Former Fulham and Monaco manager Jean Tigana has joined Turkish First Division Besiktas as coach and will try to turn round the Istanbul club's disappointing start to the season.
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Former Fulham and Monaco manager
Jean Tigana |
Besiktas, one of Turkey's big three clubs, are fifth in the first division after 11 games but they sit eleven points behind leaders Fenerbahce.
Chairman Yildirim Demiroren told a ceremony in Turkey's largest city that the Frenchman had signed a 1-1/2 year deal. The rest of the financial details of the contract were not disclosed.
Tigana became Besiktas's third coach this year on Monday following Riza Calimbay, a former Besiktas captain revered by the club's supporters, who resigned after fans booed the team two weeks ago when they were held to a draw at home by Kayserispor. Former Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque had been sacked in January after less than eight months in the job.
"We will launch our work tomorrow with our first training session. Our first job will be to get our injured players back. We have a tough Sevilla match ahead of us," Tigana said. Besiktas play at Sevilla in the UEFA Cup on Thursday.
Former France international Tigana was Fulham manager from mid-2000 until his dismissal in mid-2003 and during his time at the London club he helped them win promotion to the Premier League.