Ankaragucu goes down the rabbit hole: Tavsanlı Linyitspor 2 Ankaragucu 0

Bayram, Volkan, Bilal, Kaan, Timur,

Mehmet, Serkan, Enes, Gürkan, Aytaç, and Orhan 

went to Tavsanli to go rabbit hunting but the hunters became the hunted, and I'm afraid we are the ones who got stuffed by their line up of 

Metin Erol

Hasan Yasar, Ferhat Culcuoglu, Mehmet Besler, 

Murat Yılmaz, Murat Ozavcı, Bilal Ozdemir, Mesut Saray,

Akeem Oriyomi Agbetu, Oktay Pop, and Sakib Aytac, as well as the subs, in particular, Abdi Aktas.

The match started well enough. The weather was beautiful and sunny and 33 degrees, perfect footballing weather. Both the Tavsanli and AG fans were out in numbers and in good voice, and it  was pretty much an even contest up until the 45th minute when Mesut backheeled a ball to Ferhat and with the AG defenders giving him ample time and space he launched a shot from outside the box that had Bayram diving to his right but grasping at air. 

It wasn't long before Facebook was lighting up with AG fans condemning Bayram. However had the defense closed in on Ferhat more quickly, he probably wouldn't have been able to get the shot off. And really why had we not scored by that point? There had been numerous opportunities that our boys had just not taken advantage of. Plenty of blame to go around. Unfortunately while Mustafa Kaplan apologized to the fans for the performance in the post-match interview, the players Teoman, who at one point blew a chance where he was one-on-one with the keeper Metin, and Enes Kubatli, who had started off with a bang but had quickly fizzled out, blamed it on fate and destiny. 

Now this is one of the things that drives me nuts about Turkey sometimes. No, it was not fate or destiny, you guys did not take advantage of the chances you had, and there were plenty. Just say "we tried hard but we fell short, and we're sorry." Take some responsibility. 

And was this not exactly the same case as last week? Let's recall what Bellshill Kanka wrote in his assessment of last week's match against Adana.

As i mentioned in last weekends match report, Ankaragucu were the better team for 44 minutes. They even had a glorious chance in the first minute to take the lead, but like to (sic) many times this season they missed an excellent opportunity. Adana scored on the stroke of half time and from there on dominated the match.

Pretty similar. Kaplan despite the great job he has done overall, has to make sure that we stop losing for the same reasons week in and week out. 


In any case, the team came out looking fairly sharp after the halftime break, and the match proceeded much as it had in the first half, with both teams getting plenty of opportunities but with neither of them really able to capitalize on them. 

Much as Nadeem had predicted, Agabetu was incredibly quick and dangerous, but it wasn't until the 87th minute when Agabetu, after countless prior attempts, was really able to penetrate into the box from the left. With a cut back, he put the ball in the path of the  pot bellied veteran Abdi Aktaş (aka The Old Wolf) who put it past Bayram and into the net. A very happy moment for The Old Wolf, who had come on about twenty minutes earlier, and his teammates, but a death knell for Ankaragucu. 

And that is pretty much this week's story. Although perhaps I should mention that one of our players got hit by an explosive device, that the announcers were calling a sound bomb, thrown from our own tribune. "What is wrong with some of our fans," I have to ask myself from time to time. 

At the 73rd minute mark there was a whole cluster of these devices going off and the match had to be stopped. This did not make the locals too happy, and by the end of the match they were calling our fans sons of bitches, and, to be fair, we did not behave ourselves well. It is not the people of Tavsanlı responsible for the mess we are in. Show a little class guys. I am not advocating violence, but if you really must throw something, throw it at the people really responsible for where we are now--you know who they are.

From the other side

A couple of weeks ago we posted on being given black and red pieces of paper to hold up before kick-off.

I've finally found a picture of the scene from the other way around.

Ankaragucu vs Tavsanli Linyitspor match preview !

Ankaragucu travel to Tavsanli on Sunday for this weekends must win match against Tavsanli Linyitspor. Both teams are involved in a relegation battle and know they have to take the 3 points or start preparing for life in Lig 2 next season. The visitors will want to make sure they improve on last weekends 4-1 defeat at home to Adana Demirspor.

As i mentioned in last weekends match report, Ankaragucu were the better team for 44 minutes. They even had a glorious chance in the first minute to take the lead, but like to many times this season they missed an excellent opportunity. Adana scored on the stroke of half time and from there on dominated the match. The experience of their strikers showed as they took 4 of the 5 opportunities that came their way.

Tavsanli won the last match 1-0 in Ankara earlier in the season thanks to a Mesut Saray goal. They have the exact same record as Ankaragucu in their last 5 matches. They have won 1, lost 1 and drawn 3 games. They currently lie 8 points ahead of Ankaragucu and a win could take them outside the drop zone. A win for Ankaragucu would give them some hope again but they players need to take their chances and not let their heads drop if things go against them.

Since Mustafa Kaplan has come in as coach, he has done an excellent job but one decision i think he has got wrong, is his decision to drop Mert Erdogan. He hasn't played in the last 2 games and the last game he played we won. Mert needs to come back into the midfield in place of Serkan Sirin. The later is a very good player on the ball but his fitness and work rate let him down. Mert and Bilal are a good partnership alongside Kaan Kanak.

Two young players who will be looking to break into the first team are Hasan Ayaroglu and Emre Tasdemir. Both are highly rated and have represented Turkey at Youth International level, they have bright futures ahed of them and this is a good learning curve for them. Tavsanli have some good players and Ankaragucu will need to watch out for Akeem Agbetu and Abdi Aktas who are both capable of giving defenders a tough game. Akeem is quick while Aktas brings experience and knows where the net is.

We have sai this on many occasions this season, but this really is a must win match for Ankaragucu, a defeat and Mustafa Kaplan will need to prepare for next season and the management team will need to look at which players will stay and play in Lig 2.

THE STADIUM FROM HELL ..... MARK II

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Further to the brief discussion between Bellshill Kanka Nadeem and me yesterday on the subject of 'The New Ankara Stadium', there was some details in The Hurriyet Newspaper this morning.

From the artist's impression it certainly looks quite impressive.   So, all we need now is a name for it.   Let's call it Satan Stadium ??!!

As I mentioned yesterday, the Eskisehir Road stretches all the way from the City Centre to the outskirts of Ankara where the ring road meets it.   Approximately at Konutkent which is about 30 Klicks in all.

Satan Stadium is going to be built just off the Eskisehir Road at the exits for Umitkoy and Etimesgut which by my reckoning is about 25 Klicks from the City Centre.   Without the Metro, and taking into account the weekend shopping traffic, it will be a nightmare to get a bus to there, especially with a large Ankaragucu contingent of supporters.    There is also another problem when Gencler is playing the likes of the Big 3.

Even with the Metro up and running, I have to assume that they will be running it into Umitkoy for the Shopping Centres rather than the Stadium's convenience.   So, in that scenario, how to get the supporters from Umitkoy to the Stadium ?

There is also another problem which I envisage, ie, time !

For example, on my many visits to Ibrox Stadium to see Hibs play Rangers, I was obliged to take the Clockwork Orange Underground train from the City Centre to the Stadium.    All well and good normally, but the nightmare begins at the end of the match when 40,000 punters exit the Stadium and a good majority of them want to return to the City Centre.    I have stood in a queue for ages waiting to board a train !

These are all ifs and buts at this stage until we know more details.   Also, seeing an artist's impression of Satan Stadium is not quite the same as seeing it rise from the ground !

However, perhaps the bottom line to this story is nicking Nadeem's comments from the previous post, ie, the first thing we need to do is to ensure that we have a team to play in the effin Stadium !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu 1-4 Adana Demirspor

Team - Bayram, Aytac, Volkan, Gurkan, Mehmet, Gokhan, Serkan, Bilal, Kaan, Timur, Enes

Subs - Gokhan, Emre, Hasan, Teoman, Mert, Umut, Metin


This report will be very short I'm afraid after Ankaragucu were blown away at home to Adana Demirspor. It was the usual story with Ankaragucu unable to take their chances whilst Adana would go on and use their experience to kill off the challenge from the young Ankaragucu side.

It was only 1 minute into the game when Enes was put through on goal by Timur, all he had to do was put the ball past the goalkeeper but instead miss hit his shot which went high and wide. Ankaragucu were the better team for 44 minutes, until Adana scored through Junior on the stroke of half time.

Into the second half two goals from Luiz Eduardo and one from Sinan Ozkan put Adana 4-0 up, the Ankaragucu players looked demoralised but continued to search for a consolation goal. That goal came on the 90th minute from a well taken Timur Ozgoz goal.

Ankaragucu now go into a three game spell where they take on the three teams above them. 9 Points is required or Ankaragucu will be playing Lig 2 football.

In other news it was confirmed by Klasspor today that the new stadium of Ankara will be built on Eskisehir road. It will hold 40k people and despite pleas from Mehmet Yiginir and Ilhan Cavcav to keep the stadium at the 19 Mayis, sports minister Suat Kilic has confirmed Eskisehir Road will be the new home of Ankaragucu and Gencler.

Questions and Answers with Ante Bakmaz !

The Round Ball in Ankara this week caught up with 20 year old Croatian footballer Ante Bakmaz as he looks to win a move to Turkey after a couple of career threatening injuries. Ante is a follower of the Round Ball in Ankara and we would like to thank him for this interview.

Link to Ante Bakmaz Blog !

Nadeem - So Ante tell us a bit about your footballing career so far ?

Ante -  I was born in Sydney, Australia to Croatian migrants and began playing for my local team in Sydney. As i grew older i played for a team called Sydney United who are one of the biggest teams in Australia and where Michael Jedinak (former Genclerbirligi player) played. I then moved from Sydney United to Granville Range (who are in the Second division) when i was 16 to play senior football. It was here where i developed physically , technically and tactically as a footballer and got a lot of game time in the first team. 

Nadeem - You also spent time in Croatia is that correct ?

Ante - I was fortunate enough to go on trial with Croatian First Division side NK Zagreb. It was very successful however i had problems with some documents which prevented me from signing. I returned to NK Zagreb again at the end of the 2011-12 where i was training for 6 months. The club was however in a very weak financial situation. I returned to Australia again where i had two career threatening injuries. I was advised by doctors, physios, coaches and players that i should stop playing for my own quality of life's sake. I decided not to listen to them because the last thing i wanted was people trying to take my dream away from me. I began to work on rebuilding my body and I'm now a few weeks away from full training to prepare myself for what lies ahead of me at the end of the season.

Nadeem - How did you find out about The Round Ball in Ankara ?

Ante - I was actually very lucky, Ankaragucu and Karabukspor were playing in the league and i just wanted to read the preview of the match somewhere before i watched the game just to know what i was in for. The only problem was the many links were in Turkish and i could only manage so much. Luckily the link for the Round Ball in Ankara came up and from then on i have taken special interest in Ankaragucu and Genclerbirligi especially becuase the blog is in English and i check every weekend to see what is new in Ankara. 

Nadeem - Your cousin Anthony Seric plays for Karabukspor, what has he told you about Turkish Football?

Ante - Yeah that is correct, He signed in June 2010. Sera and i are very close and i am grateful that i have someone to talk to about football and life. One thing he always talks about is the passion. The passion is unbelievable ! He also constantly mentions the way in which the supporters treat the players is fantastic and appreciates the passion all the fans have towards their teams. 

Nadeem - The last Croatian to play for Ankaragucu was Darago Gabric who was a fans favourite, do you see yourself playing in Turkey or even Ankara one day ?

Ante - I used to watch Drago Gabric as a boy when he was playing in Croatia and always found him to be a player of technical superiority and great tactical awareness. I can see why Ankaragucu fans appreciated his contribution to the club. Of course i do see myself playing in Turkey and i feel i have what it takes, not just to play, but to contribute. Playing for either team in Ankara would be an honour and bonus. Both clubs are massive, its like picking a blonde or a brunette, both are beautiful and amazing in their own right. 

Nadeem - What attracts you to Turkish football ?

Ante - From a football perspective the aggression and will to win combined with the technical ability of All players really makes the Super Lig and PTT 1 Lig great to watch. Personally i feel my aggression, will to win and technical ability are my strongest assets of my game and would probably say that is the reason why i am so attracted to Turkish football. The supporters dedication and passion cant be compared to anywhere in the world. Watching the match between Ankaragucu and Konya in early december really struck me. People immediately see the incidents on the day and label the people hooligans and thugs, however those incidents just shows how much (in that case, Gecekondu) the fans will do anything to see the club succeed and will not tolerate ridicule from people outside of Ankara invading their city and turf. Therefore as a player if you give less than 100% for the name in front of the shirt then that , in my opinion, is simply not acceptable. 

Nadeem - Which team did you grow up supporting ?

Ante - Growing up in Australia, the English Premier League was the only thing available to me. I supported Fulham growing up. The only problem was the banter i would get from the kids at school was a bit annoying. 

Nadeem - Ankaragucu or Genclerbirligi lol ?

Ante - Ankargucu, Something about the club, the colours and the Gecekondu really strikers me. The fact that the club has pretty much hit rock bottom and continued to, not just play, but compete and get results despite some poor decisions really inspires me. So Ankaragucu !

Nadeem - Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo ?

Ante - A tough question, its the same as picking between Pide or Kebab ! Personally i would pick Messi, however too many people who do pick him disregard Cristiano completely. I think we should just appreciate there are two footballers of this calibre playing at their peak at this moment in time.

Nadeem - Once again thank you very much Ante for taking time to do this interview, really appreciate it.

Ante - Not a problem my friend, as a boy i really didn't like players who would refuse interviews and autographs. I feel the fans have an obligation to know what type of person is wearing their colours on their heart. 

With the current transfer ban it will be difficult for Ankaragucu to offer Ante Bakmaz a deal, but there is no doubting he has the right kind of attitude to play for the club. Lets hope he gets his dream of training with the club and one day puts on the Sari Lacivert. 

Ankaragucu vs Adana Demirspor match preview !

Ankaragucu go into this weekends match against Adana Demirspor on a four match unbeaten run after last weekends 1-1 draw at Gaziantep BB. It remains to be seen just how much that late goal for Gaziantep will have effected the Ankaragucu players, but after speaking to Timur Ozgoz the German striker still believes we have a chance and is hopeful of a victory at the weekend.

Looking at the positives from last weekends match, Ankaragucu again played some excellent football while defending well at the back, indeed we were the better team right up until Orhan Evci was sent off. Teoman also had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside. The negatives would be that Ankaragucu need to learn how to kill off games, that is now 9 games this season where we have taken the lead but failed to win the 3 points.

When Ankaragucu sold Umit Kurt in the January transfer window all hope was fading, but Gurkan Alver has shown that he is a good replacement and has improved week after week, his leadership skills and discipline have helped Ankaragucu and made the team more difficult to beat. Bilal Gulden goes from strength to strength and looks like he could turn into a very good Super Lig player.

Since Mustafa Kaplan has come in he has done a fantastic job, he has got his tactics spot on and the team play with more confidence. Last weekend for me was the first mistake he made when leaving Mert Erdogan on the bench and starting with Orhan Evci, i think we need to put Aytac back to right back and Mert back in midfield alongside Bilal and Kaan.

Adana Demirspor have hit a bit of a bad run of late and haven't won in their last 6 matches. Their playoff hopes are fading unless they start winning games again. They will go into the match knowing they have to take the 3 points. The last time both sides met Adana won 4-1 after a fantastic second half performance. Ankaragucu will need to watch the two Brazilians Juninho and Luiz Eduardo but the main player for Adana is Ercag Evirgen who for me is one of the best players in the PTT Lig.

In news off the field, Ankaragucu management have paid outstanding payments to Hans Peter Briegel, Roguy Meye, Werner Schoupa, and Dirk Wuhlbier as the club continue to try and reduce the debt. Saturdays game is 1pm Kick off at the 19 Mayis Stadium.

A happy birthday all round as Gencler down Karabuk

What weird weather we had for Saturday afternoon's Gencler v Karabuk match. Before kick-off it was hot in the sun. Then the clouds came in and it was a bit chilly. Sun back out and coats off again. Then it ended with hail!

As we trudged into the wet Ankara night I was damn happy we got the three points as it had seemed for a long, long time that a draw was all we were going to get. In fact if the cards had fallen a different way Karabuk could well have won it.

Genclerbirligi 2 - 1 Karabukspor

The party boys.

No pre-match drinks for me as I had to drive Little Oz Kanka and his mates to the stadium. For the first time in years Mrs. Oz Kanka came along. Also in for the match was @spinesideburn, Matt, Simon and Oguz. Quite a little crowd we made.

But before we could become that little crowd we had to actually get into the stadium and it seems as if the tickets I had bought from the little kiosk were fakes. We ended up being given replacements but... annoying at the time.

We were inside with plenty of time to spare and were all handed black or red sheets of paper to hold up during the national anthemn as it was Genclerbirligi's 90th anniversary.

@Spinesideburn acting his age.

Handing out paper to a crowd is only going to result in one thing with little kids around and so it was that within moments @spinesideburn had already made a paper aeroplane.

The players came out not with a "Happy Birthday Us" sign but instead a "Happy World Consumer Rights Day" banner. Maybe that's why I was given replacement tickets instead of a brush off.    

No Jimmy or Hursut for the match. I think they are injured.

Finally we got going and it was looking nice and with nine minutes on the clock Zec sent in a cross aimed for the young Artun but a defender headed it outside the box to Petkovic who seemed to take forever before shooting into the low left corner.  

One-nil up and all was well. This had a big Gencler victory written all over it but, as often happens the away team picked up their tempo and we were too complacent.

Hope this looks good on the telly.

At times our defence was rubbish with a real reluctance to actually tackle. Karabuk had a number of shots, and Ramazan had to make a number of last ditch saves.

They managed to get an amazingly soft equaliser with five minutes to go before half-time. Somehow or other Serkan in the box allowed a ball to bounce over him and fall straight to a Karabuk attacker. How Serkan misjudged this I have no idea. Realising the mistake Ramazan was forced to come off his line but Luton Shelton calmly slotted it past him.

Grrr grrr grrr but it wasn't long after half-time when a Karabuk player was sent off for a second yellow card. I thought it was slightly harsh but the referee today was giving rubbish decisions left, right and centre.

The crowd were getting pretty frustrated with Gencler's
inability to finish it off.  

A man down, 40-odd minutes to go. Karabuk were surely dead meat. Nope they held on. Despite some great play from Gencler, we just couldn't find the net and at times were very close to conceding. I thought Zec had a great game and was very unlucky not to score.    

Then with the frustration levels in the crowd and on the field rising higher and higher, Zec sent in a perfect cross onto the head of Bjorn Vleminckx. Goal. Two minutes left.

Then the hail came down and for some reason Karabuk got a freekick on the edge deep into injury time. They missed and the referee blew it up. Phew!

Happy birthday Genclerbirligi. Happy birthday Little Oz Kanka.  

Ankaragucu 1-1 Gaziantep BB live blogging !

1230: Half an hour to kick off as Ankaragucu take in Gaziantep BB in another massive game as the club look to avoid relegation. Ankaragucu come off a good 3-2 home win against 1461 Trabzon and will look to extend their unbeaten run to 4 games. Gaziantep won the last game in Ankara 4-1.

Teams have been announced and a surprise as Mert Erdogan has been dropped to the bench for Orhan Evci, Ankaragucu go with 2 up top as Teoman partners Timur.

Ankaragucu Team - Bayram , Aytac, Volkan, Gurkan, Mehmet, Orhan, Bilal, Kaan, Gokhan, Teoman, Timur

Subs: Gokhan Akkan, Hasan, Serkan, Metin, Umut Nayir, Emre, Mert


Gaziantep Team - Bora, Ferit, Onur, Cihan, Tuncer, Kenan, Eren, Ramazan, Serdar, Yalcin, Ahmet

1250: Ten minutes until kick off and the nerves are setting in, The Ankaragucu fans are making their way through the turnstiles at Kamil Ocak stadium! Good luck Ankaragucu !!


1 - Game underway with Ankaragucu playing in all yellow, Teoman having an early chance but his headed effort easily saved. Good start.

5 - Poor defending from Ankaragucu almost allow Gaziantep through on goal, Bayram makes an easy save from a cross into the box.

9 - Nice move from Ankaragucu as Bilal shoots straight at Bora in the Gaziantep goal, much better from Ankaragucu after Gaziantap started the stronger of the two teams.

11 - Corner Ankaragucu, Kaan floats cross into the box but former Ankaragucu keeper Bora Kork deals with it well.

17 - Excellent last ditch defending from Orhan as he blocks and almost certain goal from Ramazan

20 - Best chance of the game so far as Timur goes past his man before firing over the crossbar, should have scored and given Ankaragucu the lead.

22 - Ankaragucu go close again as Kaan Kanak's fee kick from 40 yeards goes inches over the crossbar.

25 - Gaziantep have a good chance but again good defending this time from Gurkan to put the Gaziantep player off, shot goes wide of target.

27 - Gokhan Erdogan blast way over from the edge of the box.

28 - Good defending from the Ankaragucu defence as Gaziantep look to break forward.

30 - Kaan shoots from outside the box but his shot goes inches past the post.

33 - Couple of crosses into the box from Gaziantep which Bayram chooses to punch instead of catching putting the Ankaragucu defence under pressure.

34 - Chance for Serdar but excellent recovery from Mehmet Tasci who gets back to take the sting out the shot allowing Bayram to gather the ball.

36 - Damon comments that Ankaragucu should have worn the White strip as it brought us luck last week.

39 - Teoman has the ball in the back of the net but yet again Ankaragucu on the wrong end of a bad decision from the referee, he gives offside when replays show Teoman was onside.

40 - Timur through on goal but shoots hight and wide from a tight angle. Damon comments that it was a great chance.

43 - Goooooooooooool 1-0 Ankaragucu, lovely cross from Gokhan Erdogan down the left hand side and Kaan heads the ball past Bora Kork !! Well done !

43 - Damon commenting on the one touch football Ankaragucu have been playing as the Ankaragucu traveling fans make some noise !

45 - Half Time Ankaragucu 1-0 Gaziantep BB and it is no more than we deserve, excellent first half performance.

46 - Teams come out for second half, looks like no changes for Ankaragucu as we get underway.

48 - Early chance for Gaziantep as Serdar watches his deflected shot go just over after a nice build up.

50 - Bayram makes a fantastic save from a Serdar header after good play down the left from Ramazan, Bayram saves from Kenan from the resulting corner.

54 - Damon commenting on Bayram making a good save and how our defence shouldn't have needed to make a last ditch tackle but done well none the less.

58 - Nice play from Bilal as he cuts the ball back for Timur but the German shoots straight at Bora.

60 - Excellent Barcelona style move from Ankaragucu but Orhan shoots over from inside the box, that was the move of the match. Damon also mentioning a good chance for Ankaragucu as Gaziantep look to get back into the match.

64 - End to end stuff as first Kaan nearly gets onto the end of a defensive mistake but Bora clears, the ball finds its way to Serdar but Bayram makes a good save. Tavsanli have just taken the lead over Manisaspor in their match so Ankaragucu need to hang onto this lead.

70 - Nice play from Teoman down the right hand side as he plays the ball into the box for Timur but Bora smothers the ball at his feet.

71 - Chance for the home side but Bayram saves and holds onto the ball as we go into the last 20 minutes. Damon commenting we need a second goal as this is to stressful for a Sunday.

72 - Umut Nayir comes onto replace Kaan who picked up a knock.

80 - Ankaragucu down to ten men as Orhan Evci has been sent off after his second yellow card of the game for deliberate hand ball.

84 - Bayram makes another excellent save this time from Kenan, Gaziantep piling on the pressure here, Damon commenting that we need to hold onto this lead for the last 5 minutes.

85 - Metin Aydin replaces Teoman for Ankaragucu

86 - Shot from distance well held by Bayram as Gaziantep strikers look to get onto any rebounds.

90 - Heart break for Ankaragucu as Gaziantep score in the last minute of the game, cross into the box finds its way to Umer Yalcin who puts the ball into the back of the net. 1-1

90 - Seems to be a bit of trouble coming from the Ankaragucu supporters, Serkan Sirin comes onto replace Umut Nayir.

90 - Another good save from Bayram , Ankaragucu fans can be heard voicing their disappointment at yet another match where the referee costs us points.

Final Score 1-1

A spirited performance from Ankaragucu and 1-1 was probably a fair result over the 90 minutes, but there is no doubting the goal ruled out for offside and the sending off of Orhan changed the game. Its 2 points lost as opposed to 1 point won for Ankaragucu as relegation rivals Tavsanli won 1-0 at home to Manisaspor.

Man of the Match - Bilal Gulden

An apology from an exhausted Oz Kanka

Genclerbirligi 2 - 1 Karabukspor

I apologise for not having a report up yet. Little Oz Kanka is celebrating his ninth birthday and has three of his mates staying over this evening. A night of pizza, birthday cake, some scary Doctor Who and before all that a great Genclerbirligi victory.

They are all wonderful and everything but I'm afraid I'm too exhausted to write a report at the moment.

Having the kids over meant I wasn't even able to watch the rugby this afternoon. What was the score there?

Ankaragucu vs Gaziantep BB match preview !

Match preparations got underway today as the Ankaragucu management sacrificed a sheep for the players ahead of Sundays match in Gaziantep. In Turkey this is a show of support and sign of good luck to the players. Before we look at the weekends aid game, a bit of news in today regarding a new stadium in Ankara. Mehmet Yiginer said today that he is against the new stadium being located on Eskisehir Road. Yiginer said that the stadium should be built at the current 19 Mayis stadium grounds. The transport links were the main talking points with Yiginir saying it is much easier for the fans to access. We await more on this subject. It was also reported by Klasspor that Cengiz Topal, Cemal Aydin, Sami Altinyuva, Bent Ahlat, Erk Toros, Hikmet Hancioglu, Nazmi Erdener, and Serdar Ozersin will all be referred to the disciplinary board in regards to the previous management of the club.

Back to this weekends game, Ankaragucu travel to Gaziantep full of confidence, but will need to be careful that they keep their feet on the ground and respect their opponents. Gaziantep BB like Ankaragucu are a team made up of Turkish players, they have performed above expectations this season and are still in with a chance of making the play off places. They have proven difficult to beat and showed that last week with a 1-0 win at Sanliurfaspor. The last time both sides met Gaziantep won 4-1 in Ankara after Umit Kurt gave Sari Lacivert the lead. Ankaragucu have improved since then and should provide a much tougher game for the home side.

One player Ankaragucu will need to mark closely is Serdar Deliktas who has 10 goals this season, he scored 2 goals the last time the two teams met so the Ankaragucu defence will need to do their homework. Mustafa Kaplan has transformed this Ankaragucu team from the whipping boys, to a team full of passion and heart that teams dont like playing against, there is no doubt that Ankaragucu would be sitting higher up the table if he was Manager at the start of the season. The gap is now down to 5 points and another win at the weekend would put the club into a fantastic position ahead of the match with Adana Demirspor the following week.

Ankaragucu will then go into the most important three weeks of the season when they play 3 other teams above them Tavsanli, Goztepe and Samsunspor. Those games will decide the fate of Ankaragucu, lets hope after the Samsunspor match that Ankaragucu are clear of the relegation zone. Yet again the likes of Timur Ozgoz, Bilal Gulden and Kaan Kanak will need to perform to the best of their ability and spur the team onto victory. The game will be shown live on TRT Web TV on Sunday afternoon. There will be live blogging from the Round Ball in Ankara so tune in to keep updated with the game.

Ankaragucu 3-2 1461 Trabzon match report !

A 5 goal thriller in Ankara today as Ankaragucu won 3-2 against 1461 Trabzon in a remarkable match. Thanks to Damon who helped do tonights report as i could only see bits of the game while at work. Thankfully i saw every goal, and all 3 Ankaragucu goals are contenders for goal of the season. Both Volkan Geyik and Enes Kubat were missing through suspension and were replaced with Orhan Evci and Mert Erdogan.

Team - Bayram, Orhan, Aytac, Gurkan, Mehmet, Gokhan, Bilal, Mert, Kaan, Serkan, Timur

Subs - Gokhan Akkan, Teoman, Emre, Aykildiz, Umut, Metin, Gundogdu

On Friday night the Ankaragucu management team and players gathered for a feast to help team morale, they shared the same views as Mustafa Kaplan that the team needed to win todays game otherwise we would go down. It was also Orhan Evci's 21st Birthday today as the team entered the field in a new all white strip. Damon mentioned that we should maybe wear this more often as it has brought some good luck.

The one thing that no one can have a go about this Ankaragucu team about, is the commitment and work rate shown by the players, and today was no different. Straight from kick off the team tried to play football and closed down the Trabzon players at every opportunity, where as Trabzon were looking to play the long ball from the back and use their wide players.

Ankaragucu were awarded for their high tempo pressure with a fantastic goal after 18 minutes, Bilal Gulden who has been arguably the teams best player of late blasted the ball from 25 yards into the top corner giving the keeper no chance. As you can see above he dedicated his goal to his friend Orhan Evci.

The score stayed that way until the 39th minute when a lovely ball into the box was met by the head of Mustafa Tiryaki and the ball glanced past Bayram. Five minutes later Chikeluba Ofoedu gathered the ball just past the half way line, he advanced with the ball before shooting from 25 yards into the top corner past Bayram. Another excellent goal in the match and 1461 would go in at half time 2-1 up.

Half Time 2-1

Ankaragucu came out for the second half and again tried to play football from the back to the front, Gokhan Erdogan missed a glorious chance from 5 yards out and saw his shot come back off the post. A minute later Ankaragucu had Bayram to thank as he saved two 1 on 1 chances with two excellent saves.

Then came the turning point, The ball was floated into the back post for Teoman who had come on to replace Mert, he collided with Ozturk the Trabzon Goalkeeper, whilst down on the ground Ozturk and Timur exchanged words with each other, the referee then red carded Ozturk for what is believed to be serious foul language.

At this point with ten minutes to go, one of my friends in work asked me the score, i told him we were 2-1 down. We both said you never hear of teams scoring 2 goals late on to win a match any more, the smile on my face at full time and the celebrations in my work are the highlight of the season. With the game 2 minutes into injury time Ankaragucu were awarded a free kick, for some reason i just believed Kaan would score, up he stepped from 30 yards to send a fantastic curling shot into the top corner to win Ankaragucu a point, or so we thought !!!

Straight from kick off Ankaragucu won the ball, it was sent forward to Timur Ozgoz and the German striker smashed the ball into the top corner from 25 yards, the celebrations in my work could be felt in Ankara. And the celebrations of the team were a joy to watch. Ankaragucu won 3-2 at home to one of the leagues best teams and what a match it was.

Damon mentioned that the Trabzon players and coaching staff were all gracious in defeat and even praised the Ankaragucu team. Also Mustafa Kaplan broke down in tears he was that proud of the team. Jim said earlier not to get to carried away, and i agree. We have an important match next Sunday at Gaziantep BB. We need to win back to back games. That is now 3 games undefeated and there is s bit of hope that Ankaragucu can perform the miracle of all miracles and avoid relegation.

If we stay up or we go down i will still be proud of the Manager, players and fans, we are Ankaragucu and no one can take that away ! Saldir Ankaragucu !!!!

ANKARAGUCU - MIRACLES DO HAPPEN !!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

I just arrived back home not long ago to find that Ankaragucu won today's encounter against high flying 1461 Trabzon.

ANKARAGUCU  3     (1461) Trabzon   2

I don't have time to research the details at the moment, but as I understand it, Trabzon was winning 2-1 with about 5 minutes to go and then ....... bang ...... bang ....... two late goals from Ankaragucu.

Is this a miracle, or ......... is this a miracle ??!!

Surely a good excuse to break open an Efes or two for a celebration.   It has been a long time since we've been able to do that.   Early December against Rize if my memory serves me ?!

If Nadeem or Damon can't give more details before tomorrow, then I'll follow up later tomorrow with team news and goalscorers.

However, a note of caution !    Let's not get too carried away with the euphoria.   There is still a long way to go and all we can do is hope that Ankaragucu can carry this momentum into the next few matches, and at the same time, for some of the other basement teams to slip up.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Genclerbirligi smashed on the field... but still get the points

"And this TRT radio broadcast has been explained to you by ?Didn't catch? and ?Didn't catch?", claimed the announcer after this evening's match. Really? We sort of got a description but in no way at all was anything "explained".

There was a penalty in the second half. Apparently the referee took his time before awarding it; no worries there. The Gencler players all rounded on the referee and Aykut was shown a yellow; probably deserved.

The radio announcers then brought to us the years of experience they have had working in the aural-explanation environment that is what old people like Sir Eski still describe as that "new-fangled wireless thing".  They combined that industry-specific background with their in-depth knowledge of the the round ball game by not even bothering to venture even the tiniest of opinions on whether the decision was right, wrong, a disgrace or whatever!

When I'm watching a match live or on telly I make that sort of judgement* within seconds! These buggers are paid half-decent money and I expect an opinion!

A penalty was given** and the announcers said NOTHING!!! NOTHING at all!!!

Drogba missed the penalty and so my rage turned to joy within seconds. Wooooo hooooooo!!!!!!!!! TRT rocks!!!!!

Galatasaray 0 - 1 Genclerbirligi

The good wife that is Mrs. Oz Kanka is in Elazig at the moment doing some work that is of vital importance to the Australian government and so I had to stay at home to sort of keep an eye on Little Oz Kanka.

We were surely in for a shellacking from the league leaders so I wasn't too upset.

Little Oz Kanka was on the computer playing The Sims 3. I had the radio in the lounge room and was practicing darts.

Just setting the scene.

Kick-off and boy did the crowd sound loud. Of course this was TRT radio and so I have no idea how many people were there. There was no mention on whether the match was sold out, or if there were empty seats. But we don't need that sort of peripheral rubbish that most so-called professional commentators trot out. No. We don't need that because we know that these fellows are going to "anlat" everything else.

Well they certainly anlat'ed the absolute fury that was the Galatasaray attack in the first half. Cimbom could well have been 5-0 up at half time. I laughed, of course, but poor old Hamit Altintop managed to hit the crossbar twice within a few minutes. You could have been forgiven to think that the Gencler team consisted of just Ramazan because most of the commentary was of Galatasaray players moving the ball into positions to shoot; the ball either being saved by Ramazan or he then lined up to take the goal kick.

Half-time at 0-0 and I doubt anyone would have put money on Galatasaray not winning.

Second-half and Gencler started slightly better (as evidenced by the fact that some of our non-defenders had the ball for a moment or two). Little Oz Kanka then had a problem on how to get a built-in recessed sink to align with a wall he had erected for a private bathroom he was building.

Took me about three minutes to sort that one out and went back to the darts and the radio only to hear that Genclerbirligi had scored!!!!! Bjorn with a header!!!??? (I think).

Amazing stuff. How the hell can we have been played so off the park and still be ahead. At that point I hadn't heard of a single shot on goal... but here we were ahead with about 28 minutes to go.

Cimbom tried to come back and whilst they dominated it didn't sound too threatening... until !!!!!

...

(see penalty above)

...

Then we held on. Bloody amazing. I'll take it!


* Judgements made by me may not always be based on the laws of Association Football.

** I've now seen the video replay and if the announcers really had no opinion on the matter then I reckon they could probably apply to become Indian cricket commentators who are all vetted, censored, and paid by the Indian cricket authorities because we would never want anyone to actually give an opinion... or something.

Ankaragucu vs 1461 Trabzon match preview !

Ankaragucu host in form 1461 Trabzon on Saturday afternoon at the 19 Mayis stadium in what will be another women and children only match due to the current stadium ban. Ankaragucu are still 9 points from safety and things could have been so different had they taken their chances in the matches after the break. Two great chances late on against Kayseri, a penalty miss against Sanliurfa and missed chances at Buca at the weekend are the difference between wins and defeats.

Enes Kubat will miss the match due to suspension with Teoman set to replace him in the starting line up. 1461 are in 4th place and are still hoping to make those automatic promotion places. They have quality players in their team with Torric Jebrin on loan from their parent team Trabzonspor the star of the team. The last time both sides met 1461 won 1-0 in a scrappy game. Ankaragucu have improved a lot since then but have still found it difficult to win games.

Timur Ozgoz will be looking to get back amongst the goals after a dry spell and a drop in confidence, the last couple of games he has been playing just off Enes Kubat but on Saturday will be the main striker. Ankaragucu will need to keep it tight at the back but more importantly finish any chances that come their way. Bilal Gulden has upped his game since the winter break and even made team of the week for the Turkish PTT Lig after his performance at Bucaspor.

It remains to be seen weather Mustafa Kaplan will recall Mert Erdogan into the starting line up after he was dropped and axed as captain. Serkan Sirin has taken his place and done ok, but if Mert can get back to his best form he needs to start.

Another tough game and one in which unfortunately i cant see Ankaragucu winning, but the same was said when we played Caykur Rizespor and Adanaspor and against the odds we took all 3 points. Lets hope for the same on Saturday.

Bucaspor 0-0 Ankaragucu match report !

Ankaragucu came away with a point at Buca in a dreadful game and will be disappointed that they couldn't take all 3 points. As always the Ankaragucu fans turned up in their numbers and showed their loyal support to the players who took the field. The last time both sides met Bucaspor won 5-1 in Ankara so a big improvement since then. The result a bit more impressive by the fact Ankaragucu had to play more than half the game with 10 men after Enes was sent off.

Team - Bayram, Aytac, Gurkan, Volkan, Mehmet, Gokhan, Bilal, Serkan, Kaan, Enes, Timur

Subs - Gokhan Akkan, Emre, Metin, Orhan, Mert, Umut, Teoman


The first ten minutes of the game passed with no chances or any talking points in the game, both teams struggled to keep the ball and neither could create anything. Bilal did have a half chance after 11 minutes but his shot from the edge of the box went high and wide. A few minutes later Bayram made an easy save from a weak header in the Ankaragucu goal.

The first real chance of the game came on the 31 minute mark, a lovely cross by Kaan from the corner which was headed back across the face of goal, Volkan Geyik got on the end of it but Omer made an excellent save in the Bucaspor goal .

Two minutes later and again Ankaragucu went close, this time Gurkan floated a free kick towards Timur who knocked the ball down in the box for Bilal who shot just over. Ankaragucu were starting to look good and the more likely to take the lead. The home fans were starting to get on the Bucaspor players backs due to their poor passing.

Then came the games turning point after 41 minutes, Enes went in for a 50-50 challenge with Omer the Buca goalkeeper, Omer got to the ball first but Enes followed through catching him late, Omer went down like he had been shot. A yellow card yes, but the referee much to the amazement to everyone in the stadium pulled out the red card. Ankaragucu were left with it all to do.

Just before half time Kaan had a 40 yard free kick tipped over the bar by Omer. Half time 0-0 and a poor game for any neutral watching.

Into the second half and you would expect Bucaspor to start to dominate and take the game to Ankaragucu, instead it was much the same as the first half with Ankaragucu having the better chances. First chance was for Timur whose shot from just outside the box was saved by Omer.

Bucaspor had a good chance to take the lead after 55 minutes, Irfan crossed the ball into the box which Bayram misjudged, but the Bucaspor attacker could only head over when the net was empty. A lucky escape for Ankaragucu. Orhan Evci replaced Kaan Kanak for Ankaragucu after 63 minutes.

Bilal Gulden was the man of the match, covered every blade of grass and tried to support the attack at every opportunity. Timur set him up on the 65 minute mark but Bilal fired high and wide. At the other end Civar crossed the ball into the box for Erkan who could only head straight at Bayram. The best chance of the second half fell to Ankaragucu. Good play down the right from Orhan who picked Timur out in the box, but Timur fired over the bar, a great chance for the German striker.

Bilal had another shot from distance but Omer made the save to keep the score level. Emre Tasdemir was brought on after 83 minutes for Gokhan Erdogan to make his debut. Timur played the youngster in on goal in the last minute but he fired his shot over the bar from a tight angle. Metin Aydin replaced Serkan Sirin in the dying seconds to waste some time.

Full Time

Bucaspor 0-0 Ankaragucu

Man of the Match - Bilal Gulden

They really ought to get their act together

There is something just not quite right with Gencler at the moment. We can dominate games but not win them. We can be solid at the back and all a bit wishy-washy up front. We seem to have plenty of players to choose from but the combinations don't seem to be working. What should we do? I don't know. If I did I'd become a coach. Instead I just bleat on here.


Genclerbirligi 0 - 0 Istanbul BBS AS LTD ASAP WTF

End of the working week and so with a spring in our step @spinesideburn, @pritchdan, Little Oz Kanka and your favourite  Gencler-supporting-middle aged-white-male-Australian blogger met up at the Beer Bus. Our good friend @pspicerward wasn't there and it seems as if we won't be seeing much of him at Gencler matches as he has made the mistake that almost all us make when we are young and stupid. Yep... he has a girlfriend.

Me and amigo.

On to the footy and it was interesting to see that Hursut had been left on the bench and Jimmy Durmaz moved from the left wing to the right, while Zec took Jimmy's spot on the left. It sort of worked but Jimmy's right foot is about as good as my mother-in-law's taste in popular music and we couldn't really penetrate.

Azofeifa was back in the starting line up but he didn't look to brilliant and Bjorn up front didn't seem to be getting much of the ball. He was in fact played out of the match by the IBB defender (by means both fair and foul).

Still. We were in control and at half-time I was still confident that we would get a winner.

It wasn't to be though and even though we tried our best the goal just wouldn't come. Some of the refereeing was bad (including one decision in the first half that probaly should have been a penalty for them) but overall we can't blame the ref.

Oz, Little Oz and @pritchdan

We had way too many shots that went miles wide. Too often we stopped over the ball giving time for their defenders to get back.

Errgghh

Hursut came on late but didn't much. Azo was subbed off for Tomic but all to no avail. With a minute or so to go we had a good chance but Tomic couldn't get to the ball and instead ... either a) was taken out by the IBB keeper when he could have scored, or b) dived, or c) was taken out by the IBB keeper even though he had no chance of scoring, or d) he fell over.  

The referee went for (b) and Tomic got a yellow. In the subsequent stupidness Zec managed to get a red card for arguing with the ref. A bit harsh but it was also very silly from Zec.

The good thing is that the red card solves one of Fuat Capa's selection problems. Next week I can confidently predict that Gencler will have Jimmy on the left and Hursut on right. All shall be good and right in the world and Gencler will come away with an away win.

Ankaragucu and the battle against Hooliganism !

Ankaragucu were last night handed a further 2 match stadium ban due to the crowd trouble at Kartalspor last weekend. That takes the total ban to 7 home games as the club are already serving a 5 match ban for the trouble at home to Konyaspor. It is another blow to the club who are suffering the darkest days in the clubs history.

Ankaragucu have long had a problem with crowd trouble, every season the club are handed stadium bans from the Turkish FA along with the majority of other clubs in the Super Lig, PTT Lig and amateur leagues. Anytime there are incidents at games the Turkish FA's answer is to hand out stadium bans. Only recently they changed the rules to allow women and children only.

For clubs such as Fenerbahce, Trabzonspor, Besiktas and Galatasaray, they can still attract large crowds for women and children only matches, but the rest of the Turkish clubs suffer and lose income from tickets and fines handed out by the FA. Turkish clubs have tried but failed to control their fans, so the question that must be asked, is it really fair to punish all fans and the club for the actions of those who continue to bring violence to the terraces ?

Crowd trouble in Turkey is more of a social problem and not a footballing problem. Ankaragucu for example are a club for the poor and working class. The clubs biggest ultra group Gecekondu are known as the people from the slums and are the most feared ultra group in Turkey. No stadium ban or fine is going to change the behaviour of Gecekondu. They are so proud to be from Ankara and don't take kindly to any derogitary songs or comments from opposing fans especially from Istanbul.

These people don't have the same education levels or social skills with coming from a poor back round. Turkey is one of the worlds fastest growing economies and Ankara is the capital. Is Ankara really doing enough for its people ? Catch the bus from the airport through to Ankara city centre and you will see the slums in Ankara and that will tell you all you need to know. Then you have to ask, if the city did help and wanted to build proper houses in the slums, would the people who live there allow it to happen ? These are proud people.

The Turkish FA need to look at the policy for crowd trouble again, can they honestly say these stadium bans have reduced crowd trouble in Turkish football ? The answer to that is no. Every week there are stadiums playing with no fans and the only ones who suffer are the clubs. With Ankaragucu on their knees the loss of 7 games income just puts the club under more pressure.

Its time for the sports minister Suat Kilic to deliver a new stadium in Ankara, anyone can buy a ticket for an Ankaragucu match, with no name or seat number it is near impossible for police cameras to find anyone involved in crowd trouble and ban them. Like the British stadiums, every fan has their own seat and seat number which helps identify any trouble makers.

Its more than likely the Turkish FA will stick to the same lazy rules of banning everyone for the actions of a minority.