When the Super League entered into the winter break, Caykur Rize were seen as the biggest favourite for relegation as the bottom side. Until December, they offered one of the worst Super League performances in their club history and recorded only one victory in 17 fixtures, but then they did a great job and lost only 8 points in the initial 11 fixtures in 2019. Its biggest reason was to bring some fresh blood in January. Most of them became regular members of the starting line up during the season’s 2nd part. Had they not completed the season with a 6-game winless run, they could have caught the 5th place and made a greater impact.
The winter break signings including Moroziuk, Abarhoun and Melnjak helped the coach record 8 of total 10 clean sheets after their arrival. In particular, Chahechouhe was also the main actor of their offensive minded style in the early fixtures. The fans are especially grateful to Vedat Muriqi who scored 17 goals in the league this season. No doubt that he was the biggest factor of their survival as he has scored 12 of his goals in the season’s 2nd part. Bans have also hurt them a lot this season as the squad members had to miss 16 games in the league. So they should have managed to stay calm. It is known that Muriqi will probably leave the team in the summer. Most of the important players were also loanee. That is why they will have to build a new team from the beginning. If they cannot manage to catch the rhytm, a tough season awaits them.
