Altay ring the changes

Disappointing results
Altay went down 3-0 against MKE Ankaragücü and that scoreline, coupled with a 4-1 defeat at home against Trabzonspor in the previous round of the Turkish Super League, prompted the board of directors to dismiss the coach.

Immediate action
"Our club need to move away from the danger zone immediately," said club president Ahmet Taspinar. "But we have decided that Ümit Turmus can no longer help us. We cannot stand to lose more points from now on. Two consecutive defeats had a very negative effect on all of us."

'A young team'
Turmus, who joined Altay in August following the departure of Serbo-Montenegrin coach Miodrag Jesic, took the board's decision with dignity, saying: "We were a young team and I was thinking of improving slowly. I wish the best to my successor and believe that Altay will survive in the Super League."

Second spell
Altay's new coach will be Hüseyin Kalpar, who is returning for a second spell at the club. Taspinar insisted that he had not made the decision with undue haste, saying: "We are looking forward to changing our situation starting from [the] Gaziantepspor match. For that reason, we took this decision before that crucial game."

Narrow margin
The Izmir side, who were promoted to the Turkish top flight last season, currently lie in 12th place, but with a number of teams around the relegation zone separated by just a couple of points, the club felt they could not wait any longer before making a change.