It was a season which was full of survival worries for the Black Sea Region side. Following their last home victory against their direct rivals Yeni Malatya, they had a great advantage to survive and they took a deep breath after the final match day.
Spurred by the winter-break arrival Milan Skoda’s goals, with the Czech striker ending as the team’s top goal scorer although he only played in the 2nd part of the season, Caykur Rize have not been comfortable during most of the season. Their survival was largely backed by their home performances as they were already the worst away performer of the league along with Kayseri.
Except three visits, they failed to score anything or scored only one. In front of their fans, they were unable to use their home advantage till the late fixtures of coach Ismail Kartal. After the board replaced him with coach Unal Karaman, they collected decisive points in Rize, but their slip-ups on the road never stopped and finished the season with an 8-game losing league run.
Because of their financial situation, they had to bring loanees or low-budget players which caused their lack of quality. Among them, Boldrin gave a great support to the team’s offensive performance following Skoda. The performances of Gokhan Akkan and Ogulcan Caglayan were also notable.
They will have to work hard till the new season’s kick off. Since coach Unal Karaman has resigned before the season’s end, the board should replace him at once and should decide about the new season’s plans. To bring a supporter for Skoda is a must. The quality of the backline should also be improved in order to stay away from the survival race.
