ANKARAGUCU - THE SEASON'S STATISTICS FOR 2007-2008

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

OK, so it wasn’t a complete disaster of a season. That belonged to Kasimpasa, Manisa and Rize !

Some teams and supporters might be happy enough to finish in 8th position in the League. Cemal Aydin for one will be happy enough, but this supporter of 20 years is most definitely NOT !! Surely teams of ANKARAGUCU’s stature (and Genclerbirligi for that matter) should be setting their sights higher ?!

Since Ersul Yanal left ANKARAGUCU (a sad day in our history) it has been one season’s struggle after another and this is just totally unacceptable for a team from the capital city of Turkey. At the very least, ANKARAGUCU should be aiming for UEFA Cup qualification EVERY season !

This season’s statistics, for example, don’t make happy reading ……

HOME - Won 7 Drawn 6 Lost 4

AWAY - Won 4 Drawn 4 Lost 9

GOAL TALLY - For 36 Against 44

So, you can see for yourself where the problem areas are !

Oz Kanka is always criticising me for repeating myself, but my excuse is that I’m not a professional journalist ! I have to say this yet again (and maybe not for the last time !!) ……… in the words of the late great Jock Stein……… The best form of defence is ……… ATTACK !!!

OK, so it didn’t do much good for Kevin Keegan in his first stint at Newcastle Utd with his `gung ho` tactics, but what Jock Stein meant was not just a `tally ho` attitude. Sir Alex Ferguson understands !!

When he left Hibernian to manage Celtic, Jock Stein started to build his team from the goalkeeper, then defence, into midfield and the finishing touches were his strikers. When the puzzle had been solved, and all the pieces were in place, then his plan of ATTACK was implemented. This was never more obvious than when Celtic beat Inter in 1967 to win the European Cup !

Thinks……. Perhaps if Walter Smith had followed these tactics the UEFA Cup might be resting in Scotland this season instead of in Russia !!

Of course, this type of team building takes time and money. So, the first priority is to find a Coach, Manager and Chairman who have the ability to manage a successful team and who share the ambition of the Club and its supporters. Unfortunately, we don’t have the wherewithal of talent, sponsors and management in Ankara at the moment.

Anyone out there (Melih Gokcek ??!!) listening to the words of this Blog ?? If so, let’s get the show on the road !!!

Ever the optimist, let’s see what happens during the summer season of wheeling and dealing.

The League season resumes business on 22 August, so we have about 3 months to wait for hostilities to commence.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim