Stumpf sacked

What is the record for the number of managers a team has had in a season? I have no idea but Genclerbirligi must be going for the record after it was announced today that Reinhard Stumpf has been sacked.

So this year we have had:

Ersun Yanal, who resigned within a day or two after signing on after the club sold Draminu.

Fuat Capa, sacked after six matches.

Reinhard Stumpf, sacked after four matches.

Genclerbirligi are in dire straights at the moment, just one point away from the relegation zone. On paper we have a good team but something is just not right.

News reports today have linked Bulent Korkmaz, Riza Calimbay, Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo and Erdogan Arica to the vacant position.

Whoever we end up getting I hope it is for longer than just a couple of weeks.

It certainly is difficult to keep the enthusiasm going ...

EDIT (Tuesday morning): As Fenerfan pointed out in the comments section of this post Bulent Korkmaz has made an "in principle" deal to take over the position. Reports say Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo would have got the job if he hadn't sent in his CV using the Word 2007 file extension .docx which Gencler's Windows 95 computers couldn't open.

ANKARAGUCU - LEADERLESS BUT NOT POINTLESS !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

ANKARAGUCU was leaderless yesterday after the shock announcement of Herr Briegel’s dismissal during the week. However, Hakan Kutlu took temporary charge of the team, and as I mentioned recently, he may well be formally appointed as coach this week.

ANKARAGUCU 1 Rize (Tea Boys) 0

Attendees at the match were Maniac Kanka, Yankee Kanka, Battle Damaged Kanka, Rip Off Kanka, Alpine Kanka and Mini Alpine Kanka Chris.

I met up with the kankas after the match at the Cappadokia Bar and the match report is courtesay of Maniac Kanka and Battle Damaged Kanka.

As usual, the Stadium was almost full and Hakan Kutlu was welcomed by all the supporters and given applause by all the tribunes. Not surprising really because he was a popular captain of ANKARAGUCU for many years and a great servant of the Club.

The match took on a familiar pattern in the 1st half. All ANKARAGUCU possession with an attacking formation. However, it was a case of the old old story. Final passes going astray, and as Battle Damaged Kanka said…… it was even worse than last week ! There were a couple of close things though. Bebbe had a `certain` penalty claim turned down, and Bebbe again had a great shot on goal which rebounded off the bar with the goalkeeper helpless.

More of the same in the 2nd half but some fortune smiled on ANKARAGUCU at last. A rocket of a shot from Kirita was parried by the Rize goalkeeper and Burak was on hand to tap in the rebound.

Rize came more into the match in the last 15 minutes but Zafer in goal was never seriously troubled throughout the whole match.

Maniac Kanka made the comment that there is no doubting the skill of the ANKARAGUCU players, but that they seemed to be playing as individuals rather than as a cohesive team unit. Perhaps this has been noted by Hakan Kutlu and he will hopefully be working on this on the training ground.

I was pleased to see El Yasa back in the left full back position. Also, new signing Ibrahim Said made his debut and came on for the last few minutes. Hopefully he will realise his potential at the Club and add more firepower up front in future matches.

So, a hard earned 3 points and confidence high for the visit of Diyarbakir BSB DISKI on Wednesday afternoon in the Turkish Cup.

Looking further ahead, ANKARAGUCU will be away in Bursa next Sunday 4 November KO 2pm.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Yenikent proves to be a sticky wicket for Genclerbirligi

In the end I never made it half way to Istanbul for today's Ankaraspor-Genclerbirligi match... and quite frankly I'm glad I didn't have the time.

The reason being was that I was playing cricket for the Red Lion Club against Middle East Technical University. If I had scored a half century perhaps this entire post would be about the cricket, but no, I was run out with nothing on the board.

Oh, and METU beat us by about 15 runs. At least it was a close run thing. Unlike the result out at the Yenikent Stadium.

Gokcekspor 2 - 0 Genclerbirligi

This shall be a very short report. The Anatloian news agency gave the vast majority of our players one "x" out of three.

11th Minute: buggering around in the box and Ankaraspor score.

90th Minute: Ferdi for Gokcekspor runs with the ball, is one-on-one with Jesus and scores.

That's it. I'm too depressed. We are now sitting bloody low in the table and something has to be done or else Oftas may be the only Genclerbirligi in the top flight next season!

Now I have to go and set my alarm clock for tomorrow morning's third v fourth match in the cricket.

ANKARAGUCU...... BREAKING NEWS

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Breaking news just out a few minutes ago.......

The ANKARAGUCU coach, Hans Peter Briegel has been dismissed after only a few months in post.

Oz Kanka was first to pick it up and he sends this report .....

`According to the Anatolian news agency report, which only quotes "sources", at a team meeting yesterday Briegel told the players "you are two faced, you have no character". some of the players then went off and complained to Aydin. Briegel was then put "on leave". Seems no one has told him though as he is at the club as we speak waiting for an explanation. The team trained without him today.`

Then, according to Maniac Kanka, there has been friction between Cemal Aydin and Briegel about recent team selections. Ahmet Dursun has not played for a few weeks and Aydin was not happy about it. Also, it came to a head when Briegel left out El Yasa from last Monday's team and played Da Silva in his position.

Well, we all know that El Yasa is by far the better player, so why he did this only he can answer.

It seems to me that if you are not a `yes man` then your future at this Club is not secure. Take the case of Ersun Yanal and Hikmet Karaman as examples of experienced coaches not being given the authority or the time to build a successful team.

So, Herr Briegel, if you read this then I wish you well. Thank you for doing your best for ANKARAGUCU and I'm sorry you were not given the time to put all your ideas into building this Club into a strong force again.

What now ? Probably Hakan Kutlu will be given the job. He has proved over many years that he is Cemal Aydin's `boy` ! There is a word in Turkish which sums it up nicely........ TORPIL !!!

Translation...... It's not what you know, but........... WHO !!!

Watch this space for more. All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Motherwell 2-1 Hibs

Hibs left themselves with a hard task when they went down to 10 men after only twenty minutes. It was a bad challange that merited a red card.

Despite this Hibs took the lead after half an hour when the Motherwell keeper took down Fletcher. The main complaint from Hibs was that Motherwell were not reduced to 10 men as the keeper was last man. Fletcher picked himself up and picked up his sixth goal of the season.

Hibs lead did not last long and found themselves 2-1 down within five minutes. First a wonder strike from McCormack from 25 yards that dipped in of the crossbar then a good free kick from the edge of the box.

Hibs kept an attacking formation for the second half, this may have given them a chance of getting back into the game but also let Motherwell have plenty of room to attack.

The end result was plenty of chances mainly for Motherwell but Hibs did hit the bar twice and had a couple of decent penalty claims turned down.

So a first league defeat for Hibs but not too bad as we are still only a point off top spot.

St Mirren at Easter Road next week so maybe another three points if we can keep eleven players on the park.

Hibbee Kanka

ANKARAGUCU - WRONG COLOURS !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

ANKARAGUCU took to the field yesterday in an all black outfit in memory of all the Turkish soldiers who were killed in the east of Turkey by the PKK recently. A commendable sentiment shared by all in the Stadium, but it certainly did not do anything for the performance of the team !

OFTAS 2 ANKARAGUCU 1

Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo and I met in the Chopin Bar and after a few `refreshments` (Carlo was drinking coffee - good boy !!) we left for the Stadium to find that the `home` Gecikondu was closed. So we hiked around to the other side of the Stadium and joined the thousands queuing to enter.

It never fails to amaze me how so many supporters can attend midweek afternoon matches ! The `away` Gecikondu was full and there must have been at least 5,000 ANKARAGUCU supporters there !

Lots of singing pre-match. However, not the usual ANKARAGUCU songs ! Lots of protest songs against the PKK and the majority of the supporters were waving the Turkish flag. Carlo and I looked on in awe ! Actually, it reminded me of the feeling generated by Scotland supporters when they play Ingallind !!!

Another interesting and unusual thing when the players took to the field. Serkan was wearing an ANKARAGUCU sari/lacivert top for the match !! Surely that must be a first and a contender for The Guinness Book of Records ?!

The match got underway with both teams in an attacking frame of mind and if ANKARAGUCU thought that they could have `a stroll in the park` they were sadly mistaken. The OFTAS defence was dealing with most of the ANKARAGUCU attacks and their goalkeeper, Recep, was in inspired form dealing with all the high balls played into the penalty area.

OFTAS were being restricted to breakaways for most of the time and their forwards certainly had the speed to outrun the ANKARAGUCU defenders (Herr Briegel, please note !!). It was on one of those breakaways on the half hour mark that Serkan scrambled the ball away and stayed down injured. After trying to continue for a few minutes he had to go off (he broke one of his finger’s) and was replaced by `olde boy` Zafer.

Shortly after this, and no fault attached to Zafer, OFTAS took the lead against the run of play. Another breakaway with Savas and Da Silva chasing the same ball, but Savas had the speed and left Da Silva chasing his shadow. Bang…… Zafer had no chance with the ball screaming into the top left hand corner.

Prior to this, the OFTAS goal had led a charmed life. Jaba screwed one wide from close in when it would have been easier to score. Murat blasted the ball over twice from good positions when it would have been easier to score. Kirita blasted the ball over twice from free kicks in good positions when it would have been easier to score. Bebbe had a go at hitting me with the ball in the crowd when it would have been easier to score ! It was frustrating !!

Then, just before the half time whistle, another break down the right wing by OFTAS and the tackle was going in from Emre. However, he decided to slip at the crucial moment ! Thank you very much said Serkan of OFTAS, and he had all the time in the world to take aim and fire another rocket into the top left hand corner which gave Zafer no chance.

Shock horror ! Having had most of the chances, ANKARAGUCU went in 0-2 down.

I also have to mention the fact that I lost count of the number of times the ANKARAGUCU players slipped and lost possession. Was it the pitch or their boots ? Herr Briegel to investigate !! It could easily has cost ANKARAGUCU dearly but for backup defenders and Zafer digging them out the shit !!

The 2nd half was all about ANKARAGUCU attacking which especially in the latter stages was more panic than skill. Even with Augustine on for Mustafa there was not controlled football being played from midfield to the attackers. Still too many `f***in` long balls being played out of defence for my liking !

Bebbe had a great chance to score when the ball was slung over from the left and he headed it perfectly towards the top left hand corner. I was up cheering the goal, but……. Recep had other ideas and pulled off the save of the day. Recep definitely receives my vote as Man of the Match.

With 15 minutes to go, Jaba scored a scrambled goal and the crowd was baying for more. However, what with more blasting over and wayward shots it was not to be. I also have to pay credit to the OFTAS defence for their obdurate defiance at everything ANKARAGUCU threw at them during the match.

Did ANKARAGUCU under-estimate the newcomers to the Super League ? If so, I doubt they will make that mistake on Sunday when Rize come visiting.

So, back to the Cappadokia Bar for some nourishment, but no celebrations !

Every team suffers hiccups from time to time during a season. Let’s hope this was a minor one !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

THE JOURNEY TO HELL !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Genclerbirligi Kankas face the `journey to hell` this weekend. I have been there 2 months ago and lived to tell the tale (see previous reports on this Stadium from Oz Kanka and I) !!

Saturday 27th October KO 2pm - Ankaraspor v Gencler ........at the Hell Stadium.

Sunday 28th October KO 2pm - ANKARAGUCU v Tea Boys Rize

Wednesday 31st October KO 1.30pm - ANKARAGUCU v DISKI - Turkish Cup

Looking further ahead to the following weekend -

Sunday 4th November KO 2pm - Bursa v ANKARAGUCU
- Gencler v Denizli

Oz Kanka will be sending out a kanka mail in due course with meeting details for these matches.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

At least we scored

Conversation held with my three year-old son after standing in line for half an hour outside 19 Mayis stadium on Saturday afternoon. Match has already started and there are still enormous queues thanks to the fact that Cavcav decided to have just one gate open.

Matthew: Daddy, I want to watch the football now.

Me: Me too, but we have to wait for all the other people to get in first.

Matthew: Why?

Me: Because Cavcav is an idiot.

Matthew: Why?

Me: Oh look Matthew! There's some policemen on some horses.

Matthew: Why?

How many times has Cavcav complained to the press that Genclerbirligi have no fans? Perhaps we don't have an enormous fanbase but there are plenty of people who are at least interested. So how do you try and get these people along to more than one match a year? Open one gate in the main stand and make them stand in line for ages and miss the kick-off. But hey, Cavcav perhaps saved as much as a couple of hundred lira by not employing a couple more people to man some gates.

But finally we got in... Ten minutes after KO.

Genclerbirligi 1 - 1 Kayseri

Not really a lot to say about the first half. Genclerbirligi seemed to have most of the possession but as usual, bugger all shots on goal. In fact Kayseri probably had the best chance but Jesus in goal saved us once again.

Nil-nil at half time and I was starting to get worried. This was the third time I'd taken Matthew to the football and he had still to see a goal, by either side. The other Kankas at the match (Freaky Deaky Dutch, Sir Eski, Alpine Kanka and family, Spine and Flying Dutchman Kanka) started wondering whether they should kick the little fellow out as he was obviously bringing bad luck.

Matthew finally got to see a goal not long after the start of the second half. Well, he would have seen it if he wasn't playing with the fold-up seat. Unfortunately it was kayseri who scored. Some pretty bad defending and an inability to clear from a corner. 0-1. Dear oh dear.

Just like the first half we clearly had the majority of possession but were unable to convert. We had a number of breaks but blew them all. Closest we got was a hard shot by Nick Carle which there keeper somehow managed to keep out.

Things got brighter for me when our Brazillian Kahe was brought on for Okan Ozturk. Why Kahe hasn't been in the starting line-up for the last few weeks I have no idea. He immediately made a difference and when Eren sent the ball in from the left it was Kahe was on hand to slot the thing away. 1-1.

More of the same for the rest of the game, ie we had the ball but Kayseri looked bloody dangerous in counter-attack.

One particularly scary moment towards the end when a Kayseri player went down in the box. The refereee blew his whistle and pointed in the general direction of the penalty spot. Moans from us but then the ref ran in having already pulled out his yellow card but instead of showing it to one of our lot and awarding a penalty he gave the card to the "diver".

According to other Kankas the decision was a bit harsh, but none the less the decision not to award a penalty was correct. Match petered out and that was that.

A bit of kick the water bottle footy outside the stadium and then off to the Capadokia Bar for the post mortem. Then off for a curry, more beers and then off to the Red Lion for the World Cup final. Somehow I managed to get Matthew home at some stage and even more amazingly I made it home myself. No idea how though.

THE TURKISH CUP - GROUP STAGE

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The draw for the group stage of the Turkish Cup has just been announced a few minutes ago.

Group A - Besik...spit..tas, Ankaraspor, ANKARAGUCU, Rize, and Diskspor.

Group B - Trabzon, GENCLERBIRLIGI, Manisa, Adana Demirspor, and Kirikkale.

There are no `easy` matches in the Cup and the best that can be said is that Ankaragucu and Gencler have avoided the `big two`.

The first matches will be played on Wednesday 31 October. Details of venue and KO times will be given here as an edit when I know them.

A good cup run will be welcome for both sides as they attempt to qualify for YooRo footie next season. Remember last season when Erciyes (now in the 2nd League) qualified for the UEFA Cup ?!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim


EDIT -

As promised here are the fixtures for Ankaragucu and Gencler -


ANKARAGUCU -

31 October - Ankaragucu v DISKI
6 January - Ankaraspor v Ankaragucu
16 January - Ankaragucu v Besiktas
23 January - Rize v Ankaragucu


GENCLERBIRLIGI -

6 January - Gencler v Manisa
9 January - Kirikkale v Gencler
16 January - Gencler v Adana Demir
23 January - Trabzon v Gencler

I will post details of the 31 October KO time when I know it. As for the others, we have to wait until next year to learn them !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim


2nd EDIT (21 October) -

A further thought on the matches for the 16th of January.....

With Ankaragucu and Gencler both scheduled for home matches on the same date, it might be an afternoon KO for Gencler and an evening KO for Ankaragucu, or alternatively, they might play either the Ankaragucu or Gencler match on the following day/night, ie, Thursday 17 January. Anyway, as I said before, details will be posted when known.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim


3rd (and final !) EDIT (22 October) -

Wednesday 31 October KO 1.30pm -

ANKARAGUCU v DISKI (from the 2nd League)

I'll be going to this one (probably on my own ?!). I'll be in The Chopin Bar at about midday and going to the Stadium at about 12.30pm.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Watching Turkey going down

Being in Ankara I never get to see Turkish national matches live. It is pretty pathetic that the capital doesn't get a single national match, not even friendlies. But one lucky person posted a short but very interesting report of her experience last night at Turkey's 1-0 loss to Greece. I reprint this report from "Burbaco" from the Expat in Turkey website.

The crowd had such a strange vibe at last night's match. The pre-game was filled with anti-PKK chants and there were signs in the stadium to the same effect. A German student who came with us and has just arrived, with the innocence of a lamb asked, ''What does the PKK have to do with Greece?'' There was a palpable anger amongst the crowd and I began to question the wisdom of coming to the match with 10 yabancis. I thought I was being paranoid until a few police officers showed up and asked if any of us were Greek. When I said we were not, they said they were worried that other people wouldn't know that and that a police officer would stay with us in case there were any problems. The police officer did end up removing a guy who began to bother us (although he was just being generally obnoxious - not xenophobic). The police officer was professional and sincere and he gave us his name and station (Eyüp) and invited us for tea anytime.

When the match began it was rather anti-climatic. The crowd was under-enthused and it seemed that many people were not really there to watch football. I guessed the Turkish Football Federation had chosen Ali Sami Yen to try to create a more intimidating atmosphere, but my observation is the match last month against Hungary at Inönü was much more vocal.

Many of the supporters who were left at the end (many left after Greece scored) actually applauded the Greek side. I was very surprised and, I think, the Greek players were as well. They began to tentatively applaud back to the crowd and when they realized the applause was continued and sincere they began to lustily applaud us. The German students I was with were shocked - they couldn't believe the Turkish side was applauding the Greek team after tossing flares at them moments before. Welcome to the enigma of the collective Turkish psyche.

YOORO 2008 FOOTIE

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

With no league footie last weekend I think some words should be said about the Yooro 2008 matches played.

Firstly, I was in Antalya and only saw the Turkey v Moldova match, so perhaps some of you may wish to comment here about that one and the others.

Scotland is leading the way with a fine run of victories. I don’t want to put the kiss of death on them, but their fate is now in their own hands. One point ahead of Italy and two ahead of France is a senario which would have been accepted without question at day one !

It seemed to me that Mr McLeish put out a defensive line-up against Ukraine last Saturday, expecting them to attack from the start. However, I’m sure he was as surprised as everyone else when Scotland went two up in the first half. Success breeds confidence as they say, and the Scottish players deserve credit for their recent performances.

Who would have thought when the draw was made that it would be France and Italy shitting themselves with 2 matches remaining ??!!

A win on Wednesday in Georgia would really make the Eye-Ties shake in their troosirs for the visit to Hampden. The Frogs will be hoping for a Scotland victory and to qualify `by the back door`. Bring it on I say !!

Well done Ingallind, and like Scotland, they have their destiny in their own hands. A win in Russia will do nicely thank you very much.

The prospect of playing on an artificial pitch should not worry them. After all, they are professionals and I understand they have been practicing on a similar pitch in the south of England somewhere.

Also, I recall about 3 years ago, Hibbie Kanka and I went to see Hibs play Dunfermline for the first competative match on their artificial pitch and we didn’t lose !! Is there an omen there ?!

Turkey also find themselves in a similar situation with the ball in their own court. They are one point ahead of Norway and so there is no room for manoeuvre now. They must attack and win their last 3 matches. Shit or bust !

There are sure to be some sharp intakes of breath on Wednesday and perhaps some holding of the breath too !!

All the best from Upbeat Eski Kanka Jim

Rangers 0-1 Hibs

Hibs picked up three more points after defeating Rangers at Ibrox by a goal to nil. This was a hard fought battle for Hibs but deserved their win thanks to a Murphy header on the hour mark.

This victory put Hibs top of the table for 24 hours, unfortunately Celtic grabbed a late winner against Gretna on Sunday to regain the top spot.

A lot of praise has rightly been given to the players for performing so well in a very hostile ground however for me it is the manager John Collins who won the tactical battle. After holding Rangers at bay for the first half Collins then changed his strategy and at times Rangers could not get hold of the ball.

As expected Rangers pushed hard for an equaliser but with a little bit of luck and good defending Hibs held out to set themselves up for a very good first quarter of the season.

I must admit to being pleasently surprised by Hibs points haul so far, after loosing so many players last season I did expect to see some eratic performances. The new players are really beginning to gel and hopefully we will see more of the free flowing football Hibs fans are used to seeing.

Hibbee Kanka

ANKARAGUCU - STILL UNDEFEATED AT HOME

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Eight matches in and ANKARAGUCU has only lost (narrowly) to the `Big Two` away from home.

ANKARAGUCU 2 Sivasspor 2

I walked into The Cappadokia Bar at 5pm to join my Gencler Kankas for the 2nd half of their match away to Besik….spit….tas (see Oz Kanka’s post) and saw the glum faces with Gencler one down. Also, Oz Kanka cheered me no end by informing me that ANKARAGUCU was two down to Sivas at half time !! Tears of sadness all round !!

Six o’clock and all the ANKARAGUCU kankas started to arrive in a fleet of taxis from the Stadium with `half` smiles on their faces.

Another increased entourage of Bilkent Babes led by the famous Mountaineering Kanka Robbie. Too numerous to mention all their names, but a few from last week were given their kankie names in a `naming ceremoney` performed by Oz Kanka, Maniac Kanka and I.

Anna is now Holy Cross Kankie (her olde school across the pond in the YooEss has the same name as Oz Kanka’s Down Under !), Kasha is Blonde Babe Kankie (for obvious reasons !!), Karly is Hula Hula Kankie (my God, can she dance !), Alix is Mid Atlantic Kankie (she is still trying to figure out where she came from !), and Nicky is Trekking Kankie (she is one fit lady !).

Also, there were Maniac Kanka, Yankee Kanka, Rip Off Kanka Erman, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Mountaineering Kanka Robbie, Mountaineering Kankie Judy, Kaleci Kanka Tansu (his father played in goal for ANKARAGUCU many moons ago !), Teddy Bear Kanka Phillip (he’s sooooooo cuddly !!), and Freaky Deaky Dutch Kanka Niels.

For those I missed…………….. sorrrreeeeee !

To footie, and Moutaineering Kanka gave me a brief report on the match. A full Stadium at the ANKARAGUCU end and a fairly good turnout of Sivas supporters.

Both teams went into the attack from the off, but it was Sivas who opened the scoring after 10 minutes after a defensive blunder in the ANKARAGUCU defence which allowed Mohammed to score unchallenged.

ANKARAGUCU continued to attack but again it was Sivas who extended their lead after 25 minutes when Mehmet was allowed a free pot at goal with the ANKARAGUCU defence posted missing. At this stage, the main culprit, new boy Alonso Mateus, was withdrawn and Murat Erdogan introduced to steady the ship at the back. Captain Emre was missing due to one too many yellow cards !!

Herr Briegel said the right words at the half time break and ANKARAGUCU came out all fired up. It only took 3 minutes for Kirita to score with his head from a free kick. It was all ANKARAGUCU now as they searched for the equaliser.

It came with 10 minutes to go with another header, this time from Jaba, who I’m pleased to say was on from the start. It was full-on attack then to the final whistle but Sivas held out to snatch a point they didn’t really deserve.

Mountaineering Kanka’s Man of the Match was Serkan in the ANKARAGUCU goal who kept the score down in the 1st half when Sivas threatened to take control.

A break next weekend for YooRo 2008 footie, but the signs are looking good for ANKARAGUCU. Herr Briegel has obviously instilled a will to win mentality into the side and, as I said a few weeks ago, has them playing for 90 minutes and fighting for every ball.

With seven `should win` matches coming up against OFTAS, Rize, Bursa, Antep, Manisa, Konya and Kasimpasa this is a great opportunity for ANKARAGUCU to put themselves into the top 4 YooRo slots in the league before the winter break.

See you in 2 weeks time for the OFTAS match.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

PS...... Scotland lost to The Arggies last night in The Funny Shaped Ball match ..... grrrrrrrr !!!

Illegal throw sinks Genclerbirligi

Not the best weekend of sport for me. First up Australia lost to England 12-10 in the rugby (thus ensuring that I will get four more years of crap from my English mates) and then Genclerbirligi went down to Besiktas today.

Besiktas 1 - 0 Genclerbirligi

Not the biggest of crowds today with just Smart Arse Yankee Kanka, Mrs. Smart Arse Yankee Kanka, Flying Dutchman Kanka, FreakyDeakyDutch Kanka and myself showing up at the capadokia Bar. Oh yes, Sir Eski Kanka also showed up at half time. (his report on the match he didn't actually get to see will show up later I'm sure).

First half

1 through to 45th minute..... absolute rubbish

45th minute and Besiktas have a throw in up close to our goal. The Besiktas bloke then threw a plainly illegal throw which was not noticed by the referee, or the linesman or anyone except for us in the pub!

The ball fell for Nobhead who backhealed it past Jesus and thus the only goal of the game was scored.

Our new coach obviously had something to say at half-time as we came out firing. There were finally some shots on goal and only luck, and the post, saved Besiktas at times.

As Smart Arse Yankee Kanka said, perhaps we had played a defensive first half in order to attack towards "our end" in the second. According to one of my Gencler mates who was at the match we had a total of 35 supporters at the match.

Anyway.... this was not a good performance.

Our midfield.... no idea where it was. Our playing contingent? Questionable.

Why was Mehmet Nas, one of our best players last week, on the bench. Why was Kahe never brought on?

That's it from me, what a crap weekend. I'm off to the Red Lion Club to watch the Argentina-Scotland match.

THE WAY FORWARD

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Following up on Oz Kanka’s match report last week from the Gencler v Kasimpasa match and his scathing comments about the 19 Mayis Stadium organisation, or should I say disorganisation, made me `put pen to paper`.

Taking my footie team (Hibernian) Stadium as an example, I can recall when Easter Road Stadium had a capacity of 65,000 when we were all packed into the Stadium like sardines (or hamsi !) standing shoulder to shoulder with strangers. Call them the Good Olde Days if you will, but we have progressed since then.

Successive Hibs directors have upgraded the Stadium to modern standards by building new Stands with recognised safety standards, comfortable seating, numerous quality food and drink outlets, numerous clean toilets, and easy access to the Stadium. However, the downside is that the Stadium capacity has been cut to 17,000.

Not content with resting on their laurels, the present Board of Directors are now considering enhancing one of the Stand’s to increase the Stadium capacity to 20,000 in the next year or two. This has been brought about by several reasons.

The performance of the team on the pitch and the success it has achieved.

The increase in season ticket sales.

The demand for tickets which at times has exceeded capacity - turning up at the Stadium on match day and hoping to gain access without a ticket sometimes doesn't work these days !

The `feel good` factor of the fans entering a modern and comfortable Stadium.

In addition to this project, the Club has built a new `state of the art` Training Facility in East Lothian with outdoor and indoor facilities to match those of the `Big Guns` in England. This will be ready for use next season when the grass has `taken`.

Turning to Ankara (the Capital City of Turkey) and compare the facilities at the 19 Mayis Stadium which are quite honestly atrocious for a `1st World` city.

Of course, we all know that the wheels of progress move slowly in Turkey and we can see that everywhere we look, eg, road upgrading, railway modernisation, driving standards, etc.

So, it is long overdue to upgrade Stadiums and bring them into the 20th Century (the 21st Century may take longer !!). Kadikoy Stadium is an example of what can be done and of course Fener have the money to do it. However, as I said before, Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and should be showing the way forward. It is also the `flagship` city of Turkey and should be hosting more International matches if it had a modern Stadium which it could be proud of !

It is time for the Turkish Government to recognise this and do something positive. Perhaps as a first step they could send representatives from the TFF to Easter Road Stadium in Edinburgh and see what can be done !!!

The footie fans of this country deserve better. So, let’s move forward Turkey !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Hibs 4-1 Kilmarnock

Fortune favours the brave we are told! On saturday Hibs took the game to Kilmarnock and made up for a disappointing cup exit in midweek by winning 4-1. Hibs cause was helped by a rather generous referee who awarded a penalty after a great challange by a Kilmarnock defender.

Hibs opened the scoring after 11 minutes when Donaldson spun on a knock down to give the keeper no chance. The dubious penalty gave Donaldson his second and only some superb goalkeeping kept Hibs from adding more before halftime.

Into the second half and Donaldson had a great chance for his hat-trick when Hibs were awarded another penalty. Donaldson tried to be too cute and the goalkeeper saved well.

Soon after Courier came on for Fletcher and added a third, a simple tap in but they all count. Kilmarnock grabbed a consolation before Donalson finally grabbed his hatrick with another penalty. This penalty came as result of a last man foul so a red card was issued.

Hibs could and should have added more. The three points takes Hibs to within one point of Rangers and Celtic who share top spot.

I was very impressed with Donaldson who deserved his three goals, hope he is not just a flash in the pan. The other thing that made me happy was the performance of three more Hibs youth players. McCann, Chisholm and McCormack all held their own against an experienced Kilmarnock team.

This blend of youth and more experienced frenchmen seems to be working, for now at least.

Next week Hibs are away to Rangers, it does not come much harder than that so we will see how the boys stand up to the task.

Hibbee Kanka

You'd think we live in a third world country

I'm afraid that thanks to Ilhan Cavcav, the cash-obsessed idiot who runs Genclerbirligi, I was unable to see the only two events that the Anatolian news agency deemed fit to report on in the first half.

But first up I should report that we didn't quite get the numbers that the Ankaragucu Kankas managed on Friday night for the "Handbags in Sakarya" match. Mountaineering Kanka Robbie managed to get a damn lot of girls for that match but us Gencler Kankas made up for it in quality, ie, Spine got French Kanka Hande to show up for her first match of the season.

But sex counts aside, tonight we got Guclu, Alev, Flying Dutchman Kanka, me, Spine, French Kanka, Alpine Kanka and Kucuk Chris Kanka and Michal along for pre-match drinks. I have to also acknowledge Sir Eski Kanka Jim for coming along to support us tonight as well as Yankee Kanka and Maniac Kanka who both were at the match but for perhaps sensible reasons didn't show up at the Chopin - see Sir Eski Kanka's report on the Fener-Ankaragucu match for the reason.

So we rock on up to the stadium after a few beers at the Chopin. Plenty of time left until kick off and we find ourselves in one hell of an enormous queue. There was only one gate open for Maraton!

I'm not sure just how much money Cavcav saved by only opening one gate but it certainly stuffed up a damn lot of us.

Genclerbirligi 3 - 1 Erdoganspor

As I said before, there were two events which I missed thanks to not getting inside, thanks to Cavcav - the first two goals!

So, from what I'm told. Nick Carle comes in from the left, gets past various players with aplomb and shoots at an extreme angle..... bang and it is in and we are one up. My fellow Aussie scores his first league goal for Genclerbirligi and I'm still waiting in a queue outside! Typical! (As an aside I may have been lucky because I had promised Jim that if Carle did score I would sing the Australian national anthemn... thing is I'm not sure I know the words)

EDIT: And here is the goal:


Two minutes, and two feet forward in the queue to get in, and Kasimpasa sends a ball up. Two defenders are not sure what to do, neither is Jesus in goal and bang, a Kasimpasa taps it in. From what those who were actually saw it this was a case of absolute rank incompetence.

So we finally get in...

The match from then on is all Genclerbirligi. Mehmet Nas and Nick Carle in particular played brilliantly. At the back Tolga Dogantez had a great game also. Still though, even though we were in total control we failed to get that many shots on target.

I have to admit I was slightly surprised that we had Okan Ozturk up front, considering that Isaac Promise had scored a hat trick in our previous match. But anyway, the match was ours for the taking and it was finally taken when Mehmet Nas had a go on goal, the keeper couldn't hold on to it and Ozturk latched on to the free ball. 2-1.

All cheers and songs (many new ones which seem to have their roots in the Spanish civil war and Italian left-wing politics) from us Genclerbirligi fans but then we had a horrid 10-15 minutes in which Kasimpasa attacked like hell. We held them out, luckily in some cases.

Isaac Promise also came on around about then and by God he was playing brilliantly. He was not only getting shots on target but he was also setting stuff up, getting past players and in general doinf stuff that he had practically never done last year. I was so impressed that I actually joined the "We love you Isaac" chants.

Extra time. I.e. lets waste time and Kahe is brought on. In what must have been his only touch of the game he was brought down in the box for an absolutely clear penalty. Kahe then got himself up, and smashed the ball in. 3-1

All up, I would say this was a damn fine result. We looked good, Carle and Nas in midfield are a pair which I'm definitely looking forward to seeing again. Isaac Promise also looked great once he was brought on in the second half.

So my advice for Herr Stumpf. Start up with Isaac and Kahe up front. Now that Engin is back from suspension play Carle and Cakir in the middle, with Nas out on the right. As for the rest, well, you are paid to be the coach so you figure it out.

Whatever, I'm bloody happy... and bloody relieved.

After the match it was off to the Capadokia Bar to actually figure out what happened on Friday night.

EDIT: Just updated the league table and don't you just love seeing what team is at the very bottom!