Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is back as manager. He could not have asked for a better start tearing Athletic Bilbao to pieces. To get this start must be fantastic after almost four years on the sideline. A 4-1 win at home. Hopes will be high for the next game coming up at home to Antalyaspor, then Twente follows in the Europa League.
A certain Gordon Milne comes to mind when talking about Besiktas. The former Leicester manager from 1982 to 1986 took over Besiktas in 1987. He managed the club seven years (1987–1994), winning three successive titles. He has succeeded in creating one of the most successful periods in the history of Beşiktaş J.K. and is still a legend for the Beşiktaş fans.
Ian Wilson joined Gordon Milne at Besiktas and was part of the team that one both the cup and the league in the 1989-90 season. Wilson was signed by Leicester City in April 1979 for a Highland Football League record breaking transfer fee at that time, of £20,000. He is among some of the longest serving Leicester City players and captained the side during a successful eight years at the club. Wilson left Filbert Street in September 1987 when new Everton boss Colin Harvey signed him for £300,000.
Rachid Ghezzal, won the league with Besiktas in 2020-21, having a number of good seasons at the club, but left last summer to join Caykur Rizespor. Daniel Amartey joined Besiktas from Leicester last summer, but his contract was terminated in August 2024. Gokhan Inler is another player with a life in both camps. He joined from Leicester in 2016, and played a season, moving to Istanbul Basaksehir. He later rejoined Besiktas in 2023 and stayed until last summer, but no longer with the club. Les Ferdinand as we all know from his short stint at Leicester in the 2003-04 season, was brought to Besiktas by Gordon Milne, who set his career on track later returning to England to continue his play at QPR, Newcastle and Tottenham.
Gordon Milne ruhuyla ♥️🦅 https://t.co/7NswnemqHL
— Emrecanvideo (@Emrecanozdiil) January 22, 2025
This must be the perfect start for OGS, who also had a relatively good track record at Man Utd, ending 2nd and 3rd in two of his seasons at Old Trafford, also reaching the Europa League final, ending runners-up losing to Villareal in a penalty shoot out.
Besiktas are currently 6th in the Turkish top flight, 20 points behind leaders Galatasaray. Fenerbahce are second with a certain Jose Mourinho in charge, so the two former Man Utd managers are now competing each other down in Turkey.
A bit more on Gordon Milne as he became a legend at Besiktas, and returned for a second spell in 2006, then being appointed in a director of football position. As a player Milne was a successful right-half for Liverpool during the 1960s and played a prominent role in Liverpool’s rise from the old Second Division, forming a partnership with Gerry Byrne. While at Anfield, he won First Division Championship medals in 1963–64 and 1965–66, a Second Division Championship medal in 1961–62 and two shared Charity Shield triumphs in 1964 and 1965.
We will see if OGS can follow up and be as successful as the previous Leicester manager, who have turned 87 years of age, and fondly remembered for those who were around in these decades of football.
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