It's not the fall that matters, it's the impact on the ground.

"Do you know the story of the man who fell from a 50-story building? At each floor, he would say to himself, "So far so good. So far so good..." It's as if he were talking about us. It's not the fall that counts, it's the impact."

This dialogue between Vinz and Hubert, from Mathieu Kassovitz's cult film "La Haine," is a mini-summary of Beşiktaş 's last four years. The black-and-white team, a community in a free fall, happy with the occasional sparks, trying to prove its continued survival.

There's no end to this decline, and successive managements persistently pursue a policy of avoiding the groundbreaking situation and denying the club's current reality. The half-baked squads and the money spent trying to catch up with Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray are the Black and Whites' "So far so good" moment. Beşiktaş, persistently refusing to accept the bitter pill, believes it will avoid the relegation. But gravity is a law of nature, and the Black and Whites will eventually hit the ground; what matters is the force of that impact. I don't know how much longer it will take for the club to accept this reality. Serdal Adalı, who came in promising structure and emphasizing that he would act according to the team's current circumstances when given the opportunity, has spent heavily in less than a year. The young players he acquired were denied a chance, claiming they were "in the running."

NEVERENDING CONFLICT

As of the start of the season, Beşiktaş's footballing minds are still preoccupied with trying to save the day. On one hand, there's the crushing defeat against Shakhtar in their first European test, and on the other, a club still clinging to the hope that "if we make a transfer, we'll return." However, this decline isn't just about a single lost match on the pitch. The combination of economic hardship, administrative instability, and disorganized sporting planning points to a clash that's been postponed for years but is now looming.

This confusion is clearly evident when you look at the squad assembled by Serdal Adalı's management. On the one hand, there are young players acquired as investments for the future, and on the other, transfers considered expensive, ready-made solutions. However, these two approaches don't work together. Neither young players are on the pitch enough, nor are the high-priced players transforming the team's complexion. Beşiktaş continues to operate with the easy mindset of "one or two wins and we'll get back on track" rather than a long-term plan. Yet, what the fans need isn't a new, newly-minted star, but a confrontation with reality. This is precisely what breaks the fans' hearts. The fans want the team to fight and bounce back, but the zigzags of management choices are eroding their patience with hope. Yesterday's breakdown against Shakhtar was the most concrete manifestation of this. On the pitch, there was no plan, no sense of belonging.

Looking back at Beşiktaş's history, this club has often achieved its greatest successes during its most challenging periods. But the common thread among these successes was the courage to accept reality and rebuild. Today, on the contrary, the club is in financial turmoil, in a sporting impasse, and in a state of mental denial. Saying, "We're falling behind, but it's okay, so far everything is fine" doesn't change the outcome of this trajectory.

The intensity of the collision

The critical point is how hard the crash will be. The debt burden is mounting, sporting prestige is eroding, and the fans' patience is wearing thin. If the management doesn't take radical steps to break this cycle, this free fall will remain a dark stain on the community's memory. Beşiktaş still has a strong fan base and a deep history. But these are only factors slowing the decline. Perhaps it's time to stop fearing the "crash" and embrace reality. Without restructuring, patience with young players, financial discipline, and a clear project on the pitch, this story is doomed. It ends with that famous line from La Haine: "It's not the fall that matters, it's the crash." For Beşiktaş, the question is whether they can muster the will to recover from that crash.