ISTANBUL, Sept 28 (AFP) - Turkish side Besiktas denied Tuesday a newspaper report that it had sacked embattled Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque and would replace him with former Real Sociedad coach Raynald Denoueix.
The mass-circulation Hurriyet said the Frenchman would take over from Del Bosque right after Besiktas's UEFA first leg return match here Thursday with Norway's Bodo Glimt.
"There have been no talks with the coach in question," the club said in a statement. "Our coach Vincente Del Bosque is at the helm of the team and is working day and night to lead Besiktas to the next stage of the UEFA Cup."
Denoueix, however, confirmed that he had been offered the job.
"They approached me but I'm not interested at this time," he told AFP from Nantes, western France.
On Monday, a Besiktas spokesman said Del Bosque, the former Real Madrid coach, had been given a reprieve until after the Bodo game -- the away game ended 1-1.
Reha Muhtar said after the team management had a long session with Del Bosque that "our first priority is to win against Bodo Glimt ... (Del Bosque) will be at the head of the team on Thursday.
"Management has decided to concentrate on nothing but the Bodo match at this a critical juncture," Muhtar said. "It would be wrong to take any radical decisions at this stage.
"At this stage, we are fully behind the coach and the team."
He would not be drawn into what would happen after Thursday, but hinted that if Besiktas eliminate Bodo, the Spaniard could get another reprieve -- this time until a crucial league tie against Trabzonspor, co-leaders with Fenerbahce of the Turkish championship.
The Turkish league goes into a two-week break after that and sports writers have been speculating that that would be the perfect moment for Besiktas and Del Bosque to part ways.
Besiktas have yet to win a game in their expensively refurbished historic Dolmabahce stadium this season and the final straw was a 3-2 home defeat Saturday to minnows BB Ankaraspor.
The loss had fans baying for Del Bosque's head and booing the team as the defeat left the side languishing in 13th place, 13 points off the leaders after only seven games.
Hurriyet wrote that management had decided to sack Del Bosque before the Ankaraspor game and that Club President Yildirim Demiroren and two aides flew to France last week and concluded a deal with Denouix after two days of negotiations.
Del Bosque, who was sacked from Real last year despite winning two Spanish and two European titles in three years, replaced Romanian Mircea Lucescu.
He has come under ceaseless fire from critics for everything from his insistence on a 4-4-2 formation, which has not worked, to leaving stars such as Romanian Daniel Pancu and Norwegian John Carew on the bench during crucial matches.