Gaziantepspor 1-2 Ankaragucu match report!

Lanre Kehinde went from villain to hero today for Ankaragucu after the Super sub scored a brace to give Ankaragucu the 3 points at Gaziantep after going a goal behind.

Team - Korcan, Erdem, Gencer, Alihan, Mehmet, Arif, Sedat, Putsila, Kenan, Ilhan, Umut

Subs - Altay, Kehinde, Abdulkadir, Ferhat, Enes, Doka, Dieng, Mahmut

İsmail Kartal went with the same team that beat Samsunspor at home last week with Umut and Ilhan continuing their partnership up top. Before the game started most predicted a comfortable win for Ankaragucu and although they dominated, they didn't get it all their own way.

The first chance of the game came for Gaziantepspor after a mix up between Korcan and Erdem almost let Gaziantep in but between them they managed to clear the ball. A couple of minutes later Umut had a half chance for Ankaragucu but his cross come shot was cleared for a corner.

Ilhan Parlak went close on the 8th minute as he fired over the bar after nice play from Kenan Özer to set him up.

Muhammed Ildiz and Serhan Yilmaz were the two stars in the Gaziantepspor side and it was Serhan who went close from distance but his shot went inches wide. At the other end Ilhan Parlak almost broke the deadlock after he headed the ball against the bar from a brilliant Mehmet Sak cross.

The teams went in at half time goalless with Ankaragucu dominating possession but struggling to breakdown the Gaziantep defence. İsmail Kartal brought Doka on for Kenan at the break as they went looking for that opening goal.

First chance of the second half fell for Umut Nayir who volleyed from 20 yards straight into the arms of Adnan. Five minutes later Gaziantep had a chance at the other end but Korcan saved easily. Lanre Kehinde replaced Sedat for Ankaragucu as the team piled on the pressure.

The big striker made an immediate impact as he set up Doka who fired over the bar from a tight angle. Two minutes later Ankaragucu hit the bar again, this time Anton Putsila went on a brilliant run before chipping the ball onto the bar.

It looked like it was going to be one of those days as two minutes later Ankaragucu hit the ball again as Kehinde smashed a stunning 30 yard effort against the bar. Unbelievably Gaziantepspor went straight up the other end and Serhan fired a 25 yard effort into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the home side. Poor defending and Korcan should maybe have done better in goal but plenty of time for an Ankaragucu comeback?

Umut had a half chance for Ankaragucu but fired over the bar before Serhan nearly made it 2-0 but this time Korcan made a good save.

Then came the equaliser, a brilliant ball into the box from Mehmet Sak saw Kehinde power his header at the back post beyond Adnan into the net to make it 1-1.

Mehmet Sak and Anton Putsila both put in great crosses for Umut and Kehinde as the searched for the winner but both efforts went wide. With 5 minutes remaining a moment of madness from Gencer almost gifted a 2nd for the home side. He tried to shield the ball out of play but lost the ball but Gaziantepspor couldn't capitalise and a Ankaragucu cleared.

On his Ankaragucu debut Lanre Kehinde saw red for a headbut much to the anger of the Ankaragucu fans. Today he repaid that mistake with his 2nd goal of the game and match winner. A long ball over the top which the Gaziantep defence didn't deal with, Kehinde used his power and knocked the ball past Adnan into the net to send the Ankaragucu fans wild!!! 2-1 Ankaragucu

A fantastic performance from Kehinde and it saw Ankaragucu move into the playoff places. They made hard work of it but it's the 3 points that matter and it's now 3 wins in a row. Next up is a home match against Boluspor next Sunday.

Ankaragucu vs Gaziantepspor match preview!

Before we look ahead to Saturdays match with Gaziantepspor there was some good news today for Ankaragucu as they secured sponsorship from MKE worth 2 Million Lira. The sponsorship is a significant step in the right direction for the club after MKE had stopped funding the club since the Super Lig days.

Onto the weekends action and Ankaragucu travel to bottom of the table Gaziantepspor looking to make it 3 league wins in a row. The team has saw an improvement in their performances over the last couple of weeks but will need to guard against complacency as despite Gaziantepspor being in an awful state they still have a win and a draw to their belt this season.

Gaziantepspor are currently going through a similar misfortune as to what Ankaragucu went through when relegated from the Super Lig. They have lost all of their first team players and are relying on their youth players for the rest of the season. They also have a transfer ban and sadly the fans have boycotted the matches meanin their are only a couple of hundred at their home matches despite moving into a beautiful new stadium.

İsmail Kartal will more than likely go with the same starting line up as last week unless Ferhat Kiraz is fit and may come in for Mehmet Sak. Lanre Kehinde made his return to the team against Samsunspor after suspension and will be a big player for the team this season if he can keep his head.

As Jim pointed out last weekend, although there is improvement in the team over the last couple of weekends, they still need to tighten up at the back and stop giving silly chances away. Up front Umut Nayir has already shown why the club spent all summer trying to convince Osmanlispor to let him come back home. With two goals in his first 3 games he has also formed a partnership with Ilhan Parlak and they will both be looking to add to their tally on Saturday.

A win for Ankaragucu at the weekend can see them move into the playoffs if other results go their way to. Their is no doubting the teams potential and chances of making a go at challenging for automatic promotion. Having watched all of the teams this season there isn't a team who I don't think we could beat. Having already dismantled the leagues best team in Rizespor, the team have already proved the have what it takes. They just need to be consistent and play to their best every weekend and we have a great chance.

We will have the match report straight after the game and here's hoping it will be another positive report with 3 points to celebrate.

Ankaragucu 1-0 Samsunspor match report!

Ankaragucu 1-0 Samsunspor Highlights

Ankaragucu made it 2 wins in a row in the league with last nights 1-0 win at home against Samsunspor. According to the game stats and Jim's updates the result flattered Samsun and the score could have been much more comfortable had it not been for better finishing. On the more concerning side for Ankaragucu the defence is still an area that needs big improvement moving forward.

Team - Korcan, Erdem, Alihan, Gencer, Mehmet Sak, Sedat, Arif, Putsila, Kenan, Ilhan, Umut Nayir

Subs - Altay, Doka, Kehinde, Lukasz, Abdulkadir, Cheikhou, Mahmut, Enes, Ahmet, Yusuf

There was a crowd of 7,170 at the game which for a team new to Passolig is a pretty decent turnout. Jim, Damon and Harun were representing the Kankas in the stadium and they will be delighted to have come away with the three points.

İsmail Kartal made two changes from the Rizespor match last week. Mehmet Sak came in for the injured Ferhat Kiraz, while Kenan Özer replaced Nduka Ozokwu who is also injured. The club confirmed that Nduka will miss the next 6 months of the season due to that injury he picked up in last weeks match which is a big blow for the club and player.

The first chance of the match came for Ankaragucu, a long ball from the back found its way to Ilhan who headed the ball into the path of Umut who was left 1 on 1 with the Keeper but Furkan just got their first to clear the ball away.

The first half was pretty much a drab afffair with neither side offering much going forward. It was into the second half before Ankaragucu had another great chance. Anton Putsila found Umut Nayir in the box after a powerful run from Sedat, the big striker smashed his shot against the post and then Sedat saw his rebound go inches wide.

Anton Putsila has had an excellent start to his Ankaragucu career and had another great game against Samsunspor. He has already drawn comparisons to former Ankaragucu favourites Marek Sapara and Eris Ceyhun.

Samsunspor gave Ankaragucu a scare midway into the second half with their only chance of the game. Halil Ibrahim put Jonathan Ayite through on goal but he put his shot wide when he should have done better.

Just as it looked like we were heading for a draw Ankaragucu got the winning goal. An excellent cross into the box by Mehmet Sak saw Umut Nayir rise above his man an head the ball into the top corner past Furkan. He ran over to Gecekondu and celebrated with the fans who were going crazy at the last minute goal.

There were still still left for another Ankaragucu chance, Putsila put Ilhan through on goal but his attempt was saved by Furkan and the final score was Ankaragucu 1-0 Samsunspor.

Next up for Ankaragucu is an away match at bottom of the table Gaziantepspor next Saturday. A chance to make it 3 wins in a row and even move into the playoff places depending on other results.

Gencler post first win of the season

Well, well, well. Gencler looked good today. Not brilliant but much more like a team. Still heaps of work but our new coach Mesut Bakkal (it is his third stint as Genclerbirligi coach) seems to be getting the Players to gel.

Genclerbirligi 1 - 0 Istanbul Basaksehirspor

Autumn has arrived. Temperature in the mid 20s, lovely sun... ahhh. I love Ankara and I love the Alerta Pub where Spine and me bumped into a Alex, Andy and a mate of their who were down their to watch Tottenham beat up West Ham. James showed up a bit later and all was good. In the end though only James and I went off to the stadium, the rest happilly ordering another beer.

"Yonetim Istifa, yonetim istifa" was the first call of the day from all of the fans in Maraton. Gencler have had their worst start to a season in history. History! The fans weren't happy.

It didn't take long though for the supporters groups to get behind the team.

There is no way in the world you would say that tody's performance was brilliant... but it was solid. Just looking at the way the game was being played made me think that Basaksehir had the better players but we seemed to be working more as a team. We had our chances but couldn't nail them. basaksehir had fewer chances... but better ones.

It was still 0-0 in the 75th and all seemed a bit dull and then Basaksehir started to dominate. It was a good 10-15 minutes of full pressure and total possession. Even so they didn't get too many real chances.

And then came the glory.

Just as the announcer was announcing how many minutes were left Scekic sent a lovely through ball which Skuletic manageed to only just get a toe to and it bounced into the goal. Celebrations!

No one knew how many minutes had been added and so it seemed forever until the ref finally blew it up.

The Gencler players collapsed, some kissed the turf. They then came over to the fans to celebrate. This was a big win for these guys. A lot was riding on it...

First win of the season.

Zor bir maç ve alınan üç puan. Takım arkadaşlarımı tebrik ediyorum. Bugün bizi destekleyen muhteşem taraftarımıza teşekkür ediyorum. 🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/KO1HE8a681

— Uğur Çiftçi (@ugur3333) September 23, 2017

Ankaragucu vs Samsunspor match preview!

Ankaragucu are back in league action this Sunday after their disastrous defeat in the Turkish Cup at Afyon Afjetspor midweek. İsmail Kartal is expected to ring the changes with him reverting to the team that started last weekends match at Rizespor. Nduka Ozokwu is set to miss out due to an injury picked up in that game.

There could be a return to the squad for Lanre Kehinde who has now served his 3 match suspension after his ridiculous sending off at Elazigspor.

The match midweek with Afyon proved that many of these fringe players aren't worthy of a place in the first team. Yusuf Abdioglu and Mehmet Sak again produced a defensive horror show while Mahmut Akkan and Doka were less than impressive on their debuts.

Umut Nayir and Ilhan Parlak formed an excellent partnership in last weeks match with Rizespor and the Ankaragucu fans will be hoping this is the sign of things to come. With the home crowd behind them at the 19 Mathis Stadium the fans will be hoping for two wins in a row in the League.

Samsunspor are struggling at the foot of the table and were also knocked out of the Turkish Cup by lower league opposition after losing on penalties to Ankara Demirspor. That said, there are no easy games in this league and they will be coming to Ankara looking to get their campaign back on track. Both sides met in a pre season friendly in Samsun where the home side won 1-0. A lot has changed since then and on paper Ankaragucu have a far Superior side, paper doesn't win football matches though.

The Kanka Group will again be attending and for full meeting details please get in touch with Jim who will also be doin the match report.

Afyon Afjetspor 2-0 Ankaragucu match report!

For the 2nd season running Ankaragucu were knocked out of the 2nd round of the Turkish Cup by lower league opposition. After an excellent 4-1 victory at leaders Rizespor on Sunday, in typical Ankaragücü fashion they followed it up with another embarrassment of a performance at Lig 2 side Afyon who were well worthy of their victory.

Team - Altay, Yusuf, Alihan, Lukasz, Mehmet, Mert, Abdulkadir, Doka, Dieng, Mahmut, Enes

Subs - Santiago, Gencer, Arif, Oguzhan, Ahmet, Irfan, Ahmet. Mehmet, Kenan

İsmail Kartal has been under fire from day 1 as Ankaragucu manager but gave himself some breathing space after the win at Rizespor. Today was all about keeping that momentum up and making sure Ankaragucu got into the next round ensuring extra revenue. Instead it's another disappointment for the fans who see their team knocked out against weaker opposition.

A number of players were given an opportunity to impress today and challenge for a first team place but it was a huge disappointment. Doka looks uninterested and out of shape, Yusuf and Mehmet are hopeless defensively and Dieng doesn't look anywhere near good enough.

There was a decent crowd at today's game considering the ridiculous early afternoon midweek kick off. The Afyon fans were rewarded when Aykut Uluc score a double to take his team into the next round.

Next up for Ankaragucu is a home match with Samsunspor on Sunday. Which Ankaragucu team will turn up?

Ankaragucu vs Afyon Afjetspor match preview!

The feel good factor is back at Ankaragucu after their stunning 4-1 victory at leaders Caykur Rizespor last weekend. The team will be hoping to now put together a run of results that will see them climb the table and have another big match at home on Sunday against Samsunspor.

Before that match takes place we have the Turkish Cup action as Ankaragucu travel to Afyon Afjetspor in what will be a tricky tie, but one the team must win to keep the momentum going and also bring in some much needed revenue with a good run in the cup.

Last season Ankaragucu were knocked out in this very round after a humiliating 2-0 defeat against amateur side Darica Genclerbirligi. Tomorrow's match will see tougher opponents and Ankaragucu will need to be at their best if they are serious about progressing to the next round.

With the game on Sunday coming up, it's expected that Ankaragucu will make a number of changes in personnel with the likes of Enes Kubat, Santiago Mele, Lukasz Szukala and Doka Madureira all in contention for a place in the starting line up.

Afyon have started their season with a draw a win and a loss although their victory came against Mersin who are in a bad way and are playing with their youth team. If Ankaragucu play to their potential it should be a pretty routine victory. However this is football and anything is possible.

The game will be played at the beautiful new stadium Yeni Sehir Stadi which for an amateur club is an excellent set up. The game will be live on A Spor and we will have the match report here tomorrow night.

Rizespor 1-4 Ankaragucu match report!

Ilhan Parlak and Alihan Kubalas both went from zero to hero today in a stunning 4-1 victory for Ankaragucu at leaders Rizespor.

Team - Korcan, Erdem, Alihan, Gencer, Ferhat, Sedat, Arif, Putsila, Nduka, Ilhan, Umut Nayir

Subs - Altay, Abdulkadir, Dieng, Kenan, Mehmet, Enes, Yusuf, Lukasz, Doka

When the Ankaragucu team was announced today most Ankaragucu fans including myself were disappointed to see Ilhan Parlak in the team yet again after his poor form at the start of the season. I'm delighted that he managed to shut us all up with 2 fantastic goals and an outstanding overall performance.

Right from the very start Ankaragucu were at the races today and played some excellent football while working their socks off all over the park. The first chance came on the 7th minute when Erdem played the ball down the line for Ilhan who put in a dangerous cross but their were no takers and Gokhan Akkan punched the ball away.

Five minutes later and the breakthrough came for the visitors after Ferhat Kiraz put in an excellent ball to the back post for Ilhan Parlak who rose above his man and headed the ball into the top corner making it 1-0 giving Gokhan no chance. It was a fantastic goal and just the start Ankaragucu wanted.

Caykur were struggling to get into the match but a moment of misjudgement from Alihan as he brought down Leonard Kweuke in his own area resulted in a penalty for Rizespor. Up stepped Samu to make it 1-1 with the penalty.

Ankaragucu didn't let their heads drop and were on the front foot again, this time Erdem found Nduka whose shot come cross was pushed away by Gokhan Akkan. Nduka would unfortunately go off injured a few minutes later and was replaced with Cheikhou Dieng.

Leonard Kweuke also went off injured for Rizespor but not before he dragged a shot from outside the box wide of the post.

It's not often you see examples of fair play, but Orhan for Rizespor today showed just that when he was brought down in the penalty box by Ferhat but got straight up and said it wasn't a penalty as Ferhat got the ball. Replays showed that he was indeed correct.

Umut Nayir had an excellent game despite not scoring with his overall link up play and work rate a big factor in today's victory. He went close on the 36th minute as his powerful shot from outside the box was tipped over the bar by Gokhan.

Just before half time Ankaragucu almost regained the lead but Gencer saw his shot cleared off the line and it remained 1-1.

Into the second half and it took Ankaragucu only 3 minutes to take the lead. Ilhan saw his cross into the box cleared for a corner. From the resulting corner Erdem floated the ball into the box for Alihan who headed past Gokhan to make it 2-1Ankaragucu.

Sedat had a shot from distance go well wide before Lincoln almost caught Korcan out with a cross but the keeper tipped it over the bar.

Rizespor went close again when Samu saw his headed effort to inches wide of the post as Ankaragucu defended desperately to hold onto their lead.

With 2 minutes remaining Anton Putsila beat 2 players before his shot was fumbled by Gokhan and substitute Kenan was on hand to make it 3-1 and almost certainly give the team the 3 points.

The game was put to bed a minute later when Kenan turned provider for Ilhan who calmly slotted the Ball past Gokhan to make it 4-1 Ankaragucu and finish of an incredible day and send the fans home happy.

Today's game was the teams best performance from the days of the Super Lig when Ankaragucu were beating the likes of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. Much credit has to go to Ilhan Parlak and İsmail Kartal who have both been under a lot of pressure and criticism.

Next up is the Cup on Thursday as the team travel to Afyon Afjetspor before a home match against Samsunspor next Sunday.

Rizespor 1-4 Ankaragucu highlights

Still no wins for Genclerbirligi

Genclerbirligi seemed to have played fairly well... but in the end we couldn't convert some good chances.

Goztepe 3 - 2 Genclerbirligi

Just a few questionable referee decisions which favoured Goztepe... the first two goals were scored from offside positions, the third was scored after the ball had gone out.

We just don't look good enough. The players fought all the way to the end but the quality just isn't there. We sold off so many of our good players last year. There are just a few players whose names I even recognise... Oh boy...

That's about it for me. Five matches and just one point... Life is looking very tough.

EDIT: It also appears that we put the ball into the back of the net twice more but the linesman incorrectly ruled offside. Oh dear.

Ankaragucu vs Caykur Rizespor match preview!

Winless Ankaragucu travel to leaders Caykur Rizespor this weekend looking to cause an upset and finally get their season up and running. A dismal start to the season for Ankaragucu with 2 draws and 2 defeats is in complete contrast to Rizespor who have won all 4 of their matches.

İsmail Kartal will have a full squad of players to chose from apart from Tonia Tisdell who is injured and won't feature until January and Lanre Kehinde is serving a 3 match suspension. Kibong Mbamba hasn't been registered by the club and is now unable to play until at least January.

Ankaragucu provided the fans with another turgid and sluggish match last weekend in the 2-1 defeat at home against Balikesirspor. Having lead through a debut goal from Umut Nayir, Ankaragucu conceded to awful goals late in the match much to the anger of the fans.

Having watched most of the Lig 1 games this season, It has become apparent that teams such as Rizespor, Elazigspor and Gazisehir will do well due to the pace they have in the team. This is an area where Ankaragucu severely lack as İsmail has esembeled a team full of slow players. Losing Tonia Tisdell is a huge blow to the clubs plans.

On a more positive note, their is plenty of talent in the squad to challenge for the playoffs. Anton Putsila, Umut Nayir, Doka Madureira, Abdulkadir Kayali, Kenan Özer are all quality players who just need to find match sharpness and the team will flourish.

If Ankaragucu are to get anything from the match then İsmail Kartal needs to drop Yusuf Abdioglu and Ilhan Parlak to the bench. Both players have had awful starts to the season and a spell on the bench is what is needed. Alihan Kubalas and Cheikhou Dieng would be better options in the starting line up and Mehmet Sak should also take his place back in the team at left back.

Rizespor are the team to beat and have arguably the best forward line in the league with Leonard Kweuke and Braian Samudio forming a formidable partnership. It was surprising that Rizespor managed to keep hold of Kweuke with interest from Super Lig sides. The Cameroonian is a big physical presence who works hard and has a good goal scoring record. Samudio on the other hand is a technically gifted South American who has an excellent range of passing and is very quick. I would be surprised if the Paraguayan doesn't win a big move in the next 12 months.

Other notable players for Rizespor are Recep Niyaz, former Ankaragucu trio Ozgur Cek, Umit Kurt and Gokhan Akkan, and Brazilian U20 international Lincoln.

Hikmet Karaman the former Ankaragucu manager is in charge of Rizespor and last week claimed that Ankaragucu owe him a substantial sum of money from his time at the club. Reports suggest he has reported Ankaragucu to the TFF.

Will Ankaragucu finally turn up this weekend and give the fans something to cheer about or will it be the same old rubbish?

Ankaragucu have also been drawn away in the cup against Afyon Afjetspor and the match will take place next Thursday afternoon live on channel A Spor.

Could've been worse. I guess

Thanks to Sir Eski having hassles logging in to the blog I managed to miss the match. Well, that's my excuse, basically I forget about the time. Which all goes to show just how enthusiastic I am about this season.

Trabzonspor 3 - 1 Genclerbirligi

We scored early and played well for the first half and then in the second Trabzon came out all guns blazing. Er... that's it.

One good thing yesterday was that Osmanlispor lost as well which means we are coming second last, on goal average.

The way we are going makes me very glad they only sold half-season tickets for us this year.

Gençlerbirliği'ni Trabzonspor deplasmanında yalnız bırakmayan 1'i var! pic.twitter.com/3E7SvCSdRw

— beIN SPORTS Türkiye (@beINSPORTS_TR) September 10, 2017

DOOM AND GLOOM IN SUNNY ANKARA !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

After our pre-match ‘refreshments’, we entered the Stadium full of cheer and optimism on a
beautiful cloudless day with the temperature in the high 20sC. However, that’s the last of the
good news !! We left the Stadium 2 hours later dragging our feet and with long faces ! We
only started to smile again during our post-match ‘refreshments’ in the Yeni Sedir Pub when
Basaksehirspor beat the hated Fenerbahce yesssssssss !!!

ANKARAGUCU 1 Balikesirspor 2

Rewind ................ The day didn’t start well when Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I
couldn’t get tickets for Maraton to join Maniac Kanka Harun and Kaleci Kanka Tansu. The
problem arose when it was announced in early Summer that Ankaragucu would play all their
matches this season in the effin Yenikent Stadium (home of the hated Osmanlispor) because it
had been decided to knock down the 19 Mayis Stadium and build a new Stadium in its place.

However, that decision was rescinded and a stay of execution given for 6 months, but not
before we had bought season tickets for Sag Kapali at Yenikent. So, today we tried to buy
Maraton tickets with our Passolig cards but the Stadium computer system wouldn’t accept it,
therefore we had to go to Sag Kapali in the 19 Mayis Stadium. Posh Kanka Ahmet, Damon
and I in Sag Kapali, with Harun and Tansu in Maraton !

C’est la vie living in an inflexible computer based society, especially this one controlled by
Passolig. Oz Kanka Chris has had many a rant over the years on the subject of Passolig in
this Blog and his experiences in respect of Genclerbirligi matches when it was first introduced
so I will not elaborate !!!

Anyway, as I was saying ................ we entered the Stadium but the Passolig nonsense has
obviously affected Ankaragucu in addition to most of the Clubs in the league. The Stadium
was only about a quarter full and surprisingly there were about 200 in the away end.

The first half was a bore quite honestly with Balikesir threatening only once in the 6 th minute
when a shot went narrowly past the post.

4 minutes later Ankaragucu was unlucky when a shot from outside the box hit the crossbar
with the goalkeeper beaten. There was nobody there to pick-up the pieces and the ball was
cleared.

On the half hour mark an Ankaragucu goalbound shot was blocked and just before the half
time whistle there was a strong claim for a penalty from Ankaragucu for handball in the box,
but the referee decided on a corner.

So, a fairly even first half with both teams failing in the final quarter. Man of the Match,
Erdem, was a constant threat down the right with his attacking runs, but unfortunately he
didn’t have much help from his team-mates !

The 2 nd half was only 5 minutes old when there was a disputed free kick awarded to Balikesir
below us on the right. Some heated words were directed towards the referee and he banished
the Ankaragucu Assistant Coach from the Technical Area to the Stand.

3 minutes later we were smiling and cheering. An Ankaragucu corner on the right was well
taken and flighted and Umut rose above everyone else to bullet a header in for a classic
strikers goal.

Was this the beginning of a goal spree ? No !!!! It didn’t materialise much to our
annoyance !

Then on the 70 th minute Balikesir received a piece of luck when an Ankaragucu clearance was
deflected into the path of a Balikesir attacker who probably couldn’t believe his luck. Thank
you very much says he and off he goes with a one-on- one with Korcan who had no chance.

Ankaragucu still pressed forward but from a free kick and a corner chances were spurned with
headers flying over the bar. We were muttering about yet another draw when disaster struck.

4 minutes from the final whistle and a piece of brilliance from a Balikesir defender.
Receiving the ball in his own half on the right, he looked up and spotted an unmarked
colleague way out on the left wing. His perfectly flighted ball was collected and off he
scampered down the wing, looked up and crossed perfectly for another colleague who’s
goalbound shot hit the post. The rebound fell conveniently for another attacker who had the
easiest of tasks to slot the ball in for the winner !

Where was the Ankaragucu defence you might ask ??? The word Ankaragucu capitulation
springs to mind Aaaaaargh !!!

Apart from Erdem, Umut and Abdulkadir, the team have to look at themselves and ask what
they were playing at yesterday. There was no urgency in midfield to get the ball into the
danger zone. Too often the midfield ran out of ideas and played pass-the- ball between
themselves and Korcan.

This is now the responsibility of The Coach who is now 4 games in without a win. In the
dying minutes of the match all the tribunes were calling for his head. However, I still
believe he needs time to gel this team together and make them an attacking force. The
potential is there, but we haven’t seen it .............. yet !!!

Next weekend will be a real test of his tactics when they travel to top of the league Rizespor.
Optimism will not be on the menu for the kankas me thinks !!!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu vs Balikesirspor match preview!

Ankaragucu return to action after the International break with a home tie against Balikesirspor at the 19 Mayis Stadium in Ankara. The team will be looking for their first win of the season and have much work to do after their disappointing performance at Elazigspor.

Ismail Kartal has 6 new players to chose from with Lukasz Szukala, Tonia Tisdell, Umut Nayir and Santiago Mele all signing from Osmanlispor, while Abdulkadir Kayali signed from Gaziantepspor and returns to the club he started his career with. Doka Mudureira also signs from Basaksehir.

There are no excuses for the manager or team anymore as the club have been backed financially whether we like it or not from Gokcek and some Ankara businessmen. The team on paper is equipped to challenge for the title and minimum target should be the playoffs.

The worrying thing for Ankaragucu fans is if Ismail Kartal is the right man for the job. He needs to be given time and he has all the tools to help him have a succesfull season, but the worry is that some of the players he brought in at the start of the season such as Alaaddin Okumus and Sercan Kaya have already been let go, while he has broke up the whole winning squad from last season.

You can look at it both ways, its either going to be a success or disaster. The club have spent a lot of money this season on building a whole new squad. If we win promotion to the Super Lig it will bring in more revenue and will have been all worth it. The worry is that the club dont win promotion and end up in more financial debt which again will put the clubs future in doubt.

The club have also announced today that they have released Ferhat Culcuoglu who was instrumental in the club winning the league last season. His hard work in midfield and leadership will be missed and we would like to wish him all the best in his future.

Balikesirspor have started the season with a with a draw, loss and win and will be no pushovers in Ankara tomorrow. They have also strengthened their squad over the transfer window adding Ismail Assati, Steve Belek and Mahtma Osumanu. I watched their match with Erzerumspor who beat them 4-3 in week 2 and their defence is an area of weakness that Ankaragucu can exploit.

The pace of Tonia Tisdell and the attacking options in Doka, Umut, Putsila, Doka, Ilhan give Ismail Kartal a nice headache at the weekend as he decides who to go with in the starting line up. Hopefully we will see Tonia and Umut in the starting line up as they will both be key players this season.

The Kanka group will be attending the match in the usual place, anyone wanting to join them contact Jim for full details.

Umut Nayir returns home to Ankaragucu!

Ankaragucu tonight completed the signing of their top target during the transfer window after months of negotiations to bring Umut Nayir back to the club. He will also be joined by Tonia Tisdell who also had a previous spell with the club and both have agreed 1 year loan deals.

Umut is a huge coup for the club and was a key player in helping Goztepe to promotion last season scoring 18 goals in all competitions. There was interest from Super Lig clubs but Umut is studying in Ankara and wanted to stay close by so not to effect his education.

The 24 year old started his career with Ankaragucu and became a key player for the club during the Dirilis season where he formed an excellent partnership with Levent Kale helping the club to the playoffs. Osmanlispor moved to sign the big forward and have loaned him out to Yeni Malatyaspor and Goztepe over the last couple of seasons.

He will be joined by Tonia Tisdell and Uruguay U21 International Goalkeeper Santiago Mele in the next couple of days who also join on loan from Osmanlispor.

Two players moving in the opposite direction are Sercan Kaya and Alaaddin Okumus who have both left the club having only joined in the summer. İsmail Kartal tonight said the club will sign 2 more players before the transfer window shuts on Friday night.

Darius Vassell on his time in Turkey and at Ankaragucu!

The Guardian today printed an extract from former Ankaragucu star Darius Vassell's new book "The Road to Persia" which has just recently gone on sale.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/sep/03/darius-vassell-goat-sacrificed-book-ankaragucu?CMP=share_btn_tw

I didn’t want to become a journeyman footballer. Aston Villa was the only club I’d ever wanted to play for and I’d grown to love Manchester City, but I just didn’t want to go through all of that again in England; I wanted something new, something completely different. I knew that there was nothing right for me in England and I told my agent that a move abroad was the only option. I was capable of living abroad, learning a new language and adapting to a new culture, so I felt like it was a great opportunity. I had been learning French and I wanted to play there, but we just weren’t able to find the right club. My agent came to me with the option of joining a club in Turkey. He said that a Super Lig club called Ankaraspor were interested in me. I asked if he was sure it was them and he corrected himself and said it was actually Ankaragucu who wanted me. They were even more obscure! ‘I had my whole body tested, my eyes, even my hair was inspected.’ FacebookTwitterPinterest ‘I had my whole body tested, my eyes, even my hair was inspected.’ Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Their club website didn’t seem to be official and I felt I must have been looking at the wrong page, but no matter how much I searched for something else, it was their site all right. I got my head around everything and decided it was worth flying out to meet them and take a look. I travelled on 1 July, 2009, but I simply wasn’t ready for the welcome I received at Ankara Esenboga Airport. There were thousands of supporters there to greet me, with flags, shirts and they made such a noise; I was totally taken aback, I’d never experienced anything like this before. There were people holding up welcome banners, flares were set off and every television camera available seemed to be pointed at me. I must have looked like a rabbit in headlights when I walked out of the airport doors and into the madness. People were bouncing up and down, chanting: “Dar-ee-us Varr-sell, Dar-ee-us Varr-sell, Olé, Olé, Olé!” As I made my way through the crowds, I was given a club scarf to wear and then another couple of scarves and a shirt was draped over me. A young woman handed me a blue and yellow bouquet of flowers, the club’s colours, and it soon became a real scrum to get to the waiting cars, with people pushing their way through to get close to me. It was the kind of reception you would have expected for a world leader, someone like Nelson Mandela, or a rock star, not an English footballer visiting a Turkish football club. We eventually made it to the sanctuary of our cars, although many fans then jumped into their cars and followed us out of the airport. I said to the agents this unbelievable reaction seemed very strange to me. I reminded my agent that I wasn’t signing, I was just there to look at the club. My agent and I had an honest conversation and we both spoke along the same lines about trying to make this work. I returned to Ankara to sign the agreement on 21 July and then there was the most thorough of medical tests I’ve ever been through. I had my whole body tested, my eyes, even my hair was inspected. I knew my signing was big for them, but it really hit home at this point how serious this was for them. Put it this way, I felt like I was in a film being prepped to go to space. The Recap: sign up for the best of the Guardian's sport coverage Read more This was a chance for a fresh start for me and a chance to grow up again. Unfortunately, there was no real time to settle. I had to fly to Austria for the club’s pre-season training camp. At my first dinner with my new team-mates, I was immediately made to feel comfortable by Barbaros, a midfielder who could speak English and had come through the ranks at Bayern Munich. I noticed that no one could eat until the captain arrived, and no one could leave the table until the captain said so. There was huge importance placed on respect and I loved that. I shook everyone’s hand and I was nervous of the reaction I would receive. We went to sleep and the next day was the first training session for me. That day, after dinner in the evening we all went to a little bar at the camp with some music on. Our coach, Hikmet Karaman, was there with us, too. Obviously there was no alcohol given the culture and religions, but everyone was up dancing to Turkish music and then suddenly I can hear the group clapping together to the beat of the music, and one by one people are going into the middle and dancing. I could see it coming round to me, exactly the kind of attention that I didn’t want. I was dreading it. Shit, shit, shit! I just took a deep breath and jumped in, danced and suddenly they all welcomed me and were patting me on the back. I was one of them now. Hikmet was quite a thinker and I felt as if he’d set this up as a small test and was watching for my reaction. He needed me to show I was comfortable as there was pressure on him as he was responsible for bringing me to the club. I hated that feeling of having eyes on me, but it was something I’d had to get used to over the years. Hikmet got that awkwardness out of the way in the space of a few minutes and I thank him here for that. Darius Vassel in action against Aydin Toscali of Kayserispor. FacebookTwitterPinterest Darius Vassell in action against Aydin Toscali of Kayserispor. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images The next day the trainer had given me a bike to ride, but it had brakes on the opposite sides. I didn’t release until I was forced to emergency brake going downhill on a mountain; I went flying over the handlebars and into the bushes. The trainer was mortified. He had a look like ‘how am I going to explain this?’ It was just the two of us sent to do some light fitness work in the mountains, while the rest of the team trained at the stadium. He certainly didn’t want to be the man responsible for my absence through injury after the almighty effort it had taken to get me signed, and I hadn’t even kicked a ball yet. Luckily, I was fine. I brushed the bushes out of my hair and carried on with a lot of caution. In the meantime, we started to sense an ongoing vibe around the club, something was happening behind the scenes. Schedules would change last minute and staff members and players started to appear aggravated. There were electricity cuts, players leaving suddenly with no explanations and stories of supporter group unrest. The toilet in the dressing rooms was just a hole in the ground, and I was concerned that I might fall in For example, on one occasion early in my time there, I was told that after we had finished training, the bus would drop me into town and I would be picked up by a driver to take me home, but no driver came and I rang Volkan Demir and he confirmed no one was scheduled to pick me up. Staff had gone home by then and the team bus had already left and I was stranded, sweating, with nothing but my boots slung over my shoulder and my mobile phone in my bag. The training facility was locked up so I was outside in the middle of town totally alone but fully kitted out. I contacted my agent and explained what was going on and that nothing had been organised contract-wise yet. I was supposed to have a driver “at all times” and they said I would always have someone with me until I knew my way around. I was quite agitated, tired from training too and I was taking it out on my agent I guess. He got back to me and was clearly frustrated as he remembered that the club assured us what wouldn’t happen just as much as what would. My agent said that I should expect teething problems and he couldn’t do much given that he was in the UK at the time. I was so angry by now and that was my last interaction with my agent. It was clear my agent could do nothing, if he could then I’m sure that he would have already. I was months into my contract and they hadn’t yet arranged a thing. The fact we spent hours negotiating seemed to hold no importance. My agent emailed me many months later to apologise for how things ended up in Turkey, but I had no response. I was still trying to work through it all at the time. After that initial response from my agent I knew I was on my own in Ankara. I made my debut for the club on 8 August as a substitute against Diyarbakirspor in a 2-2 away draw. I can’t remember much from the game, but I can remember a lot from the place and the atmosphere. Barbaros had warned me that Diyarbakir was a very different place. It is on the south-east side of the country towards Syria and Iraq. It was culturally far removed from Ankara, with the city and stadium both very old too. I had a stomach ache all that day and let’s just say that when I needed to go to the toilet in the dressing rooms it was just a hole in the ground, and I was concerned that I might fall in. There was no flush or anything. It was another world, but one I had to get used to. The last thing I wanted to do was to complain about Turkey as this was now my home. On a previous visit, the Ankaragucu players were warned by locals at their hotel door that there would be trouble if they won; they had even had bottles of piss thrown at them when they’d come out on to the pitch, but Barbaros had just told me to ignore any intimidation. I was a little nervous and wary of it all, to say the least. Darius Vassell celebrates scoring against Manisaspor. FacebookTwitterPinterest Darius Vassell celebrates scoring against Manisaspor. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images If I thought that was different, it was nothing compared to a home game later in the season. We travelled to the ground on the team coach and stopped outside our stadium for a goat to be sacrificed before the game. It was just the staff and players around. I felt like the goat looked at me just before and as I’d said at the time, via my blog, it was the point in time when I realised that I was most definitely an animal lover. I know I’m being dramatic but I’ve seen a lot from the seat of a coach during the years but this was certainly new. Some players then smeared the blood on their boots and head for good luck. I didn’t want to disrespect them at all, as it was part of their culture so I just watched. I wasn’t asked to join in but the players made sure I was OK after, which was very respectful and not needed. They had no idea my family back home in Jamaica would find this quite normal too. I changed iPod album from Tupac to Bob Marley, and got myself ready. My second game for the club, and my home debut, was against Manisaspor a week later, where I managed to grab a last-minute equaliser to seal a 1-1 draw. I’d realised by this stage that we were a decent side, but not good enough to be in the top six, so every game was going to be difficult. A week later and I was at it again, scoring my second goal for the club in a 2-2 home draw against Istanbul Basaksehir. That was three draws in three games and I’d scored twice. Barbaros was telling everyone who would listen that I was going to be the top scorer and there was a real buzz in the dressing room about the impact I’d had, not just by scoring but by work rate also. I was labelled the “Black Bull” by supporter groups and my confidence was sky high. Despite that, we didn’t win our first game until 26th September, 3-1 away at Gaziantepspor, so we were nearly two months without that win. That month, Volkan was sacked from his role at the club, which was one of many warning signs that things weren’t right at Ankaragucu. Hikmet was under huge pressure from the club to finish in the top eight and the less-than-impressive start didn’t help with the mood, so he knew he wouldn’t last the season with the uncertainty above him and changes at ownership and management level off the field. He was sacked on 12 November. I was staying at the Crowne Plaza at the time and just a day after Hikmet was fired I was sat in my room, when I received a call from the hotel manager. He was a nice guy and he had looked after me well during my stay, always trying to help if I needed anything. The tone of this call was different though. He spoke English well and was suddenly very blunt and explained that I had to leave the hotel by the end of the day. It was around 7pm, and he informed me that he’d met with the club and said that I needed to speak to them about the situation. I was thinking, “surely the club should come to me and tell me what’s going on? I mean, it’s the evening and I’m being kicked out of my hotel.” It just didn’t make any sense. I should have been given some notice or something. I didn’t know who to ring at the club as there were new people in charge and I didn’t feel comfortable with it all, so I rang the team secretary, Osman, who had heard about it already. He told me not to worry and said he would come to the hotel and speak with me. When he arrived, he turned to me and said, “It’s starting now,” a reference to everything he had been telling me over the previous weeks about changes in management and the structure of the club. He felt that they were trying to create an issue for me and portray me in a bad light. I loved my off the field time in the country and the people were fantastic to me They needed the hardcore supporters on their side not mine. Representatives of the club’s new regime were apparently spreading rumours about me having an active nightlife, with people in my room and wild late-night parties. My problem with this is that the hotel was the best judge of this surely? The new regime had also tried to influence Hikmet in this way. He knew it was rubbish. All this just to get rid of me? Osman turned to me and said to let me make a call. I was packing frantically and getting everything together. He was trying to find another hotel for me to stay in, and he knew someone at the Rixos Grand Hotel in Ankara. I managed to haul all my possessions down to the lobby, where I was greeted by reporters and photographers. I thought to myself, “how do they know I’m being evicted already?” Someone had leaked this story to them. It got to the stage where if we didn’t win, score or draw a game, the staff wouldn’t get anything and it felt good to be a part of rectifying that. It kept the team closer through times like when our team bus got repossessed or whenever the power was cut. At meal times before and after training the staff would fill our dinner plates. I was growing closer to my team in the background of everything and slowly our frustrations would be shared and their English response was, “this is Ankaragucu, it’s normal.” We all laughed together. They really were so humble. The next thing I knew we had a new manager, Roger Lemerre, who had won Euro 2000 with France, and we were signing the likes of Geremi, who had played for Real Madrid and Chelsea, and Jérôme Rothen who came in on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. Robert Vittek, an international striker from Slovakia, was promptly signed too. I scored my final goal for the club away to Gençlerbirligi in a 1-0 win on 28th February 2010. It was such a release for me. I was in bits and all my emotions came out. I had to fight back the tears, and it took me five minutes or so to compose myself. It may have seemed strange for me to cry after something so joyous as scoring, but scoring was what I wanted to do every week for them. All of those meetings at the notary that took hours to process, all the missed payments, the travelling back and forth from England, the sackings and sad faces, the accusations, the disappointments and above all the loneliness; it all came out and the tears streamed down my face. I can picture this day like it was yesterday, and it was so symbolic of a lot of my time in Ankara. Football shouldn’t feel like this. I really didn’t like it. A warm welcome for Darius Vassell at Ankaragucu FacebookTwitterPinterest Darius Vassell arrives at Ankaragucu. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images My last appearance for the club was in the final home game of the season, a 3-0 defeat to Fenerbahce on 9 May. Looking back on the season, there were some very talented players in Turkey, such as Harry Kewell, Milan Baros, Elano and Roberto Carlos, so the standard was good. There were some amazing Turkish players such as Alper Potuk, Canir Erkin, Arda Turan, Emre and our very own Ceyhun Eris and I felt like I could do well in Turkish football. I loved my off-the-field time in the country though, experiencing the great food, like mouth-watering kebabs and lovely fresh fish and wine, and the people were fantastic to me. I had to leave the money on the table to pay, as they didn’t want to take it. They couldn’t have been more welcoming. I often spent meal times with supporters or my lawyer Cem Papila, Volkan or Osman. It was great to see the look on supporters’ faces when we arranged to meet up and enjoy the fine food Ankara had to offer. Darius Vassell: the blogging footballer Read more I had Turkish cutthroat shaves, that rivalled those of my English barbers, George and Theo. I received gifts from supporters, got to know hotel staff by their first name, learned a little about Ataturk and slowly started to familiarise myself with roads and shortcuts to some tranquil places to dine out. Even when I returned to Ankara in 2015, people stopped me in the street and would recognise me, shake my hand and make me feel like I was returning home. Who knows, if things had worked out differently, perhaps I would have stayed there? The Road to Persia, by Darius Vassell, written with co-author Dean Eldredge, was self-published by Darius’s company Inama Enterprise Ltd andis available to purchase here priced at £15 plus p&p

Ankaragucu complete signing of Doka Madureira!

Ankaragucu have completed this signing of Basaksehir playmaker Doka Madureira until the end of the season. The Brazilian is a big coup for the club having being a key player for Basaksehir up until last season.

Doka spent 6 years in Istanbul and surprised many by staying with Basaksehir when they were relegated 3 years ago to the PTT Lig. He played a big part in their promotion to the Super Lig and Ankaragucu fans will be hoping he can recapture that form.

The transfer deadline day is on the 8th September and Ankaragucu are hoping to add another couple of players between now and then.