ISTANBUL - Galatasaray's Romanian coach Gheorge Hagi announced his resignation on the last day of the 2004-2005 season Saturday following weeks of speculation that he would be axed for falling foul of the management and fans.
Hagi told a press conference here that he broke the news to his players after they clinched third place in the Turkish league with 76 points after beating Denizlispor 4-0 on Saturday.
"I congratulated them all in the dressing room and I gave them the bitter news. I am not their coach as of this moment," the 4O-year-old former Romania great was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.
"My cooperation with this team has ended," he added. "All I can say is I am sorry."
Hagi's announcement followed newspaper reports that the Istanbul club had decided to terminate his contract for his aggressive behaviour towards fans and disagreements with the management.
In one widely-reported incident, Hagi accused Galatasaray fans of stealing his mobile phone when throngs of them greeted him and his team at the airport in the central Turkish city of Kayseri for an away game with the local team, Kayserispor, last month.
"You are not supporters, you are thiefs!" Hagi shouted at fans, but later had to make an apology through the press when he found his mobile phone in the pocket of his coat.
Hagi admitted on Saturday he had made mistakes during his tenure at Galatasaray, but implied that he had been left alone by the management.
"It is very difficult to accomplish things when you don't get support from the necessary people," he said.
The former Romanian international had been with Galatasaray since March 2004 when he signed a two-and-a-half year contract.
He played with the side for four seasons between 1996 and 2000, during which Galatasaray won four league titles, the UEFA Cup and the Super Cup.
Apart from Galatasaray, Hagi also had stints with Steau Bucharest in Romania, Real Madrid in Spain, Brecia in Italy and Barcelona in Spain before hanging up his boots in 2000.
He trained the Romanian national team for five months but quit after failing to win a berth in the 2002 World Cup.
He took the job as coach of Turkish first division side Bursasapor at the start of the 2003/04 season before moving onto Galatasaray.
05/28/2005 20:42 GMT