.jpg) İlhan Palut managingHatayspor in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | İlhan Palut | ||
| Date of birth | (1976-11-12)12 November 1976 (age 49) | ||
| Place of birth | Reyhanlı,Turkey | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft9+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Çaykur Rizespor (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–2002 | Hatayspor | 149 | (11) |
| 2004–2006 | Adana Demirspor | 38 | (2) |
| 2006–2009 | Hatayspor | 48 | (5) |
| 2007–2008 | →Çorumspor (loan) | 23 | (1) |
| Total | 258 | (16) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017–2019 | Hatayspor | ||
| 2019–2021 | Göztepe | ||
| 2021–2023 | Konyaspor | ||
| 2023– | Çaykur Rizespor | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17 January 2023 | |||
İlhan Palut (Turkish pronunciation:[ilˈhanˈpaɫut] (born 12 November 1976) is a Turkish football manager and former player who currently manages TurkishSüper Lig clubÇaykur Rizespor. During his football career, İlhan Palut played as amidfielder. As a coach, his preferred in-fieldformation is 4–2–3–1. Throughout his playing career, İlhan Palut represented only four different clubs, playing a total of 338 matches and scoring 32 goals. He also has experience playing for the national team.
Ilhan Palut gained recognition in theTurkish football community for his success withHatayspor before making hisSüper Lig debut as the head coach ofGöztepe.
Following the end of his active football career withÇorumspor, Ilhan Palut began his coaching career as an assistant coach atKırıkhanspor.
After an amateur career in Turkish football mostly withHatayspor, Palut joinedHatayspor as the sporting director at the beginning of the 2016–17 season but later took on the role of coach during the half-time. Under his management,Hatayspor won the championship in theSecond League at the end of the 2017–18 season and was promoted to theFirst League.
AlthoughHatayspor only earned four points in the first five weeks of the 2018–19 season in theFirst League, the team improved and made its way to theSüper Lig, finishing the season in third place and qualifying for the play-off matches. After eliminatingAdana Demirspor in the play-off semi-finals,Hatayspor lost toGaziantep on penalties in the final match, missing the chance to advance to theSüper Lig. In the same season,Hatayspor reached the quarter-finals of theTurkish Cup but was eliminated despite winning 4–2 after a 2–0 defeat in a first game againstGalatasaray.
In the 2019–20 season, Hatayspor started the league with three wins in the first six weeks but was eliminated bySiirt İl Özel İdaresi in the 3rd Round of theTurkish Cup. On 1 October 2019, Due to the team's performance,Hatayspor and Palut parted ways.
On 5 November 2019, following a series of defeats,Tamer Tuna resigned as coach ofGöztepe, and the management reached a three-year agreement with İlhan Palut to take over.[1] On 11 January 2021, despite not achieving poor results, Palut resigned from his post by mutual agreement with theGöztepe management.[2]
on 10 February 2021 afterİsmail Kartal's resignation followingBeşiktaş's defeat, the management of Konyaspor signed a 1.5-year contract with coach İlhan Palut.[3] Palut had a challenging start withKonyaspor in hisfirst season, as the team was in a critical position in the league, but they managed to finish in 11th place. In thesecond season, he drew a successful strategy, and his team played impressive football, earning 68 points and finishing in the third place, which broke the club's record for the highest points collected in theSüper Lig during the2021–22 season. Palut believes that despite their current position, they have made an acceptable start this season and his primary goal is to create a stable team identity for Konyaspor.[4]
During his tenure, Palut led the team to 36 wins, 25 draws, and 20 losses in 81 games. He had the highest score average of 1.64 points among coaches who had managedKonyaspor for 15 or more games in the history of theSüper Lig. However, on 16 January 2023,Konyaspor, a football club, announced that they were terminating their contract with their coach, İlhan Palut. At the time of the announcement,Konyaspor had played a total of 18 matches in the league, winning 6, drawing 9, and losing 3. They were in 7th place in theleague standings.[5]
Ilhan Palut, who spoke after parting ways withKonyaspor, mentioned that he was informed about the decision to terminate his contract the previous day at noon. According to him, the club thanked him and said that a change in leadership would be beneficial for the team. Palut expressed that he and his team were surprised by the sudden decision, but they all agreed that it was for the best of the club. He also stated that he will make an official statement after receiving the termination certificate.[6] On the same day,Konyaspor announced that they had appointed Serbian coachAleksandar Stanojević as the new head of the team to replace İlhan Palut.[7]
On 13 June 2023, AfterBülent Korkmaz's contract withÇaykur Rizespor came to an end, the club decided to appoint İlhan Palut as their new coach.[8][9] In his first season in charge, Palut ledÇaykur Rizespor to a 9th-place finish in theSüper Lig, with the team securing 14 wins, 8 draws, and 16 losses over 38 matches, finishing with 50 points and a goal difference of -10.
In the2024–25 season, the team once again finished 9th in the league, recording 15 wins, 4 draws, and 17 losses in 36 matches, ending the campaign with 49 points and a goal difference of -6 (52 goals scored and 58 conceded). In theTurkish Cup,Rizespor competed in the group stage (Group A), where they finished 4th, earning 4 points from 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss, and failed to progress to the knockout rounds.
On 16 June 2025,Çaykur Rizespor announced that they had reached a one-year agreement with İlhan Palut to continue as the club’s head coach for the2025–26 season. Having served in the role since 2023, Palut was praised by the club for his consistent leadership over the previous two years. The renewal was publicly welcomed by the club, which extended its congratulations to Palut and his technical staff.[10]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hatayspor | 1996–97 | 2. Lig | 7 | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | |
| 1997–98 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||
| 1998–99 | 30 | 2 | – | 30 | 2 | |||
| 1999–2000 | 16 | 0 | – | 16 | 0 | |||
| 2000–01 | 32 | 3 | – | 32 | 3 | |||
| 2001–02 | 33 | 2 | – | 33 | 2 | |||
| Total | 149 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 150 | 11 | ||
| Adana Demirspor | 2004–05 | 1. Lig | 12 | 1 | – | 12 | 1 | |
| 2005–06 | 26 | 1 | – | 26 | 1 | |||
| Total | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | ||
| Hatayspor | 2006–07 | 2. Lig | 13 | 0 | – | 13 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | 3. Lig | 35 | 2 | – | 35 | 2 | ||
| Total | 48 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 2 | ||
| Çorumspor (loan) | 2007–08 | 2. Lig | 23 | 1 | – | 23 | 1 | |
| Total | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | ||
| Career Total | 258 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 259 | 16 | ||
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||||||
| Hatayspor |  | 1 February 2017 | 30 September 2019 | 104 | 60 | 26 | 18 | 057.69 | |||
| Göztepe | | 4 November 2019 | 10 January 2021 | 47 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 031.91 | |||
| Konyaspor | | 9 February 2021 | 17 January 2023 | 81 | 36 | 25 | 20 | 044.44 | |||
| Çaykur Rizespor | | 9 June 2023 | Present | 87 | 32 | 17 | 38 | 036.78 | |||
| Total | 319 | 143 | 82 | 94 | 044.83 | ||||||
Hatayspor
Konyaspor