Beşiktaş Chairman Yıldırım Demirören has chatted with the press members during a lunch at the Gloria Golf Club: 

“We have managed to enhance the sense of teamwork and unity in the team during this winter break. Most importantly, we have earned back the trust of our fans. With the new additions, we are going to be more powerful in the second part of the season. I know, to make up 14 points on Trabzonspor is a huge task, but don’t forget, we once lost the title while we were up by 11 points. Therefore, our championship hopes are by no means over. Besides, in a 3-points system, a team can recover the lost ground very quickly. We are going to be in the title race until the very end. We also have the Turkish Cup and Europa League to take care of. If we are not successful in any of these, we will turn our eyes to the next season. As you will all agree with me, championship teams are not built overnight. We are a new team, and trying to create the team of the future, a team which will be envied by all for many years to come.             
You must also appreciate what we have accomplished in Europe so far this season. While all Turkish teams bowed out in early rounds, we are still battling out there. No one is giving us any credit, but we have managed to leave our mark in Europe this past year, contributing greatly to the recognition of Turkish football.  We have gained respect from all international circles for not only our exceptional results but our sensational signings as well that brought a bunch of stars to Turkey, most would not even dream of. No one here has a right to belittle these achievements. Despite this local apathy, we will not be deterred and continue to follow the path we believe in.
But staying at the top is just as important as getting there. Since we have raised the bar so high, we can no longer be satisfied with ordinary trades made to save the day. Any new player you are signing should not be inferior to the previous one in reputation. That’s what we have been doing during this winter break. But the signing period ends this month and the rest is up to the team manager. I hope everything works out fine as we take our beloved Beşiktaş to new heights.    
We have received congratulations for our latest signings from all over the world, and the international footballing world has been buzzing with the news about Beşiktaş. But if we don’t get any results come February, everything may backfire and the enemies of Beşiktaş may rise from the ashes once again. That is the reason why we are eyeing the next season as the one with greater opportunity.   
Even though I don’t normally approve mid-season trades, I don’t think anyone in this country can sign equally as good players as Almeida, Simao and Fernandes in such a short time.  We’ve been subject to harsh criticism for draining the club’s resources, but in fact they overlook the fact that our transfer expenses for the next seasons will be much lower than our rivals. 
Team Manager Bernd Schuster and I get along quite fine, and we will play golf together tomorrow.  All these transfers were done with his full approval because, at Beşiktaş, such transactions are not carried without consulting to our coaches. Just like us, he is not happy with the team’s performance this season, but he had an injury-depleted team and played only 4-5 matches with his ideal lineup. 
During my 6 years of office, I don’t recall any time a player did actually refuse to play for us. So far, we’ve signed every player we have set our eyes on. Unfortunately, some players did not live up to our expectations. They were great in their teams, but when they came to Beşiktaş, for some reason or another, they played poorly so we had to let them go. And Tabata was one of them. I admit, given the chances, he turned out to be a big disappointment for us. However, some players do not play as well as they should in their new teams. I don’t understand why all the fuss about him. Wrong player at the wrong club at wrong time happens to all clubs. Some clubs have a long history of signing wrong players. Let’s not forget, in 1996, Beşiktaş signed Ayhan Akman for $12 million, and compared to Tabata, he was way more expensive. All these discussions over his transfer fee affected Tabata so negatively that he never truly recovered.     
If we want to be successful in Europe, I am in favour of no restrictions on the amount of foreign players because some European teams have the best footballers in the world. On the other hand each, Turkish team should carry 1-3 players from their youth teams. A good blend of both foreign and domestic players can be the best way to build a truly successful team.”
When queried if Beşiktaş had any intentions of selecting Efes Pilsen as its basketball team sponsor next season, Mr Demirören replied, “Our agreement with Cola Turka is coming to end at the end this season. As you know very well, it is not possible to survive in that league without a viable sponsor. We will first sit down with our current sponsor Cola Turka. If we cannot reach any agreement, we may look for other alternatives.”