Olawoyin, Azubuike get new coach at Rizespor
Nigerian stars Ibrahim Olawoyin and Okechukwu Azubuike will work under a new head coach in the Turkish Super Lig next season after their club Çaykur Rizespor announced the appointment of Ilhan Palut as the new Technical Director.
Both Olawoyin and Azubuike were instrumental to Rizespor’s promotion back to the Super Lig from the Division One in the just concluded campaign and will be looking to make bigger impressions with the Rize based club next term.
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With the expiration of the former coach Bülent Korkmaz’s contract at the end of the season, Rizespor opted not to renew the Galatasaray legend’s contract and have now appointed the 46-year old Palut.
Palut has the experience of managing in the Super Lig where he led Konyaspor to their highest ever finish in the Turkish topflight, finishing third in the 2021/2022 season and amassing a record number of points for the club.
Palut has been without a club since he left Konyaspor in January this year with the club 7th on the Super Lig table. His disengagement by the Konyaspor board came as a surprise to Palut and his crew especially as the team was not doing particularly bad in the season.
He is known to favour the 4231 formation and is an exponent of good and productive football with his teams always exhibiting an enjoyable way of football attractive to the fans.
Ilhan Palut who has also coached Goztepe in the past is expected to be widely accepted among the Rizespor faithful who were not particularly impressed with the methods of Korkmaz during the club’s time in the Division One league. Interestingly, Korkmaz was one of Palut’s predecessors at Konyaspor.
Çaykur Rizespor finished second behind Samsunspor in the 2022/2023 Turkish Division Lig to gain an automatic relegation back to the Super Lig after their relegation at the end of the 2021/2022 season.
