Monday, January 31, 2011

Yasin shows some class for Genclerbirligi

A point away from home. That'll do me.

Gaziantep 1 - 1 Genclerbirligi

Waiting for the Gencler match to kick off a small group of us Gencler fans were packed into the corner of the Beer Bus watching the Istanbul BBS - Besiktas match. There was all sorts of shouting and swearing from the Besiktas fans but for us the best part was the looks on their faces when we all jumped for joy as Istanbul BBS got the winner. Excellent stuff.

Forget about that match though as I'm supposed to be writing about Gencler.

Battle Hardened Kanka Damon joined me having come from the 19 Mayis and we settled down to gossip and some football. Gencler started okay with new fellow Mununga having a good shot on goal in the first few minutes. It was all a bit "meh" for a while though as Antep seemed to take control. They ended up taking total control in the 38th when they pounced on a ball after Serdar had made a good save. It was looking like one of those nights as Antep went into the half time break 1-0 up.

Second half though was quite a different affair. Yasin and Harbuzi came on and we looked like a different team. Pretty much it was back to good counter attacking footy and it was Yasin who equaled things up with a great run and a brilliant shot. He shot off from the halfway line, sprinted like hell and just when I thought he was going to pass he took a shot from 30 yards that the Antep keeper had no chance of saving.

We kept on attacking but couldn't find a winner. Still, as I said, a point away isn't too bad.

Yasin is starting to look like quality, Mununga too. I'm not sure that Ermin Zec is 100 percent fit yet and we certainly need Jedinak back. If we continue to play like we did in the second half we certainly won't be going down. Being a pessimist though, I wouldn't be surprised if we are getting the calculators out near the end of the season.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Hikmet Karaman comes back to Haunt Ankaragucu !

With Jim on his way back to Scotland, i thought id do the Match thread. Where do i even start ???? It was a heartless, disgusting performance from the Manger and Players as you will see from my post.

Talk before the match was there would be a protest against Umit Ozat, a man who has taken over from Roger Lemerre and been given good money to take us up the table. After our shocking performanc in the cup midweek, a win was the only result good enough today.

Team Lined Up

Ozden

Varol Rajnoch Zewlakow Ugur

Gabrc Kagan Sapara Murat Druer

Sestak Metin


So Umit decided to drop Bora Kork for Ozden despite him been man of the match last week, he also played our right back at left back, and Guven Varol who impressed early season in midfield at right back. Gabric who only has a left foot stuck out on the right.

The game started and it was Ankaragucu who had the first chance, a lovely through ball for Murat Druer left him one on one with the goalkeeper, but he could only put it by the post. Manisaspor's first chance came through Josh Simpson, he got the better of Varol and was one on one with Ozden but the Keeper saved to keep it at 0-0.

At this point it was an even match, then came the goal. A long hopefull ball by Oumar Kalabane into the Ankaragucu box. Kahe lost his marker in Rajnoch but it was an easy ball for Ozden to either come and punch or stay on his line, he did neither, misjudged it and Kahe headed it over the top of him, 1-0 Manisaspor. Every touch after this Ozden was booed by the fans.

It took Ankaragucu till the 42nd Minute to get back into the game, it was a cross into the box by Murat, which was brought down by Metin Akan who stroked the ball through the keepers legs to make it 1-1.

This lead to the most entertaining part of the game, one of the Ankaragucu fans ran on the park after Umit Ozat threw his clipboard down and made a gesture at the fans. He tried to kick Ozat but Ozat got there first with a punch and knocked him to the ground and started kicking him on the head. The game was held up for ten minutes. The Ankaragucu fan should never have ran on the park, but Umit Ozat cant conduct himself, and his comments and actions have lead to this.

Half Time 1-1

Second half was a boring afare, After Ankaragucu scored they looked to have some fire in there bellys but came out at half time with nothing in them, a few half chances hear and there from Marek Sapara and Jan Rajnoch were about as good as it got. The game looked to be heading for a draw until Ozgur Cek tried a fancy flick and gave the ball away, this lead to Manisaspor attacking on the break, Ivanski played the ball into the box and it ended up in the path of Mehmet Guven who put it into an empty net.

One minute later, Mehmet Guven had the ball again, he ran 20 yeard without been challanged and struck a 30 yard effort into the back of the net, again Ozden should have done better. 3-1 Manisaspor and full time.


Hikmet Karaman came onto the pitch at the end of the game and was given a great reception by the Ankaragucu fans. His side are now in the top half of the table, having spent no where near the money Umit Has. For Umit Ozat been such a good defender in his day, he has an awful record at picking them. Jan Rajnoch again struggled at Centre half, and the other players out of position are becoming a joke.

If Umit is still manager by Monday morning then we are in big trouble.

Friday, January 28, 2011

ANKARAGUCU DELIVER

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Ankaragucu deliver what you might ask ? And the answer ? SIFIR, ie, NOTHING !!

As Nadeem reported in the previous post -

Malatya 0 ANKARAGUCU 0

Thank you very much Ankaragucu (management, coaches and players) for giving us, the long suffering loyal fans, a good Cup Run in this the Club's Centenery Season !

Was it too much to ask to score ONE goal against lowly Malatya, and therefore top the group ?

Is it too much to ask for some consistency in performances ?

What's the point in scoring FOUR against Fener and Galatasaray if the team is going to struggle against the likes of Buca and Malatya ?

Well, the back-lash will come, and that's a certainty. Starting on Sunday when Ankaragucu host Manisa.

Fortunately, I won't be there to see it. I will be at about 24,000 ft ASL over Germany !

I have nothing more to say, except, this result is stretching my loyalty to almost breaking point ! Aaaaaaaaarrrrgh and Grrrrrrrrrrrr and for F### Sake !!!!!!!

All the best from despondent, angry and pissed off Eski Kanka Jim

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Genclerbirligi progress while Ankaragucu Crash Out !

First of all Well done to Genclerbirligi in joining Bucaspor in the Quarter Finals of the Turkish Cup. The road to Kayseri is going to be difficult but you never know in cup competitions.

Im sure Oz Kanka and Jim will update us with reports on tonights games, Fenerbahce won 2-1 against Gencler while Ankaragucu drew 0-0 at Yenni Malatayaspor. It seems such a long time ago where we won 4-2 at home to Fenerbahce in what was our most difficult match, 3 draws later and were out.

Umit Ozat must take the blame, and the players share this also. We sacked first of all Hikmet Karaman who never had the financial backing which Umit had, he is now above us in the league with Manisaspor, we then decided against giving Roger Lemmere a contract and Umit is no futher forward with the money he has had. Still he chooses to play players out of position, still he hasnt addressed our weak backline, and he cant get away with these poor results any longer.

The decision to play a weakened team at home to Buca has came back to haunt us, and this is Umits decision, i dont know what the team is tonight but whoever was on the park should have been able to beat Yenni. Including our pre season games we have only scored 2 goals in our last 6 games. Not good enough, and to make things even more worrying, Umit has no relationship with the fans.

Im sorry, but its time to do yourself and Ankaragucu a favour Umit Ozat, and walk with a bit of pride.

In other news its been reported Ankaragucu have signed Mehmet Aykuz, and ex Genclerbirligi player who has played the last few seasons in the lower leagues, his last team Linyitspor.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

THE TURKISH CUP - ARE WE UP FOR IT ??!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

After all the excitement ..... or .... non-excitement of League business last weekend, it is back to the Turkish Cup action tomorrow ...... Thursday.

Both matches in the Group will KO at 8pm and these are going to decide who goes through to the knock-out stage.

Fener v Gencler
Malatya v Ankaragucu

This will be a true test of Kanka loyalty. Why ?

Let's see how many 'real' kankas come to The Beer Bus Bar to support Gencler in the 'live' match, or ..... how many stay at home ??!

I'll be a little late (business) but ........... I'll be there to support Gencler. As for Ankaragucu, if they don't win then ........ God is the only person who can help Umit Bey !!!

Look forward to seeing you there, or ......... will I be on my own again ??!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Sunday, January 23, 2011

The Kanka Group more than just football fans

Hello Kankas, First of all just want to say thank you to OZ Kanka and Jim for allowing me to Post on the Blog.

I wanted my first post to be about the Kankas, as in years to come i can always look back and say, well that was my first post haha. Its Been a year and a half now since if become an Ankaragucu fan. In that time alot has happned, I have been over twice to see Ankaragucu play, and on both times we lost. Maybe third time lucky.

It was this blog that actually got me to supporting Ankaragucu, it was a photo of Jim on a boat in Bodrum with an Ankaragucu top on where it all started. The one thing about the Kanka group is, that they are different from most fan groups. We are a group made up of different religions, and races, all with one thing in common, our love for Ankaragucu and Genclerbirligi. I have met Kankas from Scotland, England, Turkey, Australia, Romania, Holland, Germany, USA to name a few and im sure there will be more to join in.

For anyone looking in who hasnt been over, please give it a try, you will be met by a fantastic welcome from all the Kankas, you will experience a fantastic country and city, and the most generous people. But most of all the football is something you will never forget.

Finally heres to 2010 and Ankaragucu and Genclerbirligi !!

Nadeem

ANKARAGUCU 'STEAL' TRABZON'S 61 PLATE NUMBER !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Headline nicked from The Hurriyet. Read on for explanation !

Trabzonspor is not top of the League without good reason, and Ankaragucu could be forgiven for going there last night with a defensive formation, but ....... they didn't !

A great all round team performance from Ankaragucu, with 1 or 2 notable exceptions, won a valuable point.

Murat Duruer was in the starting line-up ..... aaaaaaargh ..... !! Why ? I thought he had been transferred ?! However, he was substituted after 25 minutes after a mega cock-up which allowed Trabzon to score.

Trabzonspor 1 ANKARAGUCU 1

Team -
Bora
Ugur, Rajnoch, Zewlakow, Duruer
Guven, Gabric, Sapara, Adem
Metin and Serdar

Substitutes - Mehmet, Ozgur and Sestak

We met up in The Beer Bus Bar. Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Kaleci Kanka Tansu and I. We were also joined by Oz and Little Oz Kankas and Spine Kanka who left for the Stadium just as Trabzon opened the scoring.

Our initial reaction on seeing the starting line-up was ..... where is Vittek (I think he is still injured), where is Fatih Tekke (he didn't want to play against his old Club), why is Sestak and Keles on the bench (only Umit Bey knows the answer to that one) ?

The match got under way in front of a full-house and the noise from the Trabzon supporters was very loud, and why not when your team is poised to win the League !

It was all Trabzon in the opening minutes and on 12 minutes, Umut blasted over from a good position. However, Ankaragucu was defending well and trying to pass the ball out of defence (for a change !) and they were looking good.

It really wasn't a surprise when Trabzon took the lead on 20 minutes. But, the goal could so easily have been avoided if Duruer hadn't let Yattara go past him so easily. Yattara had all the time in the world to look up and cross in a low ball which was missed by Rajnoch and the incoming attacker. However, Ja Ja had made a run on the blind-side, by-passing Guven, and stroked the ball into the goal with Bora helpless.

For the remainder of the half, Bora pulled off some great saves and the defence held firm with Rajnoch and Guven in particular in great form.

Trabzon finished in control of the half but with Sapara's goading, Ankaragucu was still making forays into the Trabzon half and they looked dangerous when they did this.

Into the 2nd half and cheers from the kankas when Sestak came on to replace Serdar. Actually, in my opinion, he should have replaced Metin who was running around like a headless chicken in the first half !

Trabzon started the 2nd half as they had finished the first, ie, on the attack. But Bora made some outstanding saves from Umut (twice) and Burak.

10 minutes in and Ankaragucu was starting to look dangerous with Gabic and Sapara in particular taking more control in midfield. Sestak was looking menacing up front and this was more like the Ankaragucu we know.

Then it happened on the 61st minute. Remembering that 61 is Trabzon's plate number, and that Gabric is a Trabzonspor 'olde boy' ....... a great breakaway down the left by Sestak. He looks up and crosses the ball in to the unmarked and incoming Gabric. A fantastic header to equalise and Ankaragucu was back in the match.

Both teams were now full-on in attack and Bora (no doubt .... Man of the Match) was again in fine form to thwart efforts from Umut and Ja Ja.

At the other end, Sestak and Zewy went close to finding the winner.

Into time added on, and between Bora, Ugur and Rajnoch, they saved any last minute tragedy of Trabzon snatching a winner.

So, as I said earlier, a great all round team performance. With Vittek and Tekke waiting for their chance it seems that happier days could be around the corner for Ankaragucu.

The next league action is on Sunday at home to Manisa KO 2pm. Prior to that though, there is the final Cup Group match away to Malatya on Thursday which Ankaragucu must win to qualify for the knock-out stage. KO time still unknown.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Gencler lose again at home..... nothing new there

Genclerbirligi 0 - 1 Eskisehirspor

These are testing days. Genclerbirligi are down near the relegation zone and we need points.

It's not easy being a Gencler fan. We are ridiculed by the vast majority of those who live in Ankara. We are ridiculed by our own club who refuse to hold on to good players. We are ridiculed by the Ankara media in the way that they give us almost no space on their sports pages.

But I'm still a Gencler fan, but by god this is a difficult position to hold.

Watching tonight's match was painful in the extreme.

Eskisehir are not a brilliant club - pretty pedestrian in my view - but we were crap. Spine was yawning throughout the match and I can't blame him. The only reason I wasn't yawning was because I had to deal with all sorts of silly questions from Little Oz Kanka (Questions like - why don't we attack? or, Why don't we defend?, or Can we go home?). All of which makes me think - What have I done? I have forced my only son to support Genclerbirligi. What sort of a father am I?

Not only that, later on Saturday night he was telling his mother and me that when he has children he will make them support Genclerbirligi! Are we torturers? Have we subjected our unborn grandchildren to misery?

I can't bring myself to talk about the match. It was crap. The Eskisehir goal should not have stood... either there was a handball or an offside. Having said that though we certainly didn't deserve a bloody thing.

I'll continue to support Genclerbirligi, but if we keep this it up I'll soon be buying a season ticket for the second division. Not sure if even Little Oz Kanka can take that humiliation. But of course, I'll force him to take it on the chin.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Handball? Offside? Gencler go down to dodgy goal

Just a quick note before I head off for more alcohol consumption.

Genclerbirligi 0 - 1 Eskisehirspor

A pretty clear hand ball to us, a clear offside according to the Ankaragucu kankas watching at the Beer Bus. Either way, the Eskisehir goal should not have stood.

Apart from that, we were pretty hopeless. I'll post again tomorrow.

Friday, January 21, 2011

ANKARAGUCU - COMINGS AND GOINGS IN 'THE WINDOW'

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Our 'oracle' in Glasgow, Bellshill Kanka Nadeem, has put together a round-up of the comings and goings in Ankaragucu during the transfer 'window' which is shown below -

Quote.... Just over a month ago us Kankas were depressed and worried about the news that we were going to lose all players due to the Court Case. Everyone is glad that for the time being the management will continue and we can get back on with our challange for a UEFA Cup place.

There has been a lot of movement at Ankaragucu with players leaving the club and players coming in as well. First of all we will look at the players coming in.

As Harun mentioned just over a week ago, we have added Jarioslav Cerny from Slavia Prague to our midfield. The Czech Republic international was captain at Slavia Prague and can play on the left hand side or middle of the park. If he is as succesful as his international team mate Jan Rajnoch then he will do well.

Next up is 23 year old Ergin Keles who was signed from Manisaspor. The Striker is a former Trabzonspor player and was once watched by Atletico Madrid. He has a bit of height to him which is much needed in the Ankaragucu attack and will be hoping to find some of that early promise he had at the start of his career.

Former Galarasaray and Besiktas winger Serdar Ozkan is the next signing. Has good pace and skill but can be inconsistent which you are going to get with wingers. Looked ok on his debut and looks like he will be a handy player when he gets his match fitness back.

This week we completed the signing of Muhammet Turkmen from Kartalspor which i dont know anything about, midfield player who looks like he will come in as a squad player.

Another midfielder added was Mehmet Cogum from Diyarbakirspor, he came on against Bucaspor and looks a big lad in the middle of the park. Again he looks like he will also be a squad player.

One position we have finally got cover for is the left back position, Ishak Dogan has signed for the club from Arminia Bielefield in Germany.

Our biggest signing of the window so far has to be Fatih Tekke. We have signed him on a 1.5 year loan deal. The former Trabzonspor hero hasnt been able to break into the first team at Besiktas. A bit of experience added to our young squad and a quality player to get the fans excited about too.

There is still 11 days left of the Transfer window and we will be hoping to bring in one more player. A central defender must be priority as Michael Zewlakow and Jan Rajnoch are the only two players in the squad good enought to play there.

So far we have managed to keep hold of our top players, but as i said above there are still 11 days to go. According to reports tonight Red Bull Salzburg are looking to sign Robert Vittek and the deal looks to have some truth in it. Hopefully we can keep hold of him as he is an important player for us.

Players who have left the club are Muhammet Hanifi who has joined Aydin Karabulut at Karabukspor. The big defender never held down a place in the first team, not going to be a big loss and the move is best for both parties.

Mehmet Cakir has won himself a good move to league leaders Trabzonspor. Cakir was mostly used as a substitute and should have done alot better at Ankaragucu, lots of pace and skill but his final ball and shooting were very poor.

Former Captain Hurriyet Gucer has been released by the squad. A very talanted player for whatever reason fell out with the management. Its a shame as he was an important player in the team but Adem Kocek has come in and done a good job in his place.

Roguy Meye has moved to Paris FC in France's lower league. The Gabonese striker only scored 2 goals for Ankaragucu both in the cup and it also frees up one of the Foreign spaces in the squad.

Young Liberian Midfielder Tonia Tisdell has moved to Mersin on loan until the end of the season.

The most important thing is we keep hold of Marek Sapara, he is so influencial in everything we do, we have to be happy with the way the transfer window has went so far, especially as we were expecting not to have any players at all.

One other mention, our young centre half Aydin who is on loan in the Turkish Second division and who was involved in a serious car accident is on the road to recovery. He nearly lost his life and its unlikely he will play again but he still has his life and our best wishes go to the boy.

Nadeem

Unquote.

Thanks for that summary Nadeem. Hopefully the new boys will fit-in and we can see Ankaragucu climbing up the table in the 2nd half of the league. If not to a Europa Cup place, then at least to a respectable position which gives us hope to mount a serious challenge next season.

More optimism pills please !!!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The referee

The Referee | Rättskiparen [2010] from Freedom From Choice AB on Vimeo.


Remember the fellow who allowed Henry's goal to stand and thus deny Ireland a place in the World Cup? Imagine what it must have been for him afterwards. Imagine no more as this brilliant Swedish documentary followed him for six months before the "incident".

This is one dark tale of being a professional referee. I highly recommend it.

From the blurb: "World class football referee Martin Hansson had a successful journey towards his vision in life, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Then one dark night in Paris on November 18th, 2009, all hell broke loose..."

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

LEAGUE BUSINESS RESUMES

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

After all the excitement of the Cup in recent weeks it's back to the bread and butter of league business this weekend.

We can't really call the league 'shut-down' a winter break because we haven't had our winter ..... yet ! Let's hope I don't put the kiss of death on that subject and for us to experience a late winter !!!

So, to upcoming fixtures and one of trepidation for Ankaragucu for the first match me thinks, especially if we play like we did against Buca !

Saturday 22 January - Trabzon v Ankaragucu - KO 4pm
Saturday 22 January - Gencler v Eskisehir - KO 5pm

Sunday 30 January - Ankaragucu v Manisa - KO 2pm
Sunday 30 January - Gaziantep v Gencler - KO 5pm

Also, don't forget ...... sandwiched in between those is the vital Cup matches on Thursday 27 January. Haven't got KO times yet. Any idea guys ?

Fenerbahce v Gencler
Malatya v Ankaragucu

Your regular Ankaragucu reporter will be flying out of Ankara on 30 January and I'm sure Battle Damaged Kanka Damon will step boldly into the breach to update us with news of Ankaragucu until my return on 12 February ??!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A FEELING OF DEJA VU !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

It was just like the 'good olde days', or if you prefer, the 'bad olde days' circa 1999 when Eski was the ONLY Kanka ! The only difference was that I was in The Beer Bus Bar and not in Sahil !

A plea ..... come back Martyn, Robbie, Jamie and Steve !!!

Ooooops, I almost forgot as I was drowning in nostalgia ...... to the match, and as Oz said in the previous post .......

ANKARAGUCU 1 Buca 1

I have to say that Ankaragucu can consider themselves rather fortunate to be still in the mix for qualification. Even allowing for the fact that most of the 'star players' were absent, it was a shocking display from Ankaragucu (apart from Bora and Rajnoch).

As Nadeem mentioned in the comments of a post 1 or 2 back, lots of new faces in the line-up -

Bora
Ugur, Rajnoch, Zewlakow, Murat
Gabric, Adem, Weeks, Ozgur
Metin and Serdar

2nd half substitutes - Mehmet, Ergin and Muhammed

I was surprised at the turn-out for a Monday late KO match. All 5 Tribunes were well represented and 'noisy'. I was with some of my old buddies from Pegasus in Maraton, and Roger the Dodger Kanka joined me 15 minutes into the match.

The match started at a frantic pace with Buca on the back foot and Ankaragucu looking to nick the early goal. It almost came 14 minutes in when Serdar had a great chance after a defensive mix-up, but it was cleared before he could react.

Bora was called into action for the first time on 15 minutes with Buca gradually coming into the match and looking dangerous.

Then on the half hour mark Buca put two great moves together. The first was well saved by Bora, but the second a few minutes later was a clinical goal fashioned by the cut-back to the unmkarked Musa lurking on the edge of the penalty box, and he gave Bora no chance with a screamer of a shot.

Cue..... Eski shaking his head in disbelief and reaching for his optimism pills !

Approaching half time and against the run of play, Ankaragucu found the equaliser. A corner slung over and there was Man of the Match Rajnoch powering in to send a great header in - in hindsight he was the only player who was likely to score !

Into the 2nd half and Zewy almost made the break-through on 56 minutes with a great header which rebounded off the bar and was cleared.

Buca was beginning to take control of the match now and playing some delightful passing moves which had the Ankaragucu defence in panic stations at times. Another feeling of deja vu with the defenders hoofing it anywhere instead of trying to bring it out !

Buca almost scored the winner on 66 minutes when the Ankaragucu defence was left for dead and the attacker somehow contrived to miss an open goal thanks to a last minute goal-line clearance from (couldn't see).

It was all Buca now and Bora pulled off a few excellent saves as the clocked ticked down to the end of the match.

A feeling of relief then, rather than disappointment !

As Oz said in the previous post, it is all in the hands of Ankaragucu and Gencler to go out and WIN their last match of the group stage.

That should be another nail biting 90 minutes on the 27th January in The Beer Bus Bar !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu make life difficult for everyone

Sir Eski Kanka will no doubt give us the run down sometime soon, but for those desperate to know.

Turkish Cup result.

Ankaragucu 1 - 1 Bucaspor

This buggers everything up.

The points as it stands:

Buca: Pl 4 Pts 7
Gencler: Pl 3 Pts 7
Ankaragucu: Pl 3 Pts 5
Y. Malatyaspor: Pl 3 Pts 3
Fenerbache: Pl 3 Pts 0

Remember there are only four games for each team. So next week Fener plays Gencler and Y. Malatya plays Ankaragucu.

A win for Ankaragucu away and they will be through, a draw is not good enough. Gencler need a draw against Fener. Gencler might even get through no matter what as they beat Buca. Oh maths was never my strong point.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Gencler roll on in the Cup

Perfect football weather. Bugger all fans. I can't complain about the kankas too much... they were probably all nursing hangovers from the British Ale and Cider Festival last night but where was the rest of Ankara. Sure, this was a cup match but hey, this was embarrassing.

Genclerbirligi 2 - 0 Yeni Malatyaspor

First half. Pretty crap. Malataya seemed to be concentrating more. Our defence was shaky at times but no real threats.

We had a couple of good chances towards the end of the half, two of them from corners where just a bit of luck might have seen the ball go in, and one where the ball fell to Harbuzi who managed to whack it miles over the crossbar when it should have been in the back of the net.

Nil-nil at half-time and my prediction to Oguz was that one of us was going to crack. Luckily for us it was Malataya.

We had an attack break down and then Mlataya somehow managed to lose it to Yasin (the new signing from Borussia Dortmund) who had been on the pitch for all of a minute. He moved a few feet and shot. Whhhooooowhoooo.

Not all that long later Zec found the keeper in a one-on-one situation but with Gencler on top it looked almost inevitable that we would score again and it was Yasin again to claim it. He found himself with the ball near the edge of the box, starting dribbling sideways past a whole heap of defenders and eventually bored them to death, at which stage he shot.

That's three goals in two matches for our new signing and things are looking good. Having said that, this was Yeni Maltayaspor from the third division. Sure they beat Fener on Thursday night but still... we need to improve.

The win puts us top of Group C and qualification for the next stages will be guaranteed if Ankaragucu beat Buca on Monday night. C'mon Gucu!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

THE TURKISH CUP - NOW COMES THE CRUNCH

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Ho ho ho ..... titter titter titter ....... as Eski picks himself up from the floor with tears of 'sadness' cascading down his cheeks !!! Tonight ...........

Malatya 2 Fenerbahce 1

How the mighty have fallen, and aren't we all so so sad ??? I'm gonna have a ball tomorrow morning in school with all the Ankara Fener 'supporters' !

So, now to the crunch matches which begin on Sunday, and it's up to Gencler to put Malatya back in their place, ie...... down !

Then, on Monday it will be Ankaragucu's turn to 'turn the screw' and put the knife into Buca.

On Sunday it's an afternoon KO and no doubt Oz will be sending out an email soon about meeting time.

However, on Monday it's an 8pm KO, so we will meet in the Beer Bus Bar at 6pm and go to the Stadium at around 7pm.

Sheer joy tonight, and I wish I had been in Sakarya to see the 'faces'. Remember last season when Bursa won the League ?? More ho ho ho's !!!

All the best from Ho Ho Ho Eski Kanka Jim

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

That puts the cat amongst the pigeons. Gencler down Buca

Let me start by quoting Sir Eski: "As you can see, if Gencler can perform a miracle on 12 January in Buca, then it really will throw the shit into the fan !!!"

Whilst I wouldn't call it a miracle. I am pretty happy.

Bucaspor 1 - 2 Genclerbirligi


The Turkish Cup match wasn't on the telly and the radio coverage was spotty, but it was good to here that Ermin Zec is back from injury and as far as I could figure out he got an assist for the first goal which was scored by Oktay Delibalta.

A new signing, Yasin Oztekin got the second. Oztekin was bought from Borussia Dortmund just a few days ago and sounds like he might be worth watching. As far as I could tell Oztekin was the only new fellow to play tonight.

It was 1-2 at half time and stayed that way for the rest of the match although both sides had opportunities to score. Including one shot from Buca which bounced down from the crossbar and which the Buca players claimed had gone over the line.

All up a good result for Genclerbirligi. The table as it stands.

Buca: Pl 3 Pts 6
Ankaragucu: Pl 2 Pts 4
Gencler: Pl 2 Pts 4
Y. Malatyaspor: Pl 1 Pts 0
Fenerbache: Pl 2 Pts 0

In other news. Billy Mehmet has been loaned out to Samsunspor. He never really got going. While Michael Stewart has fled the country. We never really got to seem him as he got injured in the pre-season.

Monday, January 10, 2011

ANKARAGUCU - 'FRIENDLY'

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The result of Ankaragucu's first 'friendly' match in Antalya yesterday ...........

ANKARAGUCU 0 Bochum 0

There was only two lines in The Hurriyet this morning, but fortunately we have Bellshill Kanka Nadeem in Glasgow to keep us up to speed with some details which are as follows -

Quote.... Hello Jim, Yeah i just saw that Cerny made his debut, Sapara wasn't playing along with a few others Ozgur and Senecky been the main ones, Bilal was playing in the team as well one of the youngsters. Unquote.

Thanks for the update Nadeem.

Next up is AZ Alkmaar tomorrow and another chance for Umit Bey to assess his final line-up for the BIG ONE against Buca next Monday.

In the meantime, there is an important match on Wednesday in the Cup when Gencler travel to Buca. A win for Buca would give them qualification from the group, however, a win for Gencler would really shake the group up and make the final matches on 27 January as the deciding factors.

Should be interesting !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Friday, January 07, 2011

THE TURKISH CUP - UPCOMING FIXTURES

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

There has been a few alteration to the Turkish Cup fixtures which I posted a few moons ago.

Wednesday 12 January - Buca v Gencler (no change)

Sunday 16 January - Gencler v Malatya (no change)

Monday 17 January - Ankaragucu v Buca (change)

Thursday 27 January - Fener v Gencler (change)

Thursday 27 January - Malatya v Ankaragucu (change)

The situation at the moment is that Buca sits on top of the group with 6 points, Ankaragucu is in 2nd place with 4 points, Gencler in 3rd place with 1 point, Fener in ...... ho ho ho .... place with ZERO points ......... and Malatya ....??? ....... who cares !!!

So, as I see it, the defining moment in this group for top spot is the match on 17 January when the situation is ............ winner take all !!

The 2nd place is still up for grabs and that should be decided after the results of the other matches. As you can see, if Gencler can perform a miracle on 12 January in Buca, then it really will throw the shit into the fan !!!

Mmmmmm ...... it's looking interesting ........ isn't it ?

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Turkish TV cop shows

What Turkey needs is more cop shows. I mean you can't have too many badly shaven, moustachioed tough guys willing to bend the law just a little. I guess this was the thinking of the producers of Behzat Ç. The only difference is that instead of being set in Istanbul, this one is based in Ankara.

About bloody time. Our hero Behzat most of the time looks, sounds and acts as if he has had way too many drinks the night before. Just take a look at the clip below. If you know Turkish watch the clip and then keep reading.




The basic translation is:

Clean cut copper: "Is it number nine?"

Behzat: Ahhh (an affirmative sort of Ahhh)

Copper: In that case its down the hill.

Behzat: Ahhh (a surprised sort of Ahhh)

Small scene of other cops in a car and then back to the apartment block.

Behzat: Are you (incomprehensible)?

Suspect: Yes, who are you?

Copper: CSI Dikmen. Out of the way.

Suspect: What's happening?

Behzat - Whack!

...

Any show that has the line "CSI Dikmen" is clearly brilliant. It gets better though with the original pick up line in this next scene where Behzat is trying to get with the good looking but extremely stressed out prosecutor.



Sort of translation from about 30 seconds in as Behzat walks to the door.

Behzat: What are you doing tonight?

Prosecutor: Ah... Don't know. Why do you ask?

Behzat: I'm going to the Genclerbirligi match. I've got a spare kombine. You coming?

Prosecutor: Ah... I've no understanding of football. Even if I come I won't be happy. You go.

Behzat: If you change your mind phone me.

Sure, the prospect of a 0-0 draw with Kasimpasa on a cold Ankara night probably isn't the most enticing dates but in the end she must have said yes. And then it gets to the match itself. No need for translating this one.



And Behzat gets his woman! Ahhh, the power of Gencler. Please note those of you new to the dating game. The clip above shows a great example of how a goal is a great excuse to give your date a big squeeze.

One last clip for you. This one isn't the Beer Bus but I'm sure you will recognise a few real Gencler fans in this one.

Sunday, January 02, 2011

ANKARAGUCU - MID-SEASON BREAK

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

From the pages of The Hurriyet this morning ............

Ankaragucu will be in their normal camp in Belek, Antalya until 12 January.

Two 'friendly' matches have been lined-up and one of them in particular will be of interest to Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo !

9 January - Bochum of Germany

11 January - AZ Alkmaar of Holland

On their return to Ankara they will then face Buca on 15/16 January in Ankara in the crucial Cup match which will no doubt decide which of them will top the group.

In other news, Umit Ozat is quoted as saying that he is bringing in 2 new players, but the names haven't been released yet. I'm sure that Nadeem will be watching this news and will be first to report it !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim