Thursday, January 31, 2019

The reinforcements continue!



Another busy day for Ankaragucu as the club have completed the signings of 2 more players, with at least 1 more expected before tonight's deadline.

Jamaican International striker Dever Orgill has signed a 1.5 year deal from Austrian side Wolfsburger and stated that his decision was made due to the atmosphere created by the Ankaragucu fans. The forward is highly rated by his former club and is an all action type player who gives 100 percent every time he is on the pitch.

Joining him is Argentinian midfielder Miguel Canteros who has singed on loan until the end of the season. The former Velez Sarsfield player has been recently playing in Brazil and is looking forward to the next chapter in his career.

On the way out of the club is Kenan Ozer who has signed for Gazisehir and Erdem Ozgenc who signed for Genclerbirligh. Both will be missed after a fantastic couple of seasons where both players gave everything for the club and were key to getting Ankaragucu back in the Super Lig.

Moestepha El Kabir has also left the club after agreeing a 350K move to Qatarai Side Al Rayyan.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

The Greek checks in!



Ankaragucu have completed the loan signing of Stelios Kitsiou from PAOK until the end of the season. The former team mate of Thibault Moulin was paraded this afternoon and will compete with Erdem Ozgenc for the right back position.

The 25 year old has spent the majority of his career at PAOK and a loan spell in Belgium with Sint Trudiense and has also been capped twice by the Greek national team.

Duo depart!




With all incoming players, it was inevitable that there would be a couple of players moving in the other direction. Sadly one of the key players during the double promotion campaign for the club Kenan Ozer is on his way out as he looks set to sign with Gazisehir. Kenan played a huge part in the Lig 2 campaign coming up with numerous key moments including his equalizer in the match with Tuzlaspor. We would like to wish him all the best with his new club!

Also on the move is Kubily Kanatsizkus who after an unsuccessful loan spell and only 1 goal moves back to Bursaspor.

Ankaragucu complete another double swoop!



Ankaragucu have now signed 4 new players in the last 2 days as Tyler Boyd and Ante Kulusic both completed their moves this afternoon. Their could yet be more signings in the next couple of hours as the club are working tirelessly behind the scenes ahead of tomorrows transfer deadline.

Boyd arrives from Portuguese Premier league side Vitoria Guimaraes on loan until the end of the season. He has found it difficult to break into the first team at Guimaraes on a regular basis and has most recently had a loan spell at Tondela where he impressed. The 24 year old is a winger who has been capped at international and our very own Miguel will hopefully add some more information in the comments section.




Also making the move to the club is former Genclerbirligi fans favorite Ante Kulusic. The 32 year old Croatian centre half has signed a 1.5 year deal on a free from FC Sheriff in Moldova. Kulusic spent 6 years at Gencler over 2 spells at the club and hopefully some of the resident Gencler fans can give us a run down on what to expect.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Ankaragucu complete double swoop!



Ankaragucu this afternoon announced that they have lifted the transfer ban after paying outstanding debts. The club were quick to make their move in the transfer market with the signings of Michal Pazdan and Hadi Sacko.

Sacko is a 24 year old winger who has signed on loan from Leeds until the end of the season. He had an successful spell at Las Palmas in Spain and will be looking to kick start his career in the Turkish Capital. His main attributes are his power and pace and has been likened to Thievy Bifouma.

Pazdan is a Polish International and Legia Warsaw fans favorite. He hasnt featured of late for the club but is described as a tough tackling, hard working centre half who is very aggressive. The 31 year old has signed a 1.5 year deal with the club.





Monday, January 28, 2019

Ankaragücü 0-2 Alanyaspor match report!



There was sadly no part at the opening of the Eryaman Stadium as Ankaragücü were beaten 2-0 by Alanyaspor despite a spirited display. The long awaited opening of Eryaman was well worth the wait though as the Ankaragücü fans created a fantastic atmosphere and there is no doubting this will be a tough arena for any visiting team once Ankaragücü have a team capable of competing at Super Lig level.

Team - Altay, Erdem, Yalcin, Alihan, Mehmet, Faty, Djedje, Sedat, Moulin, Kenan, Ilhan
Subs - Korcan, Furkan, Ender, Mahmut, Kaan, Mert, Alessio, Altinkaya, Kubily, Nduka

A good crowd turned up for the first ever match at Eryaman with all stands apart from the Alanya end sold out. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for the feel good factor to disappear as Alanyaspor took the lead after only 6 minutes. The referee awarded a harsh penalty after consulting with VAR for a handball by Erdem. Djalma Campos stepped up and blasted the ball past the helpless Altay to make it 0-1.

Ankaragücü fought for every ball but just lacked quality to get themselves back into the game. They went close through Ilhan Parlak whose headed effort was welll saved by Haydar Yilmaz.

Into the second half and Ricardo Faty went close as he burst into the box but his shot went just over from a tight angle.

Alanyaspor then killed the game off after 56 minutes. Efercan dispossesed Djedje in the middle of the park before playing a great ball through to Cisse who finished past Altay to make it 0-2. Chants of Yonetim Istifa rang around the stadium as the Ankaragücü fans made their feelings clear to Mehmet Yiginer.

Ankaragücü did have the ball in the net through Ilhan late on but it was ruled out after a foul by Yalcin Ayhan. So a disappointing result for Ankaragücü and it doesn’t get any easier as they travel to Trabzonspor at the weekend.

Their were also chants for Ismail Kartal by the fans at the end and in his post match interview Mustafa Kaplan said he would offer his resignation if it were to help Ankaragücü.

Mehmet Yiginer also confirmed the club have agreed deals with 7 new players who will sign once the transfer ban is lifted. Hadi Sacko the ex Leeds forward and Argentianin striker Hector Canteros are the first two believed to have completed their moves.

Friday, January 25, 2019

Ankaragücü vs Alanyaspor match preview!



The time has finally arrived, where Ankaragücü have a home and will open the Eryaman Stadium on Monday night against Alanyaspor in what will be the biggest game of the season for the team so far. Another week has went past with Ankaragücü facing more bad news as Alessio Cerci, Erdem Ozgenc, Thibault Moulin and Bakary Kone the latest players who could leave the club due to unpaid wages.

Mehmet Yiginer and his board have failed to remove the transfer ban which leaves Mustafa Kaplan and the Ankaragücü team with a near impossible task of staying in the Super Lig. Firstly you have unhappy players who haven’t been paid their wages and secondly the team doesn’t have enough quality to get the results needed.

Moestepha El Kabir hasn’t trained with the team and looks like he won’t play. Whatever his differences with Mehmet Yiginer I think it’s unprofessional to refuse to play or train with your team if the reports are indeed true. I have spoken with El Kabir and all he will say is that the truth will come out. I don’t know why he wouldn’t just tell the truth just now and defend himself instead he is alienating himself from the team and the fans.

Hopefully the new stadium will give the team and fans a much needed lift and can help with a positive outcome. Anything other than 3 points is unthinkable for Ankaragücü.

The last time the two sides met, Ankaragücü won 2-0 in Alanya thanks to goals from Ilhan Parlak and Thiago Pinto. A lot has changed since then with Ankaragücü losing their manager and some of their players who terminated their contracts. 

Alanyaspor have some dangerous players in attack such as former Newcastle striker Pappis Cisse and Junior Fernandes. They currently sit 1 point above Ankaragücü in the table and are also fighting for their survival in the Super Lig.

Unlike Ankaragücü, the visitors have been able to strengthen their squad in January with the signings of Fenerbahce midfielder Ozan Tufan and former England International Steven Caulker. 

After last weeks disastrous 6-0 defeat at Galatasaray, Ankaragücü will be looking to give the fans something to cheer about and bring a bit of pride back to the club. I met with Jim tonight in Glasgow and none of us are optimistic but we will be both as usual tuning into the game with the hope Ankaragücü can pull off an upset in our nice new stadium.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Galatasaray 6-0 Ankaragucu

This weeks match report will be met with the same level of commitment, passion and enthusiasm shown by the Ankaragucu team today......

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Galatasaray vs Ankaragucu match preview!



The Turkish Super Lig returns this weekend and will be met with great anticipation by most Super Lig fans apart from Ankaragucu. They face champions Galatasaray in Istanbul and go into the match after a turbulent couple of weeks where Bayram Bektas resigned and a host of players terminated their contract with the club due to unpaid wages.

Bayram Bektas took control of only 1 Ankaragucu match before resigning last week. He was promised that the transfer ban would be lifted allowing him to bring in new players. Unfortunately Mehmet Yiginer has been unable to lift the ban which leaves Ankaragucu in a vulnerable position as they dont have the squad capable of avoiding relegation. If they dont find a way of lifting the transfer ban, its almost certain Ankaragucu will be relegated to Lig 1.

Lanre Kehinde has moved onto Denizlispor, Anton Putsila to Altay and Erdem Sen has signed for Chaves in Portugal. Youness Mokhtar and Johannes Hopf have terminated their contracts while El Kabir and a host of other players remain unsettled due to the current situation.

Mehmet Yiginer claimed yesterday that the foreign players have now been paid with the exception of 1 or 2 who will be paid in the coming days. They will then look at paying the Turkish players. Choosing to pay foreign players first over Native players will do no favours for team harmony and new coach Mustafa Kaplan has a massive job on his hands.

Mustafa Kaplan is now back for his 3rd spell as Ankaragucu manager. His previous two spells ended in relegation from Lig 1 which to be fair to him was a tough task as he only had youth players to call upon. His 2nd spell was unsuccessful in Lig 2 where he was sacked by Mehmet Yiginer. He was brought back to the club last week as Director of Football but immediately offered the position to replace Bayram Bektas when he resigned.

Mehmet Yiginer stated they have full trust in Mustafa Kaplan which is very odd when he has sacked him previously and let him walk away without offering a contract on the other occasion.

Ankaragucu also have a host of injury problems with the likes of Erdem Ozgenc and Yalcin Ayhan struggling for fitness ahead of Saturdays game with Galatasaray. It leaves Mustafa Kaplan short of options and a massive task on his hands to come away with a positive outcome.

Galatasaray themselves are looking to get their season back on track as they sit 5th in the table. Its a must win match for them and they will be able to call upon new signings, former Ankaragucu player Emre Tasdemir and Marcao the Brazilian defender signed from Portuguese side Chaves.

The Istanbul sides main dangerman will be Henry Onyekuru and he will be the man Ankaragucu will need to pay most attention to. Unfortunately i cant see anything other than a Galatasaray win in this one and we can only hope the transfer ban is lifted in time for our next home match.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Bayram Bektas resigns!



In the last half hour Ankaragücü manager Bayram Bektas has resigned from the club after only 1 game in charge. The reasons given is due to the management failing to keep promises of lifting the transfer ban and failing to pay players wages.

Mustafa Kaplan who was installed as the clubs new Director of football last week will take control of the team in the meantime. The circus continues.

Ankaragücü news roundup!



Ankaragücü are heading towards dark days again unless Mehmet Yiginer or Murat Agcabag pull off a miracle and lift the transfer ban while paying the current players their owed wages.

Mehmet Yiginer and Murat Agcabag who was Vice President for the club are now fighting for control of the club with both making promises to take the club forward and resolve the current financial issues.

Just before the winter break İsmail Kartal was sacked and replaced with Bayram Bektas. Bayram was promised that the transfer ban would be lifted and he would be able to bring in new players. Unfortunately to date with only 2 weeks remaining that hasn’t happened and Yiginer has failed so far to lift the ban.

The Ankaragücü squad are in Antalya at the moment for their winter training camp and there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the futures of the current squad. So far, Lanre Kehinde has moved to Denizlispor, Anton Putsila to Altay, Erdem Sen back to Portugal while Youness Mokhtar and Johannes Hopf have terminated their contracts due to unpaid wages.

There are also reports that El Kabir is unhappy at the club due to failed promises to pay his salary and offer a new contract. Dja Djedje has been paid but the club could look to sell their prized asset in order to raise funds.

Thibault Moulin is also reportedly unhappy due to unpaid wages while Thievy Bifouma is a target for EPL side Brighton. 

The club also have Nduka Ozokwu, Cebrail Karayel and a couple of other players in trial which is worrying as they haven’t played football in 1-3 years. Ousmane Ndiaye, Ivo Pinto and Nicola, Aydin Karabulut and Nicola Lombaerts have all been linked with moves to the club if the transfer ban is lifted.

Mehmet Yiginer has done his job in helping Ankaragücü return to the Super Lig but if he can’t pay his players and lift the transfer ban it’s time to hand over the reigns to someone who will. Murat Agcabag has already been giving the green light bun Arif and Harun who I trust both their opinions.

Ankaragücü return to league action next weekend against Galatasaray and have not a hope in hell of getting anything from that game with all these distractions and players leaving while the rest unsettled.