23.10.2026 15:00
Meeting with students at İbrahim Erdemoğlu Sports High School, Şenol Güneş made striking statements about the head coach preference for the Turkish National Team. The experienced coach, stating that he was not consulted before Sergen Yalçın was appointed to the position, said, "Sometimes they ignore you in the national team." Güneş also announced that he is preparing a documentary about his career.
Şenol Güneş, one of Turkish football’s experienced head coaches, came together with students at the Career Days event held at İbrahim Erdemoğlu Sports High School. Answering questions about his footballing and coaching career, Güneş made statements on many topics, from the coaching change in the Turkish National Team to transfer talks he held with the three big clubs in the past.
“THEY DID NOT MEET WITH ME”
Asked whether he had been contacted before Sergen Yalçın was appointed to the Turkish National Team, Güneş stated that he had not received any offer and said the following:
“They did not meet with me. They took Sergen, may it be auspicious. In every institution, officials make the decision and the responsibility is theirs. The management there continues and there is a congress in June. Success and failure do not happen for a single reason. Time shows whether the decision is right or wrong. Whoever comes to the post is the national team’s coach, and we want him to be successful by acting accordingly.”
“IN THE NATIONAL TEAM, SOMETIMES THEY IGNORE YOU”
Güneş, who led Turkey to third place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, also spoke about the lessons he drew from that period and his advice to young people. The experienced coach used the words, “In the national team, sometimes they ignore you.”
Güneş also announced that he is working on a documentary about his life and career, saying, “I will have a documentary. I am in the preparation for it.”
HE RECOUNTED TRANSFER TALKS WITH THE THREE BIG CLUBS
Şenol Güneş, who revealed that he held transfer talks with Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş during his playing days, recounted the process he experienced together with Kadir and Ali Kemal. Güneş, noting that they received offers from Istanbul clubs at that time, used the following statements:
“We had transfer processes with Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş. Kadir, Ali Kemal and I won trophies. Agents wanted us. They brought us to Istanbul. I also discussed the figures. We said, ‘We talk, we agree, but if we cannot agree with Trabzonspor, we will come to you.’ We came to Trabzon and bought our house. These will be included in my documentary.”
HE GAVE ARDA GÜLER AS AN EXAMPLE TO YOUNG PEOPLE
Advising students not to give up on their goals, Güneş gave as an example the career journey of national footballer Arda Güler, who wears the Real Madrid shirt. “There is the example of Arda Güler in Turkey, who transferred from Gençlerbirliği to Fenerbahçe and then to Real Madrid. You too can do a job that has been done. You will certainly do it, but learn not only football but life.”
“AT FIRST THEY DID NOT WANT ME, THEN THEY COULD NOT GIVE ME UP”
Reminding that he was the third goalkeeper when he first joined Trabzonspor, Şenol Güneş said that he continued working despite the difficulties he faced. Touching on the criticisms directed at him throughout his career, the experienced coach concluded his words as follows:
“When I first came to Trabzonspor, I was 17 and the third goalkeeper. People always say, ‘You never let anyone play.’ That is not true. At first they did not want me, then they could not give me up. I did not get angry at anyone. You will continue on the path you believe in.”