Let's Get the Show on the Road !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Ankara teams will KO their season on Saturday 10 September.

Samsun v Gencler - KO 5.30pm
Ankaragucu v Mersin - KO 8pm

The Gencler Kankas will no doubt be meeting in The Beer Bus Bar prior to KO, but Oz Kanka will confirm this.

The Ankaragucu Kankas will meet there too and go to the Stadium at 7pm. Which Stadium is still not clear, but Spine said in an earlier post that it will probably be 19 Mayis Stadium.

On the subject of future 'away' matches, the Ankaragucu Kankas may from time to time watch them in The Chopin Bar. Some of you may recall a problem with the Beer Bus Bar staff disrupting our viewing of the Ankaragucu match last season ! The Head Waiter of The Chopin, Ismail Bey, has promised to show the away matches on one of their screens. Time will tell if this promise holds-up !!

In other news, the TFF has told Fenerbahce that they will play in the Super League - a decision no doubt driven by Digiturk !!!

Bring on the action !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

First week fixtures - finally!

The draw has finally been made and here are the first week's fixtures for the weekend of 9 September

Antalyaspor-Gaziantepspor
Ankaragücü-Mersin İdman Yurdu
Eskişehirspor-Beşiktaş
Bursaspor-Kayserispor
Kardemir Karabükspor-Sivasspor
Samsunspor-Gençlerbirliği
Büyükşehir Belediyespor-Galatasaray
Manisaspor-Trabzonspor
Fenerbahçe-Orduspor

Cengiz Topal checks in while Tonia and Serdar check out !

Picture taken from Haberclick


Cengiz Topal has become Ankaragucu new president after the paperwork was signed over to him yesterday. The Gokceks and Cemal Aydin have vowed to help Cengiz get Ankaragucu out of this mess and work together.

Ankaragucu were looking at relegation to the Bank Aysa or even going out of business had Cengiz not taken over. So while there is some good news, there are still many questions to be asked and many challenges that the new management will face.

The first thing that we will be faced with is loosing some of our top players.. Serdar Kubilge has already announced on his twitter page that he has left the club, while Tonia Tisdel has signed a 1 year loan deal at Mersin. Tonia claimed he had to move while there was so much uncertainty at the club.

Marek Sapara could be set for a move to Trabzonspor, Stanislav Sestak is wanted by both Besiktas and Bursaspor. Tita and Ozgur Cek are also wanted by Bursaspor. With the season just under 2 weeks away Mesut is left with a huge task this season of Keeping Ankaragucu in the Super Lig. Indeed his place isn't even safe with reports claiming Hikmet Karaman will replace him.

The management need to look at ways Ankaragucu can make money, they have started that with the sponsorship deal with Anadolu Jet and the return of Season Ticket sales next week. The club also needs to look at spreading the brand of Ankaragucu with more club shops, merchandise and marketing and moving Stadium.

The league fixtures will be announced shortly so there will be an update on that, in the meantime i urge all you Kankas to get behind the team this season, it wont be nice to watch but the club needs you !!!

Frustrations Beginning to Appear

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

There was a report in The Hurriyet this morning with Mesut Bey sounding-off and laying his frustrations bare about the delay in the commencement of the League kick-off.

Of course, it is frustrating for all the teams, especially those who arranged their summer camps in July anticipating the League to kick-off on 5 August. Now the teams are kicking their heels while all the other Yooro Leagues have kicked-off (apart from Spain !!!!).

The photo in The Hurriyet shows Mesut Bey wringing his hands in frustration and some of the Ankaragugu players behind him with glum faces. The Capital City Cup is now history and the euphoria has turned to frustration !

Mesut Bey went on to say that he has given the players a long weekend off. Perhaps he will try and arrange further 'friendlies' with Super League or Bank Asya teams in the next week or so.

Eski says ........... c'mon TFF ....... make an effin decision and let's get the show on the road !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

The Capital City Cup - The Final

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Capital City Cup was won in fine style by Ankaragucu last night !

ANKARAGUCU 4 Mersin 0

Mesut Bey obviously did his homework and the 'African Cavalry' of Mersin was effectively neutered and confined to making the odd forage along the wings which caused no danger for the most part. When danger did threaten, the last line of defence (Mr Reliable - Serdar) was there to negate the few chances that came Mersin's way.

Ankaragucu took the match by the scruff of the neck and ran out worthy winners.

The Three Muskateers (Maniac Kanka Harun, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and yours truly) met up at The Chopin and proceeded to lift our spirits with some luvvlie yummy Efes before being chauffeured to Saray Stadium by Maniac's friend Erkan.

The small stadium was bursting at the seams and we found ourselves sitting (and standing !!) beside Minty and the Anti-X boyz. It was just like being back in the 19 Mayis Stadium - the noise factor was high volume !

Fatih was again appointed captain with Adem and Sapara both playing (interesting !).

It was Ankaragucu who took the initiative and pressed forward looking for the opening goal. As half time approached I commented to Damon, that in a Cup Final the opening goal usually proves crucial, and no sooner had I uttered those 'words of wisdom' than the opening goal arrived !

It was a gem of a goal with Sestak pouncing on a Fatih pass and rifling the ball in to send us all into delirium.

At the other end, I should mention the contribution of Rajnoch who returned from International Duty to steady the defence, and also Guven who gave a good example of how an attacking full back should play.

The 2nd half was only 5 minutes old when a Sapara free kick was headed in by Fatih. That's it I thought, no way back for Mersin now. Ankaragucu proceeded to take control of the match, and although Mersin never gave up, it was clear from their 'body language' that they felt defeat was inevitable.

Tonia came on for the 2nd half and was a constant thorn in their side with his runs and tackling back into defence at times. It was from one of his runs into the penalty box that the 3rd goal arrived. He was unceremoniously brought down in the box when he was about to shoot and the referee didn't hesitate by pointing to the spot. Up stepped Vittek to send in a perfect shot to make it THREE.

Near the end with Ankaragucu in full attacking mode another penalty was awarded, but I was too busy singing along with the Anti-X boyz to see who was involved ! This time 'new daddy' Hurriyet elected to take it and it was duly despatched for number FOUR.

It was a great sight to see the Ankaragucu players (and Ahmet Gokcek !!!) with the Cup and singing to the fans who had all waited for the presentation. A moment to savour and a night to remember for us all.

With Ankaragucu playing like this we can look forward with optimism to the forthcoming league campaign.

Post-match celebrations were continued by Damon and I in The NRY and I arrived home at about 2am (or thereabouts !!!).

Look forward to some glowing comments from you kankas who couldn't make it to the match, and I'm sure Bellshill Kanka Nadeem will be as overjoyed as us to see Ankaragucu lift the Cup.

More of that pleeeeezzzzzz !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

The Capital City Cup - 3rd Round Matches

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Karabuk v Ordu 0-0 draw last night eased Ankaragucu into Sunday's final.

However, the match was not without its heart-stopping moments. Ordu hit the woodwork and had a goal bound effort cleared off the line by a defender who was doing what he was supposed to do, ie, support his goalkeeper.

Taken as a whole, the match was played at a pedestrian pace, but having said that, all credit to Karabuk for a back-foot defensive display. However, they will have to 'up their game' if they are to survive in the Super League this season.

The Mersin v Sivas match was a different story. Mersin is the team which has caught the eye in this tournament. Their midfield, and especially attack, are very pacey and the two young African boys (Kamernun and Ozo'something') up front are causing panic whenever they get the ball. They also have some 'olde heads' around them, notably Nobre and Polat. If there is a weakness in the team it is their defence which looked a bit flat-footed at times last night.

The match ended in a 2-2 draw but Sivas was always chasing the game even though, to their credit, they never gave up.

The Mersin goals were classics. The first, a typical Nobre bullet header from a pin-point cross from the left. The second was a piece of pure brilliance from Kamernun when he took a pass and first-timed a lob over the despairing goalkeeper who had failed to clear initially.

So, it's an Ankaragucu v Mersin final and I'm sure Mesut Bey will have watched some of the Mersin action and be prepared for Mersin coming out of the traps fast like they did against Gencler. He must also make a plan to counter the threat of the two African boys up front.

It promises to be an interesting and entertaining final on Sunday KO 9pm.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

The Capital City Cup - Finalists

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Final of the Capital City Cup will be played on Sunday KO 9pm -

Ankaragucu v Mersin

Details of tonight's matches tomorrow.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

The Capital City Cup - 2nd Round Matches

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Ankaragucu is still in there with a glimmer of hope, but Gencler crashed out last night.

Gencler was blown away by Mersin last night in the 1st half with 3 well taken goals from what looked like the 'African Union'. Mersin was pretty damn impressive and took Gencler by surprise with their speed and commitment. Admittedly, Gencler came into the match more in the 2nd half but could only manage one goal in reply. So, Gencler will be playing on Sunday for one of the 'consolation prizes'.

As Battle Damaged and Bellshill Kankas reported in the comments section of the previous post, Ankaragucu beat Karabuk 2-1 last night, and with 4 points must rely tonight on Karabuk and Ordu having a draw, Karabuk winning, or Ordu only winning by the odd goal. I'm not sure what will happen if Ankaragucu and Ordu end up on the same points and goal difference !

I watched the first 30 minutes of the match last night before TRT3 crashed due to an Electric Storm over Ankara and TRT3 was unable to return to the match. There is another storm forecast for Ankara today/tonight so hopefully TRT will have rectified the fault which caused the blackout last night.

Interesting to note that Fatih was wearing the Captain's armband last night with Adem also playing ! Sapara was absent and hopefully just being rested.

As Nadeem said, Tonia was everywhere and buzzing like a bee. He was also my Man of the Match against Ordu and he is going to be a great asset to the team. Hopefully his endeavour will rub off on some of the other 'slow-coaches' in the team !

Sestak's goal was well constructed. He was put through with an excellent weighted pass by Fatih, and although being under pressure from defenders, he coolly picked his spot leaving the goalkeeper helpless.

So, all eyes glued to 'the box' tonight and hopefully Karabuk can do the biz and give Ankaragucu an 'assist' into the final on Sunday.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragücü: back to the DRAWing board

The Bar

Before I get into the match, there is an important point I should attend to. A little while back, Eski Kanka Jim broke the bad news to us that our friend Murat's Tunalı Hilmi Fat Cat was closing and we were going to need to find a place to watch away matches.

Well, it seems we may be returning to the Chopin. Ali Bey the manager who consistently pissed us off is no longer working there, and has been replaced by our friend İsmail who has promised to give our Gucu matches priority. On top of that, they are now serving their Efes in ice-cold, frosty mugs. Do we need any other reasons?

The Car

So after meeting up with Eski Kanka Jim and Maniac Kanka Harun at the Chopin, we got a call from our old friend Yankee who was generous enough to drive us out to the outskirts of Ankara where the Ankara Football Tournament is being held.

In spite of the training grounds being so inconvenient to get to, it was quite a nice experience. Security was no stricter than it is to get into a shopping mall in Ankara, and At 5 TL (about 3 dollars), tickets were also cheap, and apparently all proceeds from the tournament will be going to assist with hunger relief in Somalia. So, if at all possible, do make it out to watch some matches in this tournament. If not, you can always contribute to a reputable charity such as Unicef.

C'mon, Türkey. Hand in hand for Somalia

http://www.unicef.org/

From left to right: Eski Kanka Jim, Maniac Kanka Harun and, Yankee

The Match

A score we did not actually deserve, but that we are happy to take

Yes, once again a draw for our boys in blue and yellow. Looking back at our preseason performances, there hasn't been a single match against a worthy opponent that we haven't either lost or drawn.

On one level, I suppose we are at least moving in the right direction. After losing to Swarovski and Sporting Lisbon early on, our last three matches have all been draws, but this is not what concerns me the most about last night's match.

What concerns me the most is that we were lucky to come away with a draw--very lucky. Ordu were clearly the stronger team. They ran fast, passed fast, made space and took advantage of that space--and just never fnnn let up.

With them playing like this, it wasn't surprising to any of us when they scored from a goal mouth melee following a corner in the 25th minute of the match.

The fans even managed to get flares into the match. Unusual here in Ankara.

Turning to our squad, neither of our strikers appeared particularly threatening. Vittek, who despite showing determination and grit, had few chances, and when he got them, blasted over. He was still a presence on the pitch but seems to have lost the edge we all witnessed in the last World Cup. It could be that he is still holding back a bit in an effort to avoid yet another one of the injuries that he has been plagued with. We can only hope that he regains his old magic.

Meanwhile Fatih, who came on about half way through the second half, was out there taking his time, but the Ordu players were not about to stand back and allow him to set up his shots. They harassed him enough to essentially neutralize him. Nevertheless, he came through in the end when, in the 89th minute, he turned a corner kick into our one and only goal.

As for the rest of the team, our players were continually getting bogged down in the middle of the pitch while Ordu players escaped to the wings where they gladly received passes unhindered.

In retrospect, it is astounding that Ordu didn't win handily. That they weren't able to do so probably says more about their finishing ability than it does about our defense. Our defenders, need to play with more poise. As Eski Kanka Jim put it, "there were too many panic clearances with the ball being hoofed anywhere. There were several instances of this when a cool head could have controlled the ball and brought it out with passing movements."

In light of our shaky defense, Serdar's presence in goals was comforting. He looked rock solid, and made a beautiful vertical leap to tip a shot that was destined for the back of net back over the crossbar instead.

I was also quite impressed, as usual, with Sapara who did his best to set up attacks. Unfortunately, these generally fell apart due to another player's (e.g.Murat Duruer) inability to anticipate where they needed to be.

Finally, recent addition Tonia was a pleasant surprise. Always running, never giving up with plenty of ability, I look forward to great things from this young player on loan from Mersin.

It is worth noting that we were missing last year's player of the year: Jan Rajnoch who was in Oslo starting for the Czech national team. They lost 3-0 to Norway. I suppose Norway deserves some good news during this very difficult period they are working through.

Let's all hope that those fans who are at tonight's Ankaragücü-Karabük match witness a better performance than we did yesterday.

For some excellent photos of the match, go to the team's official website.

http://www.ankaragucu.org.tr/tr/haber/6626-ILK_MACI_BERABERLIKLE_TAMAMLADIK.html

Ankaragücü-Orduspor

Match ended up in a draw 1-1. Details to come tomorrow. Prepare to be depressed.

Sapara's Return

photo of Sapara nicked from since1910.net

If you followed the blog last season you may remember Nadeem and Harun voting for Rajnoch as player of the year while Jim and I placed our votes for Marek Sapara. Well, if last night was any indication, in a sense, we were all right as our lone goal was the result of a well placed pass by Rajnoch into the penalty box where Sapara picked it up and proceeded to chip it into the back of the net.

As far as I could tell the match was not broadcast live to any of the channels we receive in Ankara, so any and all commentary is based on secondary sources.

Fotomac for example rated the players as follows.

SAMSUNSPOR: Ahmet Şahin xx, Başaran x (Macede dk.46 x), Cabezas xxx (Dilaver dk. 80 x), Ufuk xx (Hakan Bayraktar dk. 46 xx), Murat xx, Kemal xx, Gurur xx, Lazar xxx, Selim xx, Santos xx, Zenke xxx (Burak dk. 74 x)

ANKARAGÜCÜ: Serdar xx, Güven xx (Aydın dk. 73 x), Rajnoch xx, Kelhar xx (Ediz dk. 80 x), Murat xx, Hürriyet xx, Kağan (Gökhan dk. 80 x), Sapara xxx (Lewis zdk. 62 x), Turgut xx (Vızıo dk. 80 x), Vıttek x (Fatih Tekke dk. 65 x), Tısdell xx (Sestak dk. 59 x)

According to these ratings at least, it looks like we were lucky to come out of this match with a draw. This is worrisome as Samsun are a team that just came up out of the second division.

We scored our goal in the 34th minute, but we weren't able to defend our lead into the second half. Again if you have been following the blog regularly, this will come as no surprise, as our defense was the second worst in the league last season.

Towards the end of the second half Serdar was challenged a couple of times but held his ground, and when all was said and done we emerged with a 1-1 tie. Satisfying on one level, but we should be doing better by now.

Can we take it to another level? We shall soon find out in the capital city cup. Stay tuned. For some great match photos, please visit the following address: http://www.ankaragucu.org.tr/tr/haber/6619-MACIN_GALIBI_DOSTLUK.html

GOOD NEWS ...... AT LAST !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The good news is that there will be a footie competition in Ankara this week featuring 6 clubs from the Super League.

The competition is called Baskent Kupasi (The Capital City Cup) and will start on Wednesday until Sunday of next week - 10 to 14 August.

There will be 3 teams in each group as follows -

Group A - Ankaragucu, Ordu and Karabuk
Group B - Gencler, Sivas and Mersin

The only likely problem is that the matches will be played at the Saray Spor Tesisleri which is in Gazi Mahallesi, and although there are lots of football pitches, the main Stadium is small. I will ask Maniac Kanka Harun for more details tonight and let you know further details in the comments section tomorrow.

The programme is -

Wed 10 Aug KO 7pm - Ankaragucu v Ordu
Wed 10 Aug KO 9pm - Gencler v Sivas
Thu 11 Aug KO 7pm - Gencler v Mersin
Thu 11 Aug KO 9pm - Ankaragucu v Karabuk
Fri 12 Aug KO 7pm - Ordu v Karabuk
Fri 12 Aug KO 9pm - Sivas v Mersin
Sun 14 Aug KO 7pm - 5th Place match
Sun 14 Aug KO 7pm - 3rd Place match
Sun 14 Aug KO 9pm - Final

So, some footie to cheer at last. Well done to the organisers for putting this together for us footie starved fans !

As I said, more details tomorrow about the venue, also where and when we are going to meet up.

Oz Kanka Chris is flying into Ankara tonight so I'm sure he will be up for this. Welcome back Oz !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

MORE BAD NEWS !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

I was with some friends of the old Pegasus Group last night and they informed me that The Fat Cat Bistro on Tunalihimli has closed. So, why bad news ?

This place was managed by an Ankaragucu friend of the Kanka Group and so we were able to watch all the away matches last season in the comfort of a very nice establishment.

So, it's back to the drawing board to find another suitable venue for this season when it eventually kicks off. Maniac, Battle Damaged and I will be meeting tomorrow and this subject will be high on the agenda. Watch this space for more.

On a happier note, Nadeem was spot on with his news of a sponsor for Ankaragucu. It was reported in The Hurriyet this morning that Anadolu Jet will be the sponsors this season. Well done to the management for arranging this nice piece of business.

I will now make a point of returning to the UK in January by Anadolu Jet !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu 4-0 Kızılcahamam Pursaklar !

Ankaragucu won there latest Pre Season friendly match at our training ground tonight thanks to goals from Marek Sapara (2), Ediz and Ergin Keles. Its the first game we have played since returning from Holland. With the season starting late there will be a few more friendly matches to come in order to keep the players match fit.

Team Line Up


Bekir

Guven Ediz Aydin Ishak

Jose Kagan Sapara Tonia

Fatih Sestak

Subs Used: Serdar, Santiago, Theo, Gokhan, Turgut, Hurriyet, Murat, Umut, Ergin


Both Ahmet and Melih Gokcek were at the game looking like Gangsters from some Italian film, sorry Damon not stereo typing Italians lol. Damon also has some news on Mesut possibly leaving with Gokceks and been replaced with Hikmet Karaman who has resigned from his job at Manisaspor.

ANOTHER MOUNTAIN CONQUERED FOR ANKARAGUCU

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

It's not the best photo in the world, but ....... what do you expect at 5 Thousand Plus Metres ASL !!

This was sent to me by Gokhan Unal who some of you may remember as an infrequent member of the Kanka Group. He has also been a member of my Darts Team for 11 years and an active member of the Hash Harriers Group in Ankara.

Here is his comments from the summit ................

Buyuk Kaptan merhaba

AnkaraGucu Logo was at the highest peak

of Turkiye few days ago <21/07>

under -20 degree, 100 km/hour wind speed, snow storm etc..

Keep in touch.. Gokhan

From all of us Gokhan ............ a big well done, and ........... I'm sure Mountaineering Kanka Robbie will have a few comments to make about your achievement ??!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim