There are moments when a unique and unexplained connection between a manager and a club is made.
A recent famous type of connection is that of Leicester City and Claudio Ranieri. It was a perfect match between a team that barely survived a relegation battle and an unsuccessful manager that barely won any titles in his career. This relationship peaked during a sensational Premier League title run in 2016.
Before the start of the Turkish Süper Lig’s second half of the season, we have another chance to see such a unique combination. The current leader of the league is the small club of Sivasspor, as all the other major teams are struggling behind. On the sidelines stands Rıza Çalımbay, a manger that has never had a great success during his career. But at this moment, we are potentially speaking about the Turkish equivalent of Leicester City.
The Turkish championship title is not so diverse when you look at its history of champions. Three clubs won 56 out of 63 titles, all of them are the major clubs from Istanbul – Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş. Trabzonspor has won six championships, but the last one was in 1984. In the past 35 years, only once did a non-Istanbul team win the title, as Bursaspor were crowned champions in 2010.
Sivasspor is not the club that you will expect to see in the league's top places. The club was promoted to the top tier for the first time in 2005, and step by step became a permanent member of the league. In 2009, Sivasspor reached its peak, when the club was part of the title race, but eventually finished as runner-up, five points behind Beşiktaş. They failed to repeat it once again, and most of the times they finished in mid-table places without a realistic chance to even get a spot to the European competitions.
In 2016, Sivasspor was relegated to the second division, only to win back promotion after one year. Since their comeback, Sivasspor has built somewhat of a mid-table status. A year ago, there was a feeling that the team is back in business, as they were only two points away from the Europa League spot. A poor form in the second half of the season - winning only 2 out of their last 13 matches, brought them close to the relegation zone. From being a Europa League contender, Sivasspor finished the season only four points above the relegation zone.
That finish has led the club board to fire manager Hakan Keleş and to appoint a new gaffer – Rıza Çalımbay. As a player, Çalımbay was one of the greatest players ever in Turkish football. He played 16 consecutive seasons in Beşiktaş and never left the team. A famous tale from his career was his decision to reject an offer from Olympique Marseille in the 1990’s, as he preferred to keep playing for his club. He is holding the club's appearances record, 645 matches, and also made 38 international caps for Turkey’s national team.
However, there is a big difference between Çalımbay's career as a player and his career as a manager. Most of the time, he moved from club to club and failed to stay in any of them for long periods. In 2005, he got an opportunity to manage Beşiktaş, after Vicente del Bosque was sacked. All he had to do is finish the season decently, as Beşiktaş had no chance to win the title. 12 wins in 17 matches brought Beşiktaş to clinch a UEFA Cup berth.
It was Çalımbay's chance to give his career a bright future, but it became sour quickly. In the following season, Çalımbay and Beşiktaş failed to be part of the title race once again. After three consecutive defeats and a disappointing UEFA Cup group stage campaign, he decided to quit. Rıza Çalımbay was back on track, looking for a new club, but since then, he didn't manage another major team.
In 2010 he signed for Sivasspor for the first time. Çalımbay’s first spell in the club was one of his longest to date, three consecutive seasons. His best achievement was 7th place, but most of the time, it was like another chapter in his average career. After he left the club in 2013, he once again moved from place to place. He improved his best achievement, as he finished twice in a row in the 5th place – in 2017, as the Antalyaspor manager, and a year later, as Trabzonspor’s manager.
When Çalımbay was appointed again as Sivasspor manager role last summer, nobody thought that something special would happen. It was just another common pairing between a manager and a club in the Turkish league. Nevertheless, the beginning was unexpected. Çalımbay's debut was against Beşiktaş, and against all the odds, Sivasspor thrashed their rivals 3-0. After eight matches, Sivasspor won 12 points out of a possible 24, which was impressive but wasn't something that would make them a title contender.
Since that moment, Sivasspor has made a 9-match run with a defeat. During this time, Sivasspor won 8 matches and drew one. With 37 points in the mid-season, Sivasspor is now leading the league, four points above second place, İstanbul Başakşehir. Among the big three clubs from Istanbul, Fenerbahçe is the closest to Sivasspor, but they are only in 4th place, six points away from the top spot.
Although Sivasspor's lead looks promising, Çalımbay considers his club as an absolute underdog in the title race. He prefers not to speak about the championship, and he is aware to the fact that the differences between Sivasspor and their rivals may be smaller than their lead suggest. "I know that we are a small team with limited resources, but we have to make a few signings in January," he said a few weeks ago, prior to the short winter break. "The other teams will also strengthen, so we can't stay calm and be sure in our place."
Sivasspor will return to the second half of the season from the top spot. Earlier this week, they easily beat Yeni Malatyaspor 4-0 in the Turkish Cup round of 16. Now they are ready to get back to league action, and their first challenge will be an away match in the Vodafone Arena against non other than Beşiktaş. Sivasspor would like to repeat their surprising result from the first round, but they know that it will be even harder.
For Çalımbay, it's a chance to show that he is ready to make another step further into become a successful manager. If he wants to do it, he must win again versus his former club. Keeping Sivasspor’s fantastic form can make this season memorable for both his club and his career.
Can this unique pairing between Sivasspor and Rıza Çalımbay result in an unexpected Turkish title? In football, as we know, anything can happen.