If you want to know how it feels to go from national hero in your own country to an outcast in a foreign land at startling speed, just ask Luis Aragones. His time as manager of Fenerbahce appears to be heading to an inglorious end just four months after he led Spain to their greatest moment in 44 years by winning Euro 2008. The Spaniard, 70, was a surprise selection for the job in the Turkish capital a week after he held aloft the Henri Delaunay trophy in Vienna last June; but his hopes of repeating the feats he achieved in the summer in new surroundings are dwindling fast.
"The Yellow Canaries", as they're known, crashed to a 4-1 home defeat to Kayserispor on Sunday night, the latest humiliating turn in a calamitous season. Their disastrous league campaign would be bad enough alone, but their performances in the Champions League make the situation worse. Fenerbahce lost 3-1 at FC Porto on Sept 17 and drew 0-0 at home to Dynamo Kiev last week, a result that brought to an end of run of six straight victories in the competition at their Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.
Aragones tried to positively spin the result, but the fans weren't fooled. Facing Arsenal home and away in their next two fixtures will almost certainly mean an early exit from Europe's most prestigious club tournament. One of Aragones' problems has been living up to the expectations set by his predecessor Zico. The Brazilian great led the team to the Champions League quarter-finals last season - their best-ever showing in the competition - a year after clinching a joint-record 17th league title for the club. He also played a role in attracting the left-back Roberto Carlos to the club.
If you spend a lot of money you'll be judged by the quality of your signings - and Aragones's biggest buy has let him down. His countryman Daniel Guiza followed his international manager to Istanbul on a four-year deal for a club record Dh86.7million last July. In eight games, he has scored just twice. Little wonder fans are running out of patience with a player who was Aragones's pick. Can the boss turn things around? It looks unlikely; the press said he was playing for his job against Kayserispor, so goodness knows how long he's got following that defeat. The international break has arrived, and Aragones is canny enough to know he might not be around for Fenerbahce's next league game against Kocaelispor on Oct 19.
If the relationship does ends in divorce, though, the man himself ought not shoulder all the blame. Why did the president Aziz Yildirim appoint the parochial Aragones who had spent all 34 years as a coach working in Spain. Someone, somewhere was blinded by Spain's dazzling football when they handed Aragones a two-year contract. Right man for the job? Not really. A return to Spain or retirement appears the next step for one of Europe's longest-serving managers.
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