Was that a shot?

Another 10 pm kick-off and another summer's evening at the Beer Bus. Things couldn't get better, and obviously they didn't.

Bucaspor 3 - 1 Genclerbirligi

Spine joined me for the beers Saturday night and the Beer Bus got itself a good crowd for the late night kick-off but yet again we were dissapointed with a Gencler team that hardly had any shots on goal.

Ermin Zec went close at about the 20th minute with a shot that hit the post but that was about it for the first half. Instead Buca went ahead in the 24th with a nice header from a free kick that left Serdar rooted to the spot.

Trailing 1 - 0 at half-time but spirits were still high amongst the Gencler fans, probably thanks to a mixture of alcohol and the fact that we are pretty much resigned to being dissapointed on the field. Afterall, might as well enjoy the misery.

Second half and nothing much was happening and while I was in the loo a roar went up and we had drawn level. I didn't manage to see a replay of Oktay's goal so I can't describe what happened.

A few minutes later though Buca went back in front with a nother header and then right at the death they sank the third.

Gencler were pretty bad and if we continue to play this way we don't stand a chance of staying in the top flight. Oh dear, oh dear.

ANKARAGUCU SHOW THEIR 'NEVER SAY DIE' SPIRIT

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Going down 0-1 in the 1st half to a team in top form at the moment is dispiriting under normal circumstances, but Ankaragucu has 'steel' in their play these days and they will not 'lie down' !

ANKARAGUCU 1 Kayserispor 1

Team -

Ozden
Ugur, Aydin, Zewlakov and Klukowski
Hurriyet, Guven, Rajnoch and Sapara
Ozgur and Metin

Substitutes used - Meye, Mehmet Cakir and Adem

We met up in the Beer Bus Bar. This being the last home match punishment, and it is to be hoped, the last one of this season !

Oz Kanka Chris, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Kaleci Kanka Tansu, Dan the Man and Delia (who unfortunately is now back in Romania - hope she will continue to blog from afar and stay in touch with us !). Also present for the first time was Fener Kanka Deniz who admitted loving Ankaragucu almost as much as Fener (can we believe him ??) !!

The match was a cat and mouse affair for the opening 20 minutes or so and then Kayseri struck, and using Eski's old cliche, it was a schoolboy error from the Ankaragucu defence which gifted the goal.

A corner on the right was swung over into the crowded penalty area. Ozden was well positioned and the near post was being guarded, but ..... what about the far post ??!! The ball fell kindly to two unmarked Kayseri players and Cangele said to Serdar .... 'after you young man', and Serdar replied ..... 'thanks mate' as he was blasting the ball past a helpless Ozden.

From this point Kayseri stepped up a gear as if smelling blood and took control with Ankaragucu on the back foot, and thanks to Ozden's heroics thats how it stayed till half time. (Nadeem, you will have to change your opinion of Ozden now me thinks ??!!). Also, if Ozden keeps putting performances in like this it may well be that Senecky will have to fight his way back to the No1 spot !

Umit Bey's half time team talk obviously had the desired effect with Ankaragucu showing more adventure in the 2nd half. The substitution of Meye for Aydin also gave more attacking options for Ankaragucu.

It wasn't long before the equaliser came on 60 minutes and what a peach of a goal it was too. A break out of defence and the ball was fed to Sapara on the left who left Kayseri defenders in his wake. A brief look up, a cut back, and straight to the following up and unmarked Mehmet Cakir who half volleyed the ball into the top right hand corner with Souleymonu helpless and clawing air !

It was end to end stuff now and Meye with a little luck might have scored the winner, but it was not to be.

Still, an excellent fighting performance from Ankaragucu and who knows what they might achieve this season when Vittek and Sestak return from injury.

I have been a critic of Mehmet Cakir in the past, but I have to praise him for the way he took his chance last night. A classic goal.

However, my man of the match was Ozden for his outstanding 1st half performance when Kayseri were running riot. No doubt about it that he saved our arses !

Looking to two weekends later (11/12 September) and another moutain to climb away to Beshiktrash. Last season we may have gone there with trepidation, but not this season !

Details of match day and KO time to follow later in another post or the comments section.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

A QUESTION OF LOYALTY !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Now that the dust has settled on the latest round of Europa Cup matches ..... ho ho ho titter titter titter (Fener and Galatasaray !!!) ....... it is time to turn our eyes to the Champions League.

However, before we do let's just say ...... well done you Reds from Liverpool. Dan the Man and his beautiful daughter Delia were there last night and I'm sure they will have some stories to tell about the experience of watching a match in the Cauldron of The Avni Aker Stadium ?!

As for the Champions League Group matches ...... it will now be very interesting to test Bellshill Kanka Nadeem's loyalty !

We all know that he is now an Ankaragucu Fanatik, and with that comes an obligatory love of Bursaspor. So, come the 29th of September when he makes his way to Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, I wonder what colours he will be wearing ??? Will it be blue or ...... GREEN ???

Waiting with growing interest and impatience for that answer !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim the Inquisitor

All quiet on the Genclerbirligi front

It's a bit scary when the biggest thing to cheer about is a shot on goal, but that's Genclerbirligi recently.

A lovely summer's evening at the Beer Bus for a couple of pre-match drinks with Spine and a couple of new Kankas from the US of A. Michael and his son Taylor were smart enough to show up in red and all set for their first exciting match of football. They didn't get it. Dan the Man, his daughter Delia, Tolga and Avsan then joined us at the stadium.

Genclerbirligi 0 - 0 Gaziantep

Haber Turk newspaper headlined their article on the match as "Where is the football?" Not far wrong as neither team seemed to get out of first gear. Antep were probably the better of the two teams at least forcing Serdar to make some good saves. Gencler had a good chance right at the beginning but as I thought we were playing in white I thought it was Antep attacking and so I have no idea who did what.

Jedinak had a pretty average game as did most others. Harbuzi wasn't looking great and was pulled off at the 35th minute mark. I wonder if there was anything else which forced this substitution.

Have I mentioned we didn't have many shots?

A short cheer of "There's only one Billy Mehmet" went up went he came on late in the second half and he rewarded us with one of the few shots that actually forced a save.

It was all extremely frustrating and ironic cheers of "ole" went up whenever our fullbacks passed the ball to each other.

The half-asleep crowd were woken up when the cry went up "Cavcav, you have to re-inforce the team". Not exactly vicious but then we aren't a vicious bunch of fans.

Post match and off to visit Eski and Battle-Hardened at the Beer Bus. It's all quiet on the Genclerbirligi front... as we settle in for another long season.

HAS ANKARAGUCU TURNED THE CORNER ?

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Dare we believe that Ankaragucu can maintain this form ? Optimistic answers only please !

Manisa 0 ANKARAGUCU 3

OK, I admit it ............. the result was a surprise, but all credit to the team for taking their chances and sticking the ball between the sticks three times.

Team line-up ...

Ozden
Ugur, Aydin, Zewlakow and Klukowsi
Hurriyet, Guven, Sapara and Sestak
Ozgur and Metin

2nd Half Substitutes used - Adem, Rajnoch and Meye

Battle Damaged Kanka and I arrived at The Beer Bus Bar and were 'treated' to watching the 1st half of the Gencler v Antep match. Hey Oz, when is Gencler going to score a bloody goal ???

We then watched Booooorrrrrssssaaaa tear into Galatasaray and send Galatasaray to the bottom of the League with zero points yessssssss. I wonder if Es-Es can continue where Bursa left off next week ??!!

Half way through the Bursa match the Gencler Kankas returned from the Stadium - Oz, Spine, Dan and his beautiful daughter.

We were about to call it a night at the final whistle when Hawkeye Dan noticed that the Ankaragucu match was showing in a pub further down the street. I was a wee bit too inebriated to notice its name !! So off we went there.

At this point, Ankaragucu was 1-0 up, Sestak had opened the scoring in the 1st half.

We had no sooner settled ourselves in our new pub when Ozgur slotted in No2, followed soon after by No3 from Guven. Cue ... break into song ....

lie lie lie lie lie lie Ankaaaaaarrrrrraaaaaaagoooojooooo !!!!

Can't give the details of the goals .... see previous admission ..... too inebriated !!!

We finally poured ourselves out of Sakarya Caddesi well after midnight and I'm writing this with a bloody hangover. However, do I care ? Noooooooo !!!!

Ankaragucu will be at home next week on Friday night to top of the league Kayseri in an empty Stadium. I guess we'll be in that new pub again to watch it. KO time to be announced later by Oz Kanka.

All the best from a buoyant Eski Kanka Jim

A win and a draw for the Ankara teams

Just a short note to say we have had one great victory with Ankaragucu downing Manisa 3-0 and another bore-draw with Gencler taking a point away from their game with Gaziantep 0-0. Reports coming up.

FIRST HALF ..... FAIR WEATHER - SECOND HALF ..... BLACK SEA STORM !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Our initial foreboding proved correct. The Black Sea Storm duly arrived and blew Ankaragucu away !

ANKARAGUCU 0 Trabzonspor 2

The 'Four Muskateers' met up in the Beer Bus Bar to watch 10 man Liverpool almost beat Arrrrrsssssinal but having to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Maniac Kanka Harun, Kaleci Kanka Tansu and I were not our normal cheery and optimistic selves pre-match and on reflection I think we will need more than optimism pills this season !! After two competative matches we are still waiting to see Ankaragucu's first goal of the season !

I was further affected by a wave of pessimism when Maniac Kanka told me that Murat Duruer was in the starting line-up ........ whaaaaaaaat ??!! When is Umit Bey going to wake up to the fact that the team can't afford to carry passengers ?? He did two-fifths of effall last night, apart from taking a couple of throw-ins !!!

The line-up .....

Ozden
Guven, Rajnoch, Zewlakow and Aydin
Hurriyet, Adem, Sestak, Duruer
Meye and Sapara

2nd Half substitutes used - Ozgur, Metin and Kaan

Both teams started the match tentatively which I suppose was understandable when they are both used to playing in front of large noisy crowds. It was an eerie atmosphere which I'm sure affected most of the players.

Both teams parked themselves in midfield and seemed happy enough to spread the ball around and pass it back to the goalkeepers.

The Ankaragucu defence was playing very tight on dangerman Teofilo (destroyer of Bursa last week !) and I was happy enough to see them snuff out the attacks which came their way.

At the other end, Meye was also being kept under control and there was little or no danger to Onur in goal apart from one shot from Sapara which he saved well.

Shortly before the half time whistle Ankaragucu had a stroke of luck when a well struck shot from Burak rebounded off the post with Ozden well beaten. Thankfully it fell to an Ankaragucu defender and was hastily hooked away to safety. An omen of things to come in the 2nd half ?!

Trabzon came out in the 2nd half and moved up a gear. Pressure was being applied and the Ankaragucu defence was having to work overtime. However, to their credit they were coping and trying to bring the ball out of defence rather than hoofing it anywhere.

With 20 minutes to go I would have been extremely happy with a 0-0 result, but I could sense the storm coming.

Trabzon was moving up a further gear and their superior fitness level was beginning to show. They were taking control of the match and Teofilo, Alanzinho, Yattara and Umut were finding more space and causing panic in the defence.

Then the storm arrived and it was 'the predator' Teofilo who did the damage being in the right place at the right time after Alanzinho had opened up the defence for the first goal and then Umut for the 2nd one.

Meye did have a coup;e of efforts on goal towards the end, but there really wasn't any way back for Ankaragucu.

Would Vittek's presence have made a difference to the result ? No, I doubt it ! However, if Umit Bey persists in playing Murat Duruer in his starting line-up I may decide not to buy a Kombine Ticket ...... that is, if we ever have the chance of buying one !!!

So, a clinical and well deserved win for Trabzon. Their striker, Teofilo, will take some stopping this season and may be the piece in the jigsaw that Senol Gunes has been looking for to take Trabzon all the way to the top this season. I for one wouldn't bet against it !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

A dark night for Genclerbirligi

Due to the fact that no one was heading down to Eskisehir for the match I decided to watch at the Beer Bus in Kizilay and whilst the game was crap the company was enjoyable. Saw the last 10 minutes of Sivas' victory over Galatasaray and then settled down for the Gencler match. How wonderful it was when various people asked the bar staff to turn over to the Besiktas match only to be told this was Gencler pub.

Eskisehir 0 - 0 Genclerbirligi

Nothing much was happening for the first four minutes or so and then absolutely nothing happened for the next 16 minutes as the lights at the stadium failed. Strange thing was though that the electronic advertising hoardings were working perfectly.

Lights back on and well, not much of an improvement really. During the whole match we had two decent chances and blew them both. We are clearly in for a long haul this season, especially as Mustafa Pektemek is out for six months.

I thought Harbuzi played okay for while and Ermin Zec was also not bad at times but overall this wasn't a great performance with Gencler relying on counter attacks, including one at the very end (this was sometime after midnight as the match started at 10 pm) which Zec should have at least forced the keeper to make a save, instead it went out.

A dissapointing start, but at least we got a point.

IT'S A SMALL WORLD !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Yes, it is a small world, especially if you support Ankaragucu !

There we were on the Aegean Sea on a boat trip on the Bodrum Peninsula enjoying the 'good life'...... and Eski decides to do one of his stunts, but .... not quite a 'Titanic' stunt !

We arrived at Camel Beach, Near Bagla, and as I was ordering a ..... (Sutas Ayran from the bar ??!!) ....two guys came up to me and asked if they could be photographed with me.

Assuming they were 'tourists', I naturally agreed and it turns out that they were Gecikondu Boys from Kecioren in Ankara ! Small world ?

I didn't get their names due to time constraints, but probably the photos will show up on the Gecikondu Website in due course !

As Dublin Neil said in a previous post comment, it is nigh on impossible to find an Ankaragucu top in Didim or anywhere on the south coast. However, it seems that if you wear one, it might just attract the attention that we deserve, but don't ever receive ?!

Oh yes, and by the way, I didn't fall into the sea and my Ankaragucu top is still in one piece for next year !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

SILVERWARE TO GENCLERBIRLIGI

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Ankara Sportswriters Cup was won by Gencler 8-6 on penalties last night after a tedious 90 minutes of what could only be labelled an early season bore of a match !

The only two occasions when the crowd were roused from their slumber was when it was announced that there would be no extra time, and when Mehmet Cakir, true to form, missed his penalty !

It was a sultry August evening when we met up in the Beer Bus. Dan the Man was first to arrive, and surprise surprise, he wasn't wearing his Liverpool top !

Brat Kankie Laura and I were next, followed by Oz Kanka Chris, Maniac Kanka Harun and Hazal Kankie. Long-term absentee Marash Kanka Hakan was next accompanied by Guzel Kankie Asli and his buddy Serkan.

Off to the Stadium 'in different directions' where we met up with Rip Off Kanka Erman, Yankee Kanka and Huso Kanka.

Quite a large Ankaragucu crowd in the Stadium considering it was a 'friendly' match and in the middle of summer. Gecikondu was full and Maraton was almost full.

Maniac Kanka did a 'head-count' of the Gencler supporters and came up with 'that number again' ............ 39 !!!

As I mentioned previously, it was not a footie match which will stay in the memory. OK, it is early in the season, and lots of new faces were appearing in both teams, but there was little goalmouth action to cause an adrenalin rush !

Both teams had only one serious effort on goal in the 1st half, and but for a great reflex save from Serdar from Aydin's bullet of a header, the result could have been defferent. Meye blasted the rebound high over the bar and that was about it for the 1st half. Yawn yawn !

The 2nd half was played in Gencler's half of the field for the most part, but a combination of good defending and poor finishing resulted in a 0-0 stalemate.

Man of the match, Meye, was full of running and enthusiasm - in fact he reminded me of Bebbe's style of play.

Stanislav and Vittek both looked 'out of sorts' but no doubt they will form a successful partnership with Meye up front when the season gets underway in earnest.

Both defences were solid enough, and Ozden playing his first match for Ankaragucu between the sticks didn't make any mistakes.

Zec for Gencler caught the eye and he gave Guven a few scary moments in the match. Stewart had a quiet match but didn't put a foot wrong. Billy Mehmet came off the bench near the end of the match and showed a few glimpses of his talent. I'm sure he will bag a few goals this season.

Time now for both teams to stand-up and be counted. It would be a comforting thought if I could say that they will be up there challenging at the top of the league this season, but ...... I can't !!

Gencler will be in Eski's City next Saturday for a 10pm KO....... yes, I'll repeat that ........ 10pm ! Oz Kanka is still debating whether to go !

Ankaragucu will be at home on Sunday (7.30pm KO I believe) playing Super Cup Winners Trabzon in an empty Stadium, so we will watch it in the Beer Bus.

Congratulations to Cup Winners Gencler for holding their nerve at the penalty shoot-out. Unlucky Ankaragucu had the lion's share of possession, but they had one big problem ......... Mehmet Cakir !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

.... AND NOW FOR THE BIG YIN

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The 'Curtain Raiser' was played last night and Trabzon gave Bursa a footie lesson and a run-around in the Super Cup Final to win 3-0.

So, tonight it's the main event, the Big Yin, the Ankara TSYD Cup Final !!

The Hurriyet gave the probable teams this morning as .......

Ankaragucu -

Ozden
Ugur, Zewlakow, Rajnoch, Guven
Hurriyet, Sapara, Ozgur Cek, Murat Duruer
Vittek and Mehmet Cakir

Genclerbirligi -

Serdar
Orhan, Curri, Aykut, Alparslan
Cem Atan, Stewart, Jedinak, Hursut
Zec and Billy Mehmet

I'll say a prayer on my way to the match and ask God to put Murat on the bench !!!

Looking forward to next week's match, and last night filled me with dread. Trabzon was in sparkling form and will no doubt have given Umit Bey lottsa food for thought.

Three classic strikers goals from the impressive Teofilo did the damage, but what impressed me was the team effort and their fitness level. Alanzinho is also a 'danger man' and Ankaragucu must be ready for Trabzon to come out of the traps fast next week going for the jugular.

Am I worried ? Damn right I am !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

A new boss at Hacettepe

I wouldn't normally report on such a matter but Hacettepe have a new boss... Suphi Yalcinkaya. As I said I wouldn't normally report on this except for the fact that klasspor.com decided to use a picture of me in their news piece.

As far as I can tell that is Alpine Kanka Wolfgang in the background.

Check it out here

The photo does seem a bit familiar. Have a look at our post from two years ago

And in even better news, the TFF have announced that vuvuzelas have been banned from all matches. Hooray!!!!

Makes you want to cry

Ankaraspor have now been kicked out of all football in Turkey. Careful Ankaragucu, your connections with Gokcek mean you could well be next.

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/spor/futbol/15485821.asp?gid=373