In the ten years of following Ankaragücü I’ve always said there is no truer statement to describe the club than, trouble is just around the corner. Just over a month ago after a stunning win at Fenerbahce and home wins against Yeni Malatyaspor and Kayserispor we were all dreaming of Europe. Now after another defeat at the weekend and now managerless, the future of Ankaragücü is again uncertain and worrying.
Team - Altay, Erdem, Yalcin, Kone, Mehmet, Sedat, Putsila, Faty, Ilhan, Bifouma, El Kabir
Subs - Korcan, Kaan, Alihan, Heurtaux, Erdem Sen, Mokhtar, Cerci, Mahmut, Kubilay, Kehinde
If you are Alessio Cerci or Youness Mokhtar you should be taking a long hard look at yourself and wonder why the likes of Anton Putsila and Ilhan Parlak are playing ahead of you in the team. With Ankaragücü already without Moulin, Djedje, Thiago, Kenan and Erdem having to go off with Yalcin injured, we should be able to rely on these two players. The talent isn’t in question but like previous clubs have found the attitudes of Mokhtar and Cerci are being questioned.
As soon as the team was announced I didn’t hold out much hope for Ankaragücü. Too many players missing, and then both Cerci and Mokhtar on the bench leaves you short of quality in the staring line up. Sadly I wasn’t wrong and Sivasspor took advantage with a thumping 4-0 win.
Ankaragücü looked to be heading for half time all level but for a 2 minute spell of sheer madness from the defence. Firstly Robinho scored from the penalty spot after a poor challenge from Alihan in the box. A minute later a poor kick out from Altay and a mistake from Kone gifted Muhammet Demir a chance which he converted to make it 2-0.
The second half didn’t get any better and goals from the brilliant Emre Kilinc and Robinho sealed a 4-0 victory for Sivasspor.
The drama didn’t end there, after the match İsmail Kartal revealed that he was struggling to motivate the players as they hadn’t been paid in 6 months. He then challenged the management to find the money or resign. An hour later Ankaragücü announced on the official website that they had sacked İsmail Kartal.
Mehmet Yiginer tonight said that they had a meeting earlier this week with the technical team and that Ankaragücü team was bottom of the league in distance covered, possession percentage and had only scored 1 goal in 4 games. That coupled with the result against Bodrumspor.
Some Ankaragücü fans have called for the resignation of the management team as they sympathise with the difficult job İsmail Kartal has if players aren’t being paid.
The next couple of days will be interesting to see who Ankaragücü appoint and the January transfer window will also be interesting as the club are now in a relegations dog fight.
Thank you Nady for your opinion. I think the same than you but we all worried about the team and also for next match against Goztepe. I hope everything will be okey for us in the future.
ReplyDeleteOoooofffyaaaa ! Is there ever going to be a season when a spanner isn't going to be thrown into the works to distract everyone from footie and trying to WIN ??!!
ReplyDeleteThis Blog is a history record of the trials and tribulations we've had to endure, so ....... here we go again and it's not even half way through the season !
I'm unsure how this is going to pan out, eg, how many football Coaches will want to accept the poison chalice. Who's telling the truth here ? Ismail Bey or The Management ? As Nadeem says ....... we must wait until the fog clears before we learn the true facts, and then what's to be done to tackle the 2nd half of the season, already an uphill task !!!
As for last Saturday, Kaleci Kanka Tansu and I were watching the match together and we could easily have had a game-changer around the 20th minute mark when Faty's goalbound shot was brilliantly saved by the Sivas goalie. After that it was all about Altay again keeping the score down and the defence trying to deal with damage limitation !
However, no respite ! The return leg of the Turkish Cup match beckons tomorrow against Bodrumspor with Ankaragucu trailing 2-4 from the first leg. This is a useful team who will be determined to protect their 2 goals cushion and take another Super League Team scalp. Only a convincing win by the Ankaragucu players will prevent trouble flaring in Ankara tomorrow !!!
I think I'm right in saying that it will be in The Ostim Stadium (if you could call it that !!!) and KO is around 1.30pm.
C'mon Ankaragucu, givuzzz something to cheer pleeeeezzzz !!!