Kıvanç Oktay, Vice President in Charge of the Beşiktaş Football Branch, answered the questions of Faik Gürses and those that were sent via SMS in the Question-Answer program aired at BJK TV.

The questions asked and Kıvanç Oktay’s replies are as follows:
Is Kıvanç Oktay happy where he is?
Kıvanç Oktay is not happy where he is but he is happy for what he wants to do for Beşiktaş. His conscience is happy. This is what one gets for having the responsibility of the Football Branch. When things are good, it is usually reflected on the whole Community. When something goes wrong, especially in football and nowadays everyone is concerned at football, I am the first one to blame. I believe that I do not deserve such harsh criticisms. I do my part of the work. I get as much applause as the criticism. It is not possible to take that much heat if it were not for the said applauses. I am happy for having done and continue to do something for Beşiktaş
In your opinion, is the Football Branch Responsibility is something that can be quitted when the right time and place come?
Of course…We, as the Administration, have been working on this matter for quite a long time; and we have done the work without taking into consideration the results. We had already decided to implement that without taking into account the results. This is what we have been working on: to create a really good professional team, a good technical team, a good administrative team, and a good administrative manager.
Would you explain the restructuring taking place?
Currently there is a position called Football Branch Directorate which is my position as the representative of the Administration. Gordon Milne reports to me, and the infrastructure group is headed by him. Gordon Milne took his job solely to work on the infrastructure, to have the junior footballers play for Beşiktaş, to coordinate and organize such activities. He is separated from the A Team. He is connected to neither the technical nor the administrative personnel. Jean Tigana is the only person who is technically in charge of the A Team, he is the boss. He has his assistants, and the Turkish assistants which we have determined, the trainers Ulvi, Zeki and Erdinç…. We assigned Mehmet Ekşi as the Administrative Manager. His job as the manager is completely different. He is everything for the football team. We even put BJK Nevzat Demir Facilities under his responsibility. This position covers everything having administrative nature. It covers many issues which I deal with. Everyone’s job description is crystal clear and the aforesaid responsibilities will not be mixed up with one another. We have made the organization which used to be thought that it had to be in Beşiktaş.
Our Sportive Director Erdil Arbacı had presented his resignation, but we as the Board of Directors have not accepted it. I wish everyone was like Erdil Arpacı…He was hurt a lot. It is not easy to raise professionals such as him. Erdil Arpacı has the talent and the skills which will allow him to work in any club in the world. We will hopefully bring him back.
Do you think there is any problem between Tigana and Milne?
They have no connection whatsoever, except their casual conversations. One of them is the sole boss of the A Team, and the other is the boss of the infrastructure. The real objective of the organization which we set up was different. The real aim of this program which we as the Board of Directors have been working on since last year is this: After setting up the whole professional team, we will operate the Football Branch in its existing form until the end of December, that is the end of the first half, and shut down the aforesaid Branch completely during the recess. I will continue my job as the Vice President, as the liaison between the Administration and the A Team in the second half until the end of the season. Ekşi will assume as much responsibility as possible in the 2nd half; and from the next season forward, this job will be handled by professionals only. Of course we as the Administration will use our all rights to monitor and intervene. We will make the necessary warnings. This system will be better for Beşiktaş. As the Board of Directors, we have been thinking about this change for a long time. We have been thinking how we can make it right; but it seems right in this current condition.
Can İlhan Mansız make a comeback to Beşiktaş?
No, this is not on our agenda right now. I don’t know what happens in the future. We met with İlhan when we took over the administration. He had injury problems then. We said that the door was open and if he gets better he can play again for Beşiktaş. We made a deal based on his request also. Later on he went back to Germany, chose another option. We always show our affection and appreciation to İlhan for what he has done for Beşiktaş.
There have been many injury cases since the beginning of the season. What do you think is the underlying cause?
We had many injured players. I think the stress that the players feel have an impact on them. Our club doctor also says that it is medically possible. Football players tend to be injured more when they were tense. All of the players are ready to give whatever they got for Beşiktaş. The greatest chance of Beşiktaş is that our players have great characters. They never made a concession about their characters when Del Bosque and Rıza Çalımbay were coaching them. They stood up straight. Therefore I see our team differently. Tigana has an assistant (Jean Charles Trouabal) who is a total expert on this issue; he does this on a scientific basis. According to the first report he prepared for us, wrong physical condition training had been performed. They prepared a totally new program. They said that the difference would be seen in even 10-15 days. They say that the team gets weak instantly after 60 minutes. Injuries take place after that.
Lately, there is a trend for French Technical Directors. Did this have any impact when offering the job to Tigana?
As the Administration, we gave this authority to our Chairman. He met with many coaches. He met with Tigana also and called each and every one of us and got our opinions. I met Tigana when he came here. I truly believe as our Chairman does and feel that the right decision has been given. He is the master of his job and much disciplined. We spend many hours in a day together. There are such points that will hopefully benefit Beşiktaş very much. We have to give him some time. I believe that the technical team will give a lot to Beşiktaş.
Tigana was amazed on the first day he came to BJK Nevzat Demir Facilities. He said that he had been to many clubs in the world, and they did not even have such facilities. He went to the French Consulate in the first week he was here and talked about our Club; explained how developed and institutionalized Club we were.

Is it possible that Beşiktaş can begin the second half which will begin in mid January with new footballers?
I was with Tigana up until one hour before I came here for the program. He has not said anything on that issue so far. We can do a few things but we have not received any report or opinion on that matter. The most recently he told me that he would use the time now to get to know and utilize the team better. If he gives us any report on that issue during the recess; we as the Board of Directors will do whatever is necessary.
Ailton’s performance has decreased lately. What do you think?
Ailton performed poorly especially in the last few games. But we know that he is a good player. I believe that he will get over the performance problem by discussing with Tigana. Our players have not had normal experiences lately. They are under a lot of stress. Kleberson had begun well but he is also having problems now. We all know that he is in fact a good player. Important thing is to bring them back to their original condition. This is something we can all do together. In Beşiktaş we say “one for all, and all for one”. We do not want anyone to have problems with the other. We do not have problems within us as some point out. Incredible pressure is being set up over us. When the stress is increased, we get bad results.
Does Ailton have any tension with his teammates?
Ailton has a different personality. He is good with everyone and is beyond such problems. We will somehow help him get up again. We should not link it to some other factors.
How about Emre Aşık, Tayfun Korkut and Okan Koç?
It depends on the report which the coach will prepare. As the Administration we have not made a decision yet. They were out of the team based on the decision of the technical committee on duty then. Our new coach has been gathering information about the whole team members. If we receive any request, we will look into it.
John Carew’s leave was talked about very much
Carew said last year, after Del Bosque had left, that he wanted to leave. We asked him to perform his duties fully until the end of the season. We said that we would evaluate if anything happens at the end of the season, and we received many offers for him at the end of the season. He said that he did not want to stay in Turkey and wanted to live in another country for personal reasons related to his family. If a player does not want to play, we have no option but to send him. We wanted to get the maximum financial gains out of his transfer. Total amount of transfer payment which Beşiktaş paid this season is below the price of Carew. Our Chairman wanted us to make sure, during negotiations, that a provision allowing us to get our share out of his future transfers is included in the agreement. Beşiktaş will receive in the future an amount out of his transfer which is close to what we paid for him.
There is a web site calling Beşiktaş Board of Directors to resign. How do you evaluate this issue?
Chairman and the Board of Directors of Beşiktaş definitely take into consideration any warning or suggestion which comes from a Beşiktaş fan. We always discuss among ourselves if we have made anything wrong. Our Chairman talks to each of us in such matters. However, the aforesaid site is very phony. There were 5900 messages written when I took the list. We put that information into our database and found 78 people in the list who are registered members of Beşiktaş Congress. Among which, may God have mercy on them, there are dead members. Even the name of Güven Kulabaş who is the Chairman of the Associations Committee of Beşiktaş was on the list. It is a web site opened in Arizona, USA. When the list is alphabetically organized, there are 20 records under the name Faik Gürses. The Faik Gürses has the same birthday (1st of January) but different birth places such as İstanbul, Ankara, Gaziantep…Our Chairman takes into account everything received from Beşiktaş fans. But we have to know whether it comes from a Beşiktaş fan or not. When I retrieved the list in the morning names of 98 people were deleted from the list by the webmaster (those who write the messages do not have the right to delete). We have to consider everything, if there is anything that we have to do. But it is saddening that Beşiktaş’s name has been used for such things.
What would you say if I said “Fulya Project”?
I get fidgety inside, my eyes shine. The Fulya Project is the project of the future for Beşiktaş. None of this is accidental. Our Chairman said during the elections what will be done and how it will be done. All these have been realized even if we had a few months of delays, and such projects will continue to be realized. Beşiktaş will have hundreds of millions dollars of gain. We should evaluate that carefully. Today it is possible to pay all debts of Beşiktaş by renting one single hospital. While this Administration is making such calculations, we should not lose time with minor things. Let us do whatever we can for this club while we are in the office. We do not want any money or help from anybody. We want only one thing: leave us alone, let us work.
What would be your message to the Community?
Beşiktaş Community is great. It is so great that no one can even estimate it, and it can get over all problems. Our Community has experienced many hardships so far; this Club is at where it is now after great difficulties. This Club has the ability to get over everything. They should provide support. They should criticize constructively, not destructively. We are trying to do the best of everything and will go on doing so. All we want is their confidence and support.