By Ben McFadyean.
Trabzonspor’s search for a successor to Fatih Tekke has been concluded successfully, with the appointment of 52-year-old Thomas Reis.
Reis arrives on a short contract until the end of the season, with an option to renew for a further season, as reported by TurkishFootball.com.
Trabzonspor coach Fatih Tekke unexpectedly quit after the 4-0 thrashing and elimination from the Europa League at the hands of Ferencvaros.
Commenting on his resignation, Tekke said: “For the past 18 months, my team and I have been working day and night, giving it our all, trying to figure out what we could do to improve. The team will have to be much better—that’s for sure.”
Reis has been the head coach of Ludogorets Razgrad in Bulgaria for around two months and was highly successful, notching up nine points from five games when the enquiry came for a return to the Super Lig.
The Wertheim-born coach is now set to return to Turkey, where he previously managed Samsunspor between 2024 and 2026, and arrived at the airport to a warm welcome from fans in Trabzon on Tuesday evening.
A popular player at Bochum, the team were built on low-cost but highly effective talents like goalkeeper Manuel Riemann, left-back Kostas Stafylidis and midfielder Elvis Rexhbecaj, strikers Simon Zoller and then striker Robert Žulj.
In 2019/20, the club finished in 8th place. This was followed by the 2. Bundesliga title and automatic promotion to the Bundesliga the following year. With one of the league’s best defensive records in the Bundesliga last season, Bochum finished in an impressive 11th.
Reis’s next role, however, was very short-lived; joining relegation-threatened Schalke 04 in the 22/23 season proved the wrong move, and he was dismissed from his role after four defeats in seven games.
In June 2024, he took over from Markus Gisdol at Samsunspor and had two highly successful seasons, overperforming by leading the side to European qualification in both seasons.
Reis proved his doubters wrong with a combination of shrewd transfers and an effective if unattractive style of football. Reis’s team gained admirers and detractors alike with a game plan based on defensive qualities and high pressing.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt defender had a solid reputation as a player in the Bundesliga. He made 176 appearances for Bochum between 1995 and 2003, scoring 18 goals. Although Reis was not called up by the senior team, he was called up at all levels by Germany from U15 to U21 level.
After retiring from his playing career, Reis was appointed head coach of the second team in Bochum in 2014. He was active as a scout at the club before then taking over the first team from Robin Dutt in 2019, with the club in the penultimate position in the 2. Bundesliga. The Reis turnaround was impressive and resulted in promotion to the Bundesliga a lot sooner than was expected, and as champions at the end of last season.
Trabzonspor find themselves in ninth place five games into the season. The club have invested a record €65m and may have the right kind of ‘fighter’ needed to win them the Super Lig title they last won in 1976, with the German coach.
The club, whose main backer is Turkish financial services company Papara, who have the naming rights of the stadium and are front of shirt sponsors, have been on a hair-raising rollercoaster in recent seasons. They finished an impressive third in the Süper Lig and reached the Turkish Cup final but lost a close match 3–2 to Beşiktaş in 23/24.
In 24/25, they then slumped heavily, managing only a seventh-place finish with 51 points. They also painfully lost the Turkish Cup final once more, this time 3–0 to Galatasaray.
This past season, they finally succeeded in the cup, beating Konyaspor 2-1 in the final and achieved an impressive third place and qualification for the Europa League.
The club from the Black Sea coast spent heavily in the summer. Reis inherits a team with a solid array of talent, including superstar Mohamed Salah, who was sensationally signed out of contract from Liverpool, and goalkeeper Andre Onana, who is on loan from Manchester United. Albanian international midfielder Ernest Muci and Brazilian defensive midfielder Fabinho.
However, Reis will need to focus on renewing the team, which is one of the oldest in the league with an average age of 28. It will be interesting to see what funds will be made available in the January transfer window.
Speaking about the appointment, former Cardiff City and Leyton Orient manager Omer Riza, who also played for Trabzonspor for two seasons and follows the Super Lig closely, commented: “Reis is an excellent signing; he did well at Samsunspor, leading them to Europe two seasons in a row, in spite of the transfer ban”.
Riza also underlined the achievement of the former Schalke coach with Samsunspor and his suitability: “He knows what it is to be with an underdog team, but he has the players and foundations and above all a strong fan base.
Riza, who managed Cesena in Italy as assistant to Ashley Cole last season, finishing 11th in Serie B, however, also emphasised the challenge: “It will be interesting to see how he will manage a superstar player like Mo Salah at the club; this brings other dimensions with it.”
Reis, who is expected to be joined by assistant Markus Gellhaus (52), first task will be to prepare the club for Saturday’s top game against Galatasaray.
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