GENCLERBIRLIGI – THE REVIVAL IS UNDERWAY !!

 

 

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

 

Gencler’s resurgence is not a fluke   !       Over the past few weeks they have dragged themselves off the bottom of the league and are now only 2 points below the safety net.

                           

They saw-off the challenge of Goztepe today and fully deserved their slim, but important  victory.

 

Of course, sterner tests await in the weeks ahead, but for now the players confidence is high and they can only take one match at a time to climb out of the relegation zone.

 

GENCLERBIRLIGI               1                      Goztepe           0

 

Team – Nurullah, Ugur, Alperen, Thomas, Abdullah, Erkan, Enes, Jaime, Mete, Moha and Gabriel

 

Substitutes – Tiago, Souleymane, Altiparkak and Ozkan

 

The match was a typical end-to-end affair until the 25^th minute when Gencler scored the all important goal.

 

A fast passing movement on the left and the ball was played into the centre where Ugur was waiting on the 18 yard line .......... and unmarked.     He picked his spot as all the Goztepe defenders rushed out to close him down, but too late, and he shot high into the right.

 

Gencler should have scored two more before the break, but the Goztepe goalkeeper pulled off two outstanding saves as the half time whistle beckoned.

 

Not much to report about the 2^nd half except to say that Goztepe never really looked like snatching the equaliser with their continuing habit of pumping balls into the centre from mid-field and the wings.      However, the Gencler defence was never really stretched.

 

Near the end in time added on, Goztepe’s only real chance of grabbing the equaliser was well saved by Nurullah who pushed a header round the post.

 

So, another good chance for 3 points arises next Saturday when Gencler visit mid-table Tuzla.     Win this one and Gencler can start to exert pressure on the clubs in the bottom half of the league.

 

As always, watch this space for the outcome.

 

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU – A SAD DAY IN THE CLUB’s HISTORY !!!

 

 

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

 

Why is it a sad day   ?

 

Well, it’s not just about the score yesterday, which will be discussed later, but about the complicated politics within our great Club which have resurfaced to put the Club into free-fall for the time being.       And .......... what an inspired time to force our great Coach, Omer Erdogan, to resign when our Club is in the process of trying to consolidated their position in The Super League   !!!

 

As I said, it is a complicated situation, and perhaps it is best if I give you a quote from Scouse Kanka Marcus and Bellshill Kanka Nady who have between them put it in a nut shell .............

 

I don’t blame Erdogan.    Faruk Koca, Club President, has landed us enough sh?? players, we had to get rid of 11 of them.    He and his ‘assistant’, Emre Yildiz, are to blame.   This is incredible .....Faruk Koca said he will wait to appoint a new Coach because he wants to sign players first.    The reason Erdogan resigned was because he didn’t get the players he wanted, and they instead signed players from Faruk’s agent friends.    He will now sign players and when the new manager comes in he won’t have a say in the matter.      Unquote

 

Of course, we don’t know the exact details of all this, but the bottom line is that our great Coach, Omer Erdogan, has felt that his position was untenable and therefore had no option but to resign.

 

A really sad day which brings back memories of the resignation of Ersun Yanal in the early 2000s in a similar situation.      Omer Bey will be a huge loss for Ankaragucu but all of us kankas wish him well in his future  Club whichever one is fortunate enough to appoint him.

 

Back to yesterday’s match and Ankaragucu can have no excuses for losing a great opportunity of moving into mid-table after a host of chances were missed.     Ankaragucu has instead slipped and is now only one point above the relegation zone   !!

 

ANKARAGUCU           0                       Fatih Karagumruk             2

 

Team – Gokhan, Firatcan, Radakovic, Mujakic, Marlon, Diack, Taylan, Emre, Pedrinho, Giorgi and Ali Sowe

 

Substitutes – Andrej, Yasin, Zadid and Bevic

 

It was mostly all Ankaragucu for the first 30 minutes of the match as they attacked Karagumruk relentlessly.    I lost count of the shots that were fired over or past the post or chances missed from crosses into the box.

 

Even the award of a penalty on the half hour mark was scorned   !!!

 

It was a great pass from Ali to Giorgi who drove into the box and was tripped as he was lining up to shoot.     The referee pointed to the spot immediately, but then after being surrounded by Karagumruk players, he crumbled and went to check the VAR screen.    He eventually returned and pointed to the spot again ......... quite rightly so   !!

 

Up stepped Pedrinho who sent his shot high up into Gecikondu ............. a certain 3 points in a  Rugby match   !!!       It must rank as one of the worst penalty kicks I have ever witnessed.......aaaargh ............. and a golden opportunity wasted   !!!

 

From this point, Ankaragucu seemed to lose their way and Karagumruk started to look dangerous, especially down the right wing where their No10 was giving the Ankaragucu defence a torrid time.

 

.Karagumruk hit the post with a shot and then the all important first goal came just before the half time whistle.     A fast break by Karagumruk with the Ankaragucu defence caught napping, and the ball was bundled in by Diagne for a scrappy goal.

 

However, the goal certainly lifted Karagumruk’s spirits as they returned for the 2^nd half and took the .match to Ankaragucu.    To be fair to Ankaragucu, they kept searching for the equaliser, but only the industrious Ali Sowe and Taylan seemed to know what to do with the ball  !!

 

The 2^nd goal arrived half way through the 2^nd half and I have to be honest and say that it didn’t surprise me.    A Karagumruk attack on the right was halted on the goal line just inside the box when the attacker was deemed to have been tripped.    A silly place to concede a penalty when there was no apparent danger   !!!    The referee again pointed to the spot but on this occasion chose not to consult VAR   !!

 

Borini gave Pedrinho a lesson in the art of taking penalty kicks by despatching the ball low inside the right post.

 

Approaching the final whistle and there was only time left for the one serious attempt on the Karagumruk goal when Ali’s goal bound shot was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper for a corner.

 

I should mention Battle Damaged Kanka Damon’s quote during the match ............

 

In the first half Ankaragucu was giving Karagumruk free rein down the right wing and it was clear that their persistence on that side would pay off, and sure enough it resulted in their first goal.    By the 2^nd half, Karagumruk was attacking Ankaragucu freely on both wings and through the midfield.       Unquote.

 

Ankaragucu will have another mountain to climb on Friday night when they travel to Istanbul to play Besiktas.       It will be interesting to see how the players respond to Omer Bey’s absence this week and on the touchline during the match   !!!

 

As always, watch this space for the outcome.

 

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim