A letter from Darius Vassell

This e-mail from former Ankaragucu player Darius Vassell just arrived via the "contact us" button on the right-hand side of the blog.

Hi Guys, im reading your blog and also nadeems ankaragucu website to keep track of the clubs progress. Im saddened for what i hear and hope things improve drastically... Ankaragucu supporters have shown so much support and patience with me during my affiliation with the club, i cant understand the whole situation but i do wish the club and its fanbase a full recovery not just for myself but for the thousands of fans that invest so much and receive so little.. Happy new year!!

You can see Vassell's blog here.

Happy New Year to you too Darius, and to the tens of other people who read the blog.

Gencler wow us again

Wow,wow, wow. Genclerbirligi end the first half of the season in fifth spot. FIFTH SPOT! I was so unconfident at the beginning of the season I would have been happy with fifth last spot. Goals from Yasin, Herve Tum (2) and Ermin Zec near the end had everyone at the Red Lion Club jumping up and down. This was great stuff.

I have to go Christmas shopping with Mrs. Oz Kanka now so I'll finish this report later on. Let me just leave you with the magic score from last night.

Genclerbirligi 4 - 0 Istanbul BBS

There is only one person to blame for why I wasn't at the match... Sir Eski Kanka! He had asked last week if we could play our darts match last night. I didn't realise that the Gencler match would be on at the same time. Oh well.

It was just Little Oz Kanka and myself at the Red Lion Club for the kick-off, slowly but surely though the club started to fill up as news of Gencler's exploits spread throughout the capital.

It was all looking okay at the beginning and then the magic started. Yasin took the ball down the left. Starting from about the half way line he cut back in somewhere near the box and got past a couple of defenders before shooting from outside the box. The Istanbul keeper dived to his right but the shot was just too good. 1-0 up and seven minutes gone.

Even though Istanbul had more of the possession for the whole match they only looked like scoring once or twice. Another great effort from the backs and keeper Ramazan.

As Gencler went on the attack again and again the second came in the 24th minute when Azo sent a ball in to Soner in the box. There was no shot on so Soner did his Whirling Dervish impression and then half shot from an angle. The keeper dived but missed and the ball was probably going to miss when Herve Tum's outstretched leg sent it in. 2-0. Looking good.

Almost half-time and Tum gets his second in what can only be described as weird circumstances. Soner passed it to the edge of the box... The keeper comes out but Azofeifa just manages to get a touch on it to keep it going. Tum was being marked but got off a shot from a fairly acute angle, the keeper was missing and an Istanbul player had too much momentum and was unable to intercept the ball as it slowly rolled over the line. Wow.

Second half and well... I don't think Gencler cared any more. We made a few changes to give some of our fringe players a bit of a run around but the performance was nothing like that in the first half.

Hursut gets past his man. Photo by Sabrican Sarak via the Alkaralar website

The fourth goal came via one of those fringe players, Ermin Zec, who scored after being fed wonderfully by Oktay.

All up this was a great performance and we go into the Christmas break with great hope that we can grab a European spot by the end of the season.

Happy Christmas all from a very happy Oz Kanka.

ANKARAGUCU - FLATLINING ?!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Is it too late to resuscitate the sleeping giant of Ankara ? After last night's 'performance' I now believe that the line will be flat at the end of the season, ............ unless ........... the UEFA transfer ban is lifted ! It is glaringly obvious that the present team is dead on its feet !

Kayserispor 3 Ankaragucu 0

Team - same as last match.

Kaleci Kanka Tansu and I watched the match in the Red Lion Club and it only took 4 minutes for Kayseri to prise open the Ankaragucu defence.

A fairly innocuous shot from outside the box came in, which under normal circumstances, would have been dealt with easily by Ozden, but the attacker in front of him got a touch with his head and Ozden could only parry the ball which was heading over the line until Turgut palmed it out to Triosi who calmly accepted the 'present' and tapped in. If Triosi hadn't scored, there would no doubt have been a straight red card, but Mr Ozkahya was obviously feeling generous and gave Turgut a yellow !

20 minutes in and No2 arrived courtesy of a 'comedy show' by the Ankaragucu defence. The ball was crossed into the Ankaragucu penalty box and a defender (who ?) had a swipe at it and blasted it straight into another defender (who ?). The ball then took a ricochet off him to Triosi who again had the simplest of tap-ins ........ thinking to himself ........... who's a lucky boy then ??!!

10 minutes later another comedy of errors when a Kayseri breakaway put Sefa through, but he was covered by an Ankaragucu defender (who ?) and just as he was about to tackle, he fell, leaving Sefa tearing away on his own to shoot past a helpless Ozden.

At this point, I'm shaking my head in disbelief at the ineptitude of Ankaragucu and 'biting my tongue' to control my normal stream of profanity - there were ladies sitting near me !!

True enough, Ankaragucu was playing some nice tip-tap footie in midfield, but approaching half time I still hadn't seen the Kayseri goalkeeper' face (Navarro) farless witnessed him making a save !

Atilla and Umut came on for the 2nd half to replace the ineffective Keles and Turgut and Atilla almost scored from the kick off, but the angle of his shot was tight and he found the side netting.

It was on the 70th minute mark that I uttered these words for the first time at an Ankaragucu match. I turned to Tansu and said, 'I'm bored with this match' ! He nodded in agreement !

10 minutes to go and Ankaragucu's only real chance in the match came when Ediz sent in a bullet of a header from a corner, but Navarro made a great save. Near the end, Hurriyet tried his luck, but to no avail. Incidentally, Hurriyet's yellow card means he will miss the next match !

So, halfway through the season and Ankaragucu is still propping the rest up. 8 points behind 4th bottom Antep who are at home to Bursa tonight. It's looking grim and I honestly don't know how Ankaragucu will be able to avoid flatlining !

Winter Break ? What Winter Break ? The next round of league matches are on Wednesday 4 January -

Mersin v Ankaragucu and Gencler v Samsun

I'll give the KO details nearer the time.

In the meantime, A Happy New Year to all our readers !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu vs Kayserispor Match Preview !

The final match of the first half of Season 2011/12 games are upon us and we take a look at Kayserispor vs Ankaragucu.

Ankaragucu go into the game knowing they need to take the three points as they fight for survival. Saturdays match against Gaziantepspor should have seen Ankaragucu take three points, but there finishing let them down and instead had to settle for a sole point.

Kayserispor have hit a bit of form of late after a poor start to the season. Manager Shota Arveladze has a young squad of players and will be hoping to bounce back from there 1-0 defeat at Eskisehirspor.

The key players for Kayseri are Gokhan Unal who is the clubs leading scorer with 6 goals and Nordim Amrabat who has arguably been the best player in the Turkish Super Lig this season. The playmaker is a target of Galatasaray who hope to sign him in January.

Last season the sides drew 1-1 in Ankara, Serdar Kesimel gave the visitors the lead, but Mehmet Cakir gave Ankaragucu a share of the points with a second half goal. In the return game Kayseri won 2-1, Murat Duruer gave Ankaragucu the lead but two late goals from Ermin Kujovic and Marcelo Zalayeta won the game for Kayseri.

Ankaragucu key players will be Hurriyet Gucer , Serdar Ozkan and Turgut Dogan Sahin who is also a target for Galatasaray. Ankaragucu are capable of the win but can they finish there chances?

Time to dream of Europe?

My head is starting to get a bit giddy. Just one match before the end of the first-half of the season and Genclerbirligi are in sixth place. Not only that but we are playing good football that is fun to watch, even when we lose or grind out a 0-0 draw. Considering that at the beginning of the season I put Gencler down as one of the teams most likely to go down... this is amazing stuff.

Manisa 0 - 1 Genclerbirligi

Having been told to stay at home on Sunday I had to rely on my trusty little radio to follow today's match. Unfortunately my one-year-old nephew loved the radio too and played havoc with the reception for the full 90 minutes.

That's my excuse in early. From the first half I understood that neither side was great but that we really should have gone ahead except that Herve Tum again missed in a one-on-one situation with the Manisa keeper. Oh dear, that man makes me groan at times.

He made up for it though in the second half when he scored a header from an Azofeifa corner. That's becoming a bit of a habit for Gencler. Tum misses a sitter and then gets a header a bit later on.

I can't be totally sure but it sounded like we had a few great opportunities towards the end but all were blown. Manisa also fought like hell but Ramazan had another great match in goal.

Er... that's it really.

A few matches ago, I think it was after we beat Besiktas, Sir Eski Kanka predicted a European spot for Gencler. I laughed at the time... but maybe he was onto something.

ANKARAGUCU - WELCOME TO THE 'REAL' WORLD HAKAN KUTLU !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

'Prodigal Son' Hakan Kutlu returned to Ankaragucu in a different time zone to what he was familiar with ! Gone are the glory days of the Ankaragucu days of yore when they took on the might of Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup in the early 2000s. This is 2011 and he faces an uphill struggle to keep his beloved Ankaragucu in the top tier !

Ziya Dogan took the poisoned chalice and now it is in the hands of Hakan Bey, and who can envy him his task after yesterday's performance ?! He would probably be reflecting at the end of yesterday's match that the team he played in would have won 8-0 with the likes of Kennedy, Augustine, Hakan Keles, Niyazi et al. However, that's how many genuine chances Ankaragucu passed up yesterday and a result that may come back to haunt them at the end of the season !

Ankaragucu 0 Gaziantepspor 0

Huso Kanka, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Cider Kanka John and I met up in The Stadium and we were initially entertained by the boisterous Antep fans before Gecikondu decided to join in the singing and drown them out.

It was a familiar line-up apart from the recent 'leaves which fell off the tree', ie, Weeksie and Tisdell (the last 2 foreigners of the team) !

Ozden
Kagan, Aydin, Ediz and Ishak
Guven, Hurriyet and Murat
Serdar and Turgut
Keles

Substitutes used - Umut and Atilla

It was pretty much a non event until the 20th minute when Murat was put through, but instead of opening the scoring, he shot past the post. Sound familiar ?

10 minutes later, and with Ankaragucu enjoying the lion's share of possession, it was Turgut's turn to pass up a chance when he shot tamely at Karcemarskas when a goal was the easier option !

5 minutes before the interval and Ozden still hadn't been called upon to make a save when he might easily have been caught out when the impressive Olcan's shot went just past the post with Ozden struggling to cover it.

It was more or less one way traffic in the 2nd half towards the Antep goal, and Turgut should have opened the scoring within one minute of the resumption when he was put through, and instead of blasting the ball into the goal, he flicked it past the post.

5 minutes later that man again Turgut was put through with an excellent pass from Murat and he screwed the ball past the post when it was too easy to find the back of the net. Cue ....... kankas look at each other in astonishment !!!

5 minutes later Ankaragucu almost paid the price of carelessness when Antep's No9 was presented with an open goal on a rare attack, but he somehow got himself in a tangle of feet and ball which gave the defence that split second to clear.

Into the 60th minute and some really fine footwork from Turgut allowed himself to make space for his angled shot which came back off the bar with the goalkeeper beaten.

At this point Hakan Kutlu made a strange decision to substitute Turgut for Umut. Whaaaaat the f.....k I was shouting ?! He was the only player who looked capable of breaking the deadlock and Guven (who had a shocking match) stayed on much to my disgust !

5 minutes to go and it was all Ankaragucu pouring forward desperately seeking the winner. Serdar sent over an inviting cross which Atilla met well, but it was saved the the keeper.

Ankaragucu left holes in the back and were almost punished when a saving tackle from Hurriyet spared the blushes with the clock ticking down to the 90th minute.

There was still time for Ankaragucu to pull the rabbit out of the hat, but Murat had the miss of the match when he found himself in front of goal with only the keeper to beat, but guess what ................. he missed !!!

The final chance fell to Guven when he headed over from a free kick.

So, 5 points lost against a very poor Antep team. Hakan Bey, you have to impress on the players that the round leather thingie must go between the sticks and not past or over !!!!

Man of the Match goes to Ishak who had a great match and completely bamboozled the Antep defence with his surging runs upfield from defence. If I was Hakan Bey, I would put him in midfield alongside Hurriyet as an attacking midfielder !

Now for the last match in this half of the season away to Kayseri on Wednesday KO 6pm. Not sure where we are watching that one with the Fener match KO at the same time. Probably in The Red Lion Club, but watch this space.

It goes without saying that the result of the match in Kayseri will speak volumes about Ankaragucu's chances of mounting a challenge in the 2nd half of the season.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Genclerbirligi finally win away from home

Hooray! Mid-December and Gencler finally win an away match. Not against some middling team but against Trabzon. All good stuff except for the KO time.

I ranted last week and I'm ranting again today. Last night's mid-week match kicked off at 5:45 pm. Is it any wonder that the stadium just outside Trabzon was empty?

Trabzonspor 1 - 2 Genclerbirligi

I was volunteered to become the bar manager at the Red Lion Club so last night I headed down there to do some work and to watch bits and pieces of the Trabzon-Gencler match. The sound was down but the club certainly knew it when we scored.

Things didn't start off so brilliantly with Trabzon in complete control, especially in the midfield, but somehow or other we managed to score first.

Before that there was a clear handball from a Trabzonspor player. Of course, neither the referee nor the linesman saw it.

But anyway, it was enigmatic Hursut who was the hero for this one. As we have seen so often, he had the ball down the right wing near the touch line, and a defender in front of him blocking any chance for a cross. He takes the ball slightly to the left (with his left foot mind you), defender goes with him, and then flicks it through the defender, follows it up and sends in a perfect cross to an unmarked Soner who headed it home.

Lovely stuff and Trabzon upped the ante but thanks to some great defending, especially from Aykut, and with some luck we managed to hold out till half time. Possession at this stage was something like 65 percent to 35 percent in Trabzon's favour.

Second half and Trabzon kept on coming but Gencler stretched the lead when Herve Tum sent a great ball to Yasin who shot from outside the box and perfectly placed it in the bottom left-hand of the goal. Much shouting and celebrations.

Trabzon upped it again but ultimately it was the referee who had to gift it to them when he gave a penalty for handball.

It was no handball. It was obvious from the very start and the TV replays made it even more obvious. Aykut even took his jersey off to show the welt mark where the ball had hit him. Yellow card for Aykut and Trabzon scored.

Then it was about half-an-hour of defending. Attack after attack from Trabzon, at least two shots hit the post, desperate defence, keeper Ramazan making saves left, right and centre, scary scary stuff but finally the whistle blew.

An away win against Trabzon. I'd say that we were very lucky, but at the same time we took our chances and Trabzon didn't. Got to put it in the back of the net boys.

Ankaragucu vs Gaziantepspor Match Preview !

This Saturday Ankaragucu host Gaziantepspor at the 19 Mayis Stadium in Ankara.

Hakan Kutlu will take control of his first game in a relegation 6 pointer against struggling Gaziantepspor. Kutlu spent 28 years with Ankaragucu as a player and coach and Saturdays game will be the biggest game in his career. Win and Ankaragucu still have a chance of staying up, loose and it could be all but over.

Gaziantepspor won both games last season, the first game in Ankara finished 2-0 to Gaziantepspor thanks to two late goals from Olcan Adin and Ivan Popov. In the return game Gaziatepspor also won, this time 3-2 at home. Two goals from Cenk Tosun and another from Olcan Adin with Jan Rajnoch and Ozgur Cek scoring for Ankaragucu.

This season Gaziantepspor have struggled to reach the heights of last season and find themselves in a relegation battle. Things were so different last season with Gaziantepspor clinching a Europa League place after finishing 4th in the Turkish Super Lig. The season didn't start so well after been knocked out of Europa by Legia Warsaw and struggling to find the net in the Turkish Super Lig. Only three wins to date, one of them been a 4-2 win at Galatasaray, there key players from last season Cenk Tosun, Ismael Sosa and Ivan Popov haven't performed to the same level as last season.

Gaziantep lost 1-0 at home to Eskisehirspor last week, but had there chances to get something from the game. If Ankaragucu are to win the game, they will need to stop Olcan Adin as he has been the one bright spark this season for Gaziantep.

Ankaragucu have looked good going forward of late until last Sunday against Antalyaspor which proved to be Ziya Dogans last game in charge of the club. Hakan Kutlu will welcome back Turgut Dogan Sahin to the side and will be hoping he along with Serdar Ozkan and Ergin Keles can fire Ankaragucu to victory. If Ankaragucu are to win the game then Hurriyet Gucer will be the key player to drive the team on.

Another tough game, lets hope the players and fans can give Hakan Kutlu a much needed win in his first game in charge.

Lay lay lay lay lay Hakan Kutlu !!

ANKARAGUCU - ANOTHER LEAF FALLS OFF THE TREE !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

I had to change my headline after receiving a text message this afternoon that Ziya Dogan has resigned from the Club (and who can blame him ?!). No doubt we will hear more about that from you all in the comments section, but for now ............... back to yesterday's match.

With the halfway point of the season rapidly approaching, Ankaragucu are doing themselves no favours by slipping further behind in the relegation zone. It is now at the critical point with the crucial relegation fixture against Antep scheduled for next Saturday. If Antep win it I think we can start looking out our map for places such as Tavsanli, Giresun and Gungoren !!

Ankaragucu had a golden opportunity to put some points on the board yesterday, but in the end, ended up with nothing. There were 3 chances for Ankaragucu to take the lead in the opening quarter of the match, but from that point onwards it was all downhill for Ankaragucu.

Antalyaspor 1 Ankaragucu 0

Team -

Ozden
Kagan, Aydin, Ishak and Mehmet
Weeks, Hurriyet and Gokhan
Serdar and Murat
Keles

Substitutes used - Guven, Muhammed and Atilla

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Cider Kanka John, Simon and I met up at The Chopin to watch the match but we were not 'happy bunnies' at the end.

Ankaragucu looked not too bad in the opening period and it was 15 minutes before Ozden was called upon to make a save. At this point, Antalya came into the match and took control. Their passing and running off the ball was impressive and they always seemed to be a split second into the tackle before Ankaragucu. Why it took so long for Antalya to open the scoring was really down to 3 glaring misses by Necati, which on any other day would have gone in.

As I said, Ankaragucu had only 3 chances in the match. The 1st came in the 2nd minute when (I think it was Keles) was put through but for some reason he delayed his shot and was dispossessed. Shortly after, Serdar had 2 good chances. The 1st was deflected by a defender and the 2nd went just past the post.

From that point, it was all Antalya and but for some heroics from Ozden and some howlers from Necati, it could have been a rout.

Ozden saved from Tita, who was a constant menace to the Ankaragucu defence throughout. Ishak made a timely tackle as Tita was lining up to shoot, and then just before the break, the unmarked Necati missed a sitter in front of goal when he 'skyed' the ball over with the goal at his mercy.

The 2nd half was mostly one way traffic towards Ozden with the Ankaragucu defence all over the place and hacking the ball anywhere when Antalya came calling on Ozden !

Halfway through the 2nd half and again Necati missed 2 easy chances. The 1st when he shot direct at Ozden when it would have been easier to angle his shot. The 2nd was a good headed effort but Ozden, who was off-balance and wrong-footed, managed to stick a foot out and deflect his goal bound header for a corner. A few minutes later, Tandogan sent his header just past the post.

With 10 minutes to go, I was wondering if the Ankaragucu defence could withstand the final onslaught, and the answer was .............. NO !

Yet another Antalya attack down the right wing and the cutback came in to the unmarked Zitouni who made no mistake with Ozden helpless. A real sickner after a backs-to-the-wall performance by the Ankaragucu defence, but in all honesty it was no more than Antalya deserved.

Antalya was streets ahead of Ankaragucu in all departments and there can be no complaints with them taking all 3 points.

So to next Saturday and the nerve ends will be jangling when Antep come calling. In previous seasons we would expect to pick up 3 easy points from this match, but not anymore. The boot is on the other foot now !

It will probably be an afternoon KO again but I'll post it in the comments section as usual when I have confirmation.

If Ankaragucu doesn't take the 3 points from this match, the burning question is ................ where do they go from here ? With a visit to Kayseri the following week, it is probably not the fixture a bottom of the league team would care to choose !!

All doom and gloom in this part of Ankara !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

What is with these early KO times? Gencler defeat Ordu

What is it with the TFF and the extreme times for starting a football match. I simply can't remember the last time Gencler had a 3pm KO. I'd barely gotten out of bed this morning before heading off for Kizilay.

Genclerbirligi 3 - 1 Orduspor

It was just Little Oz Kanka and myself down at the Beer Bus, before midday! Kofte and ayran for the little one and usual for me and then we layered up and headed off to a pretty much empty stadium.

I'd say there were about 150 Ordu supporters and a couple of thousand Gencler fans.

Anyway, peep peep and the match was underway and pretty soon I was wishing I'd stayed in bed. It was crap. Absolute rubbish from both teams. And with that I end my report of the first half.

Second half and everything changed, at first for the worse, as Ordu sent a great ball through to a player in space at the back who sounded sent it past Ramazan in goal.

After having watched 11 goats dressed in black and red doing bugger all in the first half, hopes weren't high that we could get back in it. But the goal finally woke Gencler up and we started to play some good attacking football.

In the main it was good work from the backs and midfield who were spotting Yasin or Hursut down the wings. Chances were being created and it was in the 50th minute or so when Mehmet Sedef got a ball through to Yasin who timed his shot to perfection, sending it with power over the keeper's outstretched hand and then watching it dip down under the post. 1-1 and this match had come alive.

We were now getting shots on goal, and a few not far off and it was looking increasingly like we would get a winner, we just needed someone up front to shoot properly. At this stage the chant from the crowd was for Ermin Zec to come on. As fate would have it, the man whom he would have replaced, Herve Tum, managed to get his head onto a ball sent in by Azofeifa. 2-1 and the call for Ermin Zec was suspended quick smart.

Hearts in mouths a few times as Ramazan made a few mistakes only to be saved by some good clearance stuff from Aykut and Klusic and the minutes were ticking down. Yasin was taken off as extra time started and Zec finally came on to the roar of the crowd.

A counter attack and Zec dribbled a bit to set himself up for a shot. It smashed straight into a defender and went flying into the air. I started clapping to acknowledge the good play and then the ball came back down and somehow found its way into the net. I've never seen Zec so happy.

A good win, even if the first half was more painful than a root canal... and I can tell you from recent experience, that ain't much fun.

Ankaragucu vs Antalyaspor Match Preview !

We look ahead to this Sundays relegation clash between Ankaragucu and Antalyaspor.
Ankaragucu travel to Antalyaspor on Sunday afternoon in another important game. Antalyaspor are just outside the relegation zone themselves, but are very difficult to beat at home. Only Mersin have won in Antalya this season.

Ankaragucu drew 0-0 with Bursaspor last night, and will hope to follow that up with the three points in Antalya. With only three games remaining until the January transfer window opens, its important Ankaragucu don't loose any more ground on there relegation rivals.

One positive from the game against Bursa, was the first clean sheet of the season for Ozden Ongun in Goal, the defence will hope to build on that and hope the strikers can take there chances in the game. Ankaragucu have taken one point from there last three games, however it could have been so different if they had taken there early chance in every game.

Antalyaspor go into the game on the back of a 1-0 defeat at Eskisehirspor and will be hoping to get back to winning ways themselves. They have some good players in Necati Ates, Ugur Inceman and ex Ankaragucu Striker Tita Gokcek. Tita signed for Ankaragucu in the summer but returned to Antalyaspor due to the financial problems haven not played a single game.

Last season when the two sides met they drew 2-2 in Antalya with both Michael Zewlakow and Marek Sapara on the score sheet. In the return game in Ankara it was Antalyaspor who won 3-2. They were 3-0 up before a late comeback from Ankaragucu in the second half, goals from Jan Rajnoch and Roman Bednar weren't enough to see Ankaragucu take anything from the game.

This is a huge game in which Ankaragucu are capable of winning, they need to show the same commitment they have in the last few games and with a bit of luck and better finishing then the three points are possible.

AN ANKARAGUCU AND BURSASPOR LOVE-IN !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Lots of sceptical looks between the kankas last night as the two 'brother teams' managed to conjour up a no score draw. Surprisingly, there were 2 or 3 yellow cards, but nothing malicious, well ........ apart from the giant black guy up front (name ?) who obviously wasn't informed of the 'love-in' before the kick off !

Apart from 4 genuine goal chances for Ankaragucu and a great save from Ozden, the 'love-in' singing between the Ankaragucu fans and Bursa fans was the only real highlight of the match !

Ankaragucu 0 Bursaspor 0

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Cider Kanka John and I met up at The Chopin and welcomed back one of the original kankas from 2000 (?), Richard Carlson, who was introduced to our group by Kirkaldy Kanka Martyn. We also welcomed Phil Crabb from Oxford who was attending his first Ankaragucu match. Phil is going to be a regular visitor to Ankara and we expect to see him again and hopefully he will be a regular contributor to the Blog with his vast footie knowledge.

A pretty good turnout for a midweek match on a cold winter's night, with the Bursa end almost full and singing 'love songs' to the Ankaragucu tribunes throughout the match which were all reciprocated.

There was only one genuine scoring effort in a boring first half when, after some good work from Serdar down the left, the cross came in and Keles shot wide when he really should have done better.

Ankaragucu came out for the 2nd half showing more determination and adventure and they almost opened the scoring from the kick off when Turgut fired in a goal bound shot which Carson did well to get down for and tip the ball round the post for a corner. One minute later, Keles had another goal bound shot well saved by Carson.

Bursa's only serious effort on goal in the entire match came on 55 minutes when Ozden did extremely well to tip a goal bound rocket over the bar for a corner.

Ankaragucu continued to press forward and always looked the likelier team to score in the 2nd half. Another case of almost arrived in the 60th minute when Turgut beat 2 defenders down the left with some tricky footwork, but a 3rd defender blocked his shot.

5 minutes later another opportunity came and went when Serdar sent over an inviting cross for Keles, but just as he was about to make contact with his head, a defender's head got in the way !

The last action of the match saw Aydin sending in a screamer from just outside the penalty box which went just over the bar.

I should also mention that Sestak came on as a substitute for the 2nd half and was 'boo-ed' every time he touched the ball. So............ if you make a friend of Gecikondu and Anti-X they will be your friend for life, BUT ..... !!!!

We could argue that it was 2 points lost rather than 1 point gained, but at this stage of the season, any crumbs are gratefully received and snapped-up !

So, despite the fact that '2 more leaves have fallen off the tree' (Ozgur and Ugur), there were some encouraging signs last night that all is not yet lost.

Hurriyet continues to be the driving force in midfield as Captain Courageous, and we must all hope that he is not going to be 'another leaf'. Turgut, Serdar and Keles were full of running last night and seem to have developed a better understanding of what their roles are. Atilla came on late as a substitute and could press the others for a place up front.

However, the area of concern is in defence and that is a situation which Ziya Bey has to resolve within his limited resources.

Back to The Chopin we went to meet up with Maniac Kanka Harun who watched the 2nd half on TV.

Next up is the away match in Antalya on Sunday KO 1pm. Watching in The Chopin.

Yet another MUST WIN match ..... (how many times have I said that this season ???!!!).

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

FIXTURES THIS WEEK

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Further to my comments two posts ago concerning fixtures, I have more information.

Like I said, Ankaragucu take on Bursa on Thursday at home KO 6pm. Meeting in The Chopin and going to the Stadium at about 5pm. As Nadeem said in the previous post, this match takes on huge proportions for Ankaragucu as the gap between bottom and 4th bottom grows even wider !

On Sunday 11 December, both Ankara teams are in action.

Antalya v Ankaragucu - KO 1pm (watching in The Chopin)

Gencler v Ordu - KO 1pm (meeting in The Beer Bus Bar)

Also, as I said before, Gencler play Trabzon away on Wednesday night 14 December. There is a difference in KO times between The Hurriyet and TRT. Oz Kanka will clarify nearer the time.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu vs Bursaspor Match Preview !

Not good news im afraid fellow Kankas, just when we think things cant get any worse, then this.

Ankaragucu welcome our brothers from Bursa on Thursday night to the 19 Mayis stadium in the Turkish Super Lig Fixture.
Sami Altinyuva today confirmed Ugur Ucar has left the club after he decided to terminate his contract due to unpaid wages. Ugur along with Ozgur Cek and Tonia Tisdell went to the Turkish FA and have won the right to terminate there contracts.

Ozgur will play the next two matches before leaving the club unless they can come up with the money. Altinyuva said he is hoping to keep Tonia and the player wants to stay. Tonia has fractured a bone in his foot and will be out injured for the next three months.

Ankaragucu go into the game, having found a bit of form of late, the last two results a 3-2 loss at Eskisehirspor and 4-2 defeat at Fenerbahce have given the players and fans a little heart in the relegation battle. If Ankaragucu can take our chances and tighten up in defence then a victory over our brothers from Bursa is possible.

Bursaspor have only won one of there last eight games, and lost 1-0 at home to Eskisehirspor at the weekend. Manager Ertugal Saglaam is under pressure as the team struggle without the likes of Volkan Sen and Sercan Yildirm. Former Ankaragucu players Adem Kocak and Stanislav Sestak will be in the squad and hoping for a happy return to Ankara.

Sestak and Kocak were two of Ankaragucu's most important players, Kocak protected the defence and kept hold of the ball in midfield. Sestak was top scorer for Ankaragucu. Both players have yet to find there top form at Bursa, and the Ankaragucu Tribunes will be hoping it stays that way on Thursday.

Last season, Bursaspor won 5-1 in Ankara, after Sestak gave Ankaragucu an early lead. Bursa scored with nearly every attack as the Ankaragucu defence failed to cope with the speed of Sercan and Volkan Sen. Ibrahim Ozturk and Omer Erdogan caused a lot of problems from set pieces as well. The return game in Bursa was a 0-0 draw, a fair results for both sides and one which both sets of fans were happy with.

You can see more on the Bursankara relationship here http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/ankaragucu/news/ankaragucu-and-bursaspor-broth-442945.html

Bursaspor have some good players who should be performing to a higher standard. Ozan Ipek, Turgay Bahadir, Ibrahim Bangoura and Prince Tagoe have all yet to reach there best form. Young French Under 21 International Alfred N'Dyie has come in and looked a very good young player. Strong and athletic in the middle of the park and a player who will give captain Hurriyet a tough game.

Both teams need the points, but Ankaragucu cant afford to fall further behind other teams in the relegation battle. A win against Bursaspor followed by a tough game at relegation rivals Antalyaspor on Sunday makes this a huge week for Ankaragucu.

Hopefully the team can put problems off the field to one side and take the three points. Bastir Ankaragucu !

Gencler are finally defeated at home

It had to happen some day and Saturday was it as Genclerbirligi lost at home for the first time this season. If only we had a half-decent away record we would be pushing for a top place.

Genclerbirligi 0 - 1 Galatasaray

Flying Dutchman, Spine, Robin and myself started the day at the Beer Bus where the conversation drifted into, according to Flying Dutchman Kanka, the decline and fall of the Dutch civilization... according to Spine the conversation was about evolution of languages.

We possibly talked a bit about football as well but then it was time to pay up and get moving.

A good crowd at the 19 Mayis. The Galatasaray fans filled their area and spilled over into ours resulting in some handbags in the second half.

Galatasaray got off to the better start as Gencler tried out their radically positive 8-1-1 formation. It was all a bit frustrating as we had managed to get free a number of times but the midfielders refused to move up quickly. Our defence again was good with Galatasaray managing just a single shot for the first half.

Half-time and I was fairly happy. We had a few chances, Herve Tum really should have had us 1-0 up when he chested down a ball three metres out, swivelled, and failed to make any contact with the ball he had trapped so well. Much shaking of heads there.

But all up we were playing okay and probably had just shaved it over Cim Bom.

Second half and it was much the same. Azofeifa had a quiet match, as did Hursut. The second half and Galatasaray upped the tempo and managed to get a few shots on, with Ramazan needing to actually make some saves.

Then the killer when in the 70-something minute Eboue found himself in a perfect position and he gave it an almighty whoof and the Galatasaray fans went wild. It was at this point that the tension in the stands rose as various Galatasraray fans started getting pissed off with us. They were in our section for God's sake. If it was any other set of fans those Cim Bom supporters would've been legging it quick smart. One of the Gencler amigos calmed things down and we got back to concentrating on the match.

Gencler tried hard but they just couldn't manage to pull off an equaliser. Back to Kizilay and whilst it was disappointing to have lost I'm still fairly happy. In the past month we have played the top three Istanbul teams and have managed a win, a draw and a loss. Before the season I would have taken a single draw.

ANKARAGUCU - WEAKNESSES CLINICALLY EXPOSED

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Ankaragucu's deficiences were cruelly exposed last night when they received a salutory lesson on the art of finishing. Fener's strikers produced 4 goals of high quality, and despite Ankaragucu's never-say-die spirit, they had no answer.

Ankaragucu's defensive frailties re-surfaced and I doubt that even with the inclusion of Ediz it would have made a difference to the eventual scoreline.

Fenerbahce 4 Ankaragucu 2

Team -

Ozden
Guven, Aydin, Ishak and Ozgur
Weeks, Hurriyet and Murat
Serdar and Turgut
Atilla

Substitutes used - Tonia and Keles

A crowd of us met up at The Chopin. Maniac Kanka Harun, Battle damaged Kanka Damon and No Name Yet Kanka Simon. We were later joined by the Gencler Kankas returning from the Stadium, Oz Kanka Chris, Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo and Spine.

Fener came out of the traps like a whippet and had Ankaragucu panic defending and backs against the wall. However, it was Ankaragucu who almost opened the scoring when Turgut was put through with only Volkan to beat, but he shot wide (a similar situation to Murat's abomination in the 2nd minute last week !).

The breakthrough came at the other end in the 16th minute when a cross came in from the left to Stoch who was hovering around unmarked just outside the penalty area. He let fly with a bullet which went in like a rocket just under the bar with Ozden having no chance.

Fener was in complete control now and thanks to Ozden making some great saves, the scoreline remained the same until just before half time. Then, against the run of play, an Ankaragucu breakaway on the left and a great ball to split the Fener defence and there was Eski's favourite player, Murat, coming in on the blind side to slide in the equaliser.

Was a miracle about to happen ? No ! The Ankaragucu players were split seconds behind Fener in their tackles and movement which is probably why they had only 39% possession during the match ! They even allowed Fener to tip-tap the ball around at will in their own penalty area. A recipe for disaster which thankfully didn't happen.

Into the 2nd half then and Ankaragucu came out in attacking mode and went for it. They had 2 or 3 chances to score in the first 10 minutes until Fener seized the initiative and scored their 2nd which was a replica of the first goal.

A cross from the left to the unmarked Baroni lurking just outside the penalty box and he let fly with a screamer which Ozden had no chance of saving.

5 minutes later and it was 3. A delightful piece of football from Fener when Stoch latched on to a cute backheel and he let fly with another screamer with Ozden motionless and unable to react.

That was it I thought, but all credit to Ankaragucu for continuing to beaver away and they clawed themselves back into the match with 10 minutes to go with an excellent goal, when Ozgur sent over a great cross for Keles to head in despite the attention of 2 defenders.

With only 5 minutes to go, Hurriyet almost found the equaliser, but his shot went past the post.

2 minutes later and Fener wrapped it up when the unmarked Dia headed in at the far post from an inviting cross.

The large Ankaragucu contingent in The Chopin still found the spirit to break into song at the end of the match. Now, that's loyalty for you !

So, with Ankaragucu sliding further into the relegation quagmire, Thursday night's match at home against Bursa takes on even greater significance. Can Ankaragucu claw themselves out of this shit before the winter break ??

Not sure of the KO time yet, but as usual, I'll put it up in the comments section of this post.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim