Fenerbahce has been forced into a managerial change just a week before facing Liverpool in the Champions League, with Ismail Kartal's resignation seeing a Reds hero being promoted
Former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt has been appointed as Fenerbahce’s interim head coach just a week before coming up against his old club.
The Reds make the trip to Turkiye next Wednesday (November 4) for their fourth Champions League outing this season, with Andoni Iraola’s side aiming to extend their perfect record in the league phase after wins over Atletico Madrid, LASK and Villarreal.
Fenerbahce, on the other hand, is looking for its first win, and will head into the tie without a permanent manager after Ismail Kartal resigned following the club’s 2-1 defeat to Galatasaray on Monday, which leaves it fifth in the Super Lig.
Kuyt, who had been working as Kartal’s assistant, has now been placed in charge on a temporary basis, with his first game as interim boss coming against Goztepe on Saturday before hosting Liverpool next week.
Fenerbahce has not given any indication of how long Kuyt may be in charge for, with a short statement on Wednesday announcing that he would lead the team “until a new head coach is appointed”.
Kuyt is of course fondly remembered at Liverpool, having spent six years at Anfield and scoring 71 goals in 285 appearances for the Reds. He won the League Cup in 2012 for the club, and played in the 2007 Champions League final against AC Milan.
The Dutchman also had a spell with Fenerbahce, and won a league title with the club in 2014 before ending his playing career with Feyenoord in 2017.
Since then, he has turned his attention to coaching, having started out managing Feyenoord’s U19s before going on to spells with ADO Den Haag, Beerschot and FC Dordrecht.
Kuyt became Fenerbahce’s assistant manager in June 2026, and could have ended up as interim boss earlier in the season when Kartal decided to step down in September, only for his resignation to not be accepted.
Kuyt takes over with Fenerbahce sitting six points behind leaders Galatasaray following Monday’s defeat.
Liverpool.com says: We would wish Kuyt luck as he steps into the fold at Fenerbahce, although with a meeting with Liverpool just seven days away, hopefully he doesn’t do too well in the role!
It will be interesting to see whether he will be given the chance to take on the job full-time. He certainly seems to have been thrown in at the deep end, and having only joined the club during the summer, it would be very unfair if he ended up having to move on again so soon.
