After criticism from the Turkish board
Turkish association board member Hamit Altıntop rejected Stefan Kuntz’s criticism of his dismissal in September. In an interview with ‘t-online’, the former Bundesliga professional explained that they parted ways with the 61-year-old because they wanted ‘a change’ so they could take the next step . We communicated this to him openly.
Kuntz was fired two months ago after two years in office, despite averaging 1.95 points in 20 games. On Friday, he criticized the association’s management: “The board of directors who signed me was no longer there after a year. The next president served for one year before being elected for four more years. I had the feeling that he did not want to succeed with the coach of the previous committee, that is to say me, but that he preferred to present his own coach. In the nuances it was clear to me that this would not last long. Whether it was loyalty, support or respect, I had no support. Then I realized that my tenure as Turkish national coach was coming to an end. And this regardless of sporting success.
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Altintop confirmed that with the new leadership of the association, « expectations had developed in a different direction », but at the same time, the last matches under Kuntz were no longer satisfactory. So much so that “as a member of the board of directors, I had to say: we need a little more courage, a new impetus.” After a 1-1 draw against Armenia in European Championship qualifying and a 2-4 friendly defeat against Japan, Kuntz had to leave and Vincenzo Montella took over.
These criticisms surprised Altintop. “He left a team intact, he gets credit for that, and he was told the same thing. But we also explained to him that our expectations have changed and that we need to make a change with a change of coach.
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