JUNIOR KANKA ISAAC JOINS THE KANKA GROUP !!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

As promised in my previous match report, here is the photo of Junior Kanka Isaac that we have all been waiting for.

It was taken last night by Nadeem in celebration of his birth and also of Glasgow Rangers winning in Portugal against Braga with daddy’s Rangers scarf for ‘decoration’  !

Hopefully, Nadeem will supply another photo with an Ankaragucu scarf next week when Ankaragucu defeat Sivas on Sunday ……….. yessssssssssss !!!

Obviously, Junior Kanka will follow in Daddy’s footsteps and support the Rangers and Ankaragucu, but when he eventually visits Ankara, his Uncle Eski Kanka will have a photo with him wearing the Mighty Hibernian FC scarf ……… yessssssssssssss !!!

Welcome to the Kanka Group little Isaac  !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU POSTED ABSENT !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Let’s leave the bad news for the moment and let me report some good news  !!

It gives me much pleasure to announce the birth of baby Isaac (hereafter known as Junior Kanka) to our regular correspondent Bellshill Kanka Nadeem and his wife, Rebecca, yesterday in Scotland.

We hope to have a photo of Junior Kanka in due course which will be put up here by either Nadeem or me.    Congratulations to you both from all the kankas and our readers  !

Now to footie and the not so good news  !

After the euphoria of last week’s excellent performance and victory against Fener.....spit....bahce, much was expected of Ankaragucu in the Ankara Derby.   However, for most of the match they were posted absent with Gencler dictating the flow of play and giving Ankaragucu all sorts of problems.

I lost count of the number of Ankaragucu passes which went astray due to the persistent harrying and chasing of this impressive Gencler team.   Last week’s star player, Saba, was a pale shadow of the player we know he is, and he was substituted halfway through the 2^nd half.

Redrigues was caught in possession numerous times and had a fruitless time of it up front, and the sooner he has his partner, Orgill, back, the better.

So, due to Gencler only allocating Ankaragucu supporters 10% of the Stadium, the kankas, (Battle Damaged Kanka, Haluk Kanka and I) had to watch the match in The Alerta Bar with lots of Gencler supporters who didn’t go to the Stadium.    Fortunately Gencler supporters are a friendly lot  !!!

Genclerbirligi           1             ANKARAGUCU        0

Ankaragucu Team – Ricardo, Kitsiou, Alihan, Kulusic, Pinto, Michalak, Lukasik, Faty, Lobjanidze – Saba, Ilhan and Rodrigues

Substitutes – Atilla, Rivas and Orkan

Genclerbirligi Team – Nordfeld, Erdem, Toure, Halil, Candeias, Baiano, Yasin, Sio, Sessegnon, Ramos and Stancu

Substitutes – Ahmet, Bjysymr and Berat

Both teams were content to size each other up until the 10^th minute when Rodrigues was put through on the left, but his shot to the near post was easily saved by Nordfeld.   The ball was returned into the danger area and hit Ilhan on the back of his head and out of play.   Comical  ???     Yes ............ unfortunately  !!!

7 minutes later and the save of the match by Ricardo.   A cross came in from the left which he palmed out to the right to an unmarked Gencler player who cut the ball back into the area near the penalty spot to another unmarked Gencler attacker.    Ricardo just had a moment to recover from the first save and dived to make a 2^nd save which prevented a certain goal.

Gencler continued to dominate and create chances and they almost opened the scoring just before half time whistle after Lukasik brought down Sessegnon just outside the box and received a yellow for his trouble.   The free kick was like a bullet and whizzed narrowly past the post.   Another let-off for Ankaragucu.

I was hoping for a game of 2 halves, but my hopes were dashed as Gencler continued to dominate proceedings and put the Ankaragucu defence under more pressure.

Unhappy faces, but unsurprising, especially in the 74th minute   !!!

Half way through the 2^nd half and Ankaragucu was awarded a free kick on the left just outside the box which went flying well over the bar (and not for the 1^st time  !!).

Sio was causing lots of problems for the Ankaragucu defence and he was denied a goal when his shot was just past the post.   Gencler had another chance a few minutes later when another shot went narrowly past the post.

However, the Gencler pressure finally paid off in the 74^th minute and nobody could have been surprised when it arrived.   A cross came in from the left and Sio rose above everyone else to send an angled header into the top right with Ricardo helpless to prevent the goal.   A classic header and well worthy of winning any match  !

Into time added on and Gencler continued to cut Ankaragucu open in their search for No2 with Ankaragucu devoid of ideas and their normal fighting spirit.

So, a disappointing performance by Ankaragucu, but all credit to Gencler who fully deserved to take all 3 points.

Ankaragucu remain in the relegation zone, but only one point below Konya and 4 points behind Rize, Denizli and Malatya.   Gencler on the other hand move up to 10^th place, and on this performance can put relegation fears to bed.

As I’ve said many times here, it doesn’t get any easier in this league and next Sunday Ankaragucu will play host to high flying Sivas who are sitting in the European places and will be looking to collect all 3 points.    The only way Ankaragucu will stop them is if they can re-discover the form they showed against Fener last week.   A tall order ......... yes, but not an insurmountable obstacle.

Gencler travel to back in form Galata.....spit.....saray in what will be a test of their recent resurgence.

Squeaky-bum time approaches for Ankaragucu  !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Genclerbirligi vs Ankaragucu match preview!

The 2nd Ankara derby of the season is upon us as Ankaragucu look to do the double over their city neighbors Genclerbirligi. Both sides go into the match on form and will be confident of a positive outcome.

Mustafa Resit Akcay is undefeated since taking over as Ankaragucu manager with 2 wins and a draw including the fantastic 2-1 win over Fenerbahce last Saturday in front of a sold out Eryaman Stadium. Ankaragucu could sell the stadium out again this weekend but will only get 10% allocation for the game as they are the away team. Genclrebirligi will probably take 5,000 to the game which leaves over half of the stadium empty. Ankaragucu fans are asking for more tickets but Gencler will likely be unwilling to accept the request as they wont want to lose the home advantage.

The new signings who have hit the ground running for Ankaragucu are getting better every week with some still looking to find match fitness as January is always a difficult time to join a new team. Saba Lobjanidze, Konrad Michalak and Gerson Rodrigues formed an excellent partnership in attack with lightening pace, dribbling and technique causing all sorts of problems for defences they have come up against. It will be interesting to see if Dever Orgill comes back into the side or if they go with the same team that beat Fenerbahce.

Alihan Kubalas has come in for a lot of criticism this season along with Sedat Agcay and Ricardo Faty who all started last weeks game. They did their chances of retaining their place no harm with excellent performances all around. Michal Pazdan is fit again and will likely come in for Alihan but he has done his chances no harm.

Genclerbirligi also came away with an excellent result last weekend with a 1-0 win at Alanyaspor. I watched most of the game and was impressed with Fabricio Baiano and have always been a fan of Daniel Candeias from his time at Rangers. Gencler have a good team but i am confident Ankaragucu can take something from the game especially with the amount of pace they have in the team and counter attack now.

The last time the two sides met Ankaragucu won 2-1 thanks to goals from Ilhan Parlak and a Candeias own goal. Ankaragucu are a much stronger team this time but will have to put in the same effort as they did against Fenerbahce and not get complacent.

There is a great atmosphere within Ankaragucu at the moment and that is down to the leadership of Fatih Mert and Tamer Acar who have already shown transparency and the fans trust them. That has transferred into the dressing room where you can see for the first time in a long time, a happy squad.

In other news off field this week, Ankaragucu youngster Yusuf Eren Goktas has been called up to the Turkish National youth team. The 16 year old who plays under Cengiz Paca for the youth team is one for the future.

GENCLERBIRLIGI TEAR-UP THE FORM BOOK !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

While Ankaragucu recorded a routine and expected victory against istan....spit....bul fener....spit....bahce on Saturday, Genclerbirligi upset the form book and defeated high flying Alanya on the south coast yesterday.

Bear in mind that this is the team that knocked galata....spit....saray out of the Turkish Cup last week, so we must congratulate Gencler on an outstanding result.

Alanyaspor         0            GENCLERBIRLIGI        1

Team – Nordfeldt, Erdem, Ramos, Halil, Toure, Sefa, Sessegnon, Baiano, Yasin, Candeias and Stancu

Substitutes – Ahmet, Sio and Berat

Stancu was the hero for Gencler (again) with the crucial goal in the 77^th minute.   However, it must have been a team performance to put the shutters up against an in form team like Alanya who have scored 41 league goals this season.

It is still a ‘dogs breakfast’ in the fight to avoid relegation with only 12 points separating Antep in 9^th position and Kayseri at the bottom, with 8 other teams in the mix.

Therefore, the Ankara Derby takes on added significance next Sunday KO 4pm in the ‘6 pointer’  !

It is Gencler’s home match, and it is unclear at the moment if they will make Ankaragucu take the small away section, or open up the Stadium for Ankaragucu.

I will inform you of the decision in the comments section of this report and the Ankaragucu v fener....spit....bahce report when it is known.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU SHOWS NO MERCY AND SAVAGES THE CANARIES !!!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies. 

A night to remember last night when the Canaries were sent back to Istan.....spit.....bul with their feathers painted Ankara Blue  !!!

The doubters had to eat their words and the small band of Fener supporters in the away end were silenced in the 12^th minute never to sing again  !!

A truly great team performance from Ankaragucu which will live long in the memory.   They never stopped running, harrying and chasing every ball and their belief spread to the supporters who sang throughout encouraging and applauding every attack and defensive move.     They showed touches of skill which we haven’t seen for some time and this bodes well for the future and moving up the league table.    Optimism is definitely back on the menu !

ANKARAGUCU       2                   Fenerbahce        1

Team – Ricardo, Kitsiou, Kulusic, Alihan, Pinto, Faty, Lukasik, Lobzhanidze (also known as Saba), Sedat, Michalak and Rodrigues

Substitutes – Ilhan, Atila and Pazdan

The kankas (Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and Maniac Kanka Haarun) met up at The Bira Park prior to the long journey out into the sticks to Eryaman Stadium where we met Posh Kanka Ahmet.

The Stadium was full and Gecikondu was in fine voice as usual all through the match, as were all the other tribunes.

Fener was first to threaten when Kruse was left unmarked on the left but his angled shot was well saved by Ricardo.

10 minutes into the match and we saw the first sign that Saba was going to cause problems down the right with his speed and anticipation.    A great pass was sent to him on the right and he scurried down the wing with Fener defender trying to catch him, crossed into the box, but Rodrigues header was just past the post.

2 minutes later and Saba was on hand to benefit from a schoolboy error in the Fener defence and he was able to run the ball into the goal with Fener defenders looking at each other for who to blame.

This was the beginning of belief on and off the field that we could actually win this and could forget about salvaging one point !!!

5 minutes later and Alihan to the rescue when he made a timely interception when a Fener attacker was shaping to shoot in a dangerous position.

25 minutes gone and Michalak should have added another when he was put through with a defence splitting pass but he shot straight at Altay when it seemed easier to score.

Approaching half time and Rodrigues took a free kick just outside the box on the left but his shot was well over.

So, a good first half with Saba causing problems on the right and some great passes from midfield to him.     Lots of reasons to be encouraged for the 2^nd half.

5 minutes into the 2^nd half and the one big scare of the match when Alihan headed into his own goal from a cross on the left.    Oooooos and Aaaaaaaas from all around, but ......... the referee (God bless him !!!) raised his arm for a free kick to Ankaragucu.    I suspect that Alihan was pushed which made him connect with the ball accidentally.     Relief all round and Ankaragucu continued to harry and chase every ball.

3 minutes later and it was Rodrigues who had a great chance to add a 2^nd when a peach of a pass was made to him on the half way line from deep in defence.    Off he went with Fener defenders chasing him, but unfortunately he doesn’t have Saba’s speed and he was dispossessed near the penalty area.

He had another chance 3 minutes later but shot well over.

However, his moment came in the 74^th minute when another fast attack came down the left wing.    The cut-back cross was sent to him just outside the box which he collected, brought under control, and fired in an unstoppable shot to the top right to send us all delirious !!

It was just a question of hanging on for the final 15 minutes and playing out the match for an historic victory.

However, Fener tried to spoil the party .........and failed .......... by scoring a consolation goal with the last kick of the match 6 minutes into time added on.

The celebrations were not to be denied and Damon and I had a mini party on arrival back in Kizilay !!!

This win moves Ankaragucu out of the relegation zone for the time being and only 7 points behind mid-table Antep.    With the fighting spirit and will to win displayed by the team last night we can be optimistic of moving further up the table in the weeks ahead.

Next Sunday is the Ankara Derby with Genclerbirligi the home team.   So, it is unclear if we will be only allowed into the small away section or if Gencler will agree to offer more areas to Ankaragucu.     Details here in the comments section and Nadeem’s preview when they are known.

Well done Ankaragucu !!!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragücü vs Fenerbahce match preview!

Eryaman Stadiums home section has sold out for Saturday nights game with Fenerbahce who are also expected to sell out their allocation. A huge game for both clubs win Ankaragücü fighting relegation while Fenerbahce are still in the mix for the Championship.

Ankaragücü will go into the match with confidence after picking 4 points up in their last 2 games and  will be hoping the home advantage and atmosphere can work in their favour. The 1-0 win at Yeni Malatyaspor has given Ankaragücü a lifeline in their fight for survival, but they will have to find the next level in performance of they are to take anything from the game on Saturday.

Ilhan Parlak and Oscar Scarione came in for a bit of criticism last week with their performances especially Ilhan on the ball. Konrad Michalak came on for Ilhan in the 2nd half and instantly changed the game with his speed and dribbling skills and it would be a surprise if he didn’t take the place of Ilhan in the team. Michal Pazdan could also return to the team after illness although Alihan played very well in his absence last week.

Daniel Lukasik was man of the match last weekend in Malatya with an excellent performance in the middle of the park. His work rate and energy drove Ankaragücü forward while being able to retain possession which has often been a problem for the team this season. Gerson Rodrigues has shown flashes of brilliance and then trying to hard to make everything look fancy, he can be a key player for the club but needs to concentrate on doing the basics first.

Fenerbahce won 2-1 in Istanbul earlier in the season, but the big talking point from the game was some of the decisions that went against Ankaragücü. Dever Orgill gave Ankaragücü the lead but Fenerbahce got back into the match through Zanka from a corner which should have been a goal kick to Ankaragücü. There were some other dodgy decisions that went Fenerbahce way that day too. The Istanbul side have been of late putting out statements on a weekly basis about decisions that are going against them, which has also resulted in Ankaragücü putting out a statement saying they don’t want to be disadvantaged by referees feeling under pressure to give Fenerbahce decisions.

Fenerbahce will be without Garry Rodrigues through injury but still have plenty of quality in the team including the brilliant Vedat Muriqi and Max Kruse who will be the main dangermen. If Ankaragücü can keep those two quiet they have a chance of taking something from the game.

Some news from off field this week. President Fatih Mert has lifted the 5% members quota and will now allow all Ankaragucu to be members of the club which is a historical day for the club. Also the debt has been reduced to around £32 Million pounds. At last we are seeing some transparency and it’s all thanks to having Ankaragücü fans running the club.

The Kanka group will all be in attendance at the game on Saturday and Jim will have his match report on Sunday. Saldir Ankaragücü!!!

GENCLERBIRLIGI ALMOST PUT THE SHUTTERS UP AGAINST LEAGUE LEADERS !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Gencler conceded two late goals yesterday to new league leaders Trabzon and have now lost 10 matches which keeps them stuck in the dangerous relegation battle.

GENCLERBIRLIGI      0           Trabzonspor       2

Team – Nordfeldt, Erdem, Flavio, Toure, Halil, Yasin, Baiano, Candeias, Sessegnon, Sefa and Nadir

Substitutes – Ahmet, Seuntjens and Sio

Trabzon won a penalty with 10 minutes of the match remaining which was despatched by Sosa, and with 7 minutes left, the match was put to bed by Nwakaeme.

Trabzon’s top goal scorer, Sorloth, was shown a straight red card deep into time added on.

So, the relegation battle continues with 6 teams at the bottom who are realistically in the fight.   Kayseri is looking doomed, but 2^nd bottom Kasimpasa is only 5 points behind Gencler.

As I’ve said many times, it doesn’t get any easier in this league, with Gencler travelling to 3^rd top Alanya next Sunday.

There will probably be a new league leader later today when Sivas and Basaksehir go head to head, but both Ankara teams are only focused on the bottom positions !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim