SHOCK! Some good news from a Turkish court

As Gencler manage to lose their 28th coach this season there was some good news out there in the Turkish football world with a court ordering the TFF to pay compensation to a referee who they had sacked for being gay.

According to an Associated Press report (was it written by our very own Virgin Kanka?) the TFF was ordered to pay Halil Ibrahim Dinçdağ TL 23,000 in compensation.

This was from an AP report quoting the Anatolia news agency (gotta get your sources right).

Dinçdağ said he would appeal the amount of compensation set by the court, but nevertheless welcomed the ruling as a victory for gay rights in Turkey and for efforts to combat homophobia in sports.

Dinçdağ also stated that he would apply to be reinstated to the position of second-league referee he was sacked from in 2009.

Everyone at "The round ball in Ankara" who lives in the 21st century wishes Halil the very, very best of luck.

Gencler on the precipice

The first half of the season has now passed... Genclerbirligi have had three full-time coaches (and one part-time), they haven't managed to score a goal for at least four weeks and we find ourselves in the relegation zone. Things are starting to look scary.

Eskisehirspor 2 - 0 Genclerbirligi

The match kicked off at 7pm on a freezing Monday night in Eskisehir and as I had a diary clash with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra I had to listen to the first half on the radio whilst driving towards the Ankara Arena, next door to our spiritual home - the 19 Mayis.

The traffic was horrible but Gencler started fast but... in their first attack of the game Eskisehir scored. About half an hour in the anouncer said that Gencler had had something like 80 percent possession! Eighty-bloody-percent! We had shots and headers but nothing went in.

Then about the half hour mark Eskisehir went two up. Both goals seemed to have come from nowhere.

Seemingly everyone going to the concert drove and so I ended up having to park near the Ruzgarlı Gate Bridge. Half-time in the match and in the Arena I turned off my phone. I wasn't upset.

I then sat back and enjoyed one of those classical music concerts that aim to please everyone. You get all the famous bits of music from the commercials, you get the sing-along Turkish classical music bits. We even got some Andrew Lloyd Webber. It sounds horrible but was actually quite funny. A sort-of easy listening concert that you go to more for the cultural experience than for the music. Don't get me wrong, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra are brilliant... just not in a basketball hall.

Half-time in the concert, turn my phone on and check the messages... "Gencler have gone from a Jekyll and Hyde team to Hyde and Hyde," said Alex. Quite.

Genclerbirligi sign Yilmaz Vural

Genclerbirligi have a new manager. Now that's a sentence you only see five or six times a year. The new man is Yilmaz Vural... yet another of the merry-go-round coaches that clog up Turkish football. Let's have a look at his managerial career. This is from Wikipedia.

Teams managed
Years	Team
1986–1988	Malatyaspor
1988–1989	Antalyaspor
1989	Samsunspor
1989–1990	Bursaspor
1990–1991	Karşıyaka S.K.
1991	Adanaspor
1991–1993	Bursaspor
1993–1994	Gaziantepspor
1995–1996	Eskişehirspor
1996–1997	Sarıyer
1997	Trabzonspor
1997–1998	Gençlerbirliği
1998–1999	Konyaspor
1999	Dardanelspor
1999–2000	Bursaspor
2000–2001	Denizlispor
2001	Diyarbakırspor
2003–2004	Adanaspor
2004	Çaykur Rizespor
2005	Ankaragücü
2005–2007	Antalyaspor
2008	Manisaspor
2008–2009	Kocaelispor
2009–2010	Kasımpaşa S.K.
2011	Konyaspor
2012	Sakaryaspor
2012–2013	Elazığspor
2014	Mersin İdman Yurdu
2014	Osmanlıspor
2015	Karabükspor

EDIT: Five days after I posted this, 29 December 2015, Yilmaz Vural was sacked. Five days...

Ankaragücü 2 - 0 Tuzlaspor -- Merry Christmas!

And the view from the changing rooms.

Ankaragücü enter the mid-season break in second place, and everything to play for in the back stretch of the season.

A chilly day (see Chris's post yesterday for a more in-depth look at 90 minutes standing in the cold) would have been matched by the emotional coldness of standing alone on the terraces, but five minutes into the match Emir and the Pegasus boys came over and joined me.

Nothing else much happened in the first half - both sides played pretty scrappy football, with Ankaragücü looking the slightly stronger team.

The second half was very different: from the off, Ankaragücü dominated. It wasn't through some demonstration of tactical genius, sadly: Tuzlaspor just realised they were in danger and became extremely defensive - and Ankaragücü fans and players were noticeably chipper despite not ringing up any goals.

The Pegasus crew, meanwhile, had distributed themselves to the far reaches of the stadium. "This is for good luck," Emir told me. "We change seats until Ankaragücü score."

From there on in, the boys in sarı-lacivert managed to string together many consecutive attacks, which were all either offside, over the bar, deflected off a defender or beaten by a last-minute tackle. A counter-attack by Tuzla in the 72nd minute nearly soured things, with a desperate goal-mouth struggle ending in a Tuzla player skying the ball into the crowd.

A few minutes later, Ankara took advantage of a lapse in the defending to put a beautiful ball over to Emrah Bozkurt in a one-on-one with the keeper. His shot was placed at a tight angle, and there was a gasp in the stands for the millisecond before the ball bounced back, confirming it had hit the net.

From then on, Tuzlaspor tried, falteringly, to go into all-out attack, but Ankaragücü remained dominant. The referee even gave them a last chance for a Christmas miracle by refusing to stop the game, even after a lot of extra time.

The extra minutes didn't do them any good: Ankaragücü sealed their victory with a great goal in maybe minute seven of extra time which - thanks to the twin miracles of technology and Ankaragücü fanaticism - we can bring you here:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all the readers of this blog!

When does the bloody winter break start?

Underwear... check
Socks... check
Second layer of socks... check
Long Johns... check
Trousers... check
Winter boots... check

Right, that's the bottom bit down. Now for upstairs.

Ski undershirt... check
Shirt... check
Gencler top... check
Cardigan... check
Scarf... check
Woolly hat... check
-50 degrees jacket... check
Gloves... check

And so attired Little Oz Kanka and I set off into the fog that engulfed Ankara all day on Sunday. We were damn well prepared but it was still bloody freezing at the 19 Mayis for the 7 pm kick-off. Despite all this there was a half decent-sized crowd (going by recent attendances, not pre-Passolig attendances). The Fener fans pretty much filled their away section behind the goals and us Gencler lot made a decent, if not spectacular, show of force.

Did I mention it was cold?

We met with Alex at the Soul Bar in Kizilay (excellent food and beers at good prices) and had our usual pre-match discussions.

Being a Liverpool fan, Alex was particularly interested to see if Fenerbahce were going to play former Man. United players Nani and Van Persie. As some of you may have realised having read this blog over the past 10 years, I don't actually know much about football, and so I asked Alex, with genuine, if naive, interest as to whether he liked Nani and Van Persie. Alex merely said that he may be testing this evening the non-swearing rule that the Genclerbirligi fans self impose.

Genclerbirligi 0 - 1 Fenerbahce

It was only a couple of minutes into the match when I understood what Alex was on about. In just those few minutes, Nani had managed to piss off the entire Gencler crowd.

Nani went down on what probably was a foul but quite possibly wasn't. Either way it was nothing much. Nani though was writhing around on the pitch right in front of the Gencler fans in a way that only the most one-eyed Fener fan could interpret as being "I'm hurt". He wasn't hurt of course because as soon as one of the Gencler players said as much he bounced back onto the balls of his feet and looked like a prize fighter. That was that. The crowd was going to give him shit for the rest of the night. He asked for it too, play acting a few more times... arguing away with the referee, pushing Gencler players around. He also played some very nice football... but he is basically a dick.

The match itself was a bit niggly, with the Fener players seemingly put off. The referee was giving everything to Fener at the start and I have to say that for a team coming second last in the league and having sacked our coach last week, we weren't doing too badly against one of the best sides in the league.

Oh, by the way, I think we have signed Mustafa Kaplan as our new coach (note: this news may be out of date by the time I manage to publish this post).

The Fener fans were impressive with their singing and we were having great fun in winding Nani up when... bang... someone got through our defence and put a cross was in. Header and goal.

One-nil up and it looked very, very unlikely that we might pull it back.

I think we played bravely, it was a damn sight better than the absolute rubbish we put on against Sivas last week, but if it wasn't for some great saves from Hopf we would have lost this by much more.

As the match wound down a large section decided to ignore Nani for a bit and instead called on Cavcav to resign.

Match over and ... the players shuffled off, as did we, not really disappointed but a bit depressed. The Fener fans were still singing away as we walked out. I had to laugh though. The Fener fans had sung their hearts out for the entire match. They were fantastic. And the Fenerbahce players were so grateful that after the match they walked straight into the tunnel without even acknowledging their supporters. I hope there are some traumatised kiddies because of that.

But back to us.

We are in one hell of a bad situation at the moment. If we don't get a result against Eskisehirspor next week things will not be good.

It was bloody cold tonight... and Nani is a bit of a dick.

         

A STAR FOR THE FUTURE

Greetings Kankas and Kankies

Meet Omer Akkerman who plays for the Ankaragucu Under 15s Team.   He also turns out as a Ball Boy in the senior matches.

His mother, Nese Akkerman, is a good friend of mine and she has been reliably informed by people ‘in the know’ that Omer has all the qualities necessary to make it into the senior team when he is old enough.

We wish him continued success at the Club and will be following his progress over the next few years.

Afterthought ....... mmmmm ......... perhaps I should inform Alan Stubbs, Manager of Hibernian FC, to keep an eye on him before Real Madrid or Bayern Munich become interested ??!!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

The end of Passolig?

It seems as if the football fans group Taraf-der have had a big victory in the courts with the Passolig system, in particular the fact that a bank runs it, deemed unconstitutional. As with anything to do with trade law, constitutionality and implementation ... it isn't clear what exactly happens next.

This is from a pretty good translation into English (except for a bit at the end where I think the copy/paste function buggered up) of an article originally posted in Turkish on the Football Supporters Europe website:

... in November 2015, the Constitutional Court of Turkey finally discussed the case. However did not release the official desicion. But finally the official declaration have been released on 16th of December by the Constitutional Court.

According to this desicion from now on, TFF or the football clubs can not assign their rights to sell and marketing tickets to the third parties and can not share the personal ID informations of the fans with the third parties also. This means as like before the Passolig times, TFF and the football clubs should be the only responsible parties to sell the tickets. This developement had been interperented as the end of the Passolig application, which is a trade mark of the Aktifbank, by the fan lawyers.

You can check out the whole article here.

What next? I don't know. But from the tweets and messages I'm seeing... Passolig may very soon come to pass.

Ankaragucu vs Tuzlaspor match preview!

So the TFF strike again and have changed the date and time of an Ankaragucu home match, this time to Monday night at 7pm against Tuzlaspor. One of the things i hate about football is how little thought their is for the people who are the heart and sole of the game, the fans! We live in a world run by corporate organisations and its very evident they are at the top of football and decisions are made with not a single thought of how it will effect the fans.

So as usual, people who are working late on a Monday will miss out on another Ankaragucu match. The game against Tuzlaspor is another huge match for the club as they look to put pressure on leaders Manisaspor who travel to Sivas BB at the weekend and can go 9 points clear with Ankaragucu still to play their match on Monday.

Tuzlaspor put up a spirited performance yesterday as they lost 2-1 at home against Fenerbahce in the Turkish Cup. Although Fenerbahce rested all their first team players, they still had some quality players and Tuzla put in a good account of themselves. They currently sit 8th place in the league and have won their last 3 home games as they chase a playoff spot.

Kemal Kilic will be hoping for a repeat of the performance that saw Ankaragucu beat Kocaeli Birlikspor 2-0 a couple of weeks ago at home. Hasan Ayaroglu will be hoping he done enough in the last game to merit a place in the starting line up after being left on the bench. The team needs creative players like Hasan, Omer and Emrah to be at their best as well as staying solid at the back.

Lets hope on Monday night we are all celebrating an Ankaragucu win and a 3 point gap between us and leaders Manisaspor, knowing our luck we will lose and be 9 points behind though.

Ankaragucu 1-1 Amedspor match report!

Ankaragucu were held to a 1-1 draw in Diyarbakir with Amedspor which now leaves them 6 points behind leaders Manisaspor who won 1-0 at home against Gumushanespor. The match was shown live on Ozgur Gun TV but unfortunately their internet channel crashed due to the sheer number of Ankaragucu fans who had tuned in. That in itself shows the gulf in size between these two clubs, unfortunately the quality on the pitch is about similar in standard.

Team - Turgut Kirveli, Goksu Alhas, Adem Saglam, Volkan Geyik, Mehmet Tasci, Salih Sefercik, Muhammed Gonulacar, Omer Bozan, Emrah Bozkurt, Sertan Vardar, Timur Kosovali

Subs - Altay Bayindir, Onur Atasayer, Sedat Bayrak, Hasan Ayaroglu, Hasan Kaya, Gurkan Alver, Teoman Erkan

Ferhat was replaced in goal with Turgut due to injury and Ankaragucu decided to stick with the same formation that saw them win 2-0 at home against Kocaeli Birlikspor. Myself and Damon managed to catch parts of the match due to a link through Periscope. We both agreed that the standard of football at this level is woeful and horrible to watch.

Ankaragucu struggled to put any passes together and the only players who showed any decent attacking quality were Hasan Ayaroglu when he came on as a sub and Omer Bozan. Its difficult to see this Ankaragucu becoming champions unless they go into the January break no more than 6 points behind Manisaspor and then make some quality additions to the team.

It was the home side who took the lead in the first half after the referee awarded a penalty due to a handball in the Ankaragucu box. Former Genclerbirligi striker Deniz Naki stepped up and scored to make it 1-0 Amedspor.

The score remained that way until mid way into the second half, Hasan Ayaroglu delivered a nice cross into the box from a free kick, Volkan Geyik headed the ball back across goal and Timur Kosovali was on hand to head the ball past Serkan in the Amedspor goal to make it 1-1.

Neither side created any chances for the remainder of the match and neither could argue about the 1-1 draw. Its now 1 win from their last 5 games for Ankaragucu with 1 game remaining until the winter break.

That match is against on form Tuzlaspor next Sunday at home while Manisaspor travel to Sivas in a huge weekend for both clubs. The match preview will be here on the blog midweek.

Rubbish all round

A cold day is always a good day to go for a walk and so Spine and me walked down to Kizilay, had a refreshment stop, and then on to the stadium where we met a frozen Alex.

Genclerbirligi 0 - 1 Sivasspor

Passolig has truly killed the crowds in Ankara. There was hardly anyone at the match. Those few of us there hardly made any noise during the first half thanks to the cold and the absolute dross being played by Gencler.

It wasn't as if Sivas were playing great stuff... but, but, but....

We went behind after a nicely taken header. Half time and many long faces amongst us Gencler fans.

Second half and our Nordic players were taken off and clearly the coach had had a sharp word. This half we went on the attack but a million times too many we went high when we should have tried to penetrate. Sivas played with all their men behind the ball and they were able to easily head away our attacks.

Frustration all round.

That was Sivas' second win of the season, their first away. We are now truly in a relegation fight.

God help us next week when we play Fenerbahce. We are now truly in a relegation fight.

EDIT: By the way. I forgot to mention that we didn't have a single shot on goal. Not a single shot on goal.... asdfgghhjk

EDIT 2: Dan the Man has just reported below the line that Gencler coach Mehmet Ozdelik has been sacked. Am I being too optimistic to think that Cavcav has a brilliant new coach lined up? It is a cynical rhetorical question so don't bother answering.

Ankaragucu vs Amedspor match preview!

Ankaragucu are away tomorrow against Amedspor in the hostile city of Diyarbakir in what will be another tough match. The good news is that the match will be played live on Ozgur Gun TV meaning we can all cheer the team on and finally see an away game, for me it will be the first time i have seen the team play a full game this season on TV.

The team will go into the match full of confidence after a good 2-0 win last weekend against Kocaeli Birlikspor. However as we have seen all to often with Ankaragucu over the years, nothing is a given and the team will need to raise the performance levels even higher to bring the 3 points back to Ankara.

Emrah Bozkurt has hit a bit of form of late and showed that he can be a big player for the team this season. Not only is his experience invaluable to the younger players, but his work rate and technique are two areas that will play a big part in the teams season. He has scored 2 goal of the season contenders in the last couple of weeks and long may it continue.

Harun Aydin will miss out due to suspension and it looks like Muhammed Gonulacar and Salih Sefercik will continue their pairing in the middle of the park after last weeks success. Timur Kosovali will be hoping he can find the back of the net as he looks to hit the goal trail after a disappointing start.

Make sure you tune into Ozgur Gun TV at 1pm Turkish time for the full match live!

ANKARAGUCU DELIVER TO REGAIN 2nd TOP SPOT IN THE LEAGUE !

Greeting Kankas and Kankies.

Ankaragucu did the biz yesterday to churn out a valuable win against a useful Kocaeli team to overtake them in the league and regain 2^nd top spot.

ANKARAGUCU   2     Kocaelispor   0

It was a sunny, but very cold day, when the kankas met up at the Stadium – Cider Kanka John, Apple Kanka Erman and Genclerbirligi Kanka Alex.   We were joined by ‘Honourary Kankas’ Emir and Murat.   Emir, pictured below is a long term friend of mine and was a founder member of the famous Pegasus Group, who are now unfortunately defunct, but as you can see from his jacket, he still wears their motif with pride.  

Murat is an ever present in Maraton and has attended every away match this season so far.   Whether he will be brave enough to make the long journey to Diyarbakir next week remains to be seen !

The Stadium was not as full as 2 weeks ago, but still a good attendance considering the low temperature !    Gecikondu was full and all the other tribunes about half full.   The away end was empty and this was probably a Police decision in view of the historic problems between both sets of fans.

Team – Ferhat, Goksu, Volkan, Mehmet T, Muhammed, Adem, Salih, Sertan, Omer, Emrah and Timur.

Substitutes used – Sedat, Hasan A and Harun

Ankaragucu started out in determined fashion and should have gone ahead in the 5^th minute when Timur found himself free in the penalty box, but his weak shot was easily saved.

However, 2 minutes later we were celebrating when Omer evaded 3 tackles and calmly shot into the bottom corner.   A clinical and well taken goal.

Kocaeli’s response was positive and they looked particularly dangerous down the left wing with their No21 showing fleet of foot and keeping Goksu busy.   The No21 sent over 2 dangerous looking crosses which were well defended by Vokan and Mehmet to deny the Kocaeli attackers homing in on them.

On the half hour mark, Emrah had a great chance to extend the lead when he had a goal bound header saved.  

Half time arrived and we were reasonably happy with the performance of the team.   However, we were mindful of being in the same situation against Manisa and so were not ‘counting our chickens’.   We were all aware that a 2^nd goal was necessary to be sure of claiming all 3 points !

The 2^nd half was only 8 minutes old when the 2^nd goal arrived, and it could easily have been a candidate for goal of the season if the TV cameras had been there.   A sweeping move out of defence resulted in the ball being sent into the path of Emrah just outside the penalty box.   He had time to control the ball and send a fantastic shot to the top left hand corner with the goalkeeper nowhere !

7 minutes later there was a scare when Volkan went to ground after a heavy tackle.   The stretcher was called for and the ambulance crew prepared to take him on board.   However, after a lengthy delay, he managed to hobble off, with assistance, back to the dressing room.   Able deputy Sedat replaced him and 10 minutes later Hasan replaced Emrah who left the field to thunderous well deserved applause, and not just for his great goal, but his tremendous workrate.

With 15 minutes to go, Kocaeli was looking dangerous as they searched for a way back into the match, but the Ankaragucu defence was holding up well.   However, there was a scare on the 80^th minute when Kocaeli ‘scored an offside goal’ from a fast breakaway.   It looked a good goal from our tight angle, but the linesman was quick with his flag and there wasn’t any protest from the players.

Almost at the final whistle we witnessed some fancy close passing on the left wing between Salih, Timur and Omer, which resulted in Salih breaking away and firing in an angled shot which hit the bar and went out.

Into time added on and Harun was put through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he shot straight at him instead of trying to go around him.    Then a few moments later, in a confrontration with a Kocaeli player, Harun was shown a red card for an incident which we all missed, and from the re-start the match ended.

So, a crucial victory after the disappointments of the past 2 matches when only one point was won.   Not only did it move Ankaragucu back into 2^nd position in the league, but with Buca beating league leaders Manisa, the gap between 1^st and 2^nd was reduced to 4 points.

Optimism is perhaps back on the agenda for some, but with a visit to Diyarbakir scheduled for next weekend it may be premature to think ............’League Champions’ !     I would prefer to reserve judgement for now and see where Ankaragucu is at the half way point when the winter break is on us and the picture becomes clearer.

Back to The Chopin Bar we went to celebrate.   Let’s use the old cliche ............ let’s take one game at a time !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Yet another collapse for Gencler

"Gencler need to petition to for 75-minute matches," Alex texted me after yesterdays defeat. He's not half-wrong.

Istanbul Basaksehirspor 2 - 0 Genclerbirligi

I couldn't get out yesterday afternoon and so I was playing Grand Theft Auto and had the match on the radio. I crashed my car quite a few times.

According to the radio announcer (in fact everything here is from the radio announcer), Gencler had about 10 fans and Basaksehir 100. Must have been an amazing atmosphere.

Basaksehir had a 99 percent shot on goal. Missed. Then they should have had a penalty. Wasn't given.

Then it was all boredom for a while with no one stringing any passes together. Then in the 30th Djalma had a go, off the crossbar and bounced. Did it cross the line. No says the 13th official. First half ended 0 - 0 and I sought of drifted off a bit.

Then was jolted back into the game in the 78th when Basaksehir went ahead. Oh God. Then a few minutes later they went ahead 2 - 0.

asdfghj  

Ankaragucu vs Kocaeli Birlikspor match preview!

Another huge match in Lig 2 this week as Ankaragucu host Kocaeli Birlikspor as both teams look to close the gap on leaders Manisaspor. Kocaeli climbed above Ankaragucu into 2nd spot last weekend after the Capital side were held to a 2-2 draw at Ankara Demirspor. The visitors are in excellent form scoring 12 goals in their last 4 league games including last weekends 5-0 thumping of Keciorengucu.

Ankaragucu on the other hand have struggled for goals this season and had to thank defender Adem Saglam for his 2 goals last weekend to rescue a point. He has now scored more goals this season than Timur Kosovali, Enes Kubat and Teoman Erkan combined.

Last weekend was another woeful and inexcusable performance from Ankargucu, the passing was what you would expect to see from a Sunday league amateur team, the final ball is what you would expect from people playing football for the first time, and the finishing well the less said about that the better.

Kemal Kilic has against the odds managed to keep his job, the Ankaragucu board released a statement on the website saying that he would be staying and there is an important match this weekend which they need to concentrate on.

Abdullah Halman is the form man for Kocaeli with 6 goals in 10 games this season and will be looking to add to his tally on Sunday afternoon. The Ankaragucu fans will be hoping for changes in the starting line up with Orhan Evci, Hasan Kaya and Mustafa Ozturk all in contention for a place in the team. Enes Kubat is suspended after his sending off last weekend and a few of the players could see themselves dropped from the starting line up after a string of poor performances.

The match kicks off at 1330 Turkish time on Sunday afternoon in front of another big crowd at the 19 Mayis Stadium. Lets hope this time the players give the fans the 3 points that the deserve.

Gencler's Turkish Cup preview

Err... not much of a preview but the picture below was taken a few minutes ago (about 11am) at the Kemal Ataturk Stadium in Etimesgut where at 1pm Etimesgut Belediiyespor is set to run out against Gencler.

Good luck.

Photo from Klasspor.com

That's that theory gone then

Liverpool's craftiest punter Alex Graham reports:

Gençlerbirliği 2 - 2  Gaziantepspor

Gençlerbirliği played the first 89 minutes of this match attempting to add credence to my theory, 'Gençlerbirliği are a decent team, have some tidy players and should be further up the league.'

They completely controlled the first half and deservedly led two-nil at the break following well taken goals from Stancu and El Kabir.

The first 44 minutes of the second half again saw almost complete control of the game.

Gaziantepspor finally fell off the disciplinary tightrope they'd been walking and had both Arokoyo and Chibuike sent off in the last 15 minutes.

Two up against nine men. Cue pipe and slippers football from Gençlerbirliği?  No such luck.

Demir scored for Gaziantep out of nowhere on 90 minutes after a hopeful punt up field wasn't dealt with by either the defence or the keeper, Hopf . Obviously, Gaziantepspor pressed forward (can you pile forward with only eight outfield players?) and got a completely undeserved equalizer with virtually the last kick of the game after a shot on the half turn by Camara.

I shall no longer be bothering the patent office with my theory.

Ankara Demispor 2-2 Ankaragucu match report!

Garbage, just Garbage and thats me putting it politely. Another awful performance from Ankaragucu matched by another awful result. Its 34 years since these two sides last met, in that period Ankaragucu have been playing at the top of Turkish football while Ankara Demirspor have languished in the amateur leagues.

Team - Ferhat Odabasi, Goksu Alhas, Adem Saglam, Volkan Geyik, Mehmet Tasci, Salih Sefercik, Omer Bozan, Sertan Vardar, Emrah Bozkurt, Hasan Ayaroglu, Timur Kosovali

Subs - Turgut Kirveli, Onur Atasayer, Muhammed Gonulacar, Harun Aydin, Mustafa Ozturk, Teoman Erkan, Enes Kubat

Manisaspor did what title contenders do yesterday with a hard fought 2-1 victory at home to Aydinspor which took them 8 points clear at the top. Anything less than a victory for Ankaragucu would leave them with a near enough impossible task of catching the leaders.

Mehmet Yildiz had his contract terminated midweek and was replaced in the starting line up with Timur Kosovali who hasn't lived up to his potential so far. Otherwise it was the same uninspiring formation that Kemal Kilic has played this season, no pace, to many old players and crap football.

Thats exactly what was served up to the fantastic Ankaragucu travelling support today again. You have to really feel sorry for the Ankaragucu fans, they turn up in their numbers every week to watch the team lose or draw with the greatest respect against utter shite football teams with no fans. Mehmet Yiginer has done a good job, but one of his big failings so far has been the inability to appoint a good manager. Why did he think Kemal Kilic would be the man to turn things around when he has managed 20 clubs in 15 years?

It was Ankara Demirspor who took the lead through Enes Cebeci due to a mistake in the Ankaragucu goal from Ferhat Odabasi. Just before the stroke of half time Ankaragucu made it 1-1 after Sertan crossed the ball into the box and Adem Saglam rose above everyone to head the ball into the top corner.

Half time 1-1 and we all expected Ankaragucu to push on to victory and show how much it means to the players the way it does to the fans? Aye right, ill crack the jokes, instead we were served up shite football from players who should just retire instead of robbing us when they can't even muster up a 5 yard pass?

Why has Orhan Evci been dropped for garbage? He was one of our best players last season and was close to winning a move to the Super Lig in the summer until he singed a new contract.

Ankara Demirspor went back into the lead through Emre Akdag much to the anger of the Ankaragucu support who were now vocal in their disappointment of Timur Kosovali and Kemal Kilic.

A late goal from Adem Saglam with his 2nd of the game made it 2-2 to give Ankaragucu a share of the points. The goal wasn't even worth celebrating as we all knew that the team had to win that game today, not only win but do it in style to send out a message. The only message these players have sent out this season has been that they aren't worthy of the Ankaragucu jersey, they don't know what it means to play for one of Turkeys oldest clubs and show the passion that the fans do.

It looks like Kemal Kilic will now be shown the door and reports are claiming that Murat Sozgelmez will have his contract terminated too joining Mehmet Yildiz out the exit door.

Another disappointing day, next week there should be a place in the team for Orhan Evci, Hasan Kaya, Teoman Erkan and Mustafa Ozturk who can replace... well take your pick!!!!!!!!

Ankaragucu vs Ankara Demirspor match preview!

The two Ankara sides meet at the weekend in what is a must win match for both sides after disappointing results last week. Ankaragucu as we know lost at home to Manisaspor in the top of the table clash, while Ankara Demirspor lost to another Ankara side Keciorengucu.

After last weekends disappointing result with Manisaspor in front of a bumper crowd of 17,000 fans at the 19 Mayis stadium the fans vented their frustrations at the performances of Mehmet Yildiz who had only found the net twice in 13 games. Surprisingly Mehmet Yildiz who was also the clubs captain agreed to terminate his contract on Monday afternoon. As much as things didn't work out for Yildiz the fans and club would like to thank him for his efforts and leaving with a bit of dignity.

Kemal Kilic has also according to reports under pressure from the management team, and a defeat or draw against Ankara Demirspor will result in him losing his job. The Ankaragucu management team have made it clear they expect the team to win the league and won't tolerate these poor results.

Its unclear where Sundays match will be played as Ankara Demirspor only have a small capacity, the Ankaragucu management team have been in talks to try and get the game moved to the 19 Mayis Stadium, and the Cebeci stadium has also been mentioned to.

Ankaragucu reserve team played Ankara Demirspor in a friendly match yesterday afternoon and won 5-0. The goals came from Enes Kubat (2), Mustafa Ozturk, Timur Kosovali and Adem Saglam. The first team will be hoping for a similar result at the weekend although I'm sure the fans will just settle for the 3 points.

Kemal Kilic now has a headache as he decides who will play as the main striker in the team. Emrah Bozkurt has shown a bit of quality on occasions this season and good news for the club is the return of Mustafa Ozturk who is an attacking wide player with a bit of much needed pace. Timur Kosovali has shown in the past that he has a very impressive goalscoring record at this level, he needs a run of games to show that he can be the man to fire Ankaragucu into the PTT Lig. Enes Kubat can also be a big player for the club if he can get back to full fitness.

Ankara Demirspor have struggled of late after a great start to the season, they haven't won in their last 6 games, losing 4 of those games in the process. There are no easy games in this division, but make no mistake this is a match Ankaragucu should be winning quite comfortably.

It will be interesting to see how the team lines up, if i was in charge i would go with the following and take the game to Ankara Demirspor

Ferhat Odobasi, Goksu Alhas, Adem Saglam, Gurkan Alver, Mehmet Tasci, Salih Sefercik, Orhan Evci, Hasan Ayaroglu, Emrah Bozkurt, Sertan Vardar, Timur Kosovali

Mustafa Ozturk won't be fit enough to play the full 90 minutes otherwise i wold have started with him, the likes of Enes Kubat, Hasan Kaya and Omer Bozan would also be in contention for a place in the starting line up.

Hopefully once we find out where the game will be played, the Kanka group can take in the match and cheer Ankaragucu onto victory.

ANKARAGUCU – KUTLAMA ZEHIR OLDU !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Headline nicked from The Hurriyet, which means ( Jim’s translation ..... ‘Initial celebrations became poisonous’ !!).

Not for the first time this season, Ankaragucu had the lion’s share of possession but failed to take all 3 points.   Apparently sitting pretty 1-0 up at half time, it looked like Ankaragucu was set to win the top of the table clash.   However, as Cider Kanka John said at the end of the match ........... ‘it was a game of 2 halves’ !    Manisa scored two clinical 2^nd half goals to leave Ankaragucu’s ‘Champions Dream’ in tatters and Manisa 5 points ahead of Ankaragucu at the top of the league !

ANKARAGUCU     1        Manisaspor      2

Team – Ferhat, Goksu, Gurkan, Vokan, Onur, Salih, Sertan, Omer, Hasan A, Mehmet Y and Emrah.

Substitutes used – Timur, Harun and Hasan K

The kankas met up at the Sports Cafe and in the Stadium – Maniac Kanka Harun, Apple Kanka Erman, Cider Kanka John, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Scouse Kanka Marcus with his friend Felix, Posh Kanka Ahmet, Essex Boy Kanka Matt and Genclerbirligi Kanka Alex.

The attendance was very impressive with all the tribunes full and in fine voice.   The away end had about 100 who had made the trip north, but their attempts at chanting was drowned-out every time they attempted it !

As I said, it was all Ankaragucu in the 1^st half with Emrah looking particulary sharp up front and he should have scored in the 5^th minute but his ferocious shot was blocked by a defender.

Hasan A had a great goalbound shot well saved by Bayram on the 18^th minute and this prompted the ‘Boo Boys’ in Gecikondu to direct their wrath at Bayram (ex-Ankaragucu goalkeeper who ‘jumped ship’ last season) everytime he touched the ball.

3 minutes later there was yet anoother great chance when Emrah received the ball from a cut-back, and from being unmarked on the penalty spot, he blasted well over.

However, the Ankaragucu pressure finally paid off in the 29^th minute when Emrah was at the end of a great passing move just outside the penalty box on the left to fired in a rocket to the top right with Bayram well beaten.

Mehmet Yildiz should have extended the lead on the 34^th minute mark when his shot was parried by Bayram, but he was too slow to react to the loose ball and Bayram had time to smother it.  Then, 4 minutes later Hasan A had his shot blocked.

Almost on the half time whistle and Manisa had their one chance of the half when a free kick was awarded just ouside the penalty box.   Fortunately it sailed over the bar.

Lots of happy faces at half time and we were confident that the Ankaragucu pressure would result in another goal or two.   However, as I’ve said on this blog many times, having most of the possession doesn’t necessarily translate into goals, and that’s what happened in this match.   Manisa had two chances to score and they made them count !!

Ankaragucu started the 2^nd half on the attack again.   Hasan A was put throught after one minute’s play but he scuffed his shot straight at Bayram.   2 minutes later Sertan tried his luck, but his shot (or was it a lob ?!) was just over the bar.

2  minutes later, Manisa silenced our celebrations.   A cross came over from the right to an unmarked Manisa attacker lurking at the back post and his downward header deceived Ferhat and bounced in for the equaliser.

Ankaragucu continued to attack in their attempt to get back in front but Manisa had their tails up and were gradually winning the midfield battle and the 50/50 balls.   Some of their tackling was tigerish, and I must confess at this stage to privately thinking that I would accept the one point !

Sertan had another effort saved by Bayram in the 54^th minute.   Then, to my amazement, Kemal Bey sent on Timur for Emrah with ‘Cart Horse’ Mehmet Y still on the pitch !

The final nail in the coffin came in the 63^rd minute when there was needless fiddling around with the ball near the right wing corner flag.   The TWO Ankaragucu defenders failed to deal with a routine situation against two Manisa players who amazingly won the ball, and one of them crossed to the unmarked Manisa midfielder (No61) hovering just outside the penalty box.   He had all the time in the world to look up and place his well hit shot into the corner of the goal with Ferhat well beaten.

We looked heavenwards for some divine intervention, but there was none forthcoming !!

Then in the 67^th minute, another amazing decision from Kemal Bey when he pulled Sertan off and replaced him with Harun.   And still .......... Mehmet Y was left on to lumber around and fall down whenver he was challenged for the ball !

At last, with only 10 minutes remaining, he made his momentous decision to take Mehmet Y off to a chorus of derisory whistling.   Hasan K replaced him.

One minute later, and with Ankaragucu ‘clutching at straws’, they had a penalty claim waved away by the referee.   He was right there on the spot so there can be no argument with his decision.

There was only time left for the impressive Goksu to go it alone and try his luck from a break on the right, but his shot was blolcked and Manisa easily ran the clock down.

So, a massive win for Manisa which puts them firmly in the driving seat at the top of the league.

The question now is, not so much can Ankaragucu catch them, but can Ankaragucu qualify for the Play-Offs ?!!!

It was back to The Chopin and a chance to cheer on another Ankara team, but that’s  another story from Oz Kanka.

Next weekend is ‘the other’ Ankara Derby when Ankaragucu take-on Ankara Demirspor in an ‘away’ match.   Details here and by email when known.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu vs Manisaspor match preview!

The big one is approaching us as Ankaragucu host Manisaspor in the top of the table clash on Sunday afternoon. Manisasspor sit 2 points ahead of Ankaragucu at the top after the Ankara side dropped 2 points last weekend at bottom club Bucaspor.

With a bumper crowd of over 20,000 expected at the 19 Mayis stadium to cheer Ankaragucu on, they will be hoping that it can spur the team onto victory and the 3 points. Both sides sit at the top of the table, although neither have set the fire alight with their performances. Both sides have also struggled in front of goal but experience has saw them come out on top in most games.

Ankaragucu welcomed back Adem Saglam, Murat Sozgelmez, Timur Kosovali and Mustafa Ozturk to first team training during the week and will be hoping they can be called upon if needed. It looks like both Gurkan Alver and Enes Kubat will miss out through injury and Mehmet Tasci is suspended. That could mean a return to the first team for Onur Atasayer who hasn't been seen since the embarrassing cup defeat against Payas.

The Ankaragucu fans will welcome Bayram Olgun back to the 19 Mayis Stadium, the former goalkeeper is now 1st choice for Manisasspor and will be hoping for a warm reception from the fans. Bayram was a great servant to the club and its the least he deserves. Another former Ankaragucu who will be in the Manisaspor starting line up is former fans favourite Barbaros Barut.

Manisaspor had a good 2-1 win over Keciorengucu last weekend despite being reduced to 10 men, they will be coming to Ankara full of confidence and looking to take the 3 points. A win for the visitors will put them into pole position and make it difficult for Ankaragucu although not impossible to catch up.

This is a must win match for Ankaragucu, too many matches this season they have had a chance to go clear at the top and they end up disappointing. Dropping 2 points against the side bottom of the league last week was unacceptable, and the players no they need to be at their best to win this game on Sunday.

One player who has come in for criticism from the fans is Mehmet Yildiz. The captain has struggled in front of goal this season and his all round performance last week was frustrating for him and the fans. Kemal Kilic will also hopefully have learned that we can't play with both Harun Aydin and Muhammed Gonulacar in a 4 man midfield. They can only play together if we have 5 in midfield or 3 with two wide attacking players. Hopefully we will see the return of Hasan Ayaroglu into the starting line up to provide that spark and pace the team was lacking last week.

It should be a cracking game on Sunday, ill be tuning into periscope and following the game there. Enjoy the game Kankas!!

Ankaragucu 1-1 Tarsus match report!

Nothing is ever straight forward with Ankaragucu! Before kick off it was top of the table against the team sitting bottom. However in typical fashion, Ankaragucu dropped 2 points with a disappointing 1-1 draw. Ive said it for weeks now, but this team will not win promotion unless we bring some quality players in January.

Team - Ferhat Obadasi, Goksu Alhas, Sedat Bayrak, Volkan Geyik, Mehmet Tasci, Muhammed Gonulacar, Haryn Aydin, Sertan Vardar, Omer Bozan, Emrah Bozkurt, Mehmet Yildiz

Subs - Turgut Kirveli, Adem Saglam, Murat Sozgelmez, Orhan Evci, Hasan Ayaroglu, Hasan Kaya, Timur Kosovali

A little stat i came up with after the game identifies exactly the problem Ankaragucu are facing this season. Timur Kosovali, Mehmet Yildiz, Emrah Bozkurt and Teoman Erkan have 35 games between them this season scoring only 4 goals. Mehmet Yildiz today was the target of criticism on social media after the game due to another poor performance.

When the team was announced today i had a feeling we would struggle today with both Muhammed Gonulacar and Harun Aydin starting. Both are defensive midfielders who offer nothing in attack and Kemal Kilic felt the need to play both of them against the worst team in the league. Baffling decision while Hasan Ayaroglu and Hasan Kaya started on the bench.

Tarsus took an early lead through Ferhat Duman with only 5 minutes gone, not the start Ankaragucu were looking for but the home side were delighted.

The scoring stayed that way until the stroke of half time where Omer Bozan showed good strength in the box before finishing high into the net to make it 1-1.

Unfortunately Ankaragucu couldn't find a winner in the second half, and also had Mehmet Tasci sent off late in the game for his second booking meaning he now misses next weeks big match with Manisaspor.

To make matters worse, Manisaspor won 2-1 at home to Keciorengucu thanks to an injury time winner to go back top of the league.

Next Sunday afternoon Ankaragucu host Manisaspor in the top of the table clash. The club are hoping for a bumper crowd of 20,000 to get behind the team for what should be a cracker.

Ankaragucu vs Tarsus match preview!

Its top against bottom tomorrow as Ankaragucu travel to Tarsus looking to take the 3 points back to Ankara ahead of next weeks big clash with Manisaspor. Tarsus sit rooted bottom of the table with only 1 win all season. They have however drawn at home against Manisaspor and Keciorengucu so this will be no easy task for Ankaragucu.

Kemal Kilic has had a good start to his Ankaragucu coaching career with 4 wins and 2 draws leading the club to pole position in Lig 2. He knows this is one of the most important seasons in the history of the club with promotion being the only option this season. Mehmet Yildiz and Emrah Bozkurt have hit a bit of form of late, and the attacking trio of Hasan Ayaroglu, Omer Bozan and Sertan Vardar have all looked impressive chipping in with goals and assists.

Their are still injury doubts over Adem Saglam, Mustafa Ozturk and Timur Kosovali, but Hasan Kaya continues his recovery back to full fitness.

Tarsus have struggled this season since winning promotion to Lig 2 and already face a mountain task if they wish to stay in this division. A win for them however would put them within touching distance of those teams above them who are just outside the relegation zone.

The Turkish courts this week ruled a decision in favour of Passolig meaning anyone wanting to go to a Super Lig or PTT Lig match has to sign up for their Passolig membership. Again this means near empty stadiums in Turkeys top 2 divisions and the one big attraction of Turkish football being the atmosphere and fans is dead. If Ankaragucu win promotion the 19 Mayis will be another near empty stadium with Ankaragucu fans already stating they won't sign up.

If you want proof that Passolig is a lot of made up nonsense, then you just have to look at the behaviour of Ankaragucu fans. The last 3 seasons has arguably been the best behaved the Ankaragucu fans have ever been, with very few stadium bans or fighting. There is no Passolig system for Ankaragucu during those seasons.

Hopefully tomorrow afternoon will be another cause for celebrations with another Ankaragucu win. Going into the game against Manisaspor top of the league will be a cracker next weekend. Manisa also have a tough game this weekend as they host Keciorengucu. Lets hope its a winning double for the Ankara sides.

Ankaragucu 3-2 Eyupspor match report!

Ankaragucu moved back to the top of the table with a 3-2 win at home against Eyupspor this afternoon. As usual things don't ever go smoothly at Ankaragucu and they were made to work for their 3 points against the lowly Istanbul outfit.

Team - Ferhat Odabasi, Goksu Alhas, Murat Sozgelmez, Sedat Bayrak, Mehmet Tasci, Omer Bozan, Hasan Ayaroglu, Salih Sefercik, Sertan Vardar, Emrah Bozkurt, Mehmet Yildiz

Subs - Turgut Kirevli, Volkan Geyik, Orhan Evci, Muhammed Gonulacar, Harun Aydin, Hasan Kaya, Teoman Erkan

As reported in the match preview, the TFF decided to play this round of matched in the afternoon when everyone was at work meaning a crowd of about 2,000 - 3,000 saw the game at the 19 Mayis Stadium.

Ankaragucu took the lead after 17 minutes when a low cross into the box from the right hand side was met by Emrah Bozkurt who slid the ball past Emrah Ozturk in the Eyupspor to the delight of the Ankaragucu fans.

It looked like Ankaragucu were going to head into the half time break with the lead, but Eyupspor had other ideas and equalised on the 45th minute through Erdinc Pekgoz.

Into the second half and ten minutes after the break Mehmet Yildiz put Ankaragucu back into the lead with a neat finish inside the box. The lead was short lived though as Cem Ekinci made it 2-2 just 1 minute later.

At this stage it looked like it would be typical of Ankaragucu to throw away points at home against one of the weakest teams in the league. However Omer Bozan scored the winner to make it 3-2 on the 64th minute and send the Ankaragucu fans home happy.

Although top of the league, their are still concerns that Ankargucu are struggling to finish off struggling teams at the bottom of the table. Lets give them credit though, they are sitting top of the league after Manisaspor drew 0-0 at Fatih Karagumruk with both teams set to meet in Ankara in 2 weeks time.

Next up is an away match with Tarsus on Sunday who are sitting rooted to the bottom of the league. As Jim said, we need to win that game and make it 6 points from this weeks 2 games which will add pressure to Manisa heading into the big game.

Ankaragucu vs Eyupspor match preview!

Ankaragucu are back in action tomorrow as they host Eyupspor at the 19 Mayis stadium. Unfortunately its a 1330 kick off meaning another empty stadium thanks to the TFF. Ankaragucu management pleaded with the TFF to change the kick off time to the evening so that the fans could attend, but like every decision in Turkish football, they made the one that effects the fans watching their team play.

Onto the match itself, and Ankaragucu will be looking to take all 3 points from the match after a disappointing draw at the weekend with Inegolspor. Having watched the first half, Ankaragucu will need to up their game if they are serious about being title contenders.

Eyupspor had lost 5 successive games in a row before an impressive 1-0 home win against Keciorengucu at the weekend. They will be looking to take confidence into the game tomorrow and knowing the stadium will be near enough empty will spur them on. As Jim always says, Ankaragucu are a big scalp for clubs in this division and they will be out to cause an upset.

The main worry for Ankaragucu again will be where the goals will come from, Mehmet Yildiz again fired a blank at the weekend and its a concern for Ankaragucu that they don't have consistent scorers in the team. The likes of Hasan Ayaroglu, Omer Bozan and Seran Vardar will again be called upon to create chances for Mehmet Yildiz and Emrah Bozkurt.

Manisaspor are away to Fatih Karagumruk which will be a tough match, Ankaragucu will be hoping they slip up with both teams set to play in 2 weeks time in Ankara. Everyone will be working tomorrow so their will be a brief report on the blog tomorrow night.

Ankaragucu 1-1 Inegolspor match report!

Ankaragucu lived a short stay at the top of the table after a 1-1 draw at Inegolspor yesterday while Manisaspor win 2-1 at home to Tokatspor despite playing the majority of the match with 10 men. A disappointing result for Ankaragucu, and another match which had its controversial refereeing decisions.

Team - Ferhat Odobasi, Goksu Alhas, Gurkan Alver, Sedat Bayrak, Mehmet Tasci, Salih Sefercik, Omer Bozan, Sertan Vardar, Hasan Ayaroglu, Emrah Bozkurt, Mehmet Yildiz

Subs - Turgut Kirveli, Harun Aydin, Muhammed Gonulacar, Teoman Erkan, Hasan Kaya, Volkan Geyik, Orhan Evci

I managed to catch the first half on periscope and as has been the case with every Ankaragucu match I've watched this season, it was utterly woeful and turgid stuff from both teams. I hope I'm wrong but i honestly don't see a Championship winning side from this Ankaragucu team. The only saving grace is that this league is the weakest its been in the last 3 years. There isn't a single decent team in this league.

When you look at the Ankaragucu team of 2 years ago that lost in the playoffs, if we had that team this season we would win this league easily. There was only 1 chance in the first half for Ankaragucu which brought out a good save by the Inegolspor goalkeeper.

Levent Kale was lining up in the Inegolspor team and was his usual self, working tirelessly for his team with not much end product. It was Ankaragucu who took the lead early in the second half, Hasan fired in a shot from outside the box which was parried by the goalkeeper into the path of Emrah who had the easy task of putting the ball into the net for his first Ankaragucu goal.

So all going well, and just over half an hour to hold onto the lead for another 3 points, but Ankaragucu as we all know never make things easy for themselves. Ekrem Saricam levelled the scoring for Inegolspor to make it 1-1 much to the disappointment of the travelling Ankaragucu fans.

With the game poised at 1-1, Ankaragucu were denied a penalty late in the match, and the replays showed that it was a stonewall penalty and a bad decision by the referee and linesman to deny it. A cross into the box was hand balled by the Inegol defender with his hands both outstretched.

So 1-1 it finished, and 2 dropped points for Ankaragucu. Next up is Eyupspor at home next weekend. Which Ankaragucu team will show up for that match?

Mersin pull off a draw

Genclebirligi 1  - 1 Mersin Idmanyurdu Spor

This was a match for the taking. We didn't take it.

More details soon.

Ankaragucu vs Inegolspor match preview!

League Leaders Ankaragucu travel to Inegolspor tomorrow as they look to maintain their good form under new coach Kemal Kilic with another win. A good win midweek over Bucaspor moved Ankaragucu to the top of the league, although the highlights indicated that the 4-0 result maybe flattered Ankaragucu a bit.

There is no doubting if Ankaragucu are going to become champions this season, then they are going to win ugly. The most important thing for the club and its future, is that we win promotion, it doesn't matter if we win ugly or play good football, installing a winning mentality is what is required.

Former Ankaragucu fans favourite Levent Kale will line up in the Inegolspor team as he still awaits his first goal for his new team. The Ankaragucu team will know all about Levent and his work rate and he will need to be kept at bay by the defence.

Ankaragucu go into the game without Murat Sozgelmez, Adem Saglam, Mustafa Ozturk and Timur Kosovali all through injury. Mehmet Yildiz scored his first goal of the season midweek and will be hoping to find the net again this weekend. Emrah Bozkurt will likely replace Timur Kosovali in the starting line up after the later picked up an injury against Bucaspor.

Inegolspor are on a 3 match unbeaten run including decent results against Keciorengucu and Tuzlaspor where they shared the points on both occasions. They will need to be respected like all teams in this division. There won't be a better opportunity for Ankaragucu to become champions than this season. There aren't any standout teams this season, and even though this Ankaragucu team isn't as strong as the side that lost in the playoffs 2 years ago, they have a better chance due to weaker opposition.

Ankaragucu fans have been handed just over 1500 tickets for tomorrows match, so another decent travelling support will be there to cheer the team onto victory!