktaş went through a very serious change during the mid-season break. Perhaps such a change has never happened in history. I said before that we would not have an easy season. I think things will improve over time. We signed good players. Results started to come. We stayed far from the goal, but I had said this. Our fans want short-term success. Beşiktaş's goal is always to win the cup. We didn't have such a position this year," he said.

"If our fans want us to leave, we will"

Regarding the fans calling for both him and the board to resign, Sergen Yalçın said, "It is normal for me and the board to take responsibility for the failure. There are 2 weeks left. It is not possible to leave and go in 2 weeks. We have to play the 2 matches. If our fans want us to leave, we will. They should have no doubt about that."

News Source: 12punto