Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
Until Hibbie Kanka recovers from his hangover I thought you would all be interested (yawn yawn !!) to know that HIBERNIAN footie club today (31 December) hold the proud record of being top goal scorers in the Scottish Premier League.
They may be tucked in at 5th place but can trumpet the fact that they have now scored 42 league goals in 22 matches, which is one more than league leaders Celtic.
Not a bad record under the circumstances - don't you agree ?
This augers well for the run-in and the realistic aim must be to finish in 2nd place and lift the League Cup in the process.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
The Round Ball in Ankara! Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
Impartial?
A short follow-up to the Byzantine goings on at Genclerbirligi. I just noticed a small piece in the Turkish Daily News today that Atilla Aytek, the now ex-member of Genclerbirligi, has vowed to continue in his legal fight to not only get his membership of the club back but also to appeal a court decision to refuse to rehold last season's general congress.
In this post I describe how Aytek was kicked out of the club and earlier I had reported on the court decision. For further background and my views on why Aytek should be supported check out this
Back to the TDN piece and Aytek is now claiming that the judge in the court case is in fact a close friend of Genclerbirligi Chairman Ilhan Cavcav. The court decision was made on December 20 and it appears that the judge, Ahmet Pinar, showed up to the funeral of Cavcav's brother just a couple of days later.
Surely a bit too close for comfort.
This promises (unfortunately) to run and run and run.
In this post I describe how Aytek was kicked out of the club and earlier I had reported on the court decision. For further background and my views on why Aytek should be supported check out this
Back to the TDN piece and Aytek is now claiming that the judge in the court case is in fact a close friend of Genclerbirligi Chairman Ilhan Cavcav. The court decision was made on December 20 and it appears that the judge, Ahmet Pinar, showed up to the funeral of Cavcav's brother just a couple of days later.
Surely a bit too close for comfort.
This promises (unfortunately) to run and run and run.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Sir Eski gets a new job
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Hearts 3-2 Hibernian
Back to loosing ways for Hibs after being edged out by the odd goal in five to Hearts. The first half was a pretty dull affair with only a goal for Hearts and a bad miss for Hibs to give the fans talking points. The second half was a totally different affair as Hibs started brightly only to fall two goals behind thanks to a bad blunder by the Hibs goal keeper. A tame free kick was dropped at the feet of the Hearts striker who tapped the ball home. Hibs looked down and out before a Killen header and a Dean Sheils penalty brought Hibs level. I thought at this point that we would go on and win the game but Sheils clashed with the Hearts goalkeeper while trying to get the ball out of the back of the net and was promptly sent off. Within ten minutes Hearts had gone 3-2 up and although Hibs had a shot that hit both posts before coming back out they could not find the equaliser.
It was an entertaining game but again Hibs fail to find a run of winning games that stops them climbing the table. We have a couple of home games coming up and six points would help start the new year in a positive fashion.
Hibbee Kanka
It was an entertaining game but again Hibs fail to find a run of winning games that stops them climbing the table. We have a couple of home games coming up and six points would help start the new year in a positive fashion.
Hibbee Kanka
Monday, December 25, 2006
ANKARAGUCU - A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO GENCLERBIRLIGI
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
All us ANKARAGUCU kankas and kankies would like to take this opportunity to extend Christmas greetings to all you luvvlie Gencler kankas and kankies this 25 December.
As a small token of our affection for you all we would like to remind you of some important dates in history...........
8 August 1937 - ANKARAGUCU 8 Gencler 0
20 October 1943 - ANKARAGUCU 5 Gencler 1
22 February 1953 - ANKARAGUCU 7 Gencler 3
5 September 1965 - ANKARAGUCU 5 Gencler 1
10 February 1991 - ANKARAGUCU 7 Gencler 2
Now, go on......... admit it..... you love us even more than before .... don't you ???!!!
Long may our friendship continue.
Happy New Year (2007) to all kankas, kankies, and visitors to our world famous Blog.
All the best from High in Spirits, Eski Kanka Jim
PS.... for Oz Kanka in particular...... I was NOT born before some of the above matches, so....... no derogatory remarks about my age please !!!
All us ANKARAGUCU kankas and kankies would like to take this opportunity to extend Christmas greetings to all you luvvlie Gencler kankas and kankies this 25 December.
As a small token of our affection for you all we would like to remind you of some important dates in history...........
8 August 1937 - ANKARAGUCU 8 Gencler 0
20 October 1943 - ANKARAGUCU 5 Gencler 1
22 February 1953 - ANKARAGUCU 7 Gencler 3
5 September 1965 - ANKARAGUCU 5 Gencler 1
10 February 1991 - ANKARAGUCU 7 Gencler 2
Now, go on......... admit it..... you love us even more than before .... don't you ???!!!
Long may our friendship continue.
Happy New Year (2007) to all kankas, kankies, and visitors to our world famous Blog.
All the best from High in Spirits, Eski Kanka Jim
PS.... for Oz Kanka in particular...... I was NOT born before some of the above matches, so....... no derogatory remarks about my age please !!!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Hibs 5-1 St Mirren
Now that I have received the necessary coaching, I am able to pass on the exploits of Hibernians SPL exploits again.
Us Hibees supporters were a bit down this last fortnight after back to back defeats to Rangers (3-0) and Falkirk (2-1). The Rangers game was the worst one as Hibs just did not turn up, Falkirk battled hard but by all accounts Hibs only had themselves to blame after passing up a few scoring opportunities.
Today however was a different story as Hibs dominated the game and could easily have scored seven or eight. St Mirren had an attacking formation and there was no time wasting from them so we were all set for an entertaining match. Both teams moved the ball about well but it was Hibs who looked the more penatrating with a few close calls on the St Mirren goal. the first goal came from good link up play with Boozy sending Fletch er through and then being on hand to score the cut back. Dean Sheils got a rare start and showed his worth by setting up Killen for the second. Sheils start was due to Scott Brown being dropped as he needed a colonic irrigation to wash his face, the paper talk trying to sell him to the Old Firm seems to be fueling his own opinion about himself.
Anyway just as Hibs were crusing to a comfortable halftime lead they gifted a goal to St Mirren, Sutton still had a bit of work to do but made no mistake. It did not take Hibs long in the second half to kill the game off with two goals in the space of a few minutes. First Shiels scored a peach from 18 yards and then Benji set up Zemama for a easy tap in. Benji completed the scoring on 65 minutes with a cool finish after being sent through by Zemama. Hibs looked like they could score more if they upped the tempo but instead took the foot of the gas with Tuesdays derby coming up.
All in all a very satisfactory score and all with out the golden duo of Thomson and Brown. The papers are trying hard to get them to the Old Firm but Hibs Chairman is so far holding a firm line and refusing their transfer requests. Unfortunately no one wins when this siuation arises but I would be happy for Hibs to leave both players in the reserves to teach them a lesson on loyalty. Both plkayers seem to forget that they only signed new contracts in April.
The big football news in Scotland was the shock departure of Salvesen Under 11 coach to Raith Rovers. Mini Hibbee Kanka was disappointed to hear the news as Richard is an excellant coach. I am not sure what role he is filling at the Rovers but good luck to him.
Hibee Kanka
Us Hibees supporters were a bit down this last fortnight after back to back defeats to Rangers (3-0) and Falkirk (2-1). The Rangers game was the worst one as Hibs just did not turn up, Falkirk battled hard but by all accounts Hibs only had themselves to blame after passing up a few scoring opportunities.
Today however was a different story as Hibs dominated the game and could easily have scored seven or eight. St Mirren had an attacking formation and there was no time wasting from them so we were all set for an entertaining match. Both teams moved the ball about well but it was Hibs who looked the more penatrating with a few close calls on the St Mirren goal. the first goal came from good link up play with Boozy sending Fletch er through and then being on hand to score the cut back. Dean Sheils got a rare start and showed his worth by setting up Killen for the second. Sheils start was due to Scott Brown being dropped as he needed a colonic irrigation to wash his face, the paper talk trying to sell him to the Old Firm seems to be fueling his own opinion about himself.
Anyway just as Hibs were crusing to a comfortable halftime lead they gifted a goal to St Mirren, Sutton still had a bit of work to do but made no mistake. It did not take Hibs long in the second half to kill the game off with two goals in the space of a few minutes. First Shiels scored a peach from 18 yards and then Benji set up Zemama for a easy tap in. Benji completed the scoring on 65 minutes with a cool finish after being sent through by Zemama. Hibs looked like they could score more if they upped the tempo but instead took the foot of the gas with Tuesdays derby coming up.
All in all a very satisfactory score and all with out the golden duo of Thomson and Brown. The papers are trying hard to get them to the Old Firm but Hibs Chairman is so far holding a firm line and refusing their transfer requests. Unfortunately no one wins when this siuation arises but I would be happy for Hibs to leave both players in the reserves to teach them a lesson on loyalty. Both plkayers seem to forget that they only signed new contracts in April.
The big football news in Scotland was the shock departure of Salvesen Under 11 coach to Raith Rovers. Mini Hibbee Kanka was disappointed to hear the news as Richard is an excellant coach. I am not sure what role he is filling at the Rovers but good luck to him.
Hibee Kanka
Hibs back to winning ways
After two defeats to Rangers and Falkirk, Hibs got back to winning ways by beating St Mirren 5-1 at Easter Road today.
Goals from Buezalin, Killen, Sheils, Zemama and Benji gave Hibs the points and allows them to close in on Aberdeen who lost to Rangers earlier today.
A more detailed report once I confirm this new way of blogging works.
Hibbee Kanka
Goals from Buezalin, Killen, Sheils, Zemama and Benji gave Hibs the points and allows them to close in on Aberdeen who lost to Rangers earlier today.
A more detailed report once I confirm this new way of blogging works.
Hibbee Kanka
Revenge is a dish best eaten cold
Five people who have given a large part of their lives to serving Genclerbirligi were on Saturday kicked out the club forever. The Genclerbirligi Disciplinary Board banned the five for bringing the club into disrepute. Two others were banned for one year and six months respectively.
Their crime? They decided to run against Chairman Ilhan Cavcav at last May's general congress. When it was obvious that Cavcav had stacked the elections in the last week through signing up some 5,000 Galatasaray supporters the "alternative management", as the group became known as, decided to take the matter to court in order to have the results overturned.
While Turkey may not be in the EU I had always thought that here people had the right to go to the courts to seek justice. Sure, the justice system here can be extremely slow and sometimes completely wrong (just take a look at the number of instances when the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Turkey's judicial processes to be less than sound) but still the right to go to court exists.
Not to the Genclerbirligi Discipline Board. Their ruling today was that merely by bringing the case to the courts the "alternative management" deserved to be kicked out of the club.
Atilla Aytek (the man who ran against Cavcav for the chairmanship), Zeki Ünaldı, Yaşar Durak, Muzaffer Özbayrak and Bülent Atlas were the five banned on Saturday. Ali Riza Onat got a one-year ban and Fatih Dagci a six-month ban.
News of the bans is only just filtering through to Gencler fans but this reaction from one poster on the Alkaralar forum sums it up so far.
"Damn".
And so Cavcav has managed to silence the opposition. Sort of reminds me of another old bloke who happened to pass away just a few days ago. Rumours that Cavcav shall soon have to referred to as Genclerbaşi and that he has plans to change the names of days and months are just that though. A revolving gold statue isn't out of the question though.
Further background on this sorry tale can be found here.
Their crime? They decided to run against Chairman Ilhan Cavcav at last May's general congress. When it was obvious that Cavcav had stacked the elections in the last week through signing up some 5,000 Galatasaray supporters the "alternative management", as the group became known as, decided to take the matter to court in order to have the results overturned.
While Turkey may not be in the EU I had always thought that here people had the right to go to the courts to seek justice. Sure, the justice system here can be extremely slow and sometimes completely wrong (just take a look at the number of instances when the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Turkey's judicial processes to be less than sound) but still the right to go to court exists.
Not to the Genclerbirligi Discipline Board. Their ruling today was that merely by bringing the case to the courts the "alternative management" deserved to be kicked out of the club.
Atilla Aytek (the man who ran against Cavcav for the chairmanship), Zeki Ünaldı, Yaşar Durak, Muzaffer Özbayrak and Bülent Atlas were the five banned on Saturday. Ali Riza Onat got a one-year ban and Fatih Dagci a six-month ban.
News of the bans is only just filtering through to Gencler fans but this reaction from one poster on the Alkaralar forum sums it up so far.
"Damn".
And so Cavcav has managed to silence the opposition. Sort of reminds me of another old bloke who happened to pass away just a few days ago. Rumours that Cavcav shall soon have to referred to as Genclerbaşi and that he has plans to change the names of days and months are just that though. A revolving gold statue isn't out of the question though.
Further background on this sorry tale can be found here.
Friday, December 22, 2006
More popular than Prescott
In this dead season with no football going on in Turkey I'm slightly at a loss about what to write about. Until I found an opportunity to brag about ourselves, thanks to an article in today's Guardian.
The (British) deputy prime minister, John Prescott, told Parliament last week that his new departmental site "has recorded 2,771 separate visits and 6,836 page views since it went online in late August," the Guardian wrote.
I decided to do a check of the stats for the blog to see how we compare with the deputy prime minister's site and was very pleased to see that we are clearly more popular than John Prescott.
I decided the late August date to begin my search as 21 August and since then we have had 3,906 visitors and 7,155 page views. Admitedly some of those people came to us via google searches such as "sexi knees Ankara" (we are still at number one in google for that search) and "hurriyet reliable?" (we are in there at number 14 or something for that one), but still I'm sure Prescott also got some weird google searches for his department's site as well, perhaps "right jabs by a fatty", or "two jags".
Anyway, we are more popular than Prescott and that at least made me breath a sigh of relief.
PHOTOCAPTION: Prescott reacts to news that his departmental site is less popular than "The round ball in Ankara". Photo nicked from Orange
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Glory days
Genclerbirligi 3 - Besiktas 0
Headed off to the Knight and Flight on my own Wednesday night. Ordered my beer and while the rest of the crowd were concentrating on darts I asked if we could put the big screen on.
Half way through my beer and about five minutes into the match Flying Dutchman Kanka showed up. Always good to have someone to talk to while the action on the screen was not exactly riveting.
But that is not quite what was happening. Sure the first half ended up 0-0 and it seemed that Besiktas weren't even trying but Mehmet Cakir did have a couple of bloody good chances which he should have put away. In both instances he was last on the ball, coming in from the right and instead of going straight at goal he tried to put it into the left corner. Needless to say both shots missed by millimetres.
Despite the fact that we dominated the half perhaps the best chance fell to Besiktas when someone or other got a shot on (perhaps it was a header) but Jesus reached out with his right hand and made a brilliant reflex save. Brilliant stuff.
And so at half-time it was 0-0 and having watched a million Gencler matches I was my usual pessimistic self. We had had plenty of chances but hadn't capitalised.
Second half though and it was time to party.
Flying Dutchman Kanka made the point that Besiktas were going for it. Not that any of their attacks got anywhere near the goal, but they were pressing forward, leaving huge gaps at the back.
We were playing brilliantly. Passes were sticking, we were running fast and the Besiktas keeper was looking harried.
Then we got what we were waiting for. Mehmet Cakir made a short pass to Mehmet Nas just outside the box. Nas played it wonderfully, right foot on the ball, back in with the left foot and then a lovely little pass back to Mehmet Cakir. Cakir again tried to beat the keeper's right hand but unlike his two previous attempts this one was just on target. 1-0.
With the goal the patrons at the Knight and Flight clearly knew they had a couple of Gencler fanatics on hand. The odd Besiktas supporters in there gave us the eye, but we were not to be silenced (thanks to the fact that the owner of the place is a good mate - despite his obvious personality flaw of being a Galatasaray supporter).
Still high-fiving in the American way when the second goal came in.
This one was again brilliant. On the break Cakir had got it down on the right of the Besiktas goal. He could have tried to cross it in to the strikers ready in the box (who were covered by Besiktas defenders) but he waited a second and sent it back to the edge of the box right in the middle where Engin Baytar running in at full tilt smashed it into the back of the net.
I'd had a few beers by this stage and that was clearly the reason why I fell off my chair.
Bloody hell. 2-0 up against Besiktas and by God we were playing a million times better then they were.
Lightning struck again just a few minutes later when Baytar had a shot which came off the post. Just a few feet into the field of play and Okan Ozturk found himself facing the wrong way from the goal and tried to back heel it into the goal. This attempt was saved off the line by a Besiktas defender only for it to fall straight to Draman Haminu who smashed the thing to kingdom come. 3-0.
Dancing and shouting at the Knight and Flight and who should walk in? Why it was of course Sir Eski Kanka himself. He took one look at the screen (and the score) and started his familiar line of "Ankara, Ankara".
So it was at the 64th minute mark we were 3-0 up.
It was at this point of the match when Besiktas had perhaps their best chance but Jesus made an excellent save with his wedding tackle. Play was stopped for at least five minutes while the physios did whatever was necessary to get Jesus and his tackle good again. I would go into details but there are they make me cringe just thinking about it.
Three-nil up and clearly not needing any more goals we brought on Isaac Promise. Needless to say, the few opportunities he had were wasted.
All up a fantastic performance. Our defence was very solid, Risp in particular was great, and we ran fast creating opportunities all over the place. Have to admit though, Besiktas were crap.
Sir Eski, Flying Dutchman and myself then played a few games of darts (Sir Eski Kanka whipped our arses) and we then cheered away as Kayseri E.spor smashed up Galatasaray 4-1. What a great night.
Headed off to the Knight and Flight on my own Wednesday night. Ordered my beer and while the rest of the crowd were concentrating on darts I asked if we could put the big screen on.
Half way through my beer and about five minutes into the match Flying Dutchman Kanka showed up. Always good to have someone to talk to while the action on the screen was not exactly riveting.
But that is not quite what was happening. Sure the first half ended up 0-0 and it seemed that Besiktas weren't even trying but Mehmet Cakir did have a couple of bloody good chances which he should have put away. In both instances he was last on the ball, coming in from the right and instead of going straight at goal he tried to put it into the left corner. Needless to say both shots missed by millimetres.
Despite the fact that we dominated the half perhaps the best chance fell to Besiktas when someone or other got a shot on (perhaps it was a header) but Jesus reached out with his right hand and made a brilliant reflex save. Brilliant stuff.
And so at half-time it was 0-0 and having watched a million Gencler matches I was my usual pessimistic self. We had had plenty of chances but hadn't capitalised.
Second half though and it was time to party.
Flying Dutchman Kanka made the point that Besiktas were going for it. Not that any of their attacks got anywhere near the goal, but they were pressing forward, leaving huge gaps at the back.
We were playing brilliantly. Passes were sticking, we were running fast and the Besiktas keeper was looking harried.
Then we got what we were waiting for. Mehmet Cakir made a short pass to Mehmet Nas just outside the box. Nas played it wonderfully, right foot on the ball, back in with the left foot and then a lovely little pass back to Mehmet Cakir. Cakir again tried to beat the keeper's right hand but unlike his two previous attempts this one was just on target. 1-0.
With the goal the patrons at the Knight and Flight clearly knew they had a couple of Gencler fanatics on hand. The odd Besiktas supporters in there gave us the eye, but we were not to be silenced (thanks to the fact that the owner of the place is a good mate - despite his obvious personality flaw of being a Galatasaray supporter).
Still high-fiving in the American way when the second goal came in.
This one was again brilliant. On the break Cakir had got it down on the right of the Besiktas goal. He could have tried to cross it in to the strikers ready in the box (who were covered by Besiktas defenders) but he waited a second and sent it back to the edge of the box right in the middle where Engin Baytar running in at full tilt smashed it into the back of the net.
I'd had a few beers by this stage and that was clearly the reason why I fell off my chair.
Bloody hell. 2-0 up against Besiktas and by God we were playing a million times better then they were.
Lightning struck again just a few minutes later when Baytar had a shot which came off the post. Just a few feet into the field of play and Okan Ozturk found himself facing the wrong way from the goal and tried to back heel it into the goal. This attempt was saved off the line by a Besiktas defender only for it to fall straight to Draman Haminu who smashed the thing to kingdom come. 3-0.
Dancing and shouting at the Knight and Flight and who should walk in? Why it was of course Sir Eski Kanka himself. He took one look at the screen (and the score) and started his familiar line of "Ankara, Ankara".
So it was at the 64th minute mark we were 3-0 up.
It was at this point of the match when Besiktas had perhaps their best chance but Jesus made an excellent save with his wedding tackle. Play was stopped for at least five minutes while the physios did whatever was necessary to get Jesus and his tackle good again. I would go into details but there are they make me cringe just thinking about it.
Three-nil up and clearly not needing any more goals we brought on Isaac Promise. Needless to say, the few opportunities he had were wasted.
All up a fantastic performance. Our defence was very solid, Risp in particular was great, and we ran fast creating opportunities all over the place. Have to admit though, Besiktas were crap.
Sir Eski, Flying Dutchman and myself then played a few games of darts (Sir Eski Kanka whipped our arses) and we then cheered away as Kayseri E.spor smashed up Galatasaray 4-1. What a great night.
Turkish justice
Looks like we will be stuck with Ilhan Cavcav for a while yet after a court in Ankara refused to cancel last season's general congress where Cavcav signed up some 5,000 Galatasaray supporters just a week before the election for the chairman's position.
The Anatolia news agency doesn't go into much detail, my guess is that the judges reasonings for the decision won't be out for a while yet, but they refused the application made by Atilla Aytek, the man who challenged Cavcav, to have the congress results cancelled on the basis that Cavcav had illegally signed up so many people.
Depressing days.
Check out the background of the case and my opinions on the matter here
The Anatolia news agency doesn't go into much detail, my guess is that the judges reasonings for the decision won't be out for a while yet, but they refused the application made by Atilla Aytek, the man who challenged Cavcav, to have the congress results cancelled on the basis that Cavcav had illegally signed up so many people.
Depressing days.
Check out the background of the case and my opinions on the matter here
ANKARAGUCU - NAIL BITING STUFF
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
Celebrations in Ankara last night. Turkish Cup Group Match.......
ANKARAGUCU 3 Bucaspor 1
It was a cold but sunny December afternoon when Maniac Kanka and I arrived at The Cappadokia Bar for pre-match refreshments. We were joined later by Huso Kanka and his beautiful girlfriend Fatma, and later by his friend Nihan.
Off to the match, and as you would expect from a Tuesday afternoon match, not a large crowd. However, Gecikondu were in full voice as usual and there was a fair crowd in Maraton where we decided to go.
A note for the fashion conscious...... I thought I was seeing things when Buca entered wearing their blue and yellow vertical striped shirts, but was assured that these were their normal colours. So, it was rather unusual to see ANKARAGUCU wearing white shirts and black shorts.
If we thought it was going to be a `stroll in the park` we were in for a rude awakening. Buca went on the attack from the kick off and ANKARAGUCU looked out of sorts, or perhaps they were shell shocked !!
It was no surprise therefore when Buca went ahead after 2 dreadful mistakes by Aytekin which presented Adnan with the easiest of chances and gave Orkun no chance.
Time to start looking at the nails and having a nibble me thought !!
The goal was a wake up call and ANKARAGUCU started to force the pace and play the ball forward to Bebbe and Agali who were both looking dangerous.
Then after 15 came the equaliser. A great ball over the defence from Abdurrahman Derili to the unmarked Murat and a classic goal.
It was still end to end stuff and all credit to Buca who obviously didn't come to Ankara to defend. They were getting stuck in and playing some clever footie.
On the half hour mark came what could easily have been a turning point in the match. Agali was pulled up for a clear offside but continued on his run to shoot past the Buca goalkeeper. Out came the yellow card quite rightly. So then a few minutes later he compounds his folly and kicks the ball out of play when the Referee awarded a free kick against him. Red card and what a W****R !! Me thinks his days may be numbered at ANKARAGUCU !!!
Into the 2nd half and I was looking at my nails again and starting to have another nibble and a chew !! ANKARAGUCU were in control but the 2nd goal wouldn't come despite the pressure and shots on goal.
We had to wait until half way through the 2nd half for the break through. A great goal by Bebbe who latched on to a loose ball after another mistake by Aytekin and fired in a fiece shot which gave Fatih in goal no chance.
Still Buca continued to take the game to ANKARAGUCU and I was looking at my nails again wondering whether to have another nibble. However, all was made safe in the 75th minute with a great solo goal from Captain Ceyhun. He weaved past 3 defender and then struck a thunderbolt with Fatih rooted to the spot. Game over and no more nail biting !!
Buca ran out of steam at this stage and it was all ANKARAGUCU in the last 10 minutes. Man of the match (again) Derili, sent in a screamer in the last minute from about 30 yards out which had the goalie beaten, but the ball hit the bar and went out of play.
So, still all to play for in the group. ANKARAGUCU has 9 points from 3 games, but still have to play Besiktas away on 14 January.
The spotlight turns on Gencler today (Wednesday) when they take on Besiktas in Ankara. This is a MUST WIN match for Gencler if they want to keep their cup aspirations alive.
A report from Oz Kanka tomorrow on that match.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Celebrations in Ankara last night. Turkish Cup Group Match.......
ANKARAGUCU 3 Bucaspor 1
It was a cold but sunny December afternoon when Maniac Kanka and I arrived at The Cappadokia Bar for pre-match refreshments. We were joined later by Huso Kanka and his beautiful girlfriend Fatma, and later by his friend Nihan.
Off to the match, and as you would expect from a Tuesday afternoon match, not a large crowd. However, Gecikondu were in full voice as usual and there was a fair crowd in Maraton where we decided to go.
A note for the fashion conscious...... I thought I was seeing things when Buca entered wearing their blue and yellow vertical striped shirts, but was assured that these were their normal colours. So, it was rather unusual to see ANKARAGUCU wearing white shirts and black shorts.
If we thought it was going to be a `stroll in the park` we were in for a rude awakening. Buca went on the attack from the kick off and ANKARAGUCU looked out of sorts, or perhaps they were shell shocked !!
It was no surprise therefore when Buca went ahead after 2 dreadful mistakes by Aytekin which presented Adnan with the easiest of chances and gave Orkun no chance.
Time to start looking at the nails and having a nibble me thought !!
The goal was a wake up call and ANKARAGUCU started to force the pace and play the ball forward to Bebbe and Agali who were both looking dangerous.
Then after 15 came the equaliser. A great ball over the defence from Abdurrahman Derili to the unmarked Murat and a classic goal.
It was still end to end stuff and all credit to Buca who obviously didn't come to Ankara to defend. They were getting stuck in and playing some clever footie.
On the half hour mark came what could easily have been a turning point in the match. Agali was pulled up for a clear offside but continued on his run to shoot past the Buca goalkeeper. Out came the yellow card quite rightly. So then a few minutes later he compounds his folly and kicks the ball out of play when the Referee awarded a free kick against him. Red card and what a W****R !! Me thinks his days may be numbered at ANKARAGUCU !!!
Into the 2nd half and I was looking at my nails again and starting to have another nibble and a chew !! ANKARAGUCU were in control but the 2nd goal wouldn't come despite the pressure and shots on goal.
We had to wait until half way through the 2nd half for the break through. A great goal by Bebbe who latched on to a loose ball after another mistake by Aytekin and fired in a fiece shot which gave Fatih in goal no chance.
Still Buca continued to take the game to ANKARAGUCU and I was looking at my nails again wondering whether to have another nibble. However, all was made safe in the 75th minute with a great solo goal from Captain Ceyhun. He weaved past 3 defender and then struck a thunderbolt with Fatih rooted to the spot. Game over and no more nail biting !!
Buca ran out of steam at this stage and it was all ANKARAGUCU in the last 10 minutes. Man of the match (again) Derili, sent in a screamer in the last minute from about 30 yards out which had the goalie beaten, but the ball hit the bar and went out of play.
So, still all to play for in the group. ANKARAGUCU has 9 points from 3 games, but still have to play Besiktas away on 14 January.
The spotlight turns on Gencler today (Wednesday) when they take on Besiktas in Ankara. This is a MUST WIN match for Gencler if they want to keep their cup aspirations alive.
A report from Oz Kanka tomorrow on that match.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Monday, December 18, 2006
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Gencler ease through
Bucaspor 0 - Genclerbirligi 2
It was an away match in the Turkish Cup on Saturday for Gencler. This time it was off to Izmir to play second division Bucaspor.
Looks like it was a fairly easy match with both goals coming in the second half Engin Baytar scoring both.
The win means we have won one, lost one and still have matches against Rizespor and Besiktas left. Wins against both should mean we will go through to the next round. Rize, shure, should beat them but the tough one will be Wednesday's home match against Besiktas.
The match is at 5:30 p.m. and the plan is to meet up at the Knight and Flight Bar (on Cevre sokak from about 5 pm (ie straight from work).
Sir Eski Kanka, could you check to see if they will actually be showing the match.
It was an away match in the Turkish Cup on Saturday for Gencler. This time it was off to Izmir to play second division Bucaspor.
Looks like it was a fairly easy match with both goals coming in the second half Engin Baytar scoring both.
The win means we have won one, lost one and still have matches against Rizespor and Besiktas left. Wins against both should mean we will go through to the next round. Rize, shure, should beat them but the tough one will be Wednesday's home match against Besiktas.
The match is at 5:30 p.m. and the plan is to meet up at the Knight and Flight Bar (on Cevre sokak from about 5 pm (ie straight from work).
Sir Eski Kanka, could you check to see if they will actually be showing the match.
Friday, December 15, 2006
THE TURKISH CUP - FURTHER CONFUSION
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
There seems to be a disconnect between the information being pushed out by Hurriyet and TRT concerning fixture dates.
The Buca V Gencler match is still on 16 December KO 2pm.
However, TRT is now saying that the ANKARAGUCU v Buca match is on Tuesday 19 December and the Gencler V Besiktas match on Wednesday 20 December. KO times not known yet.
I believe it is now time to put Oz Kanka's journalistic prowess to the test and to find out the correct information !! Over to you partner !
The last round of group matches are scheduled for 14 January. More details of these nearer the time.
Incidentally, just heard today, Friday, that Fener will be playing Flying Dutchman Kanka's team, Alkmaar, in the next round of the UEFA Cup. Interesting scenario don't you think ??!!
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
EDIT:
Oz Kanka here. According to the Turkish Football Federation website,
Ankaragucu-Buca
19 December 2 pm KO.
Gencler -Besiktas
20 December 5:30 pm KO
There seems to be a disconnect between the information being pushed out by Hurriyet and TRT concerning fixture dates.
The Buca V Gencler match is still on 16 December KO 2pm.
However, TRT is now saying that the ANKARAGUCU v Buca match is on Tuesday 19 December and the Gencler V Besiktas match on Wednesday 20 December. KO times not known yet.
I believe it is now time to put Oz Kanka's journalistic prowess to the test and to find out the correct information !! Over to you partner !
The last round of group matches are scheduled for 14 January. More details of these nearer the time.
Incidentally, just heard today, Friday, that Fener will be playing Flying Dutchman Kanka's team, Alkmaar, in the next round of the UEFA Cup. Interesting scenario don't you think ??!!
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
EDIT:
Oz Kanka here. According to the Turkish Football Federation website,
Ankaragucu-Buca
19 December 2 pm KO.
Gencler -Besiktas
20 December 5:30 pm KO
Thursday, December 14, 2006
A day in court
A short update on the farce that never seems to end concerning Genclerbirligi's general congress last May. You can check out all the background here.
The other day the Orwellian-sounding Genclerbirligi Discipline Board decided to postpone until December 22 a decision on whether to send to Siberia six members of the club who had the nerve to actually challenge Chairman Ilhan Cavcav at the 14 May 2006 general congress.
This is rather important as some time today a court in Ankara is expected to decide on whether Cavcav's bringing in thousands of Galatasaray supporters as members of the club in the week before the general congress was in fact legal. Or perhaps the court is to rule on whether these people were actually allowed to vote.
I'm not really sure what the outcome will be but if the court rules that the general congress election was not legal then we could well have an emergency congress very soon... and with it a new chairman... possibly.
Whichever way, the six members who face being kicked out will now have their day in a real court.
Stay tuned.
EDIT: Huge anti-climax I'm afraid with the court adjourning for a later date due to the Atilla Aytek's lot asking for a different "expert report" on the club as the one prepared made some very simple mistakes and assumptions. Why don't they just ask me to be the expert witness?
The other day the Orwellian-sounding Genclerbirligi Discipline Board decided to postpone until December 22 a decision on whether to send to Siberia six members of the club who had the nerve to actually challenge Chairman Ilhan Cavcav at the 14 May 2006 general congress.
This is rather important as some time today a court in Ankara is expected to decide on whether Cavcav's bringing in thousands of Galatasaray supporters as members of the club in the week before the general congress was in fact legal. Or perhaps the court is to rule on whether these people were actually allowed to vote.
I'm not really sure what the outcome will be but if the court rules that the general congress election was not legal then we could well have an emergency congress very soon... and with it a new chairman... possibly.
Whichever way, the six members who face being kicked out will now have their day in a real court.
Stay tuned.
EDIT: Huge anti-climax I'm afraid with the court adjourning for a later date due to the Atilla Aytek's lot asking for a different "expert report" on the club as the one prepared made some very simple mistakes and assumptions. Why don't they just ask me to be the expert witness?
Monday, December 11, 2006
FAREWELL KANKAS
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
Time to bid farewell to two of our long suffering..... ooooopps..... I mean.... serving kankas.
Clueless Kankie Vicki is now back in the Yoo-Ess-ov-Ai in their Buyuk Baskent and we all wish you well on your final assignment Vicki. Vicki didn't have a clue about footie when she came to Ankara and she is still none the wiser !! However, we all forgive you for that because you are such a sweetie ! Look forward to seeing you back here in 1 to 2 years and perhaps this time we can teach you about The Round Ball.
Train Spotting Kanka Andrew returns to Ingallind on Sunday and we also wish you well too, even if you are going to a `foreign` country ! Andrew has been a stalwart at ANKARAGUCU matches, but has also attended matches to support our brother team Gencler.
We hope you too will return sometimes, preferably during the footie season, and we know you will keep in touch with us by email and through The Blog. In the meantime, we will be following the exploits of your boys in Ingallind, Colchester United, and in Bonnie Scotland, Hamilton Accies.
All the best to you both from Eski Kanka Jim on behalf of all kankas.
Time to bid farewell to two of our long suffering..... ooooopps..... I mean.... serving kankas.
Clueless Kankie Vicki is now back in the Yoo-Ess-ov-Ai in their Buyuk Baskent and we all wish you well on your final assignment Vicki. Vicki didn't have a clue about footie when she came to Ankara and she is still none the wiser !! However, we all forgive you for that because you are such a sweetie ! Look forward to seeing you back here in 1 to 2 years and perhaps this time we can teach you about The Round Ball.
Train Spotting Kanka Andrew returns to Ingallind on Sunday and we also wish you well too, even if you are going to a `foreign` country ! Andrew has been a stalwart at ANKARAGUCU matches, but has also attended matches to support our brother team Gencler.
We hope you too will return sometimes, preferably during the footie season, and we know you will keep in touch with us by email and through The Blog. In the meantime, we will be following the exploits of your boys in Ingallind, Colchester United, and in Bonnie Scotland, Hamilton Accies.
All the best to you both from Eski Kanka Jim on behalf of all kankas.
THE TURKISH CUP - FURTHER UPDATE
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
Further fixture information on the Turkish Cup matches as follows -
The Genclerbirligi match AWAY to Buca has been moved to .............
Saturday 16 December - KO 2pm
Hurriyet confirmed today that the ANKARAGUCU HOME match against Buca will be played on -
Wednesday 20 December. Awaiting KO time, but I guess it will be an afternoon match.
Concerning the Gencler V Besiktas match which TRT said was also scheduled for 20 December, I am still awaiting confirmation of that one.
More details when I have them.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Further fixture information on the Turkish Cup matches as follows -
The Genclerbirligi match AWAY to Buca has been moved to .............
Saturday 16 December - KO 2pm
Hurriyet confirmed today that the ANKARAGUCU HOME match against Buca will be played on -
Wednesday 20 December. Awaiting KO time, but I guess it will be an afternoon match.
Concerning the Gencler V Besiktas match which TRT said was also scheduled for 20 December, I am still awaiting confirmation of that one.
More details when I have them.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Sunday, December 10, 2006
ANKARAGUCU - AN UNIMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE
Oh dear ! Two league defeats in a row and it’s back to the drawing board for Hikmet Bey !
Friday night in Izmir ended ………..
ANKARAGUCU 0 Fenerbahce 1
It all started in The Chopin Bar as usual with Flying Dutchman Kanka and I trying to organise tables for the expected kankas. However, the pub was heaving with bodies and completely full by the time Maniac Kanka and his entourage arrived ! We even had the welcome sight of Battle Hardened Kanka and the Bilkent crew in situ ! All in all, a good turn out for Train Spotting Kanka’s last ANKARAGUCU match…… well …… until he return as he promised for a visit with his family ?! So, we were forced to put Plan B into action and move to the Cappadokia Bar where we were all able to sit together in comfort.
Into the match and it was fairly evenly balanced in the 1st half with most of the action occurring in midfield. It was rather surprising to see Bebbe playing deep which I assumed was part of the containment tactics being employed by Hikmet Bey.
Then…… tilt …… just before half time Fener sprung the trap and made a very quick break down the left wing with Tuncay leaving ANKARAGUCU defenders in his wake. He glanced up and saw Appiah making a parallel run on the right and sent over an inch perfect cross above the two ANKARAGUCU defenders policing Appiah. With a flick of his right foot, Appiah wrong footed the two ANKARAGUCU defenders, brought the ball under control, and fired in with his left foot for a stunning goal.
It could be argued perhaps that he was fortunate that the ball took a deflection off the post to deceive Serkan, but it should not detract from the fact that it was a clinical and well created goal.
The 2nd half was generally one way traffic in Serkan’s direction with he, Emre and Sedat performing miracles to keep the score respectable.
ANKARAGUCU only had one SERIOUS attempt to equalise in the whole match when Tita blasted over when it would have been easier to score. Bloody Hell …….. even Oz Kanka would have made it !!
Kezman foolishly got himself sent off half way through the 2nd half for some clumsy tackling and I’m sure Mr Zico will be advising him to leave defending to the defenders !!
Even playing against 10 men, it has to be said that ANKARAGUCU’s powder-puff attack never looked like scoring with their old failing of that final pass going astray coming back to haunt them.
So, another depressing result against an Istanbul team which has moved ANKARAGUCU back into the bottom half of the league. The UEFA Cup dream has not disappeared ……. yet. We still have a good cup run in our sights !!
Now there’s optimism for you !!
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Friday night in Izmir ended ………..
ANKARAGUCU 0 Fenerbahce 1
It all started in The Chopin Bar as usual with Flying Dutchman Kanka and I trying to organise tables for the expected kankas. However, the pub was heaving with bodies and completely full by the time Maniac Kanka and his entourage arrived ! We even had the welcome sight of Battle Hardened Kanka and the Bilkent crew in situ ! All in all, a good turn out for Train Spotting Kanka’s last ANKARAGUCU match…… well …… until he return as he promised for a visit with his family ?! So, we were forced to put Plan B into action and move to the Cappadokia Bar where we were all able to sit together in comfort.
Into the match and it was fairly evenly balanced in the 1st half with most of the action occurring in midfield. It was rather surprising to see Bebbe playing deep which I assumed was part of the containment tactics being employed by Hikmet Bey.
Then…… tilt …… just before half time Fener sprung the trap and made a very quick break down the left wing with Tuncay leaving ANKARAGUCU defenders in his wake. He glanced up and saw Appiah making a parallel run on the right and sent over an inch perfect cross above the two ANKARAGUCU defenders policing Appiah. With a flick of his right foot, Appiah wrong footed the two ANKARAGUCU defenders, brought the ball under control, and fired in with his left foot for a stunning goal.
It could be argued perhaps that he was fortunate that the ball took a deflection off the post to deceive Serkan, but it should not detract from the fact that it was a clinical and well created goal.
The 2nd half was generally one way traffic in Serkan’s direction with he, Emre and Sedat performing miracles to keep the score respectable.
ANKARAGUCU only had one SERIOUS attempt to equalise in the whole match when Tita blasted over when it would have been easier to score. Bloody Hell …….. even Oz Kanka would have made it !!
Kezman foolishly got himself sent off half way through the 2nd half for some clumsy tackling and I’m sure Mr Zico will be advising him to leave defending to the defenders !!
Even playing against 10 men, it has to be said that ANKARAGUCU’s powder-puff attack never looked like scoring with their old failing of that final pass going astray coming back to haunt them.
So, another depressing result against an Istanbul team which has moved ANKARAGUCU back into the bottom half of the league. The UEFA Cup dream has not disappeared ……. yet. We still have a good cup run in our sights !!
Now there’s optimism for you !!
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Cheers Father Christmas
Genclerbirligi 1 - Antalya 0
I managed to miss my first home match of the season today as I took Little Oz Kanka off to a Christmas party at the Red Lion Club.
Matthew received a little red car from Father Christmas while I got a 1-0 victory for Gencler.
I'm not sure how many kankas went along to the match and if you were there I wouldn't mind if you filled out some of the details missing from the report on the Milliyet newspaper website at the moment, details such as ... the second half.
But looking at Milliyet's report of the first half it looked like I made a right decision to drink beer with Father Christmas. The report has just three entries.
34th minute: Mehmet Cakir takes a freekick from outside the box and it goes out.
37th minute: Mehmet Cakir sends in a pass to Okan Ozturk who heads it straight to the keeper.
45th minute: Isaac Promise gets into the box and kicks the ball straight to the keeper.
No idea how the second half went but it seems as if Okan Ozturk scored at some stage towards the end. As I said before, if you were at the match it would be great if you could help fill in some of the details.
The win pushes us slightly higher up the table and means we finish the first half of the season in fifth place (possibly one lower depending on the results of other games). Not to bad really. While Fenerbahce are running away with the league there is still a good chance we can finish in the top three and thus earn a UEFA Cup spot for next season.
Fingers crossed.
By the way, the reason there has been no report yet on the Ankaragucu- Fenerbahce match işs because Sir Eski Kanka has been having hassles trying to post it. I'm sure he will sort this out soon.
I managed to miss my first home match of the season today as I took Little Oz Kanka off to a Christmas party at the Red Lion Club.
Matthew received a little red car from Father Christmas while I got a 1-0 victory for Gencler.
I'm not sure how many kankas went along to the match and if you were there I wouldn't mind if you filled out some of the details missing from the report on the Milliyet newspaper website at the moment, details such as ... the second half.
But looking at Milliyet's report of the first half it looked like I made a right decision to drink beer with Father Christmas. The report has just three entries.
34th minute: Mehmet Cakir takes a freekick from outside the box and it goes out.
37th minute: Mehmet Cakir sends in a pass to Okan Ozturk who heads it straight to the keeper.
45th minute: Isaac Promise gets into the box and kicks the ball straight to the keeper.
No idea how the second half went but it seems as if Okan Ozturk scored at some stage towards the end. As I said before, if you were at the match it would be great if you could help fill in some of the details.
The win pushes us slightly higher up the table and means we finish the first half of the season in fifth place (possibly one lower depending on the results of other games). Not to bad really. While Fenerbahce are running away with the league there is still a good chance we can finish in the top three and thus earn a UEFA Cup spot for next season.
Fingers crossed.
By the way, the reason there has been no report yet on the Ankaragucu- Fenerbahce match işs because Sir Eski Kanka has been having hassles trying to post it. I'm sure he will sort this out soon.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Blog changes
For some reason the blogger software thing has moved this site over to blogger beat or something or other. It has buggered about with what you see and how us writers for the blog sign in and post etc. Please bare with me as I try and figure it all out. If any of our regular contributors ie Sir Eski or Hibee Kanka have any hassles in posting then please e-mail me.
A plea, no doubt to be lost
Last week I had of a go at Atilla Turker, a writer for Hurriyet's Ankara section, who clearly got it wrong in regards to blaming Gencler players for getting sent off.
Last week Turker clearly didn't have a clue what the hell he was talking about but this week he is spot on.
Let me give you a bit (or actually quite a lot) of background. Atilla Turker seems to be in charge of the Hurriyet newspaper's Ankara supplement sports section. In other words, we are probably the only blog, in Turkish or English, who ever looks at his work.
So Turker is very much like us. He works very hard, he has a true passion for Ankara teams, but most of his work is wasted because nobody gives a shit.
Except for us Atilla Bey! We read your articles every day! We may not always agree but we are very grateful that someone writes something about our teams.
Enough of the Atilla Turker worship.
As I said last week he wrote complete rubbish, and on to this week's subject... politics at Gencler.
"Cavcav is doing the wrong thing", was the very understated headline in Thursday's Ankara supplement, hidden down the bottom of page.
Atilla Turker talks about the latest developments at the club where Gencler Chairman Ilhan Cavcav has moved to have various "enemies" expelled.
A little history lesson. Just before the last matches of last season, Gencler needed a win to or two get us into the UEFA Cup. For whatever reason Cavcav sacked our general manager, Hasan Cetinkaya, and didn't tell the coach Mesut Bakkal. Cetinkaya was an important bloke. He spoke English and had a good rapport with the foreign players and the fans (not to mention the fact that he was a good friend of Zagreb Kanka).
In his place Cavcav brought in a mate of his who couldn't speak English and therefore our team would have been breaking UEFA rules... ie the general manager should speak English (the rules are somehow like this but please do not sue if they are not).
Bakkal, our coach, was furious when he found out about the changes from members of the team. One of the board members, Atilla Aytek was also very pissed off when he only learnt of the changes from the Bakkal. In other words, there had been no board decision on the issue, as there should have been.
So Aytek, along with a bunch of other long-serving Gencler supporters decided to stand against Cavcav.
The election was held on the morning of the last match of the season. Gencler had to win to get into the UEFA Cup.
At the election in the morning around 1,000 people voted for Aytek. Around 5,000 voted for Cavcav. A clear victory. Except that Cavcav had enrolled almost all of his suporters in the week before the election. We now have the ignomy of having a former Young Galatasaray Supporters Chairman on our board. All the people who Cavcav signed up were Galasaray supporters. Of course he offered them free season tickets and many of them took up the opportunity to watch our last home game of the season.
As I said before, the last game of last year saw us needing a win to make it into the UEFA Cup. I was sitting in Gecekondu and I was depressed as hell as we lost the match and lost the chance to be in Europe. It was clear that many of the supporters who were sitting in Maraton were also depressed but I was extremely pissed off with so many of the Gecekondu people who were actually happy because at the same time as we had lost Galatsaray had won the league.
These people were Cavcav's supporters. They were brought in to support him but they have no, absolutely no, allegiance to Gencler. I left the ground that night totally devastated, they left it delighted. These were the people who just a week or so before hand had become members of the Genclerbirligi club and voted for Cavcav.
In other words Cavcav, as chairman, had completely rattled the teamin the build up to the match and that is why we stuffed up. No one knew what was going on and whose brilliant idea was it to have the general congress on the morning of the last match of the season?
Now back to Atilla Turker in Hurriyet (and quite frankly his article is a lot shorter than this post).
Turker sets out the situation, in not quite as much detail as I have above, but does say that the Aytek faction (those opposed to Cavcav) have gone to court to try to have all of the Galatasaray-lovers kicked out. The arguement is not quite like that but more along the lines that all of these people became members of the club in the last week before the election for chairman and therefore should not be allowed to vote.
Sounds like a clear case of illegal stacking to me and Gencler Chairman Ilhan Cavcav seems to agree as he has decided to go for a pre-emptive strike.
As was reported in the Turkish press, and repeated by Atilla Turker, Cavcav has moved to have Atilla Aytek and his suporters kicked out of the club by sending them to the sinisterly named "disciplinary board". This board is to meet on December 12 and is almost certainly going to see a bunch of people who have given years and years of their life kicked out of the club they love.
So what.
Except that the courts, that is the Turkish courts, are scheduled to decide on December 14 whether Cavcav's rorting of the system was right or wrong.
With all assumptions being that the court will rule that Cavcav had rigged the election then the elections will have to be held again. Only hassle is that Aytek and his friends will by all probabililty have already been kicked out of the club at that stage and therefore won't be able to run against Cavcav.
"This is the method of Turkish democracy," Turker says in his article in today's Hurriyet.
So we are stuffed. A long time ago Ahmet Bey from the site "Turkish soccer" asked where I stood on this matter. At the time I was perhaps a little guarded. I hope it is now clear.
It is without a doubt that Cavcav has done a billion great things not just for Genclerbirligi but also for Turkish football in general (If you doubt that statement just ask any slightly intelligent taxi driver).... but,
Today is the time to ask the question whether he has lost it. My answer is: "Completely".
Time to retire Mr. Cavcav. You've lost it.
Last week Turker clearly didn't have a clue what the hell he was talking about but this week he is spot on.
Let me give you a bit (or actually quite a lot) of background. Atilla Turker seems to be in charge of the Hurriyet newspaper's Ankara supplement sports section. In other words, we are probably the only blog, in Turkish or English, who ever looks at his work.
So Turker is very much like us. He works very hard, he has a true passion for Ankara teams, but most of his work is wasted because nobody gives a shit.
Except for us Atilla Bey! We read your articles every day! We may not always agree but we are very grateful that someone writes something about our teams.
Enough of the Atilla Turker worship.
As I said last week he wrote complete rubbish, and on to this week's subject... politics at Gencler.
"Cavcav is doing the wrong thing", was the very understated headline in Thursday's Ankara supplement, hidden down the bottom of page.
Atilla Turker talks about the latest developments at the club where Gencler Chairman Ilhan Cavcav has moved to have various "enemies" expelled.
A little history lesson. Just before the last matches of last season, Gencler needed a win to or two get us into the UEFA Cup. For whatever reason Cavcav sacked our general manager, Hasan Cetinkaya, and didn't tell the coach Mesut Bakkal. Cetinkaya was an important bloke. He spoke English and had a good rapport with the foreign players and the fans (not to mention the fact that he was a good friend of Zagreb Kanka).
In his place Cavcav brought in a mate of his who couldn't speak English and therefore our team would have been breaking UEFA rules... ie the general manager should speak English (the rules are somehow like this but please do not sue if they are not).
Bakkal, our coach, was furious when he found out about the changes from members of the team. One of the board members, Atilla Aytek was also very pissed off when he only learnt of the changes from the Bakkal. In other words, there had been no board decision on the issue, as there should have been.
So Aytek, along with a bunch of other long-serving Gencler supporters decided to stand against Cavcav.
The election was held on the morning of the last match of the season. Gencler had to win to get into the UEFA Cup.
At the election in the morning around 1,000 people voted for Aytek. Around 5,000 voted for Cavcav. A clear victory. Except that Cavcav had enrolled almost all of his suporters in the week before the election. We now have the ignomy of having a former Young Galatasaray Supporters Chairman on our board. All the people who Cavcav signed up were Galasaray supporters. Of course he offered them free season tickets and many of them took up the opportunity to watch our last home game of the season.
As I said before, the last game of last year saw us needing a win to make it into the UEFA Cup. I was sitting in Gecekondu and I was depressed as hell as we lost the match and lost the chance to be in Europe. It was clear that many of the supporters who were sitting in Maraton were also depressed but I was extremely pissed off with so many of the Gecekondu people who were actually happy because at the same time as we had lost Galatsaray had won the league.
These people were Cavcav's supporters. They were brought in to support him but they have no, absolutely no, allegiance to Gencler. I left the ground that night totally devastated, they left it delighted. These were the people who just a week or so before hand had become members of the Genclerbirligi club and voted for Cavcav.
In other words Cavcav, as chairman, had completely rattled the teamin the build up to the match and that is why we stuffed up. No one knew what was going on and whose brilliant idea was it to have the general congress on the morning of the last match of the season?
Now back to Atilla Turker in Hurriyet (and quite frankly his article is a lot shorter than this post).
Turker sets out the situation, in not quite as much detail as I have above, but does say that the Aytek faction (those opposed to Cavcav) have gone to court to try to have all of the Galatasaray-lovers kicked out. The arguement is not quite like that but more along the lines that all of these people became members of the club in the last week before the election for chairman and therefore should not be allowed to vote.
Sounds like a clear case of illegal stacking to me and Gencler Chairman Ilhan Cavcav seems to agree as he has decided to go for a pre-emptive strike.
As was reported in the Turkish press, and repeated by Atilla Turker, Cavcav has moved to have Atilla Aytek and his suporters kicked out of the club by sending them to the sinisterly named "disciplinary board". This board is to meet on December 12 and is almost certainly going to see a bunch of people who have given years and years of their life kicked out of the club they love.
So what.
Except that the courts, that is the Turkish courts, are scheduled to decide on December 14 whether Cavcav's rorting of the system was right or wrong.
With all assumptions being that the court will rule that Cavcav had rigged the election then the elections will have to be held again. Only hassle is that Aytek and his friends will by all probabililty have already been kicked out of the club at that stage and therefore won't be able to run against Cavcav.
"This is the method of Turkish democracy," Turker says in his article in today's Hurriyet.
So we are stuffed. A long time ago Ahmet Bey from the site "Turkish soccer" asked where I stood on this matter. At the time I was perhaps a little guarded. I hope it is now clear.
It is without a doubt that Cavcav has done a billion great things not just for Genclerbirligi but also for Turkish football in general (If you doubt that statement just ask any slightly intelligent taxi driver).... but,
Today is the time to ask the question whether he has lost it. My answer is: "Completely".
Time to retire Mr. Cavcav. You've lost it.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
THE TURKISH CUP
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
According to TRT, there will be some Turkish Cup matches played during the League winter break. Obviously I'm not 100% sure about thesebut it is worth putting these in your diaries and Oz Kanka and I will confirm them nearer the time.
Sunday 17 December - Buca v Genclerbirligi
Wednesday 20 December - ANKARAGUCU v Buca
Wednesday 20 December - Genclerbirligi v Besiktas
I don't have KO times yet, but if the 20 December programme is genuine, then I suppose the ANKARAGUCU match will be played in the afternoon and the Gencler match at night.
We shall see in due course.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
According to TRT, there will be some Turkish Cup matches played during the League winter break. Obviously I'm not 100% sure about thesebut it is worth putting these in your diaries and Oz Kanka and I will confirm them nearer the time.
Sunday 17 December - Buca v Genclerbirligi
Wednesday 20 December - ANKARAGUCU v Buca
Wednesday 20 December - Genclerbirligi v Besiktas
I don't have KO times yet, but if the 20 December programme is genuine, then I suppose the ANKARAGUCU match will be played in the afternoon and the Gencler match at night.
We shall see in due course.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Happy Birthday to us
Quite a few years ago Sir Eski Kanka, or just plain Eski Kanka as he was then before he was knighted for his services to Ankara football, started up an e-mail group to keep various people up to date on Ankaragucu.
At some stage I joined up with the great man and started writing about Genclerbirligi. All was well and fine but I wanted glory. So I set up this blog to bring our inane mutterings to the world.
That day was December 6, 2005, and my first post was "A sausage too far", the first of many obscure headlines which actually was in reference to my last e-mail story in which I reported that various Gencler players had been fined for stopping off to eat sausage on the way home from an away match. It also happened to be the first post in which Isaac Promise was not exactly praised.
Those first few days of blogging were rather lonely. Sir Eski Kanka still hadn't figured out how to post and the comments on the blog were few and far between. Genc Kanka Eddie was the first to post a comment.
I have no idea what our actual traffic figures were in those days but by February, when I finally added a counter thing, we had 218 visitors. Nowadays we are averaging about 1,000 visitors a month. Not exactly enormous but not too bad for a blog writing about teams that most people in Ankara, let alone Turkey or the world, couldn't give a toss for.
With such numbers Sir Eski Kanka and myself will not be retiring soon but in just the last few days we cracked 100 US dollars in advertising. I have no idea when the cheque will arrive but no doubt Sir Eski and I will spend it all at the Red Lion Club.
I've had a great time, met all sorts of new people and seen the odd good game of football, along with plenty of dross.
One thing that has surprised me though is the lack of abusive comments from supporters of other football teams. Gulay jumps in every now and then with a condescending comment but there have been very few full on abusive attacks. Clearly we aren't important enough to warrant any.
Perhaps next year.
In the mean time. Happy first birthday to us all, Genclerbirligi and Ankaragucu fans alike. Although obviously we don't wish any happiness on those evil buggers at Ankaraspor.
At some stage I joined up with the great man and started writing about Genclerbirligi. All was well and fine but I wanted glory. So I set up this blog to bring our inane mutterings to the world.
That day was December 6, 2005, and my first post was "A sausage too far", the first of many obscure headlines which actually was in reference to my last e-mail story in which I reported that various Gencler players had been fined for stopping off to eat sausage on the way home from an away match. It also happened to be the first post in which Isaac Promise was not exactly praised.
Those first few days of blogging were rather lonely. Sir Eski Kanka still hadn't figured out how to post and the comments on the blog were few and far between. Genc Kanka Eddie was the first to post a comment.
I have no idea what our actual traffic figures were in those days but by February, when I finally added a counter thing, we had 218 visitors. Nowadays we are averaging about 1,000 visitors a month. Not exactly enormous but not too bad for a blog writing about teams that most people in Ankara, let alone Turkey or the world, couldn't give a toss for.
With such numbers Sir Eski Kanka and myself will not be retiring soon but in just the last few days we cracked 100 US dollars in advertising. I have no idea when the cheque will arrive but no doubt Sir Eski and I will spend it all at the Red Lion Club.
I've had a great time, met all sorts of new people and seen the odd good game of football, along with plenty of dross.
One thing that has surprised me though is the lack of abusive comments from supporters of other football teams. Gulay jumps in every now and then with a condescending comment but there have been very few full on abusive attacks. Clearly we aren't important enough to warrant any.
Perhaps next year.
In the mean time. Happy first birthday to us all, Genclerbirligi and Ankaragucu fans alike. Although obviously we don't wish any happiness on those evil buggers at Ankaraspor.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Hibs 2-1 Dundee Utd
Another three points for the Hibees although this time round it was a bit of a slog as Hibs never really got out of second gear. Dundee Utd packed the midfield and worked very hard in pushing up whenever the opportunity arose.
Utd opened the scoring after twenty minutes when a cross was turned into his own net by Hibs centre half Martis. Hibs other centre half Jones then equalised just before halftime and Steven Fletcher notched the winner with around twenty minutes to go.
The game itself was not the level of entertainment we regular attenders at Easter Road have become accustomed to. Dundee Utd might have set out their stall from the start with a packed midfield but Hibs should be clever enough to work around that hurdle. Another problem is that Thomson and Brown are looking through pound signs as their big money transfers come closer. Personally I would have hooked the pair of them and played players that are committed to the club. Obviously they are capable of turning the game in Hibs favour but the pair of them were certainly off the mark on Saturday.
Some players who were not off the mark however were the Under 14 AC Oxgangs team who moved through to the semi final after beating North Berwick 6-1 in Edinburgh. There were plenty of good performances but I should mention a strong midfield role played by Ciaran Macdonald and a comanding defencive display by Jake Sweeney. The game was played in horrendous conditions with rain and hail in driving rain. All that and not one of the boys asked for more money, take note Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown. I should also add that the boys from North Berwick conducted themselves to perfection and accepted the defeat with no nonsense. They obviously still bring them up well down their Jim, just like in the old days.
Hibbee Kanka
Utd opened the scoring after twenty minutes when a cross was turned into his own net by Hibs centre half Martis. Hibs other centre half Jones then equalised just before halftime and Steven Fletcher notched the winner with around twenty minutes to go.
The game itself was not the level of entertainment we regular attenders at Easter Road have become accustomed to. Dundee Utd might have set out their stall from the start with a packed midfield but Hibs should be clever enough to work around that hurdle. Another problem is that Thomson and Brown are looking through pound signs as their big money transfers come closer. Personally I would have hooked the pair of them and played players that are committed to the club. Obviously they are capable of turning the game in Hibs favour but the pair of them were certainly off the mark on Saturday.
Some players who were not off the mark however were the Under 14 AC Oxgangs team who moved through to the semi final after beating North Berwick 6-1 in Edinburgh. There were plenty of good performances but I should mention a strong midfield role played by Ciaran Macdonald and a comanding defencive display by Jake Sweeney. The game was played in horrendous conditions with rain and hail in driving rain. All that and not one of the boys asked for more money, take note Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown. I should also add that the boys from North Berwick conducted themselves to perfection and accepted the defeat with no nonsense. They obviously still bring them up well down their Jim, just like in the old days.
Hibbee Kanka
The things you can do at a Premiership ground these days...
Just saw this article by Paul Wilson in today's Observer and just had to nick it and put it here:
Say what you like about the lack of atmosphere at some modern stadiums, there is no doubt that present-day facilities offer football supporters opportunities that previous generations packed upright on the terraces could only dream about.
A couple were ejected from a Premiership ground last month for having sex in the disabled toilet. Stewards were alerted when spectators complained the door had been locked for half an hour - clearly not a case of premature ejection - and there was a suspicious amount of noise coming from inside.
Completely unabashed at being discovered, the couple accepted their punishment without demur, in all probability figuring they had already had more excitement than the actual game was going to offer.
Except the girl did have one last request. 'My boyfriend is still in his seat watching the match,' she explained, showing a steward her ticket number. 'Would you mind telling him you've thrown me out, otherwise he'll be wondering where I've gone.'
What is it with refs and giving red cards to both Gucu and Gencler?
Sakaryaspor 1 - Genclerbirligi 1
It was another away match for Genclerbirligi this weekend, this time against Sakaryaspor.
It seems that we went up in the 35th minute thanks to a good shot from Mehmet Nas but then things got hairy when Draman was sent off in the 56th minute having collected two yellow cards.
I have no idea whether these were justified but judging by the very harsh decisions given against both Gencler and Ankaragucu in the past few weeks my guess is that they were not.
A man down in an away match is not much fun and Sakarya got the equaliser a few minutes later.
In the 84th minute we had a good chance but the ball was saved off the line by a Sakarya player.
So just the one point from the match which leaves us three points behind third-placed Crap Tv Manisaspor. Still in with a chance for Euro footy.
EDIT: Tuesday. Just read this quote from Gencler press spokesman.
"Straight after the (first Gencler) goal Isaac Promise missed from a very good position. If that had of been a goal the match would have been wrapped up."
It was another away match for Genclerbirligi this weekend, this time against Sakaryaspor.
It seems that we went up in the 35th minute thanks to a good shot from Mehmet Nas but then things got hairy when Draman was sent off in the 56th minute having collected two yellow cards.
I have no idea whether these were justified but judging by the very harsh decisions given against both Gencler and Ankaragucu in the past few weeks my guess is that they were not.
A man down in an away match is not much fun and Sakarya got the equaliser a few minutes later.
In the 84th minute we had a good chance but the ball was saved off the line by a Sakarya player.
So just the one point from the match which leaves us three points behind third-placed Crap Tv Manisaspor. Still in with a chance for Euro footy.
EDIT: Tuesday. Just read this quote from Gencler press spokesman.
"Straight after the (first Gencler) goal Isaac Promise missed from a very good position. If that had of been a goal the match would have been wrapped up."
Saturday, December 02, 2006
THE TURKISH CUP
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
Recalling a conversation I had with Osterrich Kanka Wolfgang last week, he informed me that the Turkish Cup matches would be played on the week following the League mid-winter break. He found this information on a German Footie Website !!
He said that Genclerbirligi would be playing Besik...spit...tas in Ankara during week commencing 11 December. So, presumably, on Wednesday 13 December ?
So, it is fair to assume that ANKARAGUCU might well be playing Bucaspor that week too ?
I am working all day tomorrow, so perhaps Oz Kanka can check this out and see if anything has be firmed-up.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
Recalling a conversation I had with Osterrich Kanka Wolfgang last week, he informed me that the Turkish Cup matches would be played on the week following the League mid-winter break. He found this information on a German Footie Website !!
He said that Genclerbirligi would be playing Besik...spit...tas in Ankara during week commencing 11 December. So, presumably, on Wednesday 13 December ?
So, it is fair to assume that ANKARAGUCU might well be playing Bucaspor that week too ?
I am working all day tomorrow, so perhaps Oz Kanka can check this out and see if anything has be firmed-up.
All the best from Eski Kanka Jim
ANKARAGUCU FINALLY SUCCUMB TO THE LAW OF AVERAGES
Greetings Kankas and Kankies.
Having gone EIGHT games without defeat, ANKARAGUCU finally lost their proud record today in Sivas by going down 2-1.
The law of averages is a powerful mathematical certainty and even ANKARAGUCU cannot by-pass this law !!
No details as I write this, but perhaps Oz Kanka can fill in the details from the `wonderful` Anatolian Press tomorrow ??!!
All the best from disappointed, but logical, Eski Kanka Jim
Oz Kanka here:
Just to add a little to the report.
Sivas were 2-0 up when Ankaragucu got another red card. This time for Aytekin. Hurriyet doesn't say why though.
As is becoming normal for Ankaragucu they then started to fight and Agali got a goal back and then Abdurrahman put the ball into the back of the net for Ankaragucu only to have the goal dissallowed for off side.
Having gone EIGHT games without defeat, ANKARAGUCU finally lost their proud record today in Sivas by going down 2-1.
The law of averages is a powerful mathematical certainty and even ANKARAGUCU cannot by-pass this law !!
No details as I write this, but perhaps Oz Kanka can fill in the details from the `wonderful` Anatolian Press tomorrow ??!!
All the best from disappointed, but logical, Eski Kanka Jim
Oz Kanka here:
Just to add a little to the report.
Sivas were 2-0 up when Ankaragucu got another red card. This time for Aytekin. Hurriyet doesn't say why though.
As is becoming normal for Ankaragucu they then started to fight and Agali got a goal back and then Abdurrahman put the ball into the back of the net for Ankaragucu only to have the goal dissallowed for off side.
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