Genclerbirligi succumb to Fener

Gencler went down tonight in a not too embarrassing 0-1 loss. We had our chances but failed to really smash through. I'll be back tomorrow with

Matthew and Tanner.

a full report.

Ankaragucu 1-1 Korfez FK Match Report !

Ankaragucu came away from Korfez with a share of the points which keeps them in contention with the leaders Bandirmaspor at the top of the table. Korfez lost 2-1 to Antalyaspor in extra time midweek in the cup and today was always going to be a difficult match.

Team - Gokhan Akkan, Orhan Evci, Gurkan Alver, Selim Teber, Onur Atasayer, Mehmet Cakir, Serhat Gulpinar, Harun Aydin, Hasan Ayaroglu, Kaan Kanak, Umut Nayir

Subs - Bayram Olgun, Metin Aydin, Serkan Sirin, Eren Turan, Levent Kale, Gokhan Erdogan, Artun Kutukcu


Kaan Kanak made his return to the team today but there were no places in the team for Volkan Geyik, Mert Erdogan, Emre Tasdemir, Aydin Toscali, Ibrahim Sahin, Teoman Erkan, Aytac Oden and Levent Kale was placed on the bench.

It all started so well for Ankaragucu, and it was that man Kaan Kanak who marked his return from injury with a goal after 12 minutes to make it 1-0 Ankaragucu much to the delight of the traveling support.

The early goal should have been the benchmark for another Ankaragucu victory, but instead Gokhan Akkan kept Ankaragucu in the game with some great saves before Erman Ergin made it 1-1 after 39 minutes.

The match ended 1-1 at half time.

Into the second half and Ankaragucu didnt create much, infact it was the home side who had the best chances but for some outstanding goalkeeping from man of the match Gokhan Akkan. Korfez also had a goal ruled out for offside in the second half to.

Full time Ankaragucu 1-1 Korfez FK

Orhan Evci had to go off injured and is now a doubt for next weeks match with Nazilli BB at home. Badirmaspor and Alanyaspor both drew today as well meaning the league table is as it was before kick off today.

Follow Ankaragucu vs Korfez on Facebook and Twitter !

Match just about to kick off and you can follow the updates on our twitter page and also on on our facebook page.

Ankaragucu vs Korfez FK match preview !

A tough match awaits Ankaragucu this Sunday as they travel to the city of Kocaeli as they take on Korfez FK. The home side are undefeated this season having drawn against Bozuyukspor and Iskenderun while winning 3-1 at Altay. They narrowly lost against Antalyaspor at home in the Turkish Cup on wednesday 2-1 in extra time.

Ankaragucu are on a 3 game winning run and will take that form into the match knowing they will need to raise their game from the last two performances. After a stunning 6-0 win at Eyupspor, Ankaragucu scraped wins against Diyarbakir and Karaman BB.

Hayati Soldas has given himself the task of deciding his starting 11 after Levent Kale scored a double midweek. Umut Nayir has 3 goals in 2 games and will be disappointed if he is dropped, while Kale put in a match winning performance against Karaman BB. Both similar in style as they are tall target men making things even more difficult for the manager to chose.

Emre Tasdemir looks like he is going to play in a more attacking role this season which should allow Mehmet Tasci to come in and take his place back in the first team after his return from International duty. Aydin Toscali and Ibrahim Sahin are getting closer to fitness which should see them feature at some point. Kaan Kanak and Aytac Oden are also nursing injuries.

Ankaragucu have looked good in attack this season but will need to improve in defence, at times the team has looked vulnerable to the counter attack which better teams would have taken advantage of. On paper this should be a tough game, but Ankaragucu have the quality to go to Korfez and win. We shouldn't be too disappointed with a draw but if we want to win this league these are the games you must win.

Ankaragucu and Gencler progress into the Turkish Cup 3rd Round !

Ankaragucu made hard work of their Turkish Cup 2nd round victory over amateur side Karaman BB. There were many changes in the team and a debut for Levent Kale who would go on to be the hero of the day with 2 goals.

Team - Bayram Olgun, Metin Aydin, Volkan Geyik, Ahmet Aykildiz, Eren Turan, Gokhan Erdogan, Mert Erdogan, Artun Kutukcu, Serkan Sirin, Teoman Erkan, Levent Kale

Subs - Gokhan Akkan, Gurkan Alver, Veli Torun, Serhat Gulpinar, Hasan Ayaroglu, Mert Pumukkaya, Onur Atasayar

It was the visitors who took the lead on 25 minutes through Erdal Firtina much to the shock of the few hundred Ankaragucu fans all women and children due to the stadium ban. Incidentally Ankaragucu will now play their first home match in front of their fans against Altinordu as todays match was part of the ongoing ban.

It took Ankaragucu just 10 minutes to equalise and it was new boy Levent Kale who headed the ball into the net to score on his debut. Kale has a decent record at this level and looks set to be a big asset to the club.

Both teams went in 1-1 at half time but it didn't take Ankaragucu long to take the lead in the second half and it was that man Levent Kale again, this time a good finish inside the box and what a way to introduce himself on his debut.

That goal turned out to be the winning goal as Ankaragucu secure their place in the next round. The team will need to up their performance on Sunday at Korfez if they want to take anything from the game.

Gencler also booked their place in the next round with a 2-1 win at Sariyer thanks to goals from Deniz Naki and Oktay Delibalta. The home side did score a consolation goal through Omer Sengoz. Its nice to see both Ankara teams in the next round of the draw. Give us both a home game and lets progress to the group stages.

Follow Ankaragucu vs Karaman BB on Twitter and Facebook !

Game will kick off in just over 30 minutes. Follow all the live updates on Round ball in Ankara Facebook page and also Round ball in Ankara Twitter page.

Ankaragucu vs Karaman BB match preview !

Ankaragucu will host Karaman Belediyespor at home in the Turkish Cup second round on Wednesday.  It will give the club the opportunity to play some of the fringe players but Karaman must be respected if Ankaragucu want to progress into the next round. Last season Ankaragucu had a good cup run only to be knocked out against Besiktas 3-2 after taking the lead.

It was difficult to find out much about the opponents Karaman, other than them being an Amateur side who knocked out Kayseri Sekerspor in the last round there wasnt much more that i could add. Im sure Karaman is located just outside Ankara but maybe our Ankara residents can confirm this ?

Ankaragucu go into the game on good form after winning their last two league games against Eyupspor and Diyarbakir BB at the weekend. Hayati Soldas has played with an attacking formation with Emre Tasdemir, Mehmet Cakir and Hasan Ayaroglu all supporting Umut Nayir in attack. There is no doubting the role that Mehmet Cakir is playing for the club with his experience bringing out the best in the youngsters around him.

The game will again be shown live on Baskent TV at 3pm Turkish time. All the latest updates will be on The Round Ball in Ankara facebook page.

Im going to predict a 4-0 win for Ankaragucu !!!

Genclerbirligi fail on the road... again

Genclerbirligi shoot a billion shots and get nothing in return. We need an out-and-out striker.

Konyaspor 1 - 0 Genclerbirligi

Well that is another rubbish result. I didn't get to see any of the match but from the reports it seemed even, with both sides getting a few shots. Besides that I have no idea... pretty much the same as Gencler.

What everyone on the forums is arguing though is that we need a striker. Last year we got Bjorn in during the mid-season break and he went on to score many a goal... we need another like him.

Did anyone out there see the match. If so a few thoughts would be welcome.

Blog service will be back to normal next week when Gencler play Fenerbahce at home.

Ankaragucu 2-1 Diyarbakir BB Match Report !

Ankaragucu today made it back to back wins with a hard fought 2-1 win over Diyarbakir BB at the 19 Mayis Stadium. The win takes Ankaragucu up to 3rd in the league and new coach Hayati Soldas will be delighted with the clubs start. It was the same team who started against Eyupspor last week with Ankaragucu still missing the likes of Aytac Oden, Aydin Toscali, Mert Erdogan, Kaan Kanak, Ibrahim Sahin and Levant Kale. Makes the result even more impressive when you count the amount of key players missing.

Team - Gokhan Akkan, Orhan Evci, Selim Teber, Gurkan Alver, Onur Atasayer, Harun Aydin, Serhat Gulpinar, Mehmet Cakir, Hasan Ayaroglu, Emre Tasdemir, Umut Nayir

Subs - Bayram Olgun, Metin Aydin, Artun Kutukcu, Gokhan Erdogan, Eren Turan, Serkan Sirin, Teoman Erkan

Todays report is thanks to Kangaroo Kanka Ante Bakmaz who is playing his football in Croatia at the moment and took time out to watch todays match. This is what he had to say about todays game.

Ankaragucu started the match fairly strong and ended it comfortably winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Umut Nayir with his 3rd goal of the season and Mehmet Cakir. The visitors put up a good fight though and created 2 or 3 good chances in the first half. Most of these chances however came from Ankaragucu mistakes or counter attacks where the midfield was bypassed with long balls over the top.

Ankaragucu had control of the match however their decision making and final ball should have been better and the game should have been put to bed in the first half. It wasn't until the 43rd minute that Ankaragucu opened the scoring. After great work from the experienced Mehmet Cakir whose ball over the top found an oncoming Emre Tasdemir who played a square ball to Umut Nayir, the big striker failed to capitalise on his initial attempt but managed to poke the ball home from the Keeper Levants hands into the net despite last ditch defending.

Ankaragucu went in at half time 1-0 up and it was the visitors who would score early in the second half to level the scoring. A lucky goal, no a very well taken goal from Serdar Deniz who fired the ball through the legs of Gokhan after a nice through ball. Despite the goal it was all Ankaragucu after that with Diyarbakir rarely threatening.

Mehmet Cakir restored Ankaragucu's lead with a well taken goal after 62 minutes. A throw in found its way to Teoman who flicked the ball inside to Mehmet who weaved through a couple of players under pressure before placing the ball into the top right hand corner.  Ankaragucu did have one final chance from Mehmet late on when he was through on goal but a good save from Levant kept the scores level.

It was a fairly comfortable 3 points for Sari Lacivert and its great to see the 3 points stay in Ankara. Thanks to Ante for todays report.

Next up is a midweek game in the Turkish Cup at home to Karaman BB, then next weekends game against Korfez. The later should be a very tough game with Korfez winning 3-1 at Altay today. Its also worth mentioning Eyupsor today won 1-0 at Istanbul Gungorenspor. The wonderful world of football, Istanbul Gungoren beat Ankaragucu 1-0 yet Ankaragucu beat Eyup 6-0.

ANKARAGUCU - LATEST

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Returned home from duties for the 2nd half !

I managed to access Baskent TV on UStream - thanks Mehmet Bey !!!

Picture and sound intermittent, but at least it is a picture !

15 minutes to go and it's ..............

ANKARAGUCU  2     Diyarbakir BBS   1

Full time score to follow and a report from Nadeem later.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Tesekkurler Mehmet Yiginer !

Since his arrival at the helm, President Mehmet Yiginer has saved Ankaragucu from the brink and is now starting the resurrection of one of Turkeys oldest clubs. For many years Presidents have come and gone, all rumoured to have taken money while sending the club nearer to extinction. We are all too familiar of the war between Cemal Aydin and Melih Gokcek which resulted in the club running up huge debts and suffering 2 successive relegations.

Ankaragucu are a sleeping giant, they are located in the Capital city Ankara which has over 4 million people. The city hosts many large businesses and the club have a large and loyal fanbase. We have been saying for a long time that if the club is run properly then they really could challenge the Istanbul 3. We are a long way from that at the moment, but its not impossible.

Mehmet Yiginer has brought pride back to the club, players are being paid, bills are being paid and he even managed to lift the clubs transfer ban. But its his interaction with the Ankara community and fans that has impressed most. The Ankaragucu Dirlils season ticket campaign has saw the club sell 12,700 season tickets to date. He has found investment from Ankara business men, and even all the taxi and bus companies in Ankara have the Ankaragucu badge.

Raising the profile of the club in its home city seems obvious, but its something that his predecessors failed to achieve. Mehmet bey has the support of the city and even all the clubs fan groups. They have promised to clean up their act on the terraces and no more stadium bans.

Most importantly Mehmet Yiginer saved the name of Ankaragucu and the History of the club after reports that Melih Gokcek wanted to merge Ankaraspor and Ankaragucu.

Today Mehmet Yiginer announced that the club has signed a deal with Baskent TV which will see the clubs home games broadcast Live. You also just have to look at the Ankaragucu club shop, full of stock and all 3 strips available for purchase.

We at the Round Ball in Ankara would like to thank President Yiginer for all his hard work and efforts. Long may his leadership continue.

Ankaragucu vs Diyarbakir BB match preview !

Ankaragucu host Diyarbakir on Saturday at the 19 Mayis stadium and the game will be shown live on Baskent TV. President Mehmet Yiginer today announced that the Ankara based TV Station will show the clubs home games this coming season. Another brilliant piece of work by the President !

Just over 2 years ago Ankaragucu were playing in the Super Lig while Diyarbakir BB were playing in the 4th tier of Turkish football. Diyarbakir last season won promotion to Lig 2 whilst Ankaragucu were relegated from the PTT Lig. Former Ankaragucu favourite Semavi Ozgur is on the books Diyarbakir and will be looking to get one over his former side.

The visitors go into the match having drawn with Iskenderun away and Altay at home, both games finished 1-1. A good performance last weekend at home to Altay shows that Diyarbakir will be no pushovers.

Ankaragucu go into the game full of confidence, a fantastic 6-0 win at Eyupspor last week and the team will be hoping to carry that form into this weekends game. Hayati Soldas has a tough task on his hands of picking the starting 11. Hasan Ayaroglu won player of the week in Lig 2 last week with a fantastic performance on his return from International duty. Emre Tasdemir replaced Mehmet Tasci who was called up to the Turkish U23 squad, and the youngster scored in the game against Eyup.

It remains to be seen if Aydin, Volkan, Aytac, Ibrahim and Levant will return to the first team, they will all have a fight on their hands to get into the team, something which hasn't been the case with Ankaragucu for the last couple of seasons.

I will put up the Link for Saturdays match on The Round Ball in Ankara facebook page on Sunday about 30 mins before kick off. Stay tuned for all the action !!

A goal at the death is better than no goal at all

Schools may be back but for me this still seems like the cricket season. We should be listening to the sound of leather on wood, shouts of "howzat" and then taking a break for Tea. Instead we are not just back onto the football treadmill but a good four matches in. I think I need a lie down.

Efe was already injured before
his first ever live match

Genclerbirligi 1 - 1 Kayseri

I missed Genclerbirligi's first three matches for a variety of reasons, one of which was a few of us having to attend @ertankeskinsoy 's wedding. So it was with good cheer and absolutely no idea what the Genclerbirligi team looked like that I headed off to Kizilay with Little Oz Kanka.

No small crowd of kankas down at the Beer Bus for a beautiful sunny Sunday. We had Lanky Kanka Jorg - who is in town for a week. We had Ankaragucu fan Cider Kanka John - who was up for a beer. We had Spine - who was one of the few of us to have any idea what sort of team Gencler are this season. We had Robin - who finally decided to get himself a Gencler jersey. We had Carlo, who is back from his self-imposed exile. We had Carl - who is a new recruit. We had Dan the Man, another returnee from exile. We had Efe, Dan the Man's 6-year-old son who needs a team to support after Liverpool. We had Little Oz Kanka, who has never had a choice as to what team he supports. And you had me.

I can report that the beer and kofte at the Beer Bus is still cheap and still good. Six TL for a draft Efes ain't that bad really.

LtoR: Little Oz Kanka, Carl, Dan the Man,
Robin and Lanky Kanka Jorg

Entering the stadium was a bit different to last year. The cops giving us a pat down outside the stadium weren't the riot cops of norm but instead some of them were even plain clothes cops... or maybe just blokes who wanted to pat down some people. The riot cops themselves were at the match but instead of lining up facing us supporters in the sort of macho stance that almost invites people to have a go, they all sat on the the other side of the stadium and did nothing all match.

I guess they must all be exhausted from night after night of beating up protesters and today they just couldn't be bothered. Without the cops in your face the atmosphere at the match did seem much calmer than usual. They still had the goons filming the crowd but well, they looked pretty lonely.  

As the match kicked off the Gencler crowds started chanting in remembrance of Ahmet Atakan who was died in protests in Antakya last week. I have a feeling this could go on and on.

Similar to what Spine reported a few weeks ago, there were chants calling on the police to gas us and as the clock ticked over to 34:00 the "her yer Taksim, her yer direnis" chant went up. Spine pointed out pedantically that we were actually in the 35th minute and therefore blah blah blah ... arrrgggghhhhh.

Football and we were all over Kayseri and we could have been a couple up by half time except for some absolutely woeful shots. let me give you a brief abbreviation of what the official Genclerbirligi Twitter feed @kirmizikara gave for the first half:

6th minute: Oktay shoots hard. Goalkeeper saves.

8th minute: Serkan sends it is. Defense clears
     
10th minute: Gosso shoots. Out

22 minute: Ozgur shoots. Out

25th minute: Serkan shoots. Out. But it was sort of close to the post

26 minute: Jimmy shoots. Out

30 Ozgur shoots. Similiar to before. Out

40 Jimmy shoots. Corner

Enjoying the sun.

Yep. That is as good a round up of the first half you will get. I don't think the Kayseri keeper had to make a save. Same with Ramazan for us. We were all over Kayseri, playing nice football and the Philosopher was playing a bit more forward than he had been in the last few weeks. Jimmy was in particular looking good and I'm starting to enjoy his style. Playing mainly on the right, where we have been so used to seeing Hursut, he was getting past his defenders and laying off nice passes.

Ultimately though we have to start getting shots on goal. Every one of those misses mentioned in the tweets above was a genuine goal chance.

Second half and .... arrggghh Kayseri went ahead after a terrible bit of laziness form our defence. Our lot still seemed to be enjoying the half-time meat pie but Kayseri had lunched on souped-up Red Bull.

Then came one of the longer second halves I've had to endure. Gencler just couldn't get their act together for ages. All the good work of the first half seemed to have been an eon ago.

At about the 60th minute the God of Electricity said "THIS IS ENOUGH!" and the lights went out.

This was possibly the best thing to happen for Genclerbirligi. The coach had them all around, kicked each and every one of them up the bum and told them that the aim of the game is to put the pig bladder into the net.

A few substitutions and we started to look good again. Mervan Celik, a new signing from Sweden, came on for Ermin Zec, and he seemed to have the goods. The crowd was up for it and the team started lifting. Urgency had set in and when the clock hit 90 minutes and the bikini girl with the round number held up the numeral "6", we all new that a draw was on the cards, if only we could get a shot on goal!

Deep, deep into extra time, Celik sent a lovely ball in for Stancu to head it and the Kayseri keeper made a brilliant save. It was still on though and a bit later, Jimmy to Serkan and then to Tomic and GOOOOAAAAL!

And that was that. From a fan's perspective it is much better to get a draw having scored at the very death than having gone ahead so much earlier. For the team, they must just be bloody glad to have got a point.

Not a bad result but it is clear that the new team is still not settled. Too many passes went to absolutely no-one and some players aren't clear of exactly where they should be. That can all be worked on though.                    

Ankaragucu 6-0 Eyupspor match report !

Ankaragucu travelled to Istanbul what should have been an away match, but just over 750 Ankaragucu fans made the trip which made the Eyup Stadi more of a home match with there been more Ankaragucu fans at the game than Eyup fans. After last weeks disappointing home defeat against Gungorenspor the club wanted to put things right as they took on the Istanbul side.

Team - Gokhan Akkan, Orhan Evci, Gurkan Alver, Serhat Gulpinar, Emre Tasdemir, Onur Atasayer, Harun Aydin, Selim Teber, Mehmet Cakir, Umut Nayir, Hasan Ayaroglu

Subs - Bayram Olgun, Metin Aydin, Serkan Sirin, Hurkal Turan, Artun Kutukcu, Gokhan Erdogan,
Teoman Erkan

So returning to the team was Turkish youth Internationals Gokhan Akkan, Emre Tasdemir and Hasan Ayaroglu. There were also full debuts for Selim Teber and Mehmet Cakir. And what a difference the changes made to the team.

It took only 5 minutes for Ankaragucu to take the lead, and it was Umut Nayir who put them 1-0 up. The young striker had an off day last week, but showed today that if you give him service he will score.

Emre Tasdemir made it 2-0 Ankaragucu on 38 minutes with his first goal for the club. Taking the place of Mehmet Tasci who was away on International duty with the Turkish U23 team, Emre certainly stepped up the the challenge.

Four minutes later and it was 3-0 Ankargucu as Umut Nayir scored his second of the game and then Hasan Ayaroglu scored to make it 4-0 just before half time.

Ankaragucu lead 4-0 at half time, i couldnt even tell you the last time those words were mentioned.

Into the second half and they didn't let up, as goals from Hasan Ayaroglu and Mehmet Cakir gave Ankaragucu a fantastic 6-0 victory. Serkan Sirin, Teoman Erkan and Hurkal Eren Turan all came on as subs in the second half. The Ankaragucu support were delighted with the teams performance and can look forward to a pleasant journey home to the capital.

What a difference a week makes, Hayati Soldas will have eased the early pressure with todays result, but next week Ankaragucu face Diyarbakir BB and will need to build upon todays result. A great weekend for the Kankas as we have something to celebrate at last.

Ankaragucu vs Eyupspor match preview !

Ankaragucu travel to Istanbul at the weekend for the match against Eyupspor. Both sides lost their first game of the season and will be looking to get off the mark. Eyupspor lost 2-0 at Altay while Ankaragucu lost 1-0 at home against Istanbul Gungorenspor.

Last weeks defeat at home against Gungoren was a disappointing result and Ankaragucu know they cant afford to lose ground on the top sides early on. The club will be hoping that they can call upon the new signings who missed out last week due to fitness, and also Emre, Gokhan and Hasan return from International duty.

Eyupspor are considered to be one of the weaker teams in the league which adds to the pressure on Ankaragucu to take the 3 points. They do however have experienced strikers Ersen Martin and Ahmet Dursun who they can call upon.

Ankaragucu have been given 750 tickets for the match in a stadium that holds just over 2000, the large Ankaragucu following could play a huge part in bringing the 3 points back to the Capital. Its difficult to pick the team for the weekend with so many players back and question marks over who will be fit enough to play.

If fit id go with : Gokhan, Orhan, Gurkan, Aydin, Emre, Mert, Serhat, Mehmet, Kaan, Selim, Umut

Mehmet Tasci has been called up to the Turkish U23 squad which means he is set to miss the weekends match. My prediction this week is a 2-0 win for Ankaragucu !

Turkish Lig 2 Kirmizi group roundup !

Ankaragucu were reminded today that Lig 2 will be no stroll in the park as they lost 1-0 at home against Gungorenspor. We now take a look at the other results in Lig 2 from yesterday and today. Ofspor threw away a two goal lead at home to Polatli Bugsasspor. Goals from Ziya Sakar and Muhammet Savasci put Ofspor 2-0 up in the first 23 minutes. But Polatli showed great determination as Yaser Cetin scored 2 goals to give them a share of the points.

Goals from Gokhan Karadeniz, Mertan Ozturk and Halil Ibrahim Tuna gave Altinordu a fantastic 3-0 win at Tepecikspor. Altinordu are one of the league favourites this season. Iskenderun and Diyarbakir BSB shared the points in a 1-1 draw in Iskenderun. It was the visitors who took the lead through Mert Somay with Serdal Alan giving the home side a share of the points.

There was good news for one of the other Ankara clubs as Kizilcahamamspor won 1-0 at Bayrampasa with Gokhan Cirak scoring the only goal of the game. Goals from Ekrem Saricam and Emre Akbaba gave Alanyaspor a 2-1 home win over Nazili Bid with Bora Yelken scoring a consolation goal for the visitors.

Bandirmaspor won 2-1 at home to Pazarspor with two late goals from Sinan Yitmez and Timur Kosovali. Mikail Uzumcu scored the only goal for Pazarspor. Altay won 2-0 at home against Eyupspor with Murat Uluc and Adem Sari scoring the goals. Altay are also favourites to challenge for promotion. Bozuyukspor drew 2-2 with Korfez at home. Ugur Erdogan gave Korfez the lead before Serdar Akdogan levelled the scoring, Ferit Sener then put Korfez back in the lead with 10 minutes to go, but a 90th minute equaliser from Gokhan Koseoglu gave Bozuyk a share of the points.

Ankaragucu 0-1 Istanbul Gungorenspor Full Time

1508: Just under 1 hour until kick off at the 19 Mayis stadium in Ankara as Ankaragucu host Istanbul Gungorenspor. Although the game is being played behind closed doors due to a stadium ban for Ankaragucu, thousands of fans have turned up to welcome the team.

Team Line up just confirmed by Ankaragucu coach Cengiz Paca:

Bayram Olgun

Orhan Evci
Aytac Oden
Gurkan Alver
Mehmet Tasci

Kaan Kanak
Mert Erdogan
Serhat Gulpinar
Harun Aydin
Gokhan Erdogan

Umut Nayir

Subs:

Cihan Bal
Metin Aydin
Mert Pamukkaya
Selim Teber
Artun Kutukcu
Eren Turan
Onur Atasayar

Coach - Hayati Soldas


So only Serhat Gulpinar makes the starting line up of the new signings and Selim Teber makes the bench. Hasan Ayaroglu, Emre Tasdemir and Gokhan Akkan are all away on international duty, whilst Serkan Sirin and Teoman Erkan are suspended.

A difficult opening game for Ankaragucu but they have enough quality to win this match. Kick off in 53 minutes.

1551: Just under 8 minutes until kick off as the teams enter the pitch. Ankaragucu wearing the new home kit which can now be purchased at the club shop.

1600: And we are underway the 2013/14 Season for Ankaragucu has kicked off, lets hope at the end of 90 minutes we are celebrating the 3 points.

1607: Seven minutes in and it looks like Ankaragucu are playing a 4-2-3-1 formation. Mert has went closest with a shot just over the bar.

1609 - Through ball into the path of Umut Nayir who just as he went to shot the defender got back to block for a corner.

1611 - Shot from Kaan Kanak but well saved by the goalkeeper.

1615 - Gokhan through 1 on 1 with the Keeper but another good save. Need to take our chances.

1626 - Im following the updates on twitter and it seems like Gungoren have had a goal chopped off by the referee.

1629 - Serhat comes forward with the ball and finds Orhan who takes too long to get the shot away allowing the defender to clear for a corner.

1637 - Harun Aydin is yellow carder for Ankaragucu, Abdi Aktas also booked for Gungoren. The Gungoren goal was chopped off for offside.

1645 - Half Time Ankaragucu 0-0 Gungorenspor. Tight game and could go any way. Ankaragucu need to take their chances in the second half.

1700: Second half just about to get underway. Come on AG lets win this !!!!

1702 - Kaan free kick but goes over the bar from distance.

1709 - Gurkan shoots from just outside the box but he watches as the ball goes wide of the post.

1711 - Ankaragucu so close to taking the lead as Serhat watches his header come back off the cross bar. Ankaragucu getting closer !!!

1720 - Mehmet Tasci shown the yellow card.

1721 - Selim Teber comes on to make his debut in place of Captain Mert Erdogan.

1732 - Nice play from Kaan who breaks forward but his shot goes wide of the post. Ankaragucu players don't seem to have their shooting boots on today.

1735 - 1-0 to the Visitors as Mehmet Sen gives them the lead.

1740 - Double change for Ankaragucu as Mert Pamukkaya and Onur Atasayar replace Harun Aydin and Aytac Oden.

1745 - End of normal time, Ankaragucu have 5 minutes of injury time to get the equaliser.

Full Time : Ankaragucu start the season with a disappointing 1-0 home defeat against Istanbul Gungorenspor. Ankaragucu had plenty of chances but like last season they didn't take their chances and couldn't find that goal. Next up is a trip to Istanbul next week as they take on Eyupsor who also lost 2-0 at Altay.

Hayati Soldas the new coach is already receiving criticism on Twitter with fans calling for his resignation. Crazy but this is the pressure of being coach of Ankaragucu. Its ok going through pre season undefeated, but loosing your first competitive game at home is a not the start you want.

Ankaragucu sign 3 more ahead of new season !

Veli Torun today completed his move back to Ankaragucu after agreeing a 2 year contract. Veli left Ankaragucu at the start of last season for Kayseri Erciyesspor but was unable to break into the first team. A loan spell at Karsiyaka last season saw him play 5 games scoring 1 goal. There has been much talk about the midfielders return to Ankara and finally the midfielder was paraded today.

Ankaragucu have also signed Levant Kale on a 2 year contract from Pazaarspor. The striker has a good record at Lig 2 level and becomes the clubs 7th signing in the last 3 days. Ankaragucu host Gungorenspor in Sunday and it looks like the team will have a host of new faces making their Ankaragucu debut.

The club also confirmed the signing of Yasin Can Degirmenci who is a 17 year old from Kizilicahamamspor.

Mehmet Cakir makes Ankaragucu return !

Ankaragucu have pulled off a major signing by agreeing a 2 year contract with Mehmet Cakir. The player who played for the club 3 years ago after signing from Ankaraspor has been out of favour at Elazigspor. President Mehmet Yiginer confirmed the deal on twitter and the club are also expected to sign Polatli forward Ferhat Dumas.

Ankaragucu earlier confirmed the signatures of Ibrahim Sahin and Serhat Gulpinar, and that takes the signings to 5 with Selim Teber and Aydin Toscali already having signed. Well done President Yiginer !

Ankaragucu complete signings of Serhat Gulpinar and Ibrahim Sahin

Fati Mert tonight confirmed the club have agreed 2 year contracts with Istanbul BBS midfielder Serhat Gulpinar and Karsiyaka forward Ibrahim Sahin. Ankaragucu clearly are looking to add experience to the young side and Gulpinar has plenty of that. At 34 years old he has played for Denizlispor and Istanbul BBS over his career.

Ibrahim Sahin is a forward who played with both Karsiyaka and Goztepe last season. The 29 year old will also add much needed experience to the forward line. Ankaragucu are also hoping to sign Umit Tutunci from Adanaspor before the transfer window shuts.

Ankaragucu vs Gungorenspor match preview !

At long last the real football begins on Sunday as Ankaragucu host Istanbul Gungorenspor at the 19 Mayis stadium. The game will be played behind closed doors with the club still serving a stadium ban. After two successive seasons of relegation Ankaragucu are looking to challenge for the title in Lig 2 this season. The news yesterday that the transfer ban had been lifted has given the club a huge boost in achieving their goal of promotion back to Lig 1.

As i write this preview the club have completed the signing of Striker Ibrahim Sahin who played with both Goztepe and Karsiyaka last season. Ankaragucu will go into the game full of confidence and that all comes from the man in charge of the club. President Mehmet Yiginer has done more for this club than any other individual. His Ankaragucu dirilis campaign has saw the club take in more than 13,000 season ticket holders and investment from businesses from Ankara. He has brought together the city of Ankara and after years of hurt there is at last good feeling at the club.

Gungorenspor need to be respected, there is always a danger of over confidence and the Istanbul side have experience of playing at this level. Ankaragucu however have the quality and it will be interesting to see how Hayati Soldas lines his team up for his first game in charge of the club. Ankaragucu have a full squad to choose from apart from Bilal Gundogdu who is injured.

The Turkish Lig 2 games arent shown on TV so we will have to rely on the Fanatik website who give live updates of the scores. Im predicting a 2-0 win for Ankaragucu and a good start to the season. Lets hope on Sunday we are celebrating 3 points.

Selim Teber completes Ankaragucu move !

Ankaragucu completed the signing of their second player since the removal of the transfer ban. Selim Teber follows Aydin Toscali in signing a 2 year contract with the club. The 32 year old midfielder started his career in Germany with Waldhof Mannheim and also has spells with Kaiserslautern, Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt and Austrian outfit SV Salzburg. In Turkey his most successful spell came with Kayserispor. He has recently being plying his trade with Karabukspor but fell out of favour.

Like Aydin this will be a major coup for the club, as it lacked experience. Ankaragucu are expected to sign more players ahead of tomorrows deadline with Fatih Tekke, Mehmet Cakir, Ibrahim Sahin, Serhat Gulpinar, Ustun Bilgi and Umit Tutunci all in talks.

The Round Ball in Ankara would also like to pay its respects to former player Ediz who passed away 1 year ago today. The club have paid the players family his outstanding payments that were owed.

Ankaragucu sign Aydin Toscali and Selim Teber !

Its been a long time since Ankaragucu announced the signing of a player never mind 2. If memory serves correctly then Serdar Kulbilge and Tita were the last two players to sign with the club. Neither played a game after their contracts were canceled due to financial problems.

Aydin Toscali completed his return to the club today as he signed a 2 year contract. After a bad start to his Ankaragucu first time round Aydin became a fans favourite as he captained the team who were relegated to the PTT Lig. Damon summed up ideal prefectly saying what he lacks in ability he makes up for in attitude and commitment. That is the type of player we need in these circumstances.

Selim Teber has also agreed a move to the club, the Karabukspor midfielder has passed a medical and agreed terms. There are one or two minors to be sorted but he is expected to complete his move tomorrow.

Ankaragucu are hoping to add more players in the coming days with Veli Torun, Ishak Dogan, Umit Kurt, Ceyhun Eris and Ibrahim Sahin all linked with the club.

Ankaragucu transfer ban lifted !

Ankaragucu were handed a massive boost today when President Mehmet Yiginer announced that the current transfer ban has been lifted from the club for 1 year. Ankaragucu has been serving a Transfer ban for over 2 years due to unpaid player wages and debts. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to lift the ban in the past todays news comes as a pleasant surprise as the fans weren't expecting it.

With the transfer window closing on September 6th already names are circulating on facebook and twitter as to who will join the club. Former Captain Aydin Toscali is set to return to the club tonight and other former players including Mehmet Cakir, and Veli Torun have also been linked with a move.

Ankaragucu will also have to think long term in January weather to sign foreign players and loan them out as the transfer ban will be imposed again in 1 years time. If the club return to the PTT Lig then they will want to have quality players from home and abroad signed in time. More to follow....

THE KANKAS AT TANDOGAN

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

A great day out was had by the Kankas yesterday.  

Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Cider Kanka John (btw, we are considering re-naming him Potato Kanka, but that's another story !!!) and Eski were at the Ankaragucu Main Office yesterday to collect our Kombine Bilet (Season Tickets).

Afterwards, we celebrated in Tandogan with coffee and tea (seriously !!!) and then proceeded back to the City Centre for Brunch which was .......... yummy.

Then, surprise surprise ......... we proceeded to The Chopin to celebrate in Kanka Style with lots of amber nectar ......... Efffffesssssssssssssss !!!

Our wings are clipped at the moment due to the Stadium Ban, but ........ with the arrival of Bellshill Kanka Nadeem next month we will be in full voice in the Stadium on 27 October to see Ankaragucu maintain their position at the top of the league ......... yessssssssssssss !!!

Dirilis Ankaragucu !!!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu 5-1 Etimesgut !

Ankaragcu yesterday won 5-1 against Etimesgut at Tandogan Facility in the latest pre season match. Having looked through the photos of the match between the two teams i wont get too carried away as the rivals looked like a Sunday league pub team.

That said scoring 5 goals against any team isn't an easy task in todays game. The goals came through Teoman Erkan, Hasan Ayaroglu, Mert Pamukkaya, Serkan Sirin and Mert Erdogan. The young lad Mert Pamukkaya has scored 3 goals from midfield this pre season and it will be interesting to see how he develops.

Also a well done to Eski Kanka, Cider Kanka John and Battle Damaged Damon on purchasing their season tickets yesterday. Hopefully they will post their pictures on the blog in the coming days...