Football Season Guide

After a strong last season Rizespor were promoted back to the top flight. Defending very well and keeping 11 clean sheets was the key for this success. Unfortunately, for the modest club all the good work by their promotion-winning manager Unes was noticed and attracted by a lucrative offer he left at the end of the season. Rizespor’s signed Ilhat Palut as their new head coach over the summer and he has been building his squad for the challenges of the top flight. The main departures so far were 2 regular starters in defence and the explosive winger Altintas. They all returned to their parent clubs in the summer. Rizespor know that their key for survival will be how well they can defend. This explains why all the focus so far on the transfer market had been on adding new defenders. The latest of those the Uzbek Khusniddin Alikulov is expected to play a key role. Rizespor will rely on veteran strikers up front it seems. Yilmaz (33), Mary (30) and Van den Hurk (30) are the main figures in attack. Rizespor should be adding more players, of course. At least 3-4 loanees are likely to arrive in coming weeks.