A Farewell to Moutaineering Kanka and Kankie (Robby and Judy)

I’m not sure if there has every been a formal farewell written for any departing kankas. If not, this will be a first.

Robbie and Judy arrived in Ankara just about the same time I did: in August of 2004. And it wasn’t long after that Kircaldy Kanka Martyn discovered Ankaragucu. I’ll quote Martyn’s post of April 19,2006 to explain how Robbie got involved.

We beat Gaziantepspor 2-1 in the next match with a last minute goal. I tried the maraton in that game. My friend Robbie went. It was his first game as he is an American born into baseball. He was hooked too. We both went together after that.

We sometimes went to the maraton, sometimes the kale. Then we went hunting for Ankaragucu tops. We couldn't find them anywhere. I was wearing a Fife Flyers Ice Hockey scarf. The Kirkcaldy based Scottish champions play in yellow and blue. In Sakarya, by the fountain without water, I saw some Gecekondu lads with scarfs on. I went to ask where to buy a top. I spoke no Turkish and before I knew it had exchanged my new Flyers' scarf for an old dirty Ankaragucu rag. I was then directed to a shop. Harun's shop. We bought tops there. Mine was number 7 Iskoc, and Rab's was Kral Maymun. Harun took our picture and we were front page news on the Anti-x web-site.

The two of them did their best to entice other members of the teaching staff to come along, and a number of us did. Eventually, Kirkaldy Kanka and his wife Sinead had to leave Ankara (much to the chagrin of those of us who knew them). But Robbie and Judy did a great job of taking the baton and carrying it forward.

Enticing people to go to the matches was a practice that Robbie and Judy continued for the rest of their time in Ankara. They made it a point to invite new teachers to matches each academic year and the groups they managed to bring out to the stadium were truly impressive numbering somewhere in the range of 20-30. And while few of these people had the fortitude to become regulars, many of those in the Kanka group today (launched by Eski Kanka Jim) went to their first matches in the company of the mountaineering couple.

(one of the groups they brought along Judy can be seen sitting in the lower left hand corner eating sunflower seeds)

I should mention that the two mountaineering kankas earned their kanka names by scaling some truly impressive peaks. And never did they do so without bringing the Ankaragucu standard along with them. I lost track of exactly how many mountains they claimed in the name of Ankaragucu.

(Robbie in the Atlas Mountains)

Not to let them go off without a celebration. We had a farewell bash during Ankaragucu’s first match of this Gucu’s centennial year. A great time was had by all, and the fact that we came away with a 2-2 tie with Diyarbakirspor did not dampen our spirits a bit.

All those in the Kanka group would like to wish Mountaineering Kanka and Kankie a most excellent adventure in Africa and Bali not to mention a speedy return to cheer on Ankaragucu once again. We’ll miss you guys.

Let's not use up all our goals so fast

Having to listen to the "around the grounds" radio coverage of tonight's matches I can't really say very much. Well I can say one thing.... Hoooooooorrrrrayyyyyyyyy.

Kasimpasa 0 - 4 Genclerbirligi

As the radio coverage concentrates on the the so-called big games, nothing much was reported about the Gencler match. The first goal at about the 20th minute sounded pretty good though. The ball was sent from right-wing to the left, back again and after going through almost all of our forwards new signing Harbuzi sent it in.

It too a while before the next came, this time from Mustafa Pektemek. Then with not long to go Kahe scored. And then just at the death we scored again. I think it was Hursit Meric.

Not much of a report, but hey, I don't care. We got the three points.

I'll be away for next week's home game (have to go and represent Turkey in the cricket). So I'll be handing all the season tickets over to Carlo. Fingers crossed both Gencler and the Turkish cricket team are in the money.

ANKARAGUCU - LADY LUCK POSTED ABSENT

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

It was one of those nights in the 1st half when Ankaragucu did everything right, except score what should have been certain goals. I lost count of the times we were up on our feet screaming ........ goaaaaaaal .... only to see the ball whizz past the post or over the top or an Ankaragucu player mistiming his shot with the goal at his mercy. Lady Luck was most defo posted absent last night !

ANKARAGUCU 2 Istanbul BBS 2

Six stalwarts met up at the Chopin for pre-match 'refreshments'. Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Keleci Kanka Tansu, Connect Kanka Steve, Phillie Kanka Jamie, Maine Kankie Emma and yours truly.

Off to the Stadium then where we met up with Yankee Kanka and his brother Husso. Maraton was full and Kapali and Gecikondu were almost full, so lots of noise and a great atmosphere.

The line up included new signing Ediz Bahtiyaroglu from Ankaraspor who incidentally had a very good match slotting in as a stopper beside Santos as a replacement for the departed Bouzid. Also, on the subject of transfers, information is out that Faruk Bayer, a left winger, is coming soon from Sivasspor.

Last night's line up -
Serkan
El-Yasa, Ediz, Santos and Ilkem
Ceyhun, Barbaros, Semavi and Emre
Vassell and Bebbe
Substitutes used in the 2nd half - Iglesias, Murat Duruer and Metin.

The match kicked-off and we were just getting settled when Istanbul opened the scoring through Iskender. Whaaaaaaaaat ? The goal is still a blur because none of us were expecting it and it happened so quickly.

Ankaragucu then took control of the match and laid seige to the Istanbul goal, and as I said in the opening paragraph there were too many misses to count. Ceyhun, Bebbe and especially Vassell all missed golden oppotunities to put the match way out of Istanbul's reach.

However, as half time approached the breakthrough came, and a really fantastic goal it was too. Semavi broke away on the left, looked up and crossed an inch perfect ball for the incoming Emre to bullet a header past a helpless Oguzhan in goal.

Cue....... give us another one before the half time whistle. Grrrrrrr .... straight from the kick-off Istanbul attacked and with the Ankaragucu players still celebrating and dreaming of their win bonus, Herve slotted in No2. What a miscarriage of justice if ever there was one. Another classic example of not concentrating by the inconsistent Ankaragucu defence.

Istanbul came out for the 2nd half a different team and started to come more into the match and cause the Ankaragucu defence some problems. It has to be said that Santos was not having such a good match, especially with his clearances and distribution. This is the first time I've ever criticised him, so hopefully he was just having an 'off night'.

Bebbe was having a reasonably good game, and typical of him, chasing everything with that never-say-die spirit of his. Vassell was also looking good, except when he should have been putting clear cut chances away ! However, Vassell made up for his extravagance by scoring the equaliser 10 minutes after the re-start with a typical predatory strike. We were then forgiving him for his earlier misses !!

With Ankaragucu is full attack mode it was only a matter of time for the third goal to materialise....... or so we thought, especially after Herve was sent off for bringing Barbaros down with a nasty tackle.

Mmmmmm...... Istanbul pulled out some extra energy from somewhere and I have to hand it to them, they began to look really dangerous and looking the more likelier to score !

Then, bloody hell, what was Ceyhun up to ? The referee (and the less said about Mr Kamil Abitoglu the better !!!) waved the red card at him for something none of us could understand. Perhaps he said something ? Anyway, with our midfield general out of the action the team was rocking a bit and Istanbul siezed the initiative.

It was backs against the wall stuff now and all these misses from the 1st half were coming back to haunt Ankaragucu now !

5 minutes to go and more bad luck. Santos went down after making a clearance tackle and it looked serious. Out came the stretcher and off he went with what looked like a knee injury.

Down to 9 men and the last few minutes was nail biting stuff. However, Ankaragucu made it to the final whistle before any more disasters stuck, and how they must have rued their missed 1st half chances.

So, still waiting for that first win, but it is coming. We have to put last night's match down to .......... a bad day at the office !! Goals are coming, and with Ediz slotting in nicely at the back, we can look forward with optimism to the away match in Antalya in two weeks time. I am planning to be at that match and will give a full report.

All the best from 'still optimistic' Eski Kanka Jim

CONGRATULATIONS

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

I think congratulations are in order to Serkan Kirintili for making it into the Turkish Squad for the upcoming World Cup matches.

He is No2 to Volkan Demirel, but at least this is a stepping stone for him in his career. Who knows, he might get a chance to play if Volkan is injured ?!

Turkey plays Estonia in Kayseri on 5 September and then they travel to Bosnia on 9 September.

True, he has had his ups and downs with some of the Ankaragucu tribunes, but he has always been a popular figure with the Kanka Group. Good luck to him !

On the back of this news, it will surely mean that he keeps a clean sheet tonight. We already know from Bellshill Kanka Nadeem's prediction that Vassell and Bebbe will score, so that means the 3 points are in the bag. Right ??!!

All the best from optimistic Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - THREE NEW TRIALISTS

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

As reported in Hurriyet today, Ankaragucu is giving trials to three players.

1. Scott Sealy, a Trinidad and Tobago International forward who has played in the American League before playing recently for Macabbi Tel Aviv.

2. Adnan Mravac, a Bosnian defender who was playing for Doncaster Rovers in England last season. He was a trialist for Wolverhampton Wanderers recently but obviously that didn't work out for him.

3. Cenk (don't have his surname) is a Turkish player who has been playing overseas (probably Germany).

So, if they impress Hikmet Bey there is time to sign them before the summer transfer window closes.

Watch this space for further on the subject.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

PS..... Meeting in The Chopin Bar on Saturday from 6.30pm for the Ankaragucu v Istanbul BBS match KO 9pm.

GENCLERBIRLIGI SURPRISE THE CHAMPIONS

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

With Oz Kanka Chris down on the south coast visiting his dear sweet mummy, he has probably other things on his mind other than footie, ie, swimming, drinking, sun bathing, drinking, building sand castles for Little Oz Kanka, drinking and not forgetting more drinking !!

So, just to keep you up to date with Saturday night's result ....

Gencler 0 Besiktas 0

Gencler's line up was -

Serdar
Orhan, Ilhan, Radeljic and Aykut
Burhan,Cem, Harbuzi and Tozo
Mustafa and Kahe

Bilal came on as a sub in the 2nd half to replace Harbuzi.

I'm sure some of the kankas attended the match. So, calling Spine Kanka and Flying Dutchman Kanka to put some meat on the bones either in the comments section or in an email to me for a post edit.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim



EDIT - 24 August...........

Ahhhhh..... that explains it ! Oz Kanka couldn't access the Blog. So, here is his report of the match. All the best from Eski Kanka Jim


Quote ..... Eeek. Almost got 'em

I write this from the Aegean resort town of Kusadasi having driven from Ankara straight after Saturday night's big match at the 19 Mayis Stadium.

It was the first day of Ramazan so the Chopin was far from full but the kankas made up for that with Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo - later to be joined by his good wife Legal Kanka Saadet and a friend of their's from Adana - Spine, French Kanka Hande, ring-in Ilker all downed a pre-match Efes and good Gencler supporter Oguz joined us at the stadium.

There wasn't much enthusiasm, or should I say hope, from us Gencler supporters. Most of us were just hoping league champions Besiktas weren't gone to humiliate us.

Genclerbirligi 0 - 0 Besiktas

The Sunday papers may have said that "Ankara once again left Gencler alone" but considering what a crap couple of seasons we have had, the fact that iftar wasn't that long before kick-off and simply compared to our normal crowds, we had good numbers. Not only that but almost all were in good voice.

Kicj-off and things weren't too bad. New signing Harbuzi clearly impressed and he was the first to have a shot on goal. Burhan was also looking good and even the new slimmed-down Kahe was getting shots. None were too dangerous though but half-time and we were pretty happy. After all, last time we played Besiktas at home we lost 0-3 and in fact we haven't beaten them in a league match since the year 2000.

A repeat of the mass civil disobediance of two weeks ago happened at half-time as all the smokers defied new laws and congregated near the entrance and the toilets to get their nicotine fix. One particular fellow I noticed had three chevrons on his arm and clearly wasn't going to bother to obey the new anti-smoking laws, let alone enforce them.

Second half and we sang our hearts out as Gencler launched attack after attack. One that really should have gone in was from Tozo who was pretty much free but failed to connect properly.

All up it was an encouraging performance from the Gencler boys and as I said before, new signing Harbuzi was particularly good. A point's a point, even if we really deserved to get all three.

Now, back to the Efes on this wonderful evening looking out over the Aegean Sea. Unquote.

From Oz Kanka Chris no doubt now making up for being sober last Saturday night !!!

ANKARAGUCU - TAKING BROTHERLY LOVE TOO FAR !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

I for one have always been amazed at the 'love-ins' between Ankaragucu and Bursa supporters, but I feel that the team take this 'brotherly love' thing too far. I can't remember the last time Ankaragucu beat Bursaspor and I'm getting a wee bit pissed off with us seemingly giving them 3 points on a regular basis. Last night ........

Bursaspor 1 ANKARAGUCU 0

The details I have are sketchy and unless Venezuelan Kanka Rom was at the match this is the best I can do. The team line up was -

Serkan
Santos, El-Yasa, Ilkem and Cihan
Ceyhun, Barbaros, Semavi and Sosibo
Vassell and Henderson

Bebbe came on as a sub in the 1st half. Iglesias and Ufuk came on in the 2nd half.

Hurriyet mentioned that there was trouble at the match with the Teksas Group fighting (presumably with Ankaragucu supporters). If that was the case then ..... shock horror ! What happened to all those 'love-ins' and kisses ??!! It was also reported that some supporters were injured but it doesn't give details.

So, yes, I'm very disappointed with this result, especially as there was a full squad available and lots of attacking options which resulted in zero goals.

This MUST be rectified next weekend for the Istanbul BBS match otherwise the natives will begin to be restless ! Three matches in without a win is unacceptable !

All the best from a disappointed Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - SURPRISE MOVES

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Headline in today's Hurriyet ......... Ankaragucu's Five New Guns !

Under normal conditions the signing of five new players wouldn't cause such a fuss, but ........ four of them are coming from Ankaraspor !!

Is this one of the scenario's of the Merger I wonder ? Transfer all the best players out and let Ankaraspor be relegated to drift into oblivion in the way that once famous Goztepe of Izmir disappeared from the scene ?!

The players in question Ediz, Adem, Meye and Mehmet Cakir are all well known and quality players. I would single out Mehmet Cakir for mention who I have seen playing for Gencler many times before he moved across the city. I have always rated him highly as a skillful and industrious midfield player and one who could easily form a highly successful partnership with Ceyhun and Semavi.

As for the fifth player ? The return of the highly popular 'prodigal son' from Istanbul BBS. None other than Bebbe. He was always a fans favourite because of his workrate and selfless play up front, so I'm sure he will be a welcome addition to Hikmet Bey's attacking options. I for one welcome him back with open arms !

So, if these transfers materialise as reported, it will be interesting to see which players are for the chop. I'm sure Murat Duruer will be going and perhaps Iglesias - we shall see.

The result of Saturday's meeting is awaited with interest. Certainly, in my opinion, these transfers give a pretty clear indication of what will be decided at the meeting, ie, shall we merge or shall we not !!!

Watch this space !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

THE MERGER

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The merger between Ankaragucu and Ankaraspor has raised its ugly head again !

It has been in the newspapers for the past two days but I was hoping that it was just a lot of hot air. However, it seems as though it is now serious and going forward.

The three Chairmen involved, Melih Gokcek, Cemal Aydin and Cengiz Topel, met three days ago to thrash out a deal and they agreed 'in principle' that it should go ahead. The details, and financial implications, will be discussed at the next meeting on 23 August.

Melih Gokcek was quoted in the Hurriyet this morning as saying that Ankaragucu will be League Champions in the future !!

So, from that remark I assume he intends to retain the team name as Ankaragucu. I would say that is a MUST unless he wants rebellion from the tribunes !!

Another few 'details' to consider is ....... when will this happen (obviously not this season), what is going to happen to The Stadium from Hell in Yenikent and more importantly, how much money is he prepared to plough into the Club to compete with the Istanbul 3 ??

Looking forward to comments from all you kankas who hate Ankaraspor !!!

More news as it unfolds.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Gencler fail to put in the sword

I wasn't able to get out to the stadium from hell for Genclerbirligi's away match to Ankaraspor on Sunday night, and it was probably a good thing, as Ankaraspor managed to score at the death to salvage a 1-1 draw in a match that Gencler fans say we should have won by two or three goals.

The match started well with Pektemek scoring in the second minute. I'm not sure who put hinm through, and from the short youtube video below it looked like he might have been offside, but still, a goal's a goal.



After that it seems as if we dominated play, hitting the post a few times but as so often happens Ankaraspor scored in th 92nd minute to deny us the three points.

Frustration all round.

Coming up this week Gencler are at home on Saturday to Super League title holders Besiktas. Tickets for the match are 56tl, compared to 60tl for season tickets! We should have a couple of spare season tickets and we can share those out amongst those who show up to the Chopin at 7pm.

By the way, the reason this post is so late is because there has been some sort of denial of service attack on blogger.com and I haven't been able to sign in. Sorry about that.

THE STADIUM SMOKING BAN IS NOW OFFICIAL !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Oz Kanka Chris has mentioned this subject a few times in this Blog (one fairly recently) and now it is official.

In today's Hurriyet ..... Statlarimiz Artik Dumansiz ..... which roughly translated means ........ No Smoking in Stadiums !

Chuckle chuckle chuckle, titter titter titter says I. Call me Mr Negative if you will but I'll eat my Ankaragucu hat if it works !

Imagine the scenario of a steward going into the middle of Gecikondu or Anti-X and demanding a fine of YTL69 from a perpetrator of this heinous deed ?! Hello .... I don't think so ! He would have to be extremely brave, or to be more exact, extremely stupid to attempt it.

Also, I wouldn't advise any steward to try it on Maniac Kanka Harun either. He is not called Maniac Kanka without good reason !!!

So, it will be very interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks at the Stadium. Gencler Kankas will be first to report on this when they play Besiktas this weekend, and then the following week I can see for myself what happens when Ankaragucu play Istanbul BBS.

I can't wait !!!

All the best from Nicotine Addict Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU PLAY THE 'GET OUT OF JAIL CARD' AT THE END !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Ankaragucu waited until the last 10 minutes of the match last night before they 'woke up' and played their 'Get out of Jail Card'. My guess is that Hikmet Karaman will be giving them extra training this week as a punishment !

ANKARAGUCU 1 Manisaspor 1

It was business as usual in the Chopin Bar last night when we met up. Lots of optimism and predictions of a 3-0 win for Ankaragucu. Typical start of the season hype which we all enjoy falling into !!

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Kaleci Kanka Tansu and I welcomed Clueless Kankie Vicki back into the fold after a long absence from Ankara. Also, her friend Peru Kanka David was there for his first Ankaragucu match.

Off to the Stadium then where we met up with Maniac Kanka Harun, his brother Taksi Driver Kanka and his sweet daughter Angel Kankie Hazal.

The moment I was waiting for came and we held our breath as Serkan came out to warm-up with the team. Relief ....... Gecikondu and Maraton called him over for a round of applause and all was forgiven. Thank God for that !

Ankaragucu lined up without the suspended Santos as follows -
Serkan, Cihan, El-Yasa, Padilha and Kaan.
Semavi, Barbaros, Sosibo and Ceyhun.
Iglesias and Vassell.

Substitutes Henderson, Ufuk and Metin were all used in the 2nd half.

The teams went in at half time all square at 0-0. It was an end-to-end first period with Ceyhun and Vassell going close a few times and Manisa belying their reputation as whipping dogs.

Some of last season's weaknesses surfaced again with Ankaragucu's passing woeful at times. Also, the defence hit the panic button too many times with wild clearances and the sooner Santos returns to control the defence the better !

So, going in at half time 0-0 was a relief and I was wondering when Ankaragucu was going to wake-up and put the impressive Manisa defence under pressure.

More of the same in the 2nd half and I was thinking how many times we conceded goals last season from breakaways when it happened. Pushing forward to break the deadlock is all very well, but there must be cover to prevent breakaways - basic footie tactics me thinks ?!

Manisa stiker Simpson received what I thought was a harsh red card for a foul on El-Yasa on 70 minutes. OK, it was a foul, but I believe the referee was swayed by the reaction of the crowd and Ankaragucu players in bringing out RED.

So, open the floodgates and here come the goals ? Wrong !

All credit to Manisa for not changing their game plan. They kept coming at Ankaragucu and their breakaways were looking more dangerous as Ankaragucu kept up their pressure, and it was from one of those breakaways that Manisa opened the scoring with a simple tap-in from Isaac (remember him ???!!!) with 10 minutes to go.

Cue ..... wake up call ! Ankaragucu was looking a different team now and totally dominated the final 10 minutes. How many of us said .... why couldn't they play like that for 90 minutes ??!! That's a question for Hikmet Bey to answer !

With the clock on 90 minutes, and constant Ankaragucu pressure, the equaliser came. A goalmouth melee, the ball wasn't cleared for once, and it fell nicely for Vassell. Whack ! The net bulged and everyone started singing and dancing again. Actually, it was more like relief !! I believe, on the balance of play for the entire match, we just about deserved an equaliser and thanks to Vassell for getting us out of jail !

Men of the match ..... Vassell, not just for his goal, but he didn't stop running and tracking back when disposessed. Also, the South African Sosibo showed some nice touches until he tired near the end. Semavi was all huff and puff and lots of his passes went astray. He also needs to put his foot on the ball sometimes. Last week's hero, Ceyhun, had a quiet game by his standards. As for the defence, grrrrrrrr..... come back soon Santos !

Away to 'brother team' Bursa next weekend. Not another draw please - a win is required !! Venezuela Kanka Rom mentioned he might be at that match. If so, we can expect an eye witness report from him.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - THE SERKAN SAGA - GOOD NEWS

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Hurriyet reports this morning that Ankaragucu and Serkan have kissed and made-up !

Serkan is reported as saying that he now wants to stay with Ankaragucu until the end of the season at least. He also wants to compete for a place in the National Team, which is not beyond his capabilities in my view.

So, this is good news, coming on the day we entertain Manisa at the 19 Mayis Stadium. It is to be hoped that the Gecekondu Boys and other groups feel the same as The Kanka Group and give him a warm round of applause when he takes to the field tonight.

It's true that Gecikondu, in particular, are normally an unforgiving lot, but let's hope common sense prevails and they agree to 'bury the sword'.

Well done Serkan !

There are also strong indications from the Club that Vassell will start the match tonight. He really needs to give the fans a goal to settle himself down and get the fans behind him.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - TRANSFER NEWS

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The news which I have been expecting arrived today in The Hurriyet. It is also up on the internet from Zaman newspaper.

A new (well, not young) goalkeeper is on the way in to replace Serkan who must surely be on his way to Ankaraspor now before the scheduled January move.

He is 31 year old Steve Philips (another Ingallishman !!) from Bristol City who previously played for Bristol Rovers.

It seems that Ankaragucu is building up their catchment of Ingallish players in a similar way to Gencler last season with their Aussie contingent !!

Also, the news that Bellshill Kanka Nadeem has been waiting for ...... Ghana and Spanish Youth International Godwin Antwi is on his way in too.

Not sure when they will actually arrive here for medicals, etc, but I will keep you informed when they are paraded to the press.

Another piece of news from Hurriyet this morning ........ surprise surprise, Ceyhun made it into their Team of the Weekend. If he keeps these performances up for the next few weeks we will have Fener back knocking on the door !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Better than we expected

Genclerbirligi 0 - 0 Kayseri

Wonderful summer's evening and the Chopin was the place to be. Flying Dutchman Kanka was first at the Chopin, then me. French Kanka Hande and Spine were next to rock up - Spine limping slightly thanks to two almighty welts on his inner thigh sustained during cricket practice - and finally Ambo Kanka Peter and his good son Patrick joined in.

As Sir Eski Kanka mentioned in his Ankaragucu match report the Chopin wasn't showing any Turkish football. As he said the bars in the street had decided to boycott Digiturk in protest at price hikes. I'm not sure if Sir Eski had noticed but there was one bar on the street that had decided to scab on the agreement and was actually showing the Galatasaray match that kicked off at 7:30 pm. Needless to say, that bar was packed to the rafters... so much for solidarity.

Don't worry too much though, we won't have to cross any picket lines soon as the manager of the Chopin said they will have the football back on in a couple of weeks.

The talk at the bar was mainly about how we had done virtually nothing in the transfer market and most of us, without having seen a single minute of football were pretty depressed.

So, off to the match and it was a pretty decent crowd for Gencler. Not only that, but the new legislation that has private security guards check us at the door instead of the police, means that a) you can probably get in with your lighters and coins; and, more importantly b) they don't try to smell your breath and therefore kick you out if you've had a beer in the last 48 hours.

Dan the Man was in the stands and peep peep peep we were off.

Kayseri started fairly well but it wasn't long until we started to apply pressure. I don't think Kayseri had a shot on goal all match. We didn't have many either but we were by far the better attacking team. We were pressing well and unlike last season we weren't slowing things down when we had the ball in midfield.

I thought Kahe played well - although Spine disagreed with me completely on this point - but the star for the match, if you can have a star in a 0-0 draw was Burhan. Ertank mentioned after the match that Burhan (a Kurd from Diyarbakir) may have been inspired by the latest efforts by the Turkish state to solve the Kurdish problem. I think he may have been joking.

Anyway, our best chance in the first half came very early on when Momha sent a corner in which the Kayseri keeper failed to keep a hold of. I think it was Kahe who got onto it but in the end a Kayseri defender cleared from not far off his line. It should have been a goal.

There were a quite a few good attacks in both halves but in the end nothing happened.

Some notes:

1) James Troisi, the Australian midfielder who concluded a secret transfer from Gencler to Kayseri during the off season. (the first thing that Gencler knew of the transfer was when they found 1 million dollars had been put into their bank account) was booed every time he got the ball. Not only that but he was fouled quite a lot. My guess is that the Cavcav had told the Gencler players to go for him.

2) The referee was either a) incompetent, or b) a wanker.

3) As we walked into the match the private security guards were telling everyone that smoking is not allowed inside the stadium. As far as I could see nobody smoked in the stands but at half-time I went down to the toilets and encountered a scene of mass civil disobedience. In the toilet itself the smoke was thicker than in any bar I've been in and outside people were openly refusing to obey police instructions to stop smoking. Being the radical revolutionary that I am, I lit up a fag myself.

4) After 25 minutes play in both the first and second halves, the referee blew his whistle and all the players jogged off for a cigarette break, er... sorry... drinks break. What the hell was the point? Ankara was pretty cool this evening. There was absolutely no need for a drinks break in either half. What was especially galling for Spine and myself was the fact that we had been out playing cricket for hours today, in the sun, and did we get a drinks break? No sirree.

Next week we are away to Gokcekspor. Genclerbirligi, please wipe the smile off that evil man's face.

ANKARAGUCU - CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS DOES THE BIZ

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Thanks to our great captain, Ceyhun, Ankaragucu started the season with a valuable point last night.

Diyarbakirspor 2 ANKARAGUCU 2

Unfortunately, the match was not televised, but the kankas met up at The Chopin to say farewell to Mountaineering Kankas Robbie and Judy. In fact, there was no televised footie in Kizilay last night due to Digiturk hiking up their price to an unrealistic level. So, all the pubs collaberated and refused to pay as a protest.
How long this situation continues remains to be seen, and who is going to back-down first ?! More on this as the saga unfolds.

After meeting, we all (Mountaineering Kankas, Kaleci Kanka Tansu, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I) trooped around the corner to Platin Bar to meet Maniac Kanka Harun where we had lots of fun and games - more of that in another post me thinks !

Harun's telephone was busy keeping us updated with news from Diyarbakir and we all burst into song after 10 minutes of the match when Ceyhun put Ankaragucu ahead. However, we were silenced (for a change) 20 minutes later when Adnan equalised.

More singing just before half-time when Ceyhun bagged the 2nd and we were all dreaming of a victoreeeeeee. Grrrrrrrr ..... with 15 minutes of the match left to play, Mendoza scored the equaliser and that's how it stayed.

Oh well, at least we returned with a point, and as most of you know, Diyarbakir is not an easy place to visit and come back with all 3 points.

It was an interesting team selection with Hikmet Bey refusing to be intimidated by fan power and playing Serkan in goal. Well done Hikmet Bey !

With Santos suspended after his 'fistiecuffs' against Gencler last week, the defence took on a different shape, but at least El-Yasa was there to add some experience at the back.

The Team -

Serkan, El-Yasa, Semavi, Iglesias, Ufuk, Ceyhun, Abdullah, Barbaros, Sosibo, Diego and Cihan.

Henderson came on as a sub in the 2nd half, but no sign of Vassell which is quite worrying. Let's hope he is playing next week so we can see him in action for more than just the 10 minutes he had last week.

By the way, the jungle drums were beating last night and the word on the street was that Hikmet Bey is thinking of resigning because of all the bad feeling concerning the Serkan Saga. Let's hope this rumour is unfounded !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - SQUAD NUMBERS FOR SEASON 2009/2010

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Footie is back ......... yesssssssssssssss !!

Here are the squad numbers for Ankaragucu so that you can at least recognise the host of new faces in the team -

1. Serkan Kirintili (but for how long ??!!)
2. L. Henrique De Santos
3. El-Yasa Sume (Vice-Captain)
4. Koray Colgecen
5. Semavi Ozgur
7. Leonardo Iglesias
8. Ufuk Bayraktar
9. Ian Henderson
10. Metin Akan
11. Murat Duruer
12. Senamela
13. Darius Vassell
14. Ceyhun Eris (Captain)
17. Murat Yilmaz
20. Serkan Sirin
21. Abdullah Cetin
22. Zafer Ozgultekin
23. Barbaros Barut
24. Calvin Sosibo
27. Kaan Kanak
29. Diego Padilla
30. Emre Aygun
35. Bora Kork
38. Suat Bas
39. Ilkem Ozkaynak
46. Cihan Hospalatli
61. Abdulaziz Solmaz
90. Bayram Olgun

Unfortunately, Jaba has left the Club - financial reasons !!

The two 'understudy' goalkeepers to Serkan are Zafer (the ex-Turkish International) and Bora Kork. It will be interesting to see who is selected today in Diyabakir, and more particularly, will Hikmet Bey defy the fans and select him for next week's match against Manisa. Watch this space !!

Interesting that Vassell took the number 13 shirt. Let's hope it's LUCKY for him and the team !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU AND A PROBLEM THAT WON'T GO AWAY !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

You will recall that I mentioned the problem between Serkan Kirintil and the fans (Gecikondu in particular !) in my match report of the Ankaragucu v Genclerbirligi match a few days ago.

Following on from that, there was a meeting between Hikmet Karaman, the players and the fans yesterday at the Training Ground in Bestepe.

Despite pleas from Hikmet Bey, Captain Ceyhun and the players, it appears that forgiveness is not an option, even in the knowledge that the transfer of Serkan to Ankaraspor in January is not yet a 'done-deal'.

So, this still presents Hikmet Bey with a headache. What to do with the goalkeeper position on Saturday in Diyabakir, and more importantly, for the home match on the 15th of August against Manisa.

Obviously we can't influence the outcome on this Blog, but for what it's worth, I believe we have to be sensible about this and put personal feelings aside.

Serkan is a professional goalkeeper and has been a great servant for the Club. So, as long as Hikmet Bey chooses to select him for the team we should respect that decision and support the TEAM !

More on this subject as it unfolds.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARASPOR WIN THE ANKARA SPORTSWRITERS CUP

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Results from last night in the Ankara Sportswriters Cup -

FINAL - Ankaraspor 2 Genclerbirligi 0

3rd/4th Play Off - Ankaragucu 1 Eskisehirspor 3

Not much to be said about Ankaragucu's abysmal performance in this year's competition ! Except perhaps that things can only get better ??!!

I watched the final on TRT1 last night and was very impressed with Ankaraspor (Oz Kanka will never forgive me for saying that !!).

They totally dominated the first half but couldn't put all their pressure into goals.

The 2nd half was more even with Gencler coming out of their shell and putting some attacking moves together. However, their ex-goalkeeper Gokhan, was equal to anything that came his way.

Ankaraspor was still looking the more likely team to score and it came in the 75th minute from a dubious penalty. The referee, Ozguc Turkalp, is a personal friend of mine so I won't be too critical. Enough for me to say that some referees (me included) would have seen a 'dive' from the Ankaraspor attacker !!

The impressive Murat Tosun sent Ulas the wrong way and the writing was on the wall for Gencler.

Gencler was still pressing for the equaliser on 90 minutes when they left themselves exposed for an Ankaraspor breakaway. It was a sucker punch of a goal and too easy with 3 attackers converging on Ulas and it was slotted in easily by Hurriyet to kill off the match.

If any of the Gencler kankas were watching the match I'm sure you will agree that the best team won and congratulations to Ankaraspor for scoring 6 goals in the competition and lifting the Cup.

There were a few 'camera zoom-ins' on I. Melih Gokcek and I hope to see that smug smile taken off his face as the season gets underway in earnest !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

THE ANKARA SPORTSWRITERS CUP - 2009

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Results from last night -

Ankaraspor 4 Eskisehirspor 4 (Ankaraspor won 5-4 on penalties)

Ankaragucu 0 Genclerbirligi 1

This will be one of the shortest reports (in terms of football) that I have ever made because quite honestly the football served up was ......... garbage !

Marash Kanka Hakan and I were the only 2 kankas to turn-up for this 'famous' competition and it is quite clear to me that all the other kankas are not as stupid as us !!

We arrived at the Stadium from Hell just before KO and I couldn't see the white ticket box anywhere. So, I asked the Steward on the gate for directions and he replied .... gec ! Which means .... come in ! It was FREE !!! We have been there before and paid our 50 kurus, but surely this must be a first in Kanka history ?!

The Ankaragucu Kale end was full as usual with Gecikondu and Anti-X boys but a pitiful turnout by Gencler supporters away at the other end. I won't embarrass the Gencler kankas by saying exactly how many were there !!

Don't ask me to name the players because Gencler didn't have names on their tops and Ankaragucu's were so small and impossible to read. In fact, I only recognised a few of the Ankaragucu players, ie, Ceyhun, Santos, El-Yasa, Semavi, and Iglesias. So many new faces ! I'll give the line-ups in an edit tomorrow when I get it from Hurriyet.

It started like a training ground match with lots of cross field passing and probing from midfield and in all honesty there was only one real chance in the 1st half when Ceyhun prised open the Gencler defence to send in an inch perfect cross for Iglesias to head in for the opening goal. Unfortunately, the Gencler goalie had other ideas and pulled off a great save to deny what would have been a goal to reflect the possession of the first half.

In the 2nd half, Gencler came more into the game and it was honours even until about half way through the half when both teams made numerous (too many to remember)substitutions. More new faces !

Then shortly after, the match exploded. In an off the ball incident, Santos aimed a right hook on the chin of one of the Gencler players and all hell broke loose. Obviously, I don't know what made him do this which is completely out of character for this player. Perhaps something was said ?!

Anyway, after all the players had been calmed down and officials cleared off the field, the referee quite rightly showed Santos a red card. The match became uglier now with lots of niggling tackles and bad temper all round.

The Ankaragucu supporters in Kale held the match up for a few minutes with a barrage of water bottles aimed at the Gencler player trying to take a corner. Fortunately, none of them connected with him or the linesman !

Another disturbing aspect of the match was when Serkan came on for the 2nd half to replace the 1st half goalkeeper and received lots of whistles and jears. As I mentioned before in a post, he wants away and is earmarked for Ankaraspor in the January transfer window.

Ankaragucu supporters do not forgive easily and they expect loyalty from their players, so every time Serkan touched the ball in the 2nd half he was jeered. Very disconcerting for him and the players ! Hikmet Bey has a problem now, ie, he can't play him in home matches if this behaviour continues.

So, we were contemplating a penalty shoot-out when the clock was on 90 minutes and then in a great move by Gencler they got round the defence and the ball was cut back for the inrushing Gencler player to score with Serkan unguarded and helpless.

A cruel ending to the match for Ankaragucu who had played well for the last 20 minutes with 10 men and didn't resort to putting up the shutters.

However, all credit to Gencler for doing the biz and scoring the vital goal. After all, their record at penalty shoot-outs is not world famous !!!

So, the final will be held at The 19 Mayis Stadium tonight KO 8pm. For those of you who can't attend, you might be interested to know that the match will be shown live on TRT1.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

PS .... Forgot to mention that Vassel came on for the last 10 minutes and showed some nice touches. He was also moving around like a whippet and he certainly impressed the hell out of me with his movement on and off the ball. As Hikmet Karaman said in an interview last week in Hurriyet ..... one man doesn't make a team and he is hopeful of putting some other players around him who are also 'top drawer'. Nice to end on an optimistic note eh ??!!