Live radio blogging! Ankaragucu v Istanbul BBS

Pre-match: Things aren't looking great for Ankaragucu. One point after eight matches. I just left the Chopin Bar where I shared a couple of beers with Sir Eski Kanka who was not in the best of moods. He is probably now in the stadium. The big news of the day was broken by Bellshill Kanka a few hours ago... Rajnoch may well have already left the club. More news soon. First I'm going to grab a beer and some Chilli Con Carne which I cooked up last night. Back soonish.

Still pre-match: Please send any comments via twitter @ankaraozkanka or via the comments section below. Last week we had a record three comments during the actual match! Three more than ever before.

7:06 pm: Ohhh yum. I love my Chilli Con Carne. Anyway I assume the Ankaragucu match has kicked off, not that we would know it. Oh yes we do know it as they have just crossed to the 19 Mayis.

7:08 pm A coldish night in Ankara. And yes, Bellshill Kanka was right. No Rajnoch.

7:12 pm It seems as if both sides have had a chance but the first goal comes from the other match this evening. Besiktas has gone 1-0 up over Sivas. In matches earlier today: Galatasaray 2-0 Kayserispor and Bursaspor 0-0 Manisa.

7:21 pm Not much news from TRT radio. As always they are concentrating on the Besiktas match. Tha Ankaragucu fans sound like they are in good voice though.

7:23 pm Lucky chance for Ankaragucu as an Istanbul player got through but hit it out when he was almost one-on-one with Gucu's keeper Ozden.

7:27 pm GOAL!!!! Hurriyet scores with a header. Ankaragucu 1 - 0 Istanbulspor A great team effort as the ball went through various players. Could this be Ankaragucu's first win of the season?

7:31 pm Short but sweet message from Sir Eski at the match "Guven up front works".

7:32 pm Gucu's Ugur gets a red card for handball in the box. Penalty to come. Huge boos from the crowd and.............. SAVED. Ozden saves and a huge roar goes up. Ankaragucu are now down to 10 men though. Sir Eski says that the ball was going in if it hadn't been for the hand ball.

7:36 pm Looks like Ankaragucu are going to spend the rest of the match defending the lead as Sir Eski informs us that Guven has come back to cover the now Ugur who is now enjoying an early bath and an Efes.

7:43 pm Oh dear as Istanbul get an equaliser. Istanbul seem to be attacking, as have Ankaragucu but TRT were following the Istanbul match. No idea what happened but the score is now Ankaragucu 1 - 1 Istanbul BBS. This is going to be a long, tough match. The commentator says Istanbul are now all over them.

7:52 pm Half-time in both matches: Ankaragucu 1 - 1 Istanbulspor, Besiktas 1 - 0 Sivasspor. The round ball in Ankara's resident gambling expert Little Oz Kanka Matthew predicts that Istanbulspor will score another goal and win. Get onto those betting sites people and FILL YOUR BOOTS!

8:05 pm Gucu's Kaan goes on for Tisdal as the second half kicks off. Tisdal off? The only recognised striker! This could be a very long 45 minutes.

8:07 pm Oh dear, TRT Radio got the replacement wrong. It wasn't Tisdal off but in fact it was Ergen Keles. How hopeless can these guys be. The commentator said it was because he was confused by the Istanbul BBS substitution, which was the same number. Thing is, Tisdal is black, Keles certainly is not. Surely not too difficult to see that the only black player for Ankaragucu hadn't been replaced.

8:11 pm Some more messages from Sir Eski: "Goal was a typical Ankaragucu defensive mix up. But have to say I saw it coming. It's looking dangerous now." and a few minutes later. "This is the first time Eski has been on his own since 1999, Sad." Indeed. Where are you Ankaragucu kankas?

And one more: "Having problems getting out of our own half"

I think those depressive messages sum it all up. I now have to put Little Oz Kanka to bed. Back soon.

8:17 pm Good news from the other match, Sivas has equalised.

8:18 pm Sir Eski has been joined by Yankee Kanka. Ah now I feel less sorry for the old bugger. Right, now to put Little Oz to bed.

8:27 pm Little Oz is in bed and Sir Eski says Ozden deserves man of the match. A few minutes later the message is short and sweet: "Panic Stations. Man lifeboats!" Says it all really.

8:34 pm In Istanbul, Besiktas have been given a penalty and they score. Besiktas 2 - 1 Sivas

8:36 pm In all the excitement of putting Little Oz to bed I missed Battle Damaged Kanka Damon's message that Istanbul have brought on former Gucu player Metin Akan.

8:43pm "It's grim stuff. Not pretty to watch". I don't need to write anything. Sir Eski is writing this blog via text message.

8:45 pm Goal. Istanbul go on the attack. Ankaragucu try to clear but fail and in a sort of confusion in the box an Istanbul player scores from 10 metres out. It was coming. Ankaragucu 1 - 2 Istanbul BBS

8:48 pm The anger is rising at the 19 Mayis as Sir Eski reports that seats are being ripped up and thrown. @kankanadeem (on twitter, or Bellshill kanka as we know him a bit better) says: "Im starting the campaign to get ziya dogan out, 1 shot on goal even with ten men is pathetic". Somehow I think that particular campaign could get quite a few supporters after this match. By the way, Battle Damaged hasn't purposely not gone to the match, he is ill. And in Istanbul Besiktas have gone up 3-1.

8:52 pm Last seconds in the match, Istanbul are still ahead. And then ... beep, beep, beep. Final result: Ankaragucu 1 - 2 Istanbul BBS. This is Bad, bad, bad stuff for Ankaragucu. Nine played, no wins, one draw. No wonder the seats are flying at the stadium. @kankanadeem writes on twitter, "another defeat due to dreadful defending, sending offs and an inept manager. Get him out now !!!!!" Hard to disagree.

Post match: The pain and the frustration in the messages from the Ankaragucu kankas is quite obvious. Here's Battle Damaged "Well, looks like the Uğur red did not pay off. We can't even fucking manage a single point. So sad." I see Battle Damaged has already commented below and no doubt we shall get a few more some time soon. Sir Eski will probably want to calm down a bit before he jumps on here. Evening all.

Ankaragucu v Istanbul BBS match preview

Ankaragucu coach Ziya Dogan explains his tactics on how to beat Istanbul BBS on Sunday night.

ANKARAGUCU - STARING INTO THE ABYSS !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Another day, another defeat. So, what's new ?

Last night Ankaragucu laboured their way through their 8th league match without a recognised striker and the writing on the wall is now there for all to see, if you haven't noticed already. With only Tonia showing any danger to the Manisa defence, he was banging his head against a brick wall !

Manisa 2 Ankaragucu 0

Team -

Bora
Ugur, Ediz, Aydin and Guven
Weeks, Kagan and Rajnoch
Umit and Ozgur
Tonia

Substitutes used - Atilla, Serdar and Murat

Battled Damaged Kanka Damon, Kaleci Kanka Tansu and I met in The Red Lion Club to watch the match more in hope than expectation. My pre-match prediction of a stalemate was looking good and I was thinking that, under the present circumstances, one point would be acceptable.

Well, my prediction was blown (not for the first time as Oz Kanka mentioned in the previous post) 10 minutes before the break when Ozgur had a rush of blood to the head when he decided to upend a Manisa player at the edge of the penalty area when there was no danger of the player doing any damage. Penalty !

What he was thinking about only he knows ! 'Olde Boy' Murat Erdogan stepped forward and despatched it with clinical precision.

No way back for Ankaragucu without a strike force I thought, and once again so it proved.

The 2nd goal arrived halfway through the 2nd half and once again we witnessed schoolboy defending. The ball was played out of the Manisa half with 3 forwards chasing the ball. There was only ONE Ankaragucu defender on the half way line and he was left behind trailing in the wake of the 3 attackers as they played one-twos towards Bora. He had no chance with Yigit slotting in for a simple goal to kill the game.

Yigit celebrated the goal by removing his shirt and 5 minutes later he received another yellow card and off he went for an early bath !

Could this be the springboard for an Ankaragucu onslaught against the 10 men we thought ? Answer ............ NO ! Without any significant support up front, Tonia tried a few long range efforts which were off target and Serdar had a shot near the final whistle which hit the post.

Manisa is a team in the same category as last week's opponents, Ordu. Efficient, but average, and this puts this Ankaragucu team's league position into perspective !

I honestly can't see any light at the end of the tunnel for this Ankaragucu team unless it is significantly strengthened in the January transer window. It may even be too late at that stage unless a few wins are put together before then.

So, no need to mention how important Sunday's match is against Istanbul BBS. Meeting in The Chopin at 5pm and going to the Stadium at 6pm for the 7pm KO.

Say a prayer for Ankaragucu !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Gencler get to the midtable!

The death toll on Turkey's roads almost increased by at least one yesterday as I was driving to the school and listening to Radyo ORTU. "And tonight is the Super Lig's first derby match of the season as Fenerbahce take on Besiktas". WTF! Gencler played Ankaragucu weeks ago. At least that match was between teams from the same continent.

Genclerbirligi 1 - 0 Kayserispor

Midweek games were with us again last night in the squished-up season we have this year thanks to the league starting late after all the allegations that Fener bought their title last year. Those investigations are continuing, and who knows when it will end. The long and short of it was that the TFF put the Gencler game on the same night as my darts match. A quick trip outside and I decided it was way too cold to go to the stadium and so we watched at the Red Lion.

Gencler came out attacking and whilst it wasn't brilliant football it was Gencler who were getting the shots in. Only problem was that the shots were going straight to the Kayseri keeper.

We should have been 1-0 up after about 10 minutes when Ermin Zec sent a ball in to Azofeifa. About 10 metres out, right in front of goal and Azo hit it hard, and straight at the keeper. It was one of those that you score 95 per cent of the time. Much knashing of teeth and tearing of beard at the RLC.

As I said it wasn't great football and there were plenty of passages where nothing was happening.

Second half and the Ankaragucu kankas started piling in to the club for their match later on and Gencler had a few more chances. Again, they were going straight to the keeper.

Then on about the 70th Sir Eski Kanka said his magic words. "This one is going to finish a bore draw".

Hursut found Tum down the right, Tum sent the ball in to the box where Oktay headed it back for Soner who smashed it and this time it wasn't at the keeper! 1-0.

A couple of scary moments towards the end with our keeper pulling off a couple of nice saves but Gencler survived. We were the better team last night and deserved the win. It was then time for darts and the Manisa-Ankaragucu match. More about the latter a bit later on once Sir Eski calms down.

Ankaragucu vs Manisaspor Match Preview !

Ankaragucu travel to Manisaspor tomorrow hoping to win our first three points of the season. The last time the two sides met ended in a 3-1 win in Ankara for Manisaspor. Two late goals from Mehmet Guven sealed the victory after Metin Akan had equalised from an early Kahe strike.

The last time Ankaragucu travelled to Manisa we won 3-0 with goals from Stanislav Sestak, Ozgur Cek and Goal of the Season from Guven Varol, who can forget the sublime control before volleying the ball into the top corner. Even the Manisa fans gave a standing ovation.

Manisaspor have had a good start to the season and find themselves on a three match winning run. Victories against Samsunspor, Karabukspor and Eskisehirspor see them in 8th place in the league. There Key Players who will need to be watched are Yigit Incidemir, Josh Simpson, Mehmet Guven and the very quick and powerfull Nigerian Striker Isaac Promise. Former Ankaragucu defender Michael Klukowski will also play in the game.

Ankaragucu go into the game without Hurriyet Gucer who is suspended. Ozden Ongun and Turgut Dogan Sahin did not travel with the squad as they are both injured, so it looks like Jarioslav Cerny will make his full debut. Time is running out and the team need to start winning. If we see a repeat of the performance against Trabzon then we can take three points. But its more likely the performance against Orduspor that disappointed that will be on show. Tonia needs service to his feet and not high balls like he had to deal with on Sunday. Its time for the midfield to step up and take some responsibility and the defence to cut out the silly mistakes.

My predictions is a 2-0 win for Manisaspor. Sorry Kankas but I just cant see us winning any time soon.

Some good news from today is that President Erdogan and Melih Gokcek have both said work will start on the new stadium soon. They are talking about the site been on Old Eskisehir Road. Anyone else heard anything similar?

UPCOMING FIXTURES FOR THIS WEEK

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

With a busy week of footie coming up, the fixtures are as follows -

Thursday 27 October - KO 6pm - Gencler v Kayseri
Thursday 27 October - KO 8.30pm - Manisa v Ankaragucu

Sunday 30 October - KO 7pm - Ankaragucu v Istanbul BBS

Monday 31 October - KO 8pm - Mersin v Gencler

Dealing with the Thursday matches first. Oz Kanka has a darts match in The Red Lion Club that night and will be watching the Gencler match there. He also said that we can watch the Ankaragucu match there too since he is on The Committee. As you know, the BJK v FB is also at the same time as the Ankaragucu match so it will be difficult to find a place in Kizilay to watch the Ankaragucu match. A great decision by Oz Kanka and any Ankaragucu kankas attending should buy him a beer for his great decision making !!!

I'll try and get to the Club as early as possible on Thursday to watch the Gencler match. See you there for what is must win matches for Gencler AND Ankaragucu.

As for Sunday, we will meet as usual in The Chopin from 5pm.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - LOSING THE PLOT ..... AGAIN !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

After all the euphoria of last weeks' performance in Trabzon, it was 'as you were' again last night in Ankara. Ankaragucu's capitulation to an efficient, but average, Orduspor was disturbing. On last night's performance we can look forward to Thursday night's match away to Manisa with trepidation (and without the inspirational leadership of Captain Hurriyet !).

Ankaragucu 0 Orduspor 2

Team -

Bora
Guven, Aydin, Rajnoch and Ozgur
Serdar, Weeks, Hurriyet and Kagan
Tonia and Turgut

Substitutes used - Atilla, Cerny and Murat

It was all smiles though when Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I met up at The Chopin Bar with yours truly predicting a 2-0 win for Ankaragucu, and that without optimism pills !

Off to the Stadium where we met up with Cider Kanka John, Yankee Kanka and Huso Kanka. A fantastic turn-out for a team propping up the league with all the tribunes (including Ordu's) full.

Ankaragucu started fairly slowly in comparision to last week and the match was finely balanced for the first 15 minutes, until 'olde boy' Fatih Tekke pounced on a howler of a mistake in the Ankaragucu penalty area. The ball was crossed from the right to left and then crossed into the danger area with Bora and Rajnoch well placed to clear the danger. However, with Bora poised to collect the ball and make a routine save, Rajnoch decided to stick his foot out to intercept and the ball broke to Fatih who walked it in for probably the easiest goal he's ever scored !

Where was the communication between Bora and Rajnoch, and who was at fault ? No matter. The damage was done and Ordu's tail was up.

Ordu saw out the half easily and their tall defenders had the measure of the diminutive Tonia and Serdar for all the high balls and corners which were floated in, more in hope than anything else. It was not difficult to see why Ordu has the best defensive record in the League !

The 2nd half was barely a few minutes old when another calamity struck. With an Ordu attacker put through in the penalty box and lining up a shot, it appeared that he was brought down by Hurriyet. From our angle on the opposite side of the Stadium it looked like Hurriyet climbed all over him and brought him down. The referee obviously agreed with that assessment and brought out his red card for Hurriyet and pointed to the spot. Stancu sent Bora the wrong way and then it was two.

btw, shortly after this incident, a friend phoned to say that, having watched the replay, it was not a penalty. Small comfort for Hurriyet unless the TFF decide to rescind his red card, but on past form, that is unlikely.

From this point in the match depression set-in and how it remained at 0-2 only God knows ! Ankaragucu threatened to score only once when Tonia came bursting through, but he delayed his shot for a fraction of a second which made his angle more acute. Fornezzi saved his first effort and his 2nd effort from the re-bound was cleared.

Into the last 5 minutes and Gecikondu and the Ordu Fans decided to have a 'love-in' singing each others songs back and forth to each other. Comical, but it certainly beats the shit out of throwing insults and other more dangerous objects !!

So to Thursday and Ankaragucu travel to a much improved Manisa team from last season. Sitting pretty in 6th position, they also have a good defensive record and Ankaragucu will need to put in a vastly improved perfomance to break it down. Still waiting for the KO time which I'll put in the comments section of this post when known. Watching the match in The Chopin.

Ankaragucu is beginning to lose touch with the teams in the relegation zone. As if it wasn't obvious, the future looks bleak !

btw, Damon mentioned on Facebook today that Gecikondu and Maraton turned their backs to play in the 2nd half for about 5 minutes in a 'mini protest'. You will no doubt be pleased to hear that we didn't join them ??!! I personally think that this type of behaviour is counter productive to players morale. A better form of 'protest' would be to shout encouragement to the players for more effort, or is that being too logical. Agreed ??

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Gaziantep v Genclerbirligi: Live radio blogging

Preview: Out all day and so couldn't make it to the Beer Bus for the match so tried to find a stream on the web. No luck so off to the radio. Of course with Fenerbahce playing there isn't going to much time for TRT 1 to devote to Gaziantep - Genclerbirligi.

7:04 pm (Turkish time)Herve Tum up front ?

7:15 Off the keeper Ramazan and then whacked in. 1-0 after 13 minutes. Gaziantep 1 - 0 Genclerbirligi

7:19 Gencler get a penalty!

7:20 Arrrrggghhh Keeper saves. I'm not sure who took the shot. Attack continues.

7:27 No idea what is happening as they are concentrating on the Fener match. No surprises really but it does make it difficult to call this a riveting live radio blog.

7:33 Ohh, we are back. Erdal Tum got the ball into the net but was offside. Oktay seems to have been given a yellow card (this all happened some time in the last 13 minutes. Both sides have had chances but none taken. Still 1-0 to Antep.

7:37 Hursut fouled in a decent position. Nothing happens in the end.

Fact: Gaziantep haven't won at home since 7 May 2010.

7:40 Radio goes back to Fener-Samsun. I'm off for a fag. The cigarette type.

7:48 Yep, just my luck... whilst having a fag Antep scored. No idea what happened.

7:48 Azofeifa has a shot and it was just saved. Ref blows for half-time. Gaziantepspor 2 - 0 Genclerbirligi

7:51 In the other match it is Fener 0 - 0 Samsun. Earlier today scores: Ankaragucu 0 - 2 Orduspor, Kayserispor 6 - 2 Sivasspor That sounds like a fun game to have watched. Not that I did of course. I was out umpiring cricket matches in Kecioren.

7:56 Commentator gives his half-time report: Antep could well extend their lead in the second half... that's it, oh and that Gencler were very disappointed to not score from the penalty. Really? Pathetic commentary.

8:08 Second half has kicked off. By the way, if anyone is actually reading this as it is happening, a big if, you can send me any questions, comments etc. either below the line or on twitter. I'm @ankaraozkanka

8:17 Oh dear. Antep have gone three up. Seems as if it was a great attack, not that they have described it. These live radio blogs were so much more fun a few years ago when Lig TV had a radio feed for every match on their website. Now it is all TRT. I'm depressed in so many ways. Gaziantep 3 - 0 Genclerbirligi

8:24 A comment! During the actual match! A first for everything. "I'm following ya, Oz Kanka," says Jeremy. "I guess my biggest comment/question is how can Gençler bounce back? It's probably too late for the game, but I mean for this start to the season. They have earned only 1 point on the road so far this season and their defense has allowed the lowest scoring team in the league to score 3 goals." Interesting points Jeremy which would deserve a decent response from myself but I refuse to discuss football with people who spell defence with an "s". Hope that clears things up. Now I'm back to listening to TRT's Fener commentary.

8:33 The radio crosses to the Gencler match, Hursut has had a few chances according to the commentator and finally we have brought on Ermin Zec. Why oh why we started with Herve Tum I have no idea. Oh, that's it, back we go to the Fener match.

8:43 Radio still on the other match so back to Jeremy who has rightly seen the light. "Fair enough, Öz Kanka. I'll try to stick with British spellings from now on," says Jeremy. "In either case, I strongly prefer your commentary to that of the jokers on tv. Wish we could your live audio commentary, but maybe the internet isn't quite ready for that." Careful what you wish for Jeremy. I'm sure it won't be too long before Sir Eski Kanka Jim and me end up doing a live internet radio broadcast. I'm sure people would love it... Probably wouldn't be a safe for children sort of thing though. By the way, I was just about to put a link here to Jeremy's blog until I saw how he spelt my name. I'm not "Öz Kanka" I'm "Oz Kanka".

8:50 Sir Eski Kanka is back from today's Ankaragucu match and comments below. "Another weekend of wailing and knashing of teeth in Ankara. The Ankaragucu v Ordu report will be up tomorra night. It will be short and not very complimentary towards Ankaragucu !!!" So that's something to look forward to! Still no commentary on the Antep-Gencler match.

8:54 And off we go to the Antep-Gencler match where we are given the news that the final whistle has blown. So that's it. Full time Gaziantepspor 3 - 0 Genclerbirligi. Afraid I can't really say very much. This was perhaps the worst radio broadcast I have heard on TRT. First half we got a bit of our match, second half bugger all.

Thanks for the thousands of e-mails, twitter messages etc. I'm so sorry I didn't have the time to reply to you all. Fener - Samsun are still playing 0-0 but I being a dedicated chronicler of Turkish football I really can't be bothered to listen to the last couple of minutes of that one. Oh, it has just finished, 0 - 0.

One more thing. Follow Jeremy on twitter on @asimbey

Ankaragucu vs Orduspor Match Preview !

Picture taken from AA

This Sunday we will see Ankaragucu play host to newly promoted Orduspor. In Pre Season the two teams drew 1-1 and Ankaragucu were fancied to finish above Orduspor with the exciting squad we had built and won the Ankara Cup. Few months on and how things have changed.

Ankaragucu sit at the bottom of the table with the draw against Genclerbirligi our only point to date. Orduspor on the other hand are 5th at the moment and look to be holding there own in the Super Lig.

We have discussed what Orduspor are doing off the park the last couple of days, but on the park they are also making a few people take note. Players such as Bogdan Stancu, Juan Culio, Wilfred Dalmat and of course Fatih Tekke who played for Ankaragucu last season. They have only lost one game this season and that was the opening match at Fenerbahce 1-0.

Since then Orduspor have went on a run and include victories over Manisaspor, Karabukspor and a 2-1 win at home to Eskisehirspor last week thanks to goals from Bogdan Stancu and Juan Culio. Ordu are well organised and hard to break down, while there front man are taking there chances. Something which Ankaragucu have struggled with from the start of the season.

Ankaragucu have shown signs of encouragement the last couple of games, a battling display against Galatasaray was followed up with our performance of the season where we were so unlucky not to take a point at Trabzonspor. See Jim's match report for more details on that.

The question is, which Ankaragucu will show up ? The one who looked dreadful at home to Sivasspor, or the one which took the game to Trabzonspor on there own ground ? If its the later then there is no question we have enough to win this game. Theo Weeks was outstanding in his last match and if he can produce that type of performance very week then we have a very good young player on our hands. Tonia as usual will be our danger man with his pace, and he needs help from Turgut and his fellow midfielder's.

Tough game but i'm going with my heart and going for a 2-1 win for Ankaragucu !

Orduspor Show Ankaragucu how its done off the field ?

http://www.since1910.net/Haber/orduspor-un-kurumsal-yuzu

Took this article from the Anti X website and found it a very interesting read. You may be wondering what has this got to do with Ankaragucu and Genclerbirligi? Well with the current state we are in at the moment it has everything to do with us.

Orduspor are back in the Super Lig after a long absence and they don't intend on just making up the numbers. They have added players like Juan Culio, Bogdan Stancu and ex Ankaragucu striker Fatih Tekke to there squad. But its what they are doing off the football pitch that is very interesting.

Their management are very ambitious and are doing everything they can to bring in extra revenue and grow the clubs name. They had sales days in Ordu where people could buy season tickets, they have their main website in English, an official club magazine, Orduspor supporter cards and a mobile telephone deal that makes the club money too. On top of that they have plans to build a new stadium.

I'm sure you will all agree what the club is doing is nothing short of fantastic and we can only wonder what Ankaragucu would be like if our management had the same ideas. Orduspor have even opened up its own Club Shops while Ankaragucu still lag behind with the one small shop at Tandogan. Not good enough !!

A weekend when too much sport is never enough

Saturday morning off to Balgat for Little Oz Kanka's football match, then straight to the Red Lion Club to watch a very unlucky Wales go down to France in the rugby, then it was off to Kecioren for Little Oz Kanka's cricket match and then I had to umpire a couple of Under 13s cricket matches. Quite a sporting day, followed by - Sunday morning off to Kecioren for Little Oz Kanka's cricket match, then to the Red Lion Club to watch Australia get beaten by a far superior Kiwi side (oh how it pains me to say that, but it was true) and then off to watch Genclerbirligi... phew, quite a weekend.

Genclerbirligi 3 - 0 Antalyaspor

Spine, French Kanka Hande and Little Oz Kanka joined me at the Beer Bus at about 1pm for what was not my first beer of the day. With just a bit of a cloudy brain off we went to the stadium, minus French Kanka who preferred to go home to do some cleaning.

One of the best things about having bugger all supporters is that we can time our arrival at the stadium to a T. We showed up just in time to hear the national anthemn and still we got excellent seats. All up I'd say about three to four thousand at the match. Not many, but we did make ourselves heard, especially since we took the lead in the fourth minute.

It was all a bit scrappy but these things need a decent build up and that was what we got when Hursut sent the ball into the box. I think it was Oktay who got to it but he didn't get the ball cleanly and instead it was an Antalya player who did... and put the ball into his own net. As I said scrappy but we were as over the moon.

Gencler continued to attack and it was quite exhilarating for us fans as they actually showed some promise. This was not the Gencler of a couple of weeks ago. Great attacks and some brilliant defending had Antalya on the back foot for the entire 90 minutes. Our coach Fuat Capa got his own chant from the fans towards the end of the match because he had obviously banged into our players the importance of keeping the ball and defending hard. My only criticism, which Spine also pointed out during the match is that our man up front today, Herve Tum, just doesn't seem to fit in, especially with through balls from people like Azofeifa, Erdal or Hursut being lost completely because Tum clearly doesn't have the speed to get to them. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself a touch.

It wasn't long before Gencler went 2-0 up after Azofeifa sent a ball over the top to Aykut just inside the box. he hit it with a fair amount of power and Antalya's keeper Omer didn't have a clue. In fact he probably could have saved it, but obviously he couldn'T be bothered.

As the Gencler fans started chanted Uç, Uç, Uç, someone sent a ball through to Oktay who managed to get away from a defender and found himself one-on-one with Omer. No worries as Oktay slid it in. 3- 0 after just 33 minutes. This was great stuff.

There were no more goals but plenty of chances and the football from Gencler was great. One problem we did have was the failure of the forwards to actually take chances as they came to them. Some brilliant chances deserved to have been taken but too often than not the Gencler players didn't back themselves and instead went for a pass.

Still, I can't complain much. All up it was a great match. The Gencler defence was excellent with Aykut and Curri in complete control. Hursut was his usual enigmatic self and Oktay in midfield/up front put his all in.

Antalya may not be the best team in the league but if we beat these type of teams we won't be worrying at the end of the season.

ANKARAGUCU - ALMOST, BUT .... NOT QUITE !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Ankaragucu returned to Ankara empty handed after putting on an excellent performance last night. Had Lady Luck contrived to be present in Trabzon, it just might have been a different story. However, facts are facts, and Ankaragucu still find themselves propping up the League today.

Trabzonspor 3 Ankaragucu 2

Team -

Ozden
Ugur, Ediz, Aydin and Ozgur
Kagan, Hurriyet, Rajnoch and Weeks
Tonia and Turgut

Substitutes - Guven, Atilla and Cerny

The Four Kankas met in The Chopin Bar for pre-match 'refreshments'. Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Cider Kanka John and Simon (Aston Villa supporter -brave man !). Also, a large Ankaragucu contingent was present and all fired up singing and shouting (just like being in the Stadium !).

So, Ankaragucu came out at the KO and was full-on into attacking mode and it was 30 minutes on the clock before Ozden had a save to make.

But, the first goal arrived on the 20 minute mark and what a goal it was too. Turgut collected the ball on the left, beat 2 defenders and curled the ball round another defender into the right corner of the the goal for a great individual goal. (Damon commented that Turgut had probably been studying David Villa videos !!)

Trabzon was not to be denied though, and despite a shot which rebounded off the crossbar, they finally equalised 5 minutes from half time when Pawel received a cut-back from the left and walked the ball in with Ozden helplessly exposed.

Half time, and my thoughts ............ Ankaragucu unlucky not to be in the lead.... and impressed with Turgut's workrate after some early season poor perfomances.

Into the 2nd half and Trabzon was gradually coming into the match and beginning to take control. Then, 10 minutes in and almost a break-through for Trabzon when Ozden made a great save from a goal-bound shot and the rebound headed off the line by ...... couldn't see which defender was the hero !

Then on the 60th minute, and against the run of play, Ankaragucu fashioned a breakaway of their own when Weeksie took a long ball played out to him with the Trabzon defence caught napping. He rounded Tolga and slotted in. Cue ..... The Chopin breaks into song and we are all sensing a great victory.

Grrrrrrr ............ 5 minutes later and the 2nd equaliser arrived when Celustka was given too much time, with no tackles coming in, to deflate us.

To their credit, Ankaragucu didn't go into their shell and protect the one point. Ankaragucu still pressed forward, but in the end another dead-ball situation was their downfall.

With 10 minutes to go and the match finely balanced, they conceded a free kick just outside the penalty box. Burak probably saw a space in the 'fragile' wall and curled his free kick into the right corner to win the match.

A real sickner at the end and we could see the disappointment on the faces of the Ankaragucu players at the final whistle.

However, this Ankaragucu team bereft of its star players, can take heart from this performance. The Ordu match next Sunday can be viewed with optimism on this showing.

Down, yes, but not out ............. yet !

You can be sure that the Stadium will be full next Sunday ...... and ...... the kankas will be there to see our first win of the season.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu vs Trabzonspor Match Preview !

Sunday's Friday's match will see Marek Sapara take on his former club as Trabzonspor host Ankaragucu. Robert Vittek will miss the match with another long term injury.

Last seasons matches between the two clubs saw Trabzonspor win 2-0 in Ankara thanks to Two goals from Teofilio Gutierrez. The return match in Trabzon saw the home side take the lead through Jaja Coelho, but Ankaragucu fought back through a well taken goal from Drago Gabric.

A lot has changed since then, with Trabzonspor loosing a lot of there key players like Umut Bulut, Jaja Coelho, Ibrahim Yattara and Selcuk Inan to name a few, they have been able to replace them though with players like Didier Zokora, Volkan Sen, Paulo Henrique and of course Marek Sapara to name a few.

Trabzonspor are starting to hit a bit of form now, and look much better than they did in the first few weeks. A fantastic win at Inter Milan in the San Siro was followed up with a draw at home to Lille in the champions league, and last weeks 2-0 win at Eskisehirspor showed they mean business.

Key players for Trabzonspor are Burak Yilmaz who is the leagues top scorer with 7 Goals in 4 games, and new Polish signing Andre Mierzejewski who looks a real find with his pace and skill causing problems for defenders.

Ankaragucu although full of spirit in the last game against Galatasaray need to cut out the silly goals from set pieces, and goals we loose from counter attacks. Our Key player again will be Ozden who has been on great form this season, and we will need big performances from the likes of Jan Rajnoch and Tonia Tisdell.

Its going to be tough and unfortunately i cant see this poor run stopping here, a comfortable win for Trabzonspor is all i can see from Sundays game.

The one thing I would like to add is that although we are in big trouble this season, and the football on show is hard to watch, the club needs us, the fans need to stick behind the team and encourage them, who knows what can happen. If we can show the same commitment that we did against Galatasaray but tighten up at the back and finish our chances then nothing is impossible. As the great man Marvin Andrews once said KEEP BELIEVING !

FIXTURES RELEASED

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The fixtures for next weekend have been released.

Friday 14 October KO 8pm - Trabzon v Ankaragucu

Sunday 16 October KO 3pm - Gencler v Antalya

As we long suffering Ankara supporters know, there are no 'easy' matches in the Super League, so we take nothing for granted anymore.

Everyone is agreed that Ankaragucu doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of 'escaping' from Trabzon with anything. However, if they show the same commitment and effort that they did against Galatasaray then anything is possible. Agreed ???!!!

We shall watch that match in The Chopin and meeting there for pre-match drinkies between 6 and 7pm.

Oz Kanka will be sending out a mailie soon with details about meeting for the Gencler match.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU - HIGH ON ENDEAVOUR, BUT ......

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

NO CUTTING EDGE !!

As expected, Galatasaray won last night with one clinical well taken goal, one fantastic own-goal and a penalty.

Ankaragucu 0 Galatasaray 3

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo and I met up in The Chopin and spent more time discussing The Rugby World Cup than discussing Ankaragucu's chances of creating an upset ! We were later joined by Cider Kanka John (he does a great West Country accent and he's a World Famous authority on Cider !). We also had a flying visit from Smart Arse Kanka Dave and his beautiful wife Suzanne (I refuse to call her Mrs Smart Arse Kankie !).

Off then to a full capacity Stadium with Gecikondu again in fine form with their usual repertoire of songs and dances. btw, I'm pleased to report that peace has been declared between Gecikondu and Anti-X with BOTH tribunes joining in the 'Bursa Song' on 16 minutes !

Team -

Ozden
Ugur, Aydin, Ediz and Ozgur
Kagan and Hurriyet
Rajnoch and Turgut
Ergin and Tonia

Substitutes - Guven and Umut

It was pretty much end to end stuff for the first 10 minutes with both teams sizing each other up. Then one of Ankaragucu's many weaknesses resurfaced, ie, defending dead balls.

The ball was whipped in from the left touchline from a free kick to the danger area where Rajnoch and an attacker went for it. We couldn't see clearly who got the bullet of a header in at the time to send the ball into the corner of the net, but it was Rajnoch.

I had been hoping that Ankaragucu could hold out until half time to put pressure on Galatasaray for the 2nd half, but the goal lifted Galatasaray and they began to dictate things.

10 minutes later the writing was on the wall when another of Ankaragucu's weaknesses was exposed. It was an Ankaragucu corner and there was nobody covering any clearance on the 18 yard line and in the channel behind it. Golden opporunity for Galatasaray to exploit it which they did in clinical fashion with a breakaway which left Ozden with no chance as Kazim slotted in for a well taken goal.

Ankaragucu was well and truly on the back foot now with Galatasaray in full cry and Galatasaray always seemed to have a man spare with their excellent running off the ball and finding space for the pass which was giving the Ankaragucu defence the runaround.

The half time whistle came as a relief with no further damage inflicted.

When Ankaragucu came out for the 2nd half they were given a standing ovation by Gecikondu in recognition of their endeavours and a call to will them on for the 2nd half.

I have to admit that the players did respond and all credit to them for not folding, but Galatasaray still had control of the match and but for some heroics from Ozden could have increased their lead.

Some of the Ankaragucu players were tiring and another weakness reared its head. Some of the players don't look fit enough for 90 minutes, ie, Turgut and Ergin who both struggled to make any impression throughout. It is quite obvious that they are out of their depth at this level, but what other options does Ziya Bey have ? Hasn't he been handed the poisoned chalice ?? I'm stuffed for an answer !

Ankaragucu can feel aggrieved that a penalty wasn't given on 75 minutes when there was a clear handball in the area. Perhaps I should have been refereeing instead of Mr Aydinus ??!!

However, a penalty came at the other end with 5 minutes to go and I suppose we can't argue with that decision. Baros despatched it and the Ankaragucu supporters headed for the exits.

Man of the Match was a difficult one with Ozden in the frame alongside Ugur who ran himself into the ground in defence and joining in attack when necessary. Hurriyet played a captain's role but was defending most of the match. Also, I musn't forget Tonia who was everywhere and never gave up the fight. In fact, he almost scored at the end but was a whisker away from connecting with a cross. So, Tonia gets my vote, for tying to play his own game, and at the same time, compensating for the inadequacies of Turgut and Ergin.

I don't want to criticise Ziya Bey who is on a hiding to nothing, but he really must sort out another option in the attack alongside Tonia otherwise the 'goals for' column in the League Table is going to remain static !

5 matches in now and still on ONE point. Is it time to hit the pancic button yet ? Away to Trabzon in 2 weeks time ............. arrrrrrghhhhh !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU DON'T DISAPPOINT

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Only Bellshill Kanka Nadeem had high expectations (no doubt high on optimism pills !!) but Damon and I were not for being fooled !

It was my intention to paste and copy Oz Kanka's report, changing the names of course, and giving him credit, but .............. after reading his report it seems I'll have to try and think up some excuses for our defeat tomorrow !

Ankaragucu 0 Galatasaray 3

Actually, no excuses will be forthcoming. Report tomorra sometime.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

A weekend best to get away from Ankara

All my plans to watch at the Bursa-Gencler match came to nothing when Mrs. Oz Kanka dragged me off to the Lucerne Festival Strings. A lovely night and in the end and once I had seen the score I was glad I didn't watch the match.

Bursaspor 4 - 0 Genclerbirligi

Having not seen the match and then subsequently heading off to Kerkenes to check out the archaeological digs there (one person took a look at my new beard and asked if I worked there) I haven't read anything about the match and therefore can say nothing.

All except for the fact that it wasn't much of a surprise. I'll be back in the groove for the next round of matches.