Tale of woe for Tigana

Unhappy memories
Some 23 years after being on the wrong side in France's 1982 FIFA World Cup penalty shoot-out defeat by West Germany, Tigana once again left Seville a loser as his Beşiktaş team went down 3-0 in his first outing since being appointed earlier this week.

Two halves
It was very much a game of two halves for Tigana's men. In the first, the Black Eagles looked willing to battle for their new coach, enlivening play with some neat short passing but after the interval, Beşiktaş were overwhelmed by a wave of pressure from their hosts.

Hemmed in
Hemmed in for long periods, Beşiktaş eventually succumbed in the 64th minute. However, the Frenchman will be unhappy with the way his side conceded a second barely a minute later, leaving them little chance of rallying before the final whistle.

'It was awful'
"Until we conceded the first goal, our team played well," Tigana said. "We will continue to work until we settle on our system but God knows what will happen in the future. It was awful to concede two in such a short spell."

Changing tactics
Nonetheless, Tigana has already shown his intention to change Beşiktaş's style of play, adapting their traditional 4-4-2 formation into a 4-3-2-1. This entailed drafting Ahmed Hassan and Okan Buruk into the lineup that had won 4-2 against MKE Ankaragücü last Sunday.

Judgement reserved
The Turkish press, meanwhile, seem to be reserving judgment on the new man until he has had more time to work with his team. Goalkeeper Oscar Córdoba received plenty of praise in the Friday morning editions, but a question mark still hangs over Beşiktaş's UEFA Cup future.

Still hope
Having taken one point from their opening two games, they are fourth in Group H with two matches to play - a home fixture against Russian club FC Zenit St. Petersburg and a trip to Portugal to take on Vitória SC. However, Tigana has not lost hope.

Tall order
"Sevilla are the best team in this group - everyone has seen that tonight," he said. "If we win our two remaining games, I think we can still qualify from this group." It is a tall order, but such an achievement would surely get supporters on the coach's side.