Konya managed to taste their first European Cup victory against Vitoria Guimaraes, but their Europa League campaign affected their Super League performance badly. Once the group stage fixtures came to an end, they stood with only fourteen points in sixteen games around the relegation zone.
Their early schedule was very tough, especially on the road as they visited three title candidates. That is why they could collect only three points from the initial five games. Then they could collect points at home, but they were unable to build a steady run because of their poor away performances. In 2017, they could collect only one point in nine trips. The main reason for that was their wrong transfer policy. Ezekiel, Evouna and Eze did not meet the expectations. Besides them, Traore got injured heavily and missed most of the season. At this point, they had to use the offensive wingers Milosevic and Fofana as attackers until the end of the season’s 1st part. In October, the board could not stand to see such a bad performance from the team and replaced coach Mustafa Akcay with coach Mehmet Ozdilek. They offered a better performance in his charge, but it was not what the board exactly expected to see. That is why his charge lasted only four months. There are two reasons why Konya managed to survive in the league. First of all, coach Sergen Yalcin was appointed instead of Mehmet Ozdilek. With him, the team collected more points in nine games than with the other two coaches. Then, Eto’o and Jahovic joined up with the team during the winter break. The duo scored important goals.
It was obvious that Konya would have struggled in the busy schedule between September and February because of ther short squad. Keeper Serkan Kirintili deserved to earn a call-up to the national team courtesy of his performances. Right-back Skubic and winger Omer Ali Sahiner also contributed to survival a lot.
For the next season, the board know that they have to build a wide range squad, even though they are not competing in Europe. However, their financial situation may not let them do it easily.
