Tugay Kerimoğlu

Tugay Kerimoğlu (born 24 August 1970) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent the majority of his career for Galatasaray and Blackburn Rovers. He was the coordinator of the Galatasaray youth academy, after a short spell working with Mark Hughes at Manchester City. He was the assistant coach to Roberto Mancini at Galatasaray during the 2013–14 season.

Tugay
Tugay in 2016
Personal information
Full name Tugay Kerimoğlu[1]
Date of birth (1970-08-24) 24 August 1970[1]
Place of birth Istanbul, Turkey
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder[3]
Youth career
0000–1983 Trabzonspor
1983–1987 Galatasaray A2
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1999 Galatasaray 279 (34)
1999–2001 Rangers 42 (4)
2001–2009 Blackburn Rovers 233 (11)
Total 554 (49)
National team
1986–1987 Turkey U16 13 (1)
1987–1988 Turkey U18 8 (0)
1988–1991 Turkey U21 20 (3)
1990–2007[4] Turkey 94[5] (2)
Teams managed
2010 Galatasaray A2
2010–2011 Galatasaray (Assistant manager)
2013–2014 Galatasaray (Assistant manager)
2015–2016 Şanlıurfaspor
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Club

Tugay was born and raised in Istanbul.[6] He started playing football in youth academy of Trabzonspor. His father and brother were also football players.

He played for Galatasaray from 1987 to 2000, where he won the Turkish League six times and the Turkey Cup four times. The midfielder was made captain at Galatasaray in the 1992–93 season, making him the youngest captain in the history of his club. He had signed for Scottish club Rangers in the January 2000 mid season transfer window, and joined Blackburn Rovers for the 2001–02 season.[7]

Former Galatasaray boss Graeme Souness brought Tugay to Ewood Park from Scottish side Rangers F.C. in the summer of 2001 for a £1.3m fee. His debut for Rovers was as a substitute against Sunderland. His first goal came on 14 October 2001 in a 7–1 home thrashing against West Ham United in which he scored with a trademark effort from outside the box, lobbing the keeper. Tugay immediately became a fan favourite at Blackburn, where he has been an integral part of the club's success on the field since his first season. Unfortunately he missed Blackburn's League Cup final win in 2002 through suspension. Tugay was named Blackburn's Player of the Year in the 2003–04 campaign. Tugay retired from football on 24 May 2009. His last game was against West Bromwich Albion at home at Ewood Park in a capacity of about 28,389 adoring fans, for both Blackburn and West Brom whilst applauding Tugay during the match once he went off as a substitute in the 85th minute to be replaced by Swedish left back Martin Olsson. He made a name for himself at Blackburn F.C when he struck several long-range efforts. His final career goal came against Portsmouth in a 3–2 Premier League defeat at Fratton Park on 30 November 2008.

International

Tugay has represented Turkey at Euro 1996, Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where Turkey finished in the quarter finals of Euro 2000 and third place in the 2002 World Cup. He retired from international football in 2003 after Turkey failed to qualify for Euro 2004. His last match was on 5 June 2007 in a friendly against Brazil in Dortmund, Germany. He wore number 94 to commemorate his 94 caps for his country.

Style of play and reception

Primarily a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, he was also competent as an attacking midfielder or playing in the holding role. Continually recognised for his ability he was highly rated in the football industry. In 2000, former Romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi rated him as one of the finest ball-playing midfielders in Europe,[8] and in 2006, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had suggested that if he were ten years younger, Tugay's ability would make him an ideal player for the Old Trafford team.[9] When Tugay's manager at the time, Mark Hughes, was asked if he too wished Tugay was ten years younger, his answer was "No, because if he was, he'd be playing in a Barcelona shirt."[10]

Managerial career

On 3 June 2009 Tugay began working with his former manager Mark Hughes behind the scenes at Manchester City academy in a coaching role. He was linked for various assistant positions for the Turkish national team after Fatih Terim's departure, however he became the coordinator for the Galatasaray youth academy in February 2010.[11]

On 21 October 2010, Galatasaray SK announced that Tugay was assigned for the position of the new assistant coach for Galatasaray, alongside of Gheorghe Hagi.[12] On 22 March 2011, Hagi was sacked following a string of poor results. Tugay refused to become the head coach until the end of the season, saying it would be wrong to accept the position for the head coach right after the sacking of Hagi.[13]

On 4 October 2013, Galatasaray SK announced that Tugay was assigned again for the position of the new assistant coach for Galatasaray, this time alongside of Roberto Mancini.[14] However, after Mancini's dismissal at the end of the 2013–14 season, he left his position.[15]

Personal life

Tugay generally keeps himself out of the media spotlight, and even with very good English and an apparent good sense of humour, he rarely gives an interview, even to his previous club's own radio station (Radio Rovers). Tugay is married to Etkin, a former Galatasaray and Turkish international basketball player. He has two children, named Berke and Melissa. As a youngster, he was also an extremely promising motor racer, competing as high as a Formula 3 level. His prowess as a cook is also revered, and in 2010 he was victorious in the Turkish version of the television programme MasterChef. Tugay describes himself as a Muslim, stating that it's "something which is in my heart and I don't need to express that to other people".[16]

Career statistics

Club
Club Season League National Cup League Cup[17] Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Galatasaray 1987–88 402010--70
1988–89 160403010240
1989–90 230102020280
1990–91 1202130--171
1991–92 2632120--304
1992–93 256613050397
1993–94 251250301004312
1994–95 231623070393
1995–96 303603020413
1996–97 3341010--354
1997–98 302713082485
1998–99 222701050342
1999–00 10110--51162
Total 2793450628045340243
Rangers 1999–00 161------161
2000–01 263----70333
Total 424000070494
Blackburn Rovers 2001–02 333----00333
2002–03 371----40411
2003–04 362----20382
2004–05 21021--00231
2005–06 271104000321
2006–07 30130--71402
2007–08 20210--50262
2008–09 291304000361
Total 233111018018127013
Career total 5544960636070472260

International
Source:[4]
Turkey national team
YearAppsGoals
199030
199160
199260
199350
199430
1995110
1996102
199730
199830
199950
200040
200160
2002160
2003110
200400
200500
200600
200720
Total942

Honours

Galatasaray

Rangers

Turkey

Individual

  • Blackburn Rovers Player of the Year: 2003/04

References
  1. "Tugay Keri̇moğlu". Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  2. "Tugay: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  3. "Tugay". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  4. "Kerimoglu Tugay – International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  5. "The golden generation". FIFA. 4 October 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  6. Rich, Tim (4 October 2003). "Tugay welcomes the next wave of Turkish talent". The Independent. London. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  7. "Liverpool 2 – 1 Swansea City Match preview – 10/28/14 League Cup – Goal.com". goal.com.
  8. "Tugay Kerimoglu". Mail&GuardianOnline. 13 July 2000.
  9. "Ecstasy then agony for Tugay". ESPN FC. 20 November 2006.
  10. "Tugay Kerimoglu: A Turkish Delight, a Blackburn Legend". Bleacher. 23 May 2009.
  11. "HATA! – GALATASARAY.ORG". galatasaray.org.
  12. "Tugay Kerimoğlu Back to Galatasaray". Galatasaray. 28 February 2010.
  13. Hagi's coaching spell at GS comes to an end Hürriyet Daily News, 25 March 2011
  14. Futbol Takımı Yardımcı Antrenörlüğüne Tugay Kerimoğlu Getirildi. galatasaray.org. 4 October 2013
  15. "Tugay Kerimoğlu görevi bıraktı". Sabah. 16 June 2014.
  16. Wallace, Sam (20 September 2003). "On the Spot: Tugay Kerimoglu". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 20 September 2003.
  17. Includes also Chancellor Cup, President Cup and TSYD Cup
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