Sunday, August 30, 2009

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

27 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:40 pm

    Good report Jim.There seems to be a recurring theme with Ankaragucu so far this season.Making chances no problem but taking them a different matter.Istanbul are picking up points this season and looking more formibable.Ankaragucu will start to be known as the draw experts in the Turkish press,if they arent already.Would you take another draw in Antalya right now?!
    Dublin Neil.

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  2. Take another draw ?? No, nivvvirrrrr !!!

    As you have probably gathered by now Neil, we Ankaragucu supporters are injected with 'optimism' at the beginning of the season and if we need a top-up (like last season) we run for the needle !!

    You should check out my report of the Fenerbahce v Ankaragucu match in Istanbul last season. Now ... THAT is what we want to see, but .... soooooon.

    Even without suspended Captain Ceyhun, we must keep persisting and go for that win in Antalya.

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  3. I will not editorialize here, but will merely take this opportunity to announce that our club's new president is indeed Ahmet Gökçek son of Ankara's mayor--yes, the man responsible for shutting down Jim and Chris's old bar.

    I will send more details later.

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  4. Ahhhhh ..... nice one Battle Damaged, but I always say ...... let by bygones be bygones !!

    Also, and more ahhhhhhhhs ....... I have some reliable insider information that the 'Great' I. Melih Gokcek (father of the equally 'great' Ahmet Gokcek) has agreed that the restaurants in the New Genclik Park (which opens tonight) can sell alcohol if they wish.

    Ahhhhhhaaaaa ..... now then.... how about that ?

    It seems that Eski Kanka will be doing a Recce in the next few days to earmark a new meeting place. My observations will be posted in the Blog when the mission has been accomplished successfully.

    I now await our new Chairman's business plan for this season and, more importantly, next season.

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  5. Ok, according to CNN Turk, 200 delegates voted. Of those 200, 160 voted for Gökçek, 28 left their ballots blank. The remaining 12 ballots were considered null and void.

    Why were those ballots considered null and void? Well, apparently for having things filled in on them like "Sell this club, sell your mother," or this lovely one, "Save this club from Cemal Aydın's shady gang."

    For those of you who read Turkish:

    http://www.cnnturk.com/2009/spor/futbol/08/30/mke.ankaragucunun.baskani.ahmet.gokcek/541336.0/index.html

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  6. I love living in a democratic country, so for all those who say ..... oh woe woe and thrice woe ..... I say .... OK if you don't want to be associated with a footie team with ambition then go and support Keciorengucu instead of Ankaragucu !!!

    The Gokceks have said 'on record' that they are willing to put money into the Club and seriously challenge the Istanbul 3 by bringing in class players. So, the majority of voters obviously think (as I do) ... ok, let's give them a chance to prove it.

    Isn't that better than soldiering along with Cemal Aydin's regime and smiling at the end of the season when we avoid relegation ??!!

    Well, I know Connect Kanka Steve agrees with this view, and I have to say that if you want the best for Ankaragucu then we have to give the new Chairman a chance to prove he means business. Politics and personalities should not cloud our judgement !!!

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  7. Connect Kanka Steve12:39 am

    I'm with you, Jim!

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  8. This deal is as rotten as a barrel of rotten apples (sorry for the lack of imagination - it is late at night). Ankaragucu will ultimately pay for this folly.

    Sir Eski Kanka says we should leave politics aside in the way we look at the deal but I can can see nothing but politics in it. Why would Gokcek want the club? He wants it for the votes of Ankaragucu supporters and the hopeful glow of a season victory.

    The first may well happen. The second will only happen if the taxpayers of Ankara fork out. As I've noted before, there are court cases out there concerning the way that Gokcek has financed Ankaraspor... those cases could quite possibly end up buggering up Ankaragucu as well.

    Politics should stay out of sport. This is purely a political move by an AKP politician whom even the prime minister hates. If Erdogan manages to get rid of Gokcek - he tried before the last local elections - Ankaragucu will be stuffed.

    Then let me come to the cultural differences between Ankaraspor and Ankaragucu. Cemil Aydin has run the club with an iron fist. He has employed a bunch of yes-men whose loyalty is to him... and not Ankaragucu. Ankaraspor on the other hand has been surprisingly well run. Gokcek has run a hands-off approach and has employed almost all the people who made Genclerbirligi a great club a few years ago.

    In other words, I fail to see to the two clubs' culture uniting in any way.

    And finally. Gokcek was responsible for closing down our pub.

    This is a horrible day for Ankara, for football fans in Ankara and although there might be a short-lived revival, ultimately for Ankaragucu.

    I feel sorry for all of you Ankaragucu fans.

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  9. Eski,

    I hate to break it to you, but the reason "the majority of voters" voted the way they did probably had something to do with the fact that there was only one f*****g candidate.

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  10. Enjoy your new overlords

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  11. Anonymous1:45 pm

    The passion of the team is in the fans, not the owners. Who cares who heads up the team as long as he brings success? From a financial side, this is a business and I want the person heading this club who has the most $$$$ to invest. What's more, this is not a successful venture for Gokcek unless he has success on the pitch. He has to pump money into the team and bring in top notch talent to rally support for his cause. I just don't know how sad you can be about this when the team hasn't won the league ever and has not won the cup since the early 80's. Let's see what new money can do for this team.

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  12. Connect Kanka Steve2:29 pm

    I feel obliged to come to Eski Kanka’s defense on the matter at hand.

    When I go into 19 May Stadium, I do so as a supporter of the Ankaragucu football club. I enter not to support a particular political party or some purportedly “fascist” politician, but to watch the match and cheer my beloved team to a Super Lig championship. As a fan, it is only reasonable to expect the club management to share in these aspirations. But based on everything I’ve witnessed over the past year, I don’t think one can honestly claim such has been true for our past “overlords”.

    Undoubtedly, the Gokcek deal comes with baggage, but Turkish football strikes me as an inherently dirty business. There are potential problems, many grave, others more benign, that are associated with any change of management. However, we should not live in a world of hypotheticals. As mentioned by Eski and Philly Kankas, Gokcek has demonstrable commitment to the cause and the resources to back it up. This is not something to ignored, especially coming off a season where we languished near relegation. I remember how I felt for much of last spring, and I, for one, don’t care to revisit those emotions.

    It’s not flippant to put aside political differences for the good of the club. In the stadium, we are not AKP, CHP or MHP, but rather supporters of Ankaragucu. Our city deserves to have a contender in the Super Lig. We’d be remiss to discount the opportunity at hand because of a closed bar or other parochial grievances.

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  13. I'm sure those non-Ankaragucu supporters in the capital will be happy that their money (ie the Ankara BB) will be spent on buying Ankaragucu votes rather than going to parks, roads, etc etc.

    As I said before, court cases are ongoing about how money was allegedly illegally handed over to Ankaraspor by the municipality.

    It is not about the fact that Gokcek is from the AKP, it is the fact that taxpayers money should probably be spent on other matters.

    If Gokcek had been a run of the mill businessman willing to put his own money into the club then I would have no hassle with the takeover.

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  14. I'm not going to comment further on the new Chairman. I think Connect Kanka, Phillie Kanka and I have made our positions quite clear !!

    However, some other important news was reported in The Hurriyet this morning. Unfortunately, the injury to Santos which I referred to in my post is more serious than we first thought.

    It seems that he will be out for the rest of the season with ruptured tendons in his leg. It goes without saying that this is a blow to the structure of the defence and we wish him a speedy recovery.

    What to do to replace such an influential player then ? Well, as I said in my post, Ediz slotted in very well, especially bearing in mind that this was his first match for Ankaragucu, and there is no doubt in my mind that he is here to stay.

    As for his support in the back line ..... let's leave that to our new Chairman to solve !!! Dare I say it .... more Ankaraspor defenders coming in ??!!

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  15. Further to my comments yesterday (31 August) about more players coming in from Ankaraspor .....

    it was reported in The Hurriyet this morning that the following will sign for Ankaragucu today -

    Goalkeeper - Stefan Senecky
    Defence - Adem Kocak
    Hurriyet Gucer
    Midfield - Mehmet Cakir
    Roguy Meye

    I'm not sure what position Hurriyet plays, but I think Meye is a forward.

    So, it looks like Adem, at least, will be in for the Antalya match in place of Santos.

    btw, are there any players left in the Ankaraspor team ??!!

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  16. Newsflash

    The Turkish Football Federation has just launched an official investigation into the Ankaragucu election.

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  17. The investigation will be based on Fifa's Statute 18 which reads: "the member shall ensure that neither a natural or a legal person ... exercises control over more than one club"

    Plus a heap of TFF regulations as well.

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  18. Oh dear ......... shock horror ! Shall we hit the panic button ? Nah !!

    Trust I. Melih to pull the right strings. After all, HE is Chairman of Ankaraspor and Ahmet is Chairman of Ankaragucu. So, what's the problem ??

    Remember ..... this is Turkey and in this country we make up our own rules as we go along !! Right ???

    So, stop trying to put the frighteners under Connect, Phillie and Eski !!!

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  19. Just reporting the latest in Gucu news. Don't be so sensitive.

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  20. Mountaineering Kanka6:16 pm

    I'll chime in with those against this Gokcek business. Once again, how do deals with the devil usually work out? There may be short term gain with this move, but I fear in the long term, little melih will bring ruin in his wake. Siphoning off players to "daddy's team" or getting the team in trouble for illegal management/funding are just a few of the things that could happen. I really worry about it.

    On a more serious note the injury to Santos is a disaster. He was a freaking fence at the back and I wonder if his "unhappiness" has anything to do with the seriousness of his injury. Oh well. Filling his shoes will be the first test for little melih.

    WIsh I could've been at the match and hope you are all doing well at the end of summer.

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  21. Good to hear your voice, mountaineering kanka. Which reminds me, I need to check out your blog for anything I might have missed.

    As for Santos, sheer disaster. Him writing in pain on the pitch was a terrible sight. I really wish him a quick recovery--both for his sake and for ours.

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  22. I'm pleased that Damon corrected his 'whooopsee' otherwise it would have given our resident English Language expert, Connect Kanka Steve, (not being sarcastic - serious) a rare and golden opportunity of diving in and putting one up on Battle Damaged !!

    I've tried lottsa times, but being a rough Jock, it is extremely difficult !!

    Looking forward to Mountaineering Kanka's comments on the latest post !!!

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  23. Sus artik konuşma be! If we're going to be that silly, I'll throw in that the guy doesn't even know when to put in the verb "to be":

    This is not something to ignored ;-)

    Rather than an English expert, Connect Kanka's little "defense of Eski" strikes me as something an aspiring lawyer might write.

    In some courts, the lawyer is known as an advocate, and as both Steven and Jim are defending the takeover of Gucu by Gotcek, and as Mountaineering Kanka referred to this takeover as a deal with the devil, I guess that makes Steven the "devil's advocate".

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  24. ho ho ho ha ha ha lol .......... that was a brilliant joke and well worthy of the accolade, and inclusion in the Kanka Joke of the Year Competition. ho ho ho ha ha ha ...... I'm still laughing !!!

    Perhaps at the end of the season Connect Kanka and Eski will be using the well worn idiom of ........

    he who laughs last, laughs longest ?!!

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  25. Connect Kanka Steve1:30 am

    A lawyer, Battled Damaged?!?! I haven't thrown in the towel on life just yet!!! Devil's advocate, sure I'll take it, but lawyer? Pleaseeeeeeee.......

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  26. Anonymous10:19 am

    Steven has even more evil plans afoot...

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