Beşiktaş waiting for Mr Right

New age
The Istanbul club are entering a new era following the resignation of Riza Çalimbay on Monday. With former coach Gordon Milne having been appointed youth co-ordinator and director of football on the same day, Beşiktaş president Yildirim Demirören is seeking out a big-name replacement for Çalimbay.

German trip
Demirören is expected to travel to Germany to open talks with a number of coaches, with former Bayer 04 Leverkusen boss Klaus Toppmöller seemingly the first-choice candidate. However, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Claudio Ranieri and Jacques Santini have also been touted as possible successors.

Major figure
Beşiktaş's reputation demands that the new man is a major European figure, but as the club move on, some are wondering why they had so little patience with Çalimbay, who was one of their finest players in 16 seasons with the Black Eagles.

Beşiktaş hero
Çalimbay won three league titles and two Turkish Cups, having joined Beşiktaş as a trainee in the 1980/81 campaign, and given that his team have been ravaged by injuries and suspensions, some say he deserved more than 264 days to prove his worth.

Missing stars
Critics, however, were unflinching in their attacks on the coach, whom they accused of making too many changes to his side and lacking strategic nous. Yet his real problems were exposed by last weekend's 0-0 home draw with Kayserispor - his final game in charge - when he was without eight first-teamers.

Çalimbay unhappy
Çalimbay, 42, was devastated at having to leave the club and defended his position, saying: "Our problems could have been solved. Nobody backed me except the president. My main support was from the fans and the Beşiktaş community. Unfortunately, no one has patience for Turkish coaches in this country.

Mysterious event
"Actually, my assistants and I had resigned after the Malmö [FF] match [a 4-2 aggregate win in the UEFA Cup first round] but the board told us they needed us to stay," continued Çalimbay. "We changed our minds but a serious event which I cannot tell you about caused me to take the decision to leave."

Seismic movements
There have certainly been seismic movements at the club in recent weeks. Assistant coach Gökhan Keskin stepped down before Çalimbay, and his departure was followed by that of general manager Erdil Arpaci - signs, perhaps, of behind-the-scenes unrest.

Temporary charge
For the visit of Bolton, youth coach Mehmet Eksi and scout Ulvi Güveneroglu will be in charge, but the man who takes permanent command faces a daunting task. Beşiktaş are already 13 points off the pace, in seventh place in the Super League, and will be keen to reverse their fortunes very quickly.