Del Bosque gets the sack as Besiktas coach

Besiktas have sacked Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque after less than eight months in charge amid disappointment at their domestic and European performances.

The Istanbul club announced in a statement to the city's stock exchange that it had reached a deal for Rizespor's Riza Calimbay to take over as coach.

Last June, Besiktas reached a multi-million dollar, two-year deal with the former Real Madrid coach in a bid to lift their fortunes after a disappointing end to last season.

But with the winter break drawing to a close, Besiktas are fifth in the first division, 14 points behind leaders Fenerbahce. They were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in December when they lost to Parma in the last game of the group stages. The final straw was their elimination from the Turkish Cup at the weekend when they were beaten 3-1 by Konyaspor.

"The Besiktas board decided to part company with Vicente del Bosque after the disappointing results," said a report in the Radikal newspaper.

Calimbay, a former Besiktas captain, has taken the Black Sea club Rizespor to sixth in the first division.

Del Bosque, who brought the whole of his former Real Madrid coaching team with him, had replaced Romanian Mircea Lucescu who resigned last year to move to Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk.

Del Bosque steered Real Madrid to two European Cups, two league titles and the World Club Cup.