Former Super Eagles midfielder Mikel Obi has warned his former coach Jose Mourinho that he has to hit the ground running at Fenerbahce or he could risk the fans turning on him, Soccernet.ng reports.
Fenerbahce let go of coach Ismail Kartal after he led the club to a second-place finish in the just-concluded Turkish Super Lig season. As his replacement, they appointed Mourinho, who was sacked from his Roma job towards the end of last season.
Mourinho has garnered a lot of experience in previous years, coaching in Portugal, England, Spain, and Italy, but it will be his first time in Turkey.
And of course, it will be a big one for him because Fenerbahce is one of the biggest clubs in Turkey by size of establishment and number of trophies won.
Recall that retired Super Eagles star Mikel worked with Mourinho at Chelsea, but he also played for Trabzonspor in 2019, two years after he left Stamford Bridge. Mikel spent nearly one year in Turkey, and he has shared some advise with his former boss.
“I was lucky enough to play in that part of the world, and I must tell you they are not the easiest crowd to please,” Mikel said on his ObiOne podcast.
“They will love you, they will give you everything you want when you win games. But they are so impatient more than in the Premier League or Italian league.
“They are crazy about football, especially the Fenerbahce fans, the Galatasaray fans, and the Trabzonspor fans where I played. They are crazy, they live football, they breathe football, they eat football.
“They will love you, whoever you are, they will give you time, but if you’re not winning, or things are not going well, they will turn on you very quickly, you’d be surprised.
“So Jose needs to be careful. I understand he’s trying to carry the fans along, but he has to perform. If he doesn’t do that, he’ll be surprised at how quickly they will turn on him.”
Mourinho was brought in to win the Super Lig title for Fenerbahce. And it he does not do that by the end of next season, he could get the sack.
