Fenerbahce boss stuns club by quitting after Roma draw

Kartal made more than 250 appearances for Fenerbahce during his playing career

Ismail Kartal resigned as head coach of Fenerbahce just minutes after the Turkish side’s 1-1 draw with Roma in the Champions League.

Kartal made the surprise announcement in his post-match news conference, stating he plans to never return to the club he previously served as a player and assistant coach.

He came back to Fenerbahce for a fourth spell as manager in June 2026, with the club returning to the Champions League for the first time in 18 years.

Now he departs with the team sitting ninth in the Turkish Super Lig after two wins and two defeats, and after only one Champions League match.

“I have been here three months. From the beginning of the season until today, the training sessions and camps we held with the players, and the efforts of our president, have been very helpful. Those were wonderful days,” Kartal said.

“As of this evening, I congratulate my players and resign from my position.

“I made this decision to pave the way for my club. We made this decision together as a team.

“From now on, to help Fenerbahce, my players and future coaches, I have resigned from my position, with the intention of never returning.”

Club president Aziz Yildirim has not accepted 65-year-old Kartal’s resignation.

Yildirim said in a statement released on Fenerbahce’s website: “Ismail Kartal is still in charge. The club should support our coach. Until I leave, Ismail Kartal is the head coach of Fenerbahce.”

Yildirim confirmed he spoke to Kartal following the news conference, with the coach citing “pressure” of the role and a mid-match incident where he was struck by a bottle thrown from the stands as factors in his decision.

In a post on social media, the club said a spectator involved in the bottle incident has been identified and banned from the stadium.

Yildirim criticised the attitude of the club’s supporters and the media, pinpointing the “pressure” created by the constant criticism and calling for both parties to “uphold the values of the Fenerbahce community” and show greater respect to Kartal.

Doubling down on Kartal’s future, he said: “This community should support Ismail Kartal. You can’t show support by throwing punches at him like this.

“Ismail Kartal doesn’t need to say he’ll continue. I am his senior. I said he’ll continue, and that’s it. We’re a family.”

Kartal’s announcement came as a shock to Fenerbahce’s players, with English defender Archie Brown, whose 48th-minute equaliser cancelled out Bryan Cristante’s first-half effort for Italian side Roma, completely taken aback in a post-match interview.

When informed of Kartal’s resignation, Brown said: “What do you mean he resigned? As coach? He’s not the coach any more? He said this just now? I didn’t know about this.”

Kartal won the Turkish Super Cup in 2014 during his first spell as manager, having previously spent four years as an assistant coach. As a player, he won two league titles among six trophies with the club.

Gordon a better fit for Barca than Rashford - Deco

After signing for Barcelona, Anthony Gordon called them “the biggest club on the planet” and said he had dreamed about playing for them as a child.

Barcelona sporting director Deco says Anthony Gordon’s style was a better fit for Hansi Flick’s side than Marcus Rashford’s as the club strengthened their squad this summer.

Rashford scored 14 goals in all competitions while on loan at Barcelona last season, who won La Liga and the Copa del Rey.

Barcelona had the option of signing the Manchester United forward on a permanent basis this summer for £30.3m (35m euros) at the end of his 12-month loan.

However, the Spanish giants decided to not extend the 28-year-old’s contract and he returned to Old Trafford.

Rashford’s England team-mate Gordon and Manchester City midfielder Rodri were Barcelona’s two most expensive signings during the summer transfer window, and Deco says both arrivals addressed important weaknesses in the squad.

Gordon joined the Catalan club from Newcastle United in a deal worth more than 80m euros (£69.3m), saying he had believed he would play for Barcelona since he was “three years of age”.

Speaking to Catalan radio station RAC1 on Thursday, Deco praised Rashford for his contribution last season but explained why Barcelona ultimately preferred Gordon.

“We are extremely grateful to Rashford,” Deco said.

“He contributed a lot last season, but our idea of play is much more linked to Anthony’s. His style fits with what the coach is looking for.”

Deco said Barcelona had identified a lack of energy when Raphinha was unavailable last season and believed Gordon could address the problem.

“In the case of Gordon, we saw that he was one of the figures we needed,” he said.

“When Raphinha wasn’t on the pitch, the team lost energy and with him we could solve it. The big advantage we had is that the player wanted to come and he was able to put on pressure [at Newcastle to be allowed to leave].”

Deco added that Barcelona had analysed a number of wingers before deciding on Gordon.

“We had a clear idea what we’re looking for,” he said.

“We needed more intensity. We analysed a lot of wingers. Signing someone from the Premier League is almost impossible, but [Flick] was clear with what he wanted and we worked on a deal from there.”

Gordon has made five appearances for Barcelona and has made four assists.

The club have won all four of their La Liga games, scoring 17 goals and conceding just two.

Injury-hit Cardiff weighing up free-agent options

Manager Brian Barry-Murphy says Cardiff City are monitoring the free-agent market as an injury-hit and winless Championship start has reduced the Irishman’s options.

The Bluebirds’ lack of depth has come under scrutiny with 15-year-old Noah Anyadike and 16-year-old Paul Moreno named on the bench against Stoke City in midweek.

Barry-Murphy insists both youngsters, however, have earned their places in the matchday squad.

“Those players were on the bench because they’ve done really well and they were deserving of it,” he said.

“If we had signed more players, then maybe they wouldn’t have been, but they are and I’m very pleased with them.

“There were very similar players in a similar position last season who’ve now become mainstays in the team. They all have to start somewhere.”

Cardiff are still without Dylan Lawlor, Will Fish, Calum Chambers and Isaak Davies, while Rubin Colwill faces a race against time to be fit for Saturday’s trip to Bolton Wanderers after suffering ankle irritation.

The injury setbacks have increased focus on Cardiff’s recruitment after a summer that brought only four new signings.

Barry-Murphy had suggested the club were keen to do business after Krystian Bielik’s arrival, but transfer deadline day passed by with no more players coming in.

“We have to have an awareness of all the players who are available,” he said.

“Based on how the window is, we monitor everything. The recruitment team here are across everything.

“It’s a different time frame. All the players in the unattached market have different options all over the world. You just have to see what we need and what they have available. It’s an ongoing thing.”

Barry-Murphy also downplayed speculation linking Cardiff with Wales international Rabbi Matondo following his departure from Norwegian side Brann.

“There’s nothing in that,” he said.

“He’s a player I know, obviously. He was at Manchester City before I was there.”

For now, Cardiff’s focus must be on getting key players back on the pitch.

Ryan Wintle’s departure appeared to leave a gap in midfield for the Bluebirds, but Alex Robertson has stepped up to play that role, with his manager saying the player has gone up “another level” this season.

Lawlor is making encouraging progress and could return when they host Charlton Athletic at Cardiff City Stadium on 19 September (12:30 BST), while Fish is expected to resume full training during the upcoming international break in September.

“Once we get Dylan and Will back, we’ll be in a really strong and healthy position,” Barry-Murphy said.

The outlook is less clear for Chambers, who is nursing knee, neck and back issues.

“He’s been in the wars a bit,” Barry-Murphy added. “It’s quite difficult to put a timescale on when he returns.”

Cardiff are expected to be without Davies, who has a hamstring injury, for three weeks.

Spurs should be awarded 2016-17 title - Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino believes Chelsea should be stripped of the Premier League title for 2016-17, when his Tottenham team finished runners-up.

Chelsea were fined £10.75m in March after being charged by the Premier League for historical breaches of competition rules.

The club also had a six-point deduction “set aside” on appeal. Antonio Conte’s Chelsea team finished seven points clear of Pochettino’s Spurs in 2016-17.

Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital self-reported 74 breaches of Football Association rules when they purchased the club in 2022.

The Blues admitted making £47m in secret payments to unregistered agents and third-parties over transfers between 2011 and 2018.

Pochettino, who managed Spurs from 2014 to 2019, said: “We should win one title, one Premier League. We should have been awarded it.

“[Chelsea] were punished, they admitted, so that’s it? The title should be for the team that was second.

“It’s true that we didn’t compete with the same rules. It’s completely fair to say that we didn’t compete before the start of the season with the same card.”

The current USA coach led Tottenham to the 2019 Champions League final during his five years in charge of Spurs.

They did not win a trophy during his time there, with his best Premier League finish being that second place to Chelsea in 2017.

“Maybe with the same rules, if we apply the same things, maybe we could’ve signed some players that would have made the team better or scored more goals,” added the Argentine, who later became Chelsea boss for the 2023-24 season.

“It’s not me complaining - it’s the truth. If they admitted they broke the rules, the Premier League title was for the second-best team.

“I’m not scared to say the truth. The Chelsea fans will be upset with me because I’m saying this, but if we were at Tottenham and broke the rules I’d admit the same.”

After reporting the potential rule breaches, Chelsea said that it “treated these matters with the utmost seriousness, providing full cooperation to all relevant regulators”.

A subsequent investigation by the Premier League found that payments by third parties associated with Chelsea were made to players, unregistered agents and other third parties, which were not disclosed to the regulatory authorities at the time.

The Premier League’s report named a number of transfers related to those payments between 2011 and 2018, including those of Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, Andre Schurrle and Nemanja Matic.

There was no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of those players. Hazard, Willian, Matic and David Luiz all played for the Blues in 2016-17.

The Premier League assessed a series of recalculations of the club’s historical financial submissions, taking into account the previously undisclosed payments, and concluded that Chelsea would not have breached its profitability and sustainability rules had the payments been registered at the time.

It therefore deemed that a points deduction would not be an appropriate punishment.

The £10m fine would have been £20m, but was reduced by 50% on account of Chelsea’s proactive self-reporting and co-operation with the process.

The additional £750,000 fine in March was for the registration of academy players between 2019 and 2022, for which Chelsea were also given an immediate nine-month academy transfer ban.

Two goals in two games - Sesko gives Man Utd a different threat

Manchester United will experience far stiffer tests of their Champions League credentials than Sabah FK gave them at Old Trafford.

In fact, it would be no surprise if the Azerbaijani champions were by some distance the weakest of the eight league stage opponents Michael Carrick’s side will come up against.

However, there were some important lessons for head coach Carrick to absorb.

The biggest of them is that United are a much more effective unit when Benjamin Sesko starts.

This was the first time the Slovenian had done that since the Liverpool game last March, when he finally accepted he could no longer play through the shin issue that had been plaguing him for a number of weeks.

It had been hoped Sesko would be fit for the start of the Premier League season.

As it turned out, he was only at the stage where he could be brought on as a substitute in the second half of the opening-day trip to Hull. The same also applied for the subsequent outings against Ipswich and Everton.

It was Sabah’s bad luck that Sesko was fit to start against them – and it showed.

At 6ft 5in, the 23-year-old has a physical presence United’s other strikers lack.

Amad Diallo’s current absence has robbed Carrick of the option to start Bryan Mbeumo at the head of his attack, as he did during pre-season, but Matheus Cunha is not without ability in that role.

The problem is that the Brazilian likes to drift and drop back into space, which leaves a gap at the apex of Manchester United’s attack.

Sesko offers a totally different threat. He pushes defences back. He is not easy to dispossess. He runs at opponents rather than away from them.

He also scores goals.

At Everton, it was his size that allowed him to convert a close-range header that looked set to give United victory but ultimately didn’t, because of Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ stunning late strike.

Against Sabah FK, Sesko had threatened with an impudent first-half back-flick before Mbeumo sent him running beyond the visitors’ defence.

Sesko had clarity of thought, swiftly moving the ball past goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov before steering the ball into an empty net.

Sesko has now scored 12 goals in his past 21 games for Manchester United.

“Of course, I’m happy with my goal,” Sesko told TNT after the game. “I saw him rushing out, and it was a great opportunity to take the ball away from him and make the goal a little bit easier.”

United’s scenario is not that Mbeumo and Cunha can’t do that, it is more that Sesko can do it in addition to presenting the physical threat.

‘Good control for a big man’ is one of football’s oldest cliches. Yet the players who can combine size with skill and pace are exceptionally useful.

“He definitely offers a different kind of threat,” said Carrick. “That’s the beauty of it, really. We know what Ben gives us. There’s not many around that kind of give you what Ben does in terms of his physique, his physicality, playing on the last line and his speed to run in behind. He’s a real threat.”

“It’s great to have him back at this level after working to get his fitness back. A couple of goals and good performances, and good minutes in him. I’m really pleased with the way he’s gone.”

It is a fairly obvious thing to say but Carrick now has a big decision before Sunday’s Premier League derby with Manchester City at Old Trafford.

Does he trust Sesko’s fitness and stick with him? Or does he revert to Cunha, given there has been no indication Amad is ready to return.

On this evidence, Sesko should get the nod. That in turn would leave Carrick to decide whether Cunha, who opened the scoring against Sabah, or Marcus Rashford, who was an unused substitute, should start on the left.

Rashford has yet to score a goal or create one since he returned to his boyhood club after last season’s loan spell at Barcelona.

However, he has been their most consistent threat with his pace and direct running.

Cunha drifts into similar positions to skipper Bruno Fernandes, and Carrick may decide United’s structure works better with England international Rashford.

If that is the case, he wasn’t admitting it on a night when Fernandes also scored.

“It’s not an easy decision, of course it’s not,” Carrick said of his team selection. “But it’s definitely one I’d prefer: to have goals in the team and for the boys to be playing well.”

“The understanding they all have is that sometimes it’s going to be a start, sometimes it’s going to be finishing the game. We need that within the group, from game to game over the season, to be able to call upon slightly different kind of things at different times.”

“It’s fantastic they’re all in good form and started so well.”