More annoying news to report with it being discovered today that Mr. Lentil, Baki Mercimek, is off to Besiktas at the end of the season.
Genclerbirligi general manager Hasan Cetinkaya announced today that Mr. Lentil had actually signed some sort of option with Besiktas in December last year. This was only discovered very recently by the Gencler board as it was trying to get him to extend his contract.
Apparently Besiktas wanted him during the January transfer period but Gencler turned them down.
In the end Gencler will get 1.25 million YTL for the transfer. Well, at least that is something.
I'm not totally devastated by the news though as Mr. Lentil is a very enigmatic sort of player. He is a pretty good defender but at has made his fair share of blunders. At the same time he comes forward often and has scored some wonderful goals.
I was wondering on Sunday why he wasn't playing (I assumed he must have been injured) but it is all clear now. Cetinkaya said Mr. Lentil won't be playing for Gencler again.
It does seem sort of silly and small minded not to play players who are moving at the end of the season. First we had Turkey's second-choice goalkeeper Omer Catic who hasn't played for us since signing for Besiktas next year and now we have Mr. Lentil sitting out the rest of the season.
I can understand not necessarily playing them in games against Besiktas but surely these guys are footballer first and foremost and want to win as much as us fans in gece kondu want them to win (well, perhaps not that much).
The Round Ball in Ankara! Dedicated to football lovers in Ankara (Except for those who follow Osmanlispor)
LOYALTY
ReplyDeleteI can understand Oz Kanka's frustration, but CavCav of Gencler and Cemal Aydin of Ankaragucu have made it crystal clear that bringing in low priced players and selling them for a profit when they are successful is the name of the game here. Loyalty is NOT a word which is spoken in the footie world these days !!!
I understood perfectly when Ersul Yanal was the coach of Ankaragucu in 2000 and took them to the 2nd Round of the UEFA Cup only to `jump ship` the following year when the subject of `money` or `reward for success` cropped up. If a team sets their sights on mid-table survival then perhaps that will be attainable, but if they really really intend to challenge seriously for the league championship, then key players MUST be retained !!
It happens elsewhere as you all know, but Ankara has the power to change it if only the people would realise it and respond !!!
All the best from `tonight only` a Pesimistic Eski Kanka Jim