Ankaragucu vs Keciorengucu match preview!

Myself and Jim met up last night in Inchinin at the Braehead Tavern which was funnily enough the first place we ever met. We had a good chat about Ankaragucu and what the future holds for the club, like most Ankargucu fans we both agree the team need to win promotion this season otherwise it could be the end of the road for the club due to the finances.

Before we look at this weekends match with Keciorengucu, their were a couple of bits of news this week regarding the clubs off field issues again. Firstly, Ankaragucu general manager Ercan Soydas made a statement to the Ankara press in regards to his disappointment of the clubs 3 point deduction by the TFF. Soydas went onto say that the current management team had received letters from Fifa thanking them for paying their debts and closing over 37 files. The Turkish FA still decided to punish the club despite all the good work and progress the management team have made.

Today the Turkish FA also decided to hand the club a 4,000 TL fine due to bad language from the Ankaragucu fans at their match with Fatih Karagumrukspor last weekend. How can the club continue to pay their debts when the Turkish FA fine us every week for bad language?

Onto this weekends match with Keciorengucu and another top of the table must win clash. Kecioren climbed above Ankaragucu into 2nd place last weekend as the Ankara club were held to a 1-1 draw at Fatih Karagumruk, while Keciorengucu won 1-0 at Tepecikspor.

The last time the two sides met, Ankaragucu won 1-0 at Kecioren with Omer Bozan scoring a late winner. Kecioren will be out to avenge that defeat and go into the game on excellent form having won their last 4 games.

Ankaragucu will be hoping Omer Bozan is available for the weekends match as he missed out on last weekends match. Omer is one of the sides key players, and the fans will also be hoping for Mustafa Ozturk to keep his place in the team after his return from injury.

Its difficult to see Ankaragucu going on a winning run that can see them clinch the title from the likes of Manisaspor and Keciorengucu. For me their are a couple of players on the bench more deserving of a place in the first team. Orhan Evci and Hasan Ayaroglu were arguably our best players last season, but have found themselves out of favour under Kemal Kilic.

As Jim pointed out a couple of weeks ago, our midfield is the weak point of our team. Their is no one in the middle of the park who can dictate the game. Salih and Sertan have both lost that early promise they showed, while some argue Harun Aydin is a better option to Muhammed.

John will be filling in for Jim doing this weekends match report as the Kankas will again be at the stadium to cheer on the team. Kick off is at 13:30 Turkish time for anyone interested in coming along.

Genclerbirligi's latest signing

Turning corners

Have Gencler turned a corner after another good performance this week? The players look happy, motivated and most importantly in form. Things are on the up.

Genclerbirligi 1 - 0 Antalyaspor

The bitter cold here in Ankara had me wrapped up like a polar bear and at the stadium we abandoned our normal seats to sit a bit lower down in the sun. The sun has the amazing ability to warm you up and within minutes we had shed our coats, gloves and woolen hats and sat back in the glorious sunshine to watch a match that lacked a lot of goals but was nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable.

This is Hakan

Hakan supports an Istanbul team

There are teams in the city where he
lives but Hakan is an Istanbul fan

When the team visits his city he runs to the stands
where he swears full on at the
team of  the city where he lives

Hakan doesn't give a damn if his city's
team gets relegated. It's enough for
his Istanbul love to be the champions

Hakan worships power

Don't be like Hakan 

I won't go through every attack we made. Let's just say there were lots. We had plenty of chances in the first half and it was just luck really that none of them went in. We completely controlled play. Hleb was wonderful feeding balls around the place and Djama Campos on the right wing not only made some of the defenders look like fools, and leading them to foul him, but he also sent in some simply brilliant crosses.

Even though it was 0-0 at the break us fans were happy enough as this was good football and we felt it was only a matter of time until we scored.

When the goal finally came it wasn't from any of our excellent attacks but a corner. Campos sent it in, one of our blokes headed it, keeper saves and Ante Kulusic was in the right spot to tap it in.

We continued to attack and could easily have gone a couple more up. It was all looking great until one very very silly quick freekick taken by one of our defenders was intercepted and the ball was sent through to Eto'o for one of his very few touches of the match. He took a weak shot which went wide of the post. It was the only shot at goal that Antalya had all match.

All up, a good win and we slowly but surely start to pull ourselves away from the relegation zone.    
      
The one bit of bad news was when our new signing Serdar Sahin went down with what looked like a hamstring injury. Hope he won't be out for too long.

Ankaragucu 1-1 Fatih Karagumrukspor match report!

Ankaragucu blew their chance of closing the gap to 4 points on leaders Manisaspor who lost 4-3 at home to Inegolspor last night. Their was an opportunity today for Ankaragucu to put pressure on Manisaspor and show that they mean business in this title challenge. Instead it was another feeble effort against without being disrespectful, another shit Lig 2 side!!

Team - Ferhat Odobasi, Goksu Alhas, Volkan Geyik, Adem Saglam, Mehmet Tasci, Muhammed Gonulacar, Salih Sefercik, Sertan Vardar, Enes Kubat, Emrah Bozkurt, Timur Kosovali

Subs - Turgut Kirveli, Harun Aydin, Orhan Evci, Teoman Erkan, Mustafa Ozturk, Sedat Bayrak, Gurkan Alver

Top scorer Omer Bozan wasn't in the squad today, and their was no place in the squad either for Hasan Ayaroglu. Omer must have either been suspended or injured as he has been our best player this season and the team missed him today. Hasan on the other hand, just can't get his Ankaragucu career going, always either injured or inconsistent but their is no doubting his quality.

Its frustrating watching Ankaragucu blow so many chances to make this tile their own. Time and time again they have either had an opportunity to go top, or close the gap and have failed to take their chance, mostly against lower half of the table sides. And today was no different, it was the same story as always, plenty of possession, defended reasonably well, but struggled to make any chances, the ones that did come our way we managed to miss.

Credit to Timur Kosovali though, he proved again today that if we create chances for him, he will more than likely get on the scoresheet. That proved to be the case today as Goksu Alhas set him up on the 20th minute make it 1-0 Ankaragucu.

The score stayed that way for the first half and Kemal Kilic would have went in at half time telling his players that they are 45 minutes away from closing the gap to 4 points. Instead they went straight out and conceded a goal as Serdar Dursun made it 1-1.

Ankaragucu had a couple of chances in the second half but didn't quite create enough clear cut chances to win the game. Keciorengucu leapt above Ankaragucu into 2nd in the table as they won 1-0 at Tepecikspor. Kecioren are the form team in the league at the moment and travel to Ankaragucu next Sunday in what will be a huge game for both sides. Kocaeli Birlikspor can also leap above Ankaragucu if they win their game in hand with todays match postponed due to bad weather.

Kemal Kilic will now need to pick the players up for next weeks game with Keciorengucu, if they players don't raise their game for that match then their title aspirations could be over in January.

Ankaragucu vs Fatih Karagumrukspor match preview!

Ankaragucu travel to Fatih Karagumrukspor on Sunday looking to make it 2 wins from 2 after the winter break. I only managed to catch about 20 minutes of last weekends 2-1 win over Tokatspor on Periscope. I thought we looked ok and played some decent football but lacked any pace or threat in attack or midfield. According to Jim though, it was another poor performance from Ankaragucu and they will need to raise their game if they are to become champions.

The frustrating thing about the situation the club finds itself in, is that this is such a weak league and it would only take 3 quality players to almost guarantee promotion. The Goalkeeper and Defence is solid enough, but the team is very weak in midfield and attack. Its difficult to tell whether the strikers would perform better if they had better midfielders creating chances for them.

One player in particular who can be excluded from any criticism is Omer Bozan, the wide midfielder is the teams top scorer with 6 goals and has impressed since his move in the summer from Hatayspor. Hasan Ayaroglu is another important player but he just doesn't seem to get a regular run in the team due to inconsistency. Orhan Evci arguably our best player last season is also sitting on the bench most weeks. Mustafa Ozturk who looked impressive in his first couple of games before picking up an injury hasn't made it back into the first team and Hasan Kaya has also fallen out of favour.

The home side this weekend will have a familiar face in the starting line up in Atilla Aybars Garhan. The 24 year old came through the Ankaragucu youth team and lead the attack during the season Ankaragucu were relegated from the Super Lig. He won a move to Karabukspor but failed to make an impression while also having an unsuccessful spell at 1461 Trabzon.

Fatih Karagumruk have lost 3 of their last 4 league games, but as we have learned all to often this season, their are no easy games in this league. Manisaspor host Inegolspor as they look to bounce back after last weeks draw with Kartalspor. Kocaeli Birlikspor host Sivas BB while Keciorengucu travel to Tepecikspor in the other top 4 games.

Im meeting up with Jim in Glasgow next Wednesday, hopefully we will be celebrating another Ankaragucu win and even better a defeat for Manisa to close the gap to 1 point!

ANKARAGUCU DELIVER, BUT …………..

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The most important factor was securing the 3 points, but the overall performance of this Ankaragucu team does not auger well for the 2^nd half of the season.   The glaring weakness is in midfield which is the engine room of all strong teams, and Ankaragucu is in dire straits in this area of the team.  

Salih runs his socks off, but he is not up to this job.   Only Hasan Ayaroglu has the wherewithal but he wasn’t introduced until the 2^nd half for some reason, and in my opinion he should be the first name on the team sheet !

The obvious positives in the team are the consistent performances from attacking full-back Goksu who put in a great shift yesterday and was instrumental in a vital assist for Ankaragucu’s first goal.   Also, Omer made his presence felt up front.

ANKARAGUCU   2                  Tokatspor    1

The kankas met up in the Stadium – Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Posh Kanka Ahmet, Essex Boy Kanka Matt, Cider Kanka John and Apple Kanka Erman.   As usual, Gecikondu was full and the other tribunes were almost full.   There were about 50 in the ‘away end’, but unusually for supporters in that area, they were silent throughout.

The match exploded into life in the 7^th minute when Goksu went on a mazy run down the right wing.   He cut inside beating about 5 defenders in the process, and then slid the ball into the path of the unmarked Omer on the left side of the penalty box who unleashed a screamer into the top right.   A goal to savour and one which we supporters are unlikely to forget !

In the 16^th minute, just as we were singing ‘The Bursaspor Song’, Omer almost made it 2 but his shot from outside the penalty box was just over.

3 minutes later there was more trickery from Goksu on the right when he sent in an inviting cross, but there were no takers.

Then in the 22^nd minute Ankaragucu shot themselves in the foot with some woeful defending when the defence was dithering instead of feeding the ball to unmarked colleagues.   Tokat gained possession and broke down the right wing with the Ankaragucu defence posted missing.   An accurate cross came over to the inrushing forward who met the ball perfectly with his head to bullet the ball past Ferhat.

The wake-up call was heeded and there were no more slip-ups as half time approached.

It was mostly all one way traffic in the 1^st half but we were relieved that a Tokat revival didn’t transpire and fairly content going in all square with the prospect of attacking the Gecikondu end in the 2^nd half.

9 minutes of the 2^nd half played and Salih almost opened his goal scoring account when he made a rare forage into the Tokat penalty area, but his shot hit the bar and was cleared.

3 minutes later there was a double substitution when Emrah and Sertan were withdrawn and replaced by Enes and Hasan.

Enes almost made an immediate impact when his fierce goalbound shot was well saved.

Then in the 63^rd minute, Ankaragucu received their ‘get out of jail card’ !    Omer made an attacking run on the left and just as he entered the penalty box he was tripped as he was about to cross the ball.   The referee had no doubts and pointed immediately to the penalty spot and I have to agree with him that he made the correct call.

Timur stood up to the mark and gave the goalkeeper no chance with a well taken shot to put Ankaragucu back in front.

The match was almost made safe in the 77^th minute when Omer was unlucky to see his shot hit the post and cleared to safety.

Into the last 5 minutes and Tokat pressed forward looking for the equaliser.

Ankaragucu made their final substitution when Harun replaced Timur as Ankaragucu made it clear that they would settle for what they had.

It was panic stations in the Ankaragucu defence and they had Ferhat to thank for saving a goalbound shot almost on the final whistle.  

There was one last chance for Enes, but he fired over from an Ankaragucu breakaway.

The final whistle was received with relief by us all, and with Manisa only managing to draw, Ankaragucu moved 2 points closer to the league leaders.   However, as I said earlier, Ankaragucu will need to take their chances and remain focused for the entire 90 plus minutes if they are serious about challenging Manisa.   The onus is on Hasan and Goksu to supply the ammunition for the front men.

Back to the Red Lion Club to celebrate and watch ManYoo beat Liverpool and Hibs playing out a draw with Falkirk.

Next weekend Ankaragucu will be away against Karagumruk.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

SHOCK: Gencler pull off an away win!

Zor deplasman ve cok önemli 3 puan, her mac zor, her mac final, yeni takimimda, ilk macimda galibiyet almak cok keyifliydi.. Herkesin ayagina saglik, daha kazanilacak cok puan var, aynen devam arkadaslar.. #kirmizikara #gençlerbirliği 🔴⚫️

A photo posted by ⭐️SELCUK SAHIN⭐️ (@selcuksahin62) on Jan 18, 2016 at 6:54am PST

The above Instagram posting was from Selcuk Sahin, one of our new players who had a pretty decent match on Sunday. It sort of translates as follows:

A difficult away match and an important 3 points. Every match is difficult, every match is a final. My first at my new team was a win but it was also great fun. To everyone: "health to your feet". There are still many more points that we will win. Carry on friends. #kirmizikara #genclerbirligi 

Rizespor 2 - 3 Genclerbirligi

I had a bit of work to do down at the Red Lion Club but was constantly being distracted by the football. The first minute, I was pretty happy. Next 10 minutes not so much. Rize put on an amazing amount of pressure and it wasn't a surprise when they went one up. I just don't think our defenders were getting back fast enough.

Oh well, it was while later and Gencler started to look the better team. Another one of our new guys Hleb (yes, the same Hleb that we got rid of six months ago) was controlling things nicely in midfield and feeding our attacks. He had nothing to do with our first goal though. It was a brilliant pass from Ugur Ciftci to Stancu who controlled it magnificently and took a brilliant shot. Oh, how lovely it is to write such sentences after such the enormous drought we have endured.

Then a bit later we went ahead when Ahmet Hakan was the last to get his head on the ball. Thing was, everyone was going for goals and we were unlucky on a number of occassions. It was wonderful to watch.

Second half and controvery as Rize were awarded a penalty. It shouldn't have been one (he dived) but it would have been difficult to see. Hopf had no chance to save it.

Counting down towards the draw and Campos had the ball on the half-way line on the right wing. Two defenders come at him, he gets through both, dribbles towards the right-hand goal post, past another guy, shoots through the keeper's legs and goalllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then, right at the death. Four minutes into added time and Rize hit the post... Phew.

As Selcuk Sahin said: Carry on friends.

Ankaragucu vs Tokatspor match preview!

Ankaragucu return to league action on Sunday as the second half of the season gets under way after the winter break. The team spent the last week in Antalya preparing for the title challenge ahead with Manisaspor and will be looking to take all 3 points on Sunday with Tokatspor who are pushing for a playoff spot.

The team took part in two friendly matches during the break in Antalya winning 4-3 against Urmaniyespor and drawing 1-1 with Istanbulspor. The fans will be hoping that the team have been working on creating more chances and also their finishing as that was the main issue in the team dropping too many points in the first half of the season.

Its unlikely that Ankaragucu will lift the transfer ban this month with Mehmet Yiginer being vocal in the last couple of days regarding the matter. Yiginer is disappointed with the lack of investment from wealth businessmen from Ankara who have either refused to put money into the club or failed to keep their promise. He was also criticised Melih Gokcek who still hasn't paid the club the money he promised.

Mehmet Umut Nayir today completed his transfer from Osmanlispor to Yeni Malatyaspor, the move made the headlines as Osmanlispor haven't even paid Ankaragucu the 750,000 transfer fee owed on the player. Its almost as if Melih Gokcek is desperate to kill the club, just a horrible horrible man. Hopefully Yiginer learns never to do business with Osmanlispor again.

Tokatspor like most other clubs in the league were able to strengthen their squad this month and will be coming to Ankara with the intentions of taking all 3 points. Its difficult to see at this moment whether the transfer ban will benefit Ankaragucu or kill of their championship aspirations.

The team have now had time to gel and coach Kemal Kilic will know who his starting line up will be. Their is a lot of experience in this Ankaragucu team and he will be hoping they can spur the team on. Unfortunately i don't see enough quality in this team and not adding to the team could kill of our chances of winning promotion. The sad thing is that this is the best chance the team will have in a poor poor division to win promotion, if we fail this season it could be a long time before we see Ankaragucu back in with the big boys.

The latest table

If you can't see the league table on the right due to internet censorship in Turkey, please refer to the tweet below.

SporToto Süper Lig Puan Durumu #PrayForEskişehirspor 🙏🙏🙏 #Eskişehirspor pic.twitter.com/x59QiSb2OE

— ZaytungEskişehirspor (@ZaytungESES) January 11, 2016