Former Premier League and USMNT goalkeeper Brad Friedel has been sacked as sporting director of Turkish side Besiktas after five months in the role.
The 53-year-old, who played 82 times for his country and made 450 Premier League appearances during a 23-year playing career, was relieved of his duties on Tuesday.
Friedel’s exit came two days after Besiktas’ 4-0 defeat to Goztepe which leaves them sixth in the Super Lig, eight points adrift of league leaders Galatasaray.
The veteran of 17 Premier League campaigns took up the role in June this year, three days after the club made Giovanni van Bronckhorst, formerly of Rangers, their new manager.
Prior to his appointment in Turkey, Friedel took charge of two games as USMNT Under-19s head coach before a two-season stint as manager of New England Revolution. He was sacked two games into the 2019 campaign having led the team to a 2-21-13 record during his first season in charge.
As a player, Friedel holds the record for the most consecutive appearances in the history of the Premier League, featuring in 310 straight games between August 2004 and November 2012 across spells at Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.
He is also one of only six Premier League goalkeepers to have ever scored a goal, along with Peter Schmeichel, Paul Robinson, Asmir Begovic, Alisson and his former U.S. team-mate Tim Howard.
(Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
