GENCLERBIRLIGI HUMBLED IN ANKARA !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Gencler was unceremoniously kicked out the Turkish Cup yesterday by a 3^rd Division amateur team !!

GENCLERBIRLIGI         0               Erokspor            2

Erok scored in the 26 minute and added their 2^nd on the 54^th minute mark.

To be honest, I have never heard of this footie team before and had to ‘google it’ to find out where they originate from.   They are from the Kasimpasa district of Istan.....spit.....bul in the shadow of their Super League neighbours.

It is a humiliation for a Super League team to have an early exit from a Cup competition, especially at the hands of an amateur team.

However, it may well be a blessing in disguise for Gencler to allow them to focus on climbing out of the relegation zone in their present precarious position.

The Gencler supporters will now be looking for a positive reaction to yesterday’s result on Saturday against Konya.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu news update!

Firstly and most importantly, Fatih Mert is the new Ankaragücü president after being elected today at the clubs congress. In true Ankaragücü fashion, it didn’t go by without incidents as one of the clubs respected delegates Ali Ihsan Mutlu was attacked by Mehmet Yiginers men after he spoke out against the clubs financiers and asked for answers. Ali Imdat hat to intervene to stop Ali Ihsan being badly injured.

There then began rumours that Fatih Mert had to be persuaded by Murat Agcabag to continue with his bid to become president and when everything calmed down he was eventually elected. The move has been popular with the Ankaragücü support especially with Tamer Acar being his number 2 and both are seen as men who have the best interests of the club at heart.

Hopefully for all involved this is finally the time where Ankaragücü can move on, have everyone onside and start preparing for the January transfer window.

Ankaragücü lost 2-0 at Rizespor last weekend and now drop into the relegation zone, and were also knocked out of the Turkish Cup today after a 1-0 defeat at Kirklarelispir. Berke Gurbuz the 16 year old made his debut for the club.

GENCLERBIRLIGI RECEIVE A REALITY CHECK !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

After last week’s euphoria of thrashing Antalya on the Mediterranean Coast, Gencler came crashing down to earth in Ankara last night shooting blanks against a disciplined performance by Denizli.

GENCLERBIRLIGI       0            Denizlispor         2

Team – Ertac, Erdem, Flavio, Toure, Polomat, Berat, Candeias, Sessegnon, Ayite, Stancu and Sio

Substitutes – Nadir, Rahmetullah and Mats

Olcay scored the crucial first goal on the half hour mark and that’s how it stayed until the referee, Halis Ozkahya, made the brave decision to award a penalty to Denizli at the 90 plus 5 stage of the match which was despatched by Murawski.

This result leaves Gencler stuck in 2^nd bottom place and only 2 points ahead of bottom club Kayseri.   After Ankaragucu’s defeat on Friday night they find themselves sucked into the relegation zone and only 3 points ahead of Gencler !

It doesn’t get any easier in this league with Gencler travelling to Konya next Saturday.   Despite being thrashed by Fenerbahce in Istan.....spit....bul last Saturday, the home form of Konya will make them strong favourites to heap more grief on Gencler.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Caykur Rizespor vs Ankaragucu match preview!

Ismail Kartal is looking to kick start his season with Caykur Rizespor with a victory against his former side Ankaragucu in match that will see both sides fighting for 3 vital points as they fight for survival.

Although a fans favorite with Ankaragucu, Ismail Kartal has come under a lot of pressure from the Rizespor fans of late due to their poor start to the season. The team currently sit in the relegation zone with 8 points, but a defeat in the derby against Trabzonspor, and 5-0 and 5-2 thumping's against Basaksehir and Alanyaspor have saw sections of the support ask for Kartals resignation.

The match against Ankaragucu is now a must win match for Ismail Kartal and his team, or he could face the sack if they dont take maximum points against his old club. Ankaragucu will be coming to Rizespor to spoil the party and relationships go out the door when it comes to winning matches and fighting for survival.

Ankaragucu put up another spirited performance last week in front of a sold out crown in Ankara against Besiktas. Again the Defence and Goalkeeper played a huge part in the result and rightly received all the plaudits from the Ankaragucu fans and media.

Sedat Agcay will miss out due to suspension after receiving a red card last week, but its unclear at the moment if Tito Canteros will be available for selection after injury. If Canteros does make his return, it will be a massive boost for the team and will strengthen the middle of the park.

Apart from that change, it looks like Metin Diyadin will go with pretty much the same team that has been a first pick since the 1st game of the season.

Although the team are in a relegation battle, Rizespor do have some quality players in Fernando Boldrin, Aminu Umar and Braian Samudio in attack who are capable of being match winners on their day. They will however need to tighten up at the back having conceded 12 goals in the last 3 games.

Both games ended in a draw last season when the two sides met, a 1-1 draw in Rize and 2-2 draw in Ankara as neither team could be separated.

In other news off the field, it was claimed today that if Ankaragucu dont pay $3 million dollars in unpaid wages next month to former players then the team will face a 3 point deduction and this was the reason Yiginer called an AGM as they couldnt find the money. The Circus goes on!!

GENCLERBIRLIGI CAUSE A MEDITERRANEAN SEA STORM !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Gencler caused the upset result of the weekend yesterday when they went to the Mediterranean coast and blew Antalya away with a goal storm.   With Gencler deep in the relegation zone it was unthinkable that they would cause waves against mid-table Antalya.

Antalyaspor         0                GENCLERBIRLIGI       6

Team – Ertac, Erdem, Bjarsmyr, Flavio, Polomat, Ayite, Berat, Sessegnon, Candeias, Stancu and Sio

Substitutes – Mats, Sefa and Rahmetullah

Gencler was 3-0 up with 2 goals from Candeias and 1 from Sio before Bahadir of Antalya received a RED card in the 23^rd minute.   Two more goals followed from Candeias and Sio before the half time whistle and that sound must have been a relief for Antalya.   Stancu added a 6^th in the 2^nd half.

My friend, Haluk, watched the match and he said all the Gencler goals were top-drawer and then they took their foot off the gas after the 6^th goal went in.

Gencler now move off the bottom of the league to 2^nd bottom, but are only 3 points behind Ankaragucu, so it’s pretty tight down at the bottom and shaping up for a dog-fight of a relegation struggle with 9 teams in the mix at the moment.

Next Sunday Gencler play host to Denizlispor who have slipped down the league in recent weeks after a strong start.   Gencler will probably fancy their chances of adding to Denizli woes !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU DEFENCE ERECT A BLOCKADE !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Ankaragucu escaped from Eryaman Stadium last night with one point thanks to some resolute defending by the back FIVE who were outstanding throughout the match.   Coupled with some woeful finishing by Besiktas, the result felt more like a victory rather than a share of the spoils.   Besiktas had 68% possession which tells another story !

ANKARAGUCU      0              Beshiktrash         0

Team – Korcan, Kitsou, Pazdan, Kulusic, Pinto, Faty, Moke, Sedat, Hasan Orgill and Ilhan

Substitutes – Sadaev, Mehmet and Aydin

I met-up with guest kankas Haluk, Atagun, Yildirim and Emre at The Alerta Bar and we watched the tail-end of a match which propelled Trabzon to the top of the league.   Interestingly, Sturridge started his first match and scored the opening goal.

Back to the main match, and apart from one shot from Hasan which whizzed past the post, it was all Besiktas.

Burak missed an easy chance when his weak shot was saved by Korcan, but Pazdan was covering the goal line in any case.

On the half hour mark a certain goal was brilliantly saved by Korcan when a Besiktas player waltzed through the defence and struck it well

Shortly after, it was Korcan again when he dived bravely at an attacker’s feet as he was about to connect with the ball.   Korcan received a blow to the head from the attacker’s trailing foot, but was allowed to continue after treatment.  Korcan was by far and away my Man of the Match !

It was all Besiktas pressure right up to the half time whistle and it took a saving tackle by Pazdan to deny a goal bound shot which was the last action from the first half.

On the resumption, Hasan had another chance when he was put through on the right when he eluded the Besiktas defence, but his shot from the right went past he left post.   That was the end of Ankaragucu’s goal threat and Besiktas continued to dominate proceedings.

Burak almost scored but Korcan managed to save with his fingertips and the ball was cleared.

Into the final 15 minutes and Sedat stupidly got himself sent off for time wasting tactics and then arguing with the referee.

Besiktas camped themselves in the Ankaragucu half of the field for the final 15 minutes.

Korcan was almost beaten in the final 5 minutes, but is was either Kitsou or Kulusic who managed to stick out a leg and clear the goal bound shot.

There was one last chance when a striker was put through but with only Korcan to beat he sent his shot past the post.

The Ankaragucu players never gave up, and as I said, the back 5 played their socks off.   Orgill ran and chased everything, the midfield couldn’t cope with the Besiktas machine and Ilhan was invisible as usual !

So, this result leaves Ankaragucu still only 2 points off the bottom 3, and with another difficult match away to Rize next Friday night, the situation is looking grim.

With the transfer ban  still in place, the only positive is that the Ankaragucu back 5 are determined not to concede.   So, we can expect more of the same before the season is ended, ie, 0-0 scorelines !!!

God help us if Orgill or Hasan is seriously injured before the season grinds to a halt !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu vs Besiktas match preview!

It’s back to Domestic football after a successful International week for the Turkish National team who sit top of their group after a win over Albania and excellent draw at France. The less we talk about the Scotland national team the better.

Onto Saturdays home match with Besiktas and the game is already close to a sell out as Ankaragucu fans have been busy over the last couple of days buying their tickets for another huge match for the club against Besiktas.

On paper Ankaragucu shouldn’t have much of a chance against the Istanbul giants, but Besiktas haven’t got off to the best of starts this season while Ankaragucu have proved difficult to beat despite so much problems surrounding the club both financially and on the playing front where the team are struggling to put a team on the pitch due to the transfer ban and injuries.

Bad news for Ankaragucu is no return of key player Tito Canteros, the Argentinian has missed the last 2 games due to injury but has been back in training this week but still isn’t ready to return. Canteros is in the top 7 midfielders in the Super Lig in terms of key passes and will be a big miss.

As we have mentioned so often this season, the back 4 for Ankaragucu and Korcan have been vital in the 8 points they have collected so far. Kitsiou and Pinto are both big players in attack and defence, while the two centre half’s Pazdan and Kulusic have been solid for most of the games.

Korcan Celikay is the highest rated Goalkeeper in the Turkish Super Lig this season in terms of Saves made per match and will have another busy day ahead of him against his former club.

Besiktas have the same amount of points as Ankaragucu so far which is unacceptable for a team that has the players they have in their team. Although they don’t have the quality as past Besiktas teams have due to the financial situation in Turkey, they still have good players in Lajic. Burak Yilmaz. Hutchinson, Vida and former Ankaragucu winger Tyler Boyd and a host of other players who would walk into the Ankaragucu side.

Both Oguzhan Ozyakup and Dogurkan Tokoz are injured for Besiktas and will miss out. Tyler Boyd hasn’t had the best of starts to his Besiktas career and has come in for a bit of criticism as he hasn’t reached the levels of performance he produced last season. Ankaragucu fans however will know the quality he possesses and Pinto will have to be at his best.

Although Abdullah Avci hasn’t got off to the best of starts with Besiktas, they had a good win last time out against Alanyaspor with Abdoulay Diaby impressing and they will be hoping to continue where they left off going into the weekends math with Ankaragucu.

Besiktas won both games 4-1 last season, although the game in Istanbul was a bit flattering for Besiktas as Ankaragucu played well in that match but luck went against them on the day. There is no doubting Ankaragucu are going to need all the luck they can get on Saturday and will be hoping Denver Orgill can come up with something special up front and the 20,000 home fans can spur the team on. You have to go back to 2011 for the last time Ankaragucu best Besiktas.

Let’s hope we can take something from the game on Saturday and give the fans something to cheer about.

ANKARAGUCU ......DOWN, BUT NOT IN DISGRACE !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies

Yes, a disappointing result, but Ankaragucu was still in the match and searching for the equaliser at 2-1 down, and fully deserving of a point.   However, football can be cruel sometimes and one lapse of concentration near the end was enough for Sivas to take all 3 points.

Sivasspor         3           ANKARAGUCU       1

Team – Korcan, Kitsiou, Pazdan, Kulusic, Pinto, Sedat, Faty, Moke, Hasan, Ilhan and Orgill

Substitutes – Aydin, Mehmet and Sadaev

Only Eski Kanka was in The Alerta Bar along with guest kankas Haluk, Yildirim and Emre.

The match was only one minute old when Orgill was put through after a mistake by a defender, but as he was pondering whether to go alone it or pass to the free colleague on the right, he was dispossessed and the chance was lost.

Sivas soon put Ankaragucu under pressure and it took a good save from Korcan to save a goal bound header, and then Ilhan made a saving tackle in the box to divert the ball away from the danger area, and at this stage 15 minutes in, Sivas was looking threatening.

Then, against the run of play, Ankaragucu snatched a goal when a Sivas defender and the goalkeeper got in a tangle from the defender’s slack back pass.   Orgill was hovering and pounced on the mistake to take the loose ball and walk it in.

4 minutes later and it was Pinto to the rescue when Sivas made a fast break, but with the Ankaragucu defence back-pedalling, Pinto made a saving clearance to stop a certain goal.

However, that equalising goal came 5 minutes later but it could have been prevented if Moke had been more alert.   A cross came in from the right which was headed down in the box and the loose ball was collected by Mert who fired in a shot from the left to the right.    As I said, Moke had the chance to prevent the shot if he had shown more anticipation of the danger.

2 minutes later, Sivas scored again, but it was rightly chalked off for offside without reference to the VAR.

5 minutes to go before the half time whistle and Hasan was in a promising position inside the box but before he could shoot he was harshly penalised for a foul on a defender.

Still time before the whistle for Ankaragucu to score when they were awarded a free kick just outside the box, but as happened last week, Ilhan sent his effort into the wall and it was cleared.    He almost made amends in time added on when his goal bound shot was well saved

The 2^nd half was only 2 minutes old when Sivas took the lead for the first time and again it was Mert who did the damage.   He received a pass on the left just outside the box and sent a screamer to the right which hit the inside of the post and in, deceiving Korcan in the process.

I think Metin Bey will work on free kicks this week at the Training Area.   We have seen Ilhan hit his into the wall last week and this week.   In the 63^rd minute it was the turn of Aydin to do the same.   Aaaaaargh, wasted opportunities going begging and unforgivable to waste such scoring attempts.

To be fair to Ankaragucu, they kept pressing forward and Ilhan was unlucky to see his snap-shot saved.   Also, Aydin sent in an inviting cross from the right which was attacked and headed clear by a Sivas defender with Ankaragucu attackers out of position to capitalise.

Approaching the final whistle and Faty almost conjured up the equaliser with a fierce goal bound shot, but the Sivas goalkeeper made a great save to deny him.

At the other end, Pazdan was his usual commanding self when he cut-out a pass destined for an attacker in a goal scoring position.

Mehmet joined the ‘missed free kick club’ when he sent his free kick over the bar for 3 Rugby points  !!

On the 90^th minute mark and Mehmet gifted the ball to Sivas when he missed the ball and the Sivas attacker was quick to latch onto the ball and it took a great save from Korcan to tip the ball over the bar.

Into time-added-on and the sickening blow was struck to put the match beyond Ankaragucu.   A cross from the right to the unmarked Moustapha on the left who had drifted clear of the Ankaragucu defence and he had the simplest of tap-ins.

There was still time for Sadaev to sneak a consolation goal, but his header was sent just past the post.

A cruel ending to the match for Ankaragucu, who to their credit, never let their heads go down.

So, 7 matches into the season and Ankaragucu has dropped back into the relegation area and find themselves only one point above the 3^rd bottom position.   Sivas, on the other hand, leap up to 2^nd top and the situation in the league is finely balanced with a host of clubs fighting it out in mid-table, and Ankaragucu has only 7 points less than leaders Alanya !

It is unnecessary to hit the panic button at this stage, but with the next fixture at home to Beshiktrash in 2 weeks time, the squeaky-bum time may not be too far off for Ankaragucu !

Next weekend there is an international break which gives Metin Bey an opportunity to prepare for the visit of Beshiktrash and hopefully Canderos will have recovered from his injury and be in the position to take the free kicks from the 3 duffers !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

GENCLERBIRLIGI REFUSE TO THROW THE TOWEL IN !

     

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Despite being down to 10 men for the last 5 plus minutes of the match last night, Gencler held on to win a point against current League Champions Galatasaray.

GENCLERBIRLIGI       0                Galatasaray     0

Team – Ertac, Ahmet (RED), Flavio, Toure, Polomat, Baiano, Rahmetullah, Candeias, Sessegnon, Ayite and Sio

Substitutes – Berat, Stancu and Sefa

Galatasaray had 70% possession of the match, but as we all know, the lion’s share of possession doesn’t always win matches !

So, Gencler is still rooted to the bottom of the league along with Kayseri, with Beshiktrash just 2 points above them before the Beshiktrash match tonight against top of the league Alanya.

It doesn’t get any easier in this league with Gencler away to in form Antalya next Saturday.

As always, watch this space next Sunday for the report.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Sivasspor vs Ankaragucu match preview!

A couple of bits of news before we look ahead to Sundays match at Sivasspor. According to reports Ankaragucu players still havent been paid their salaries despite Mehmet Yiginer promising they would be paid after the derby victory over Genclerbirligi last weekend. No surprises there! The team have also been drawn away to Kirklarelispor in the Turkish Cup on 29th October.

The victory over Genclerbirligi last weekend will have given the Ankaragucu players some confidence going into the Sivasspor match as they look to cause another upset. Despite loosing key player Tito Canteros, the team showed that fighting spirit, and had a bit of luck on their side which saw them run out 2-1 winners.

With Canteros out, it gave 23 year old academy product Hasan Kaya his first start for the club in 4 years. Having spent the last couple of seasons out on loan at lower league clubs including a successful spell at Ankara Demirspor, Hasan was eager to impress for the club he supported as a boy. And what a game it was for the German born Turk with 2 key assists in the goals and an all round tireless performance.

The impressive part of Hasans performance, wasnt just his work rate which you come to expect from youngsters who grew up supporting the club. It was his quality on the ball. He put a number of great crosses into the box including his corner for the 1st goal, and then there was the stunning reverse pass for Kitsiou in the build up to the 2nd goal. Hopefully Canteros is back in the team on Sunday but it must not be at the expense of Hasan.

Dever Orgill will again play a big part in Ankaragucu taking anything from Sundays match. He has one of the toughest jobs in the Super Lig with the amount of work he has to put in chasing back helping his team mates, while trying to put the ball in the back of the net at the other end. He might not score as many goals as last season due to the lack of service, but his efforts certainly arent under valued.

Riza Calimbay and his team will be confident going into this match but respectful of Ankaragucu at the same time. Sivas currently sit 5th in the Super Lig and have had a good start to the season. With the club reportedly being one of the few Turkish teams who are debt free, things are looking pretty optimistic if you are a Sivasspor fan. Just over 10,000 tickets have been sold for the match with the number expected to rise over the coming days.

Key players for Sivasspor are the brilliant Emre Kilinc who ive been a big fan of for a number of years. The good news for Ankaragucu is that he will miss the match due to injury. Mustapha Yatabare is a handful up front and both Pazdan and Kulusic will have a tough battle ahead with the big targetman.

Ankaragucu won 3-1 in Ankara the last time the 2 sides met at the end of last season. While Sivasspor won 4-0 the last time the two sides met in Sivas.

Both Korcan Celikay and Aydin Karabulut had spells with Sivasspor and will be hoping to put one over their former employers.

Jim and some of the other Kankas who arent travelling to Sivas will likely be watching the game in the Alerta bar, if you fancy joining them please get in touch.