Transfer ban will not be lifted !

Mehmet Yiginer has been unsuccessful in his attempts to lift the current transfer ban at Ankaragucu. The president flew out to Istanbul this morning to have talks with the Turkish FA in order to lift the ban. Those talks came to an end and according to reports, the lawyers of both Darius Vassell and Muhammet Hanifi rejected any negotiations over their outstanding payments.

Muhammet Hanifi spent more time on the bench or injured than games played for Ankaragucu, whilst Darius Vassell had a tough time off the field since moving to Ankaragucu. The club will now need to put the transfer ban to the side and push on with the current players as they fight to stay in the Turkish PTT Lig.

It is another blow for the Ankaragucu fans, who on every transfer window are fed the same stories only to be given the same excuses as to why the transfer ban wasn't lifted. The new management team new back in december what was required to lift it, Mehmet Yiginer has failed on his first big task in lifting the ban. He now has to prepare the club for next season with the possibility of playing in Lig 2.

Meanwhile Ankaragucu said farewell to Arif pecekek at his funeral today, a large crowd which included Hakan Sukur, Cengiz Paca, Cengiz Topal, Ziya Dogan, Samet Aybaba and the first team squad gathered at Tandogan before the muslim ceremony at the Mosque. The crowd paid their respects and said their goodbyes to the former Ankaragucu legend.

It is also believed that there will be a press conference held by Atilla Suslu and his men on friday to explain their resignations. Rumours say that Suslu and his men were unhappy with Yiginer and his men and the failure to lift the transfer ban.

Arif Pecenek 1959-2013 !

The round ball in Ankara was today saddened to hear of the death of former Ankaragucu player and coach Arif Pecenek. Harun is pictured above with Arif when they met a few years back. Arif made 193 appearances with Ankaragucu between 1981-1993.

He also served as a coach for five years between 2005-10 before moving on to manage Tavsanli who was his current club. We at the round ball in Ankara would like to send our condolences and thoughts to the family of Arif Pecenek.

Some news just in tonight, according to the Ankaragucu facebook pages, Atilla Suslu has resigned from his position at the club. Atilla was the man responsible for saving the club and bringing Mehmet Yiginer to the club. As of yet the cause of his resignation is unknown, as soon as we have any news we will update the blog.

Pecenek at the Round ball in Ankara stand at the German Embassy in 2007.

Emre Tasdemir signs professional contract !

Ankaragucu had more reason to celebrate tonight as 17 year old Emre Tasdemir signed his first professional contract with the club. Ankaragucu earlier tonight won 1-0 at Adanaspor thanks to a Teoman Erkan goal. It now gives Ankaragucu some hope in the fight against relegation. After the match it was announced Emre has signed his contract and will be available for the match against Karsiyaka last week.

Emre Tasdemir is one of the most highly rated young players in Turkey at the moment, the young left back is a Turkish youth international and was chased by Trabzonspor, Galatasaray and Bursaspor this month. Ankaragucu rejected offers from the three clubs and instead paid the outstanding debt owed to Ankaraspor for the youngster.

With Mehmet Tasci back in the team tonight and producing a good performance Emre will have a fight on his hands for that left back position. Welcome to Ankaragucu first team Emre Tasdemir.

Ankaragucu 1-0 Adanaspor Full Time

Please press f5 for updates throughout the match

1835: Just over 1 hour until kick off as Ankaragucu take on Adanaspor at Adana in the Turkish PTT Lig. According to various Ankaragucu facebook pages, Mehmet Yiginer will announce before kick off the outcome of the transfer ban. An announcement was expected at 1300 today but as of yet nothing has been announced.

1855: Ankaragucu go into the game bottom of the table and 9 points adrift of the teams above them, three points would take a bit of pressure off the young players as the club looks to lift the transfer ban. Adanaspor are in the playoff places and will look close the gap on the top two to one point.

Adanaspor won the last match between the two teams 1-0 in Ankara at the start of the season thanks to an 85th minute goal from Chuks Nwogbo.

We will have the team news as soon as they are confirmed, the game will be shown live on TRT Spor and TRT HD.

1917: Ankaragucu welcome back Mehmet Tasci from injury and there is also a place in the starting line up for Teoman Sefa Erkan.

Ankaragucu Team : Bayram, Aytac, Gurkan, Volkan, Mehmet, Teoman, Mert(c), Bilal, Kaan, Serkan, Timur

Subs: Gokhan Akkan, Aykildiz, Orhan, Enes, Umut, Hasan, Bilal Gundogdu


Adanaspor Team : Tolgahan, Tuna, Uzumcu, Koray, Tayfun, Fevzi, Ilkem, Sedat, Kibong, Rahman, Mbilla, Umit

1956: Both teams on the park for the Turkish national anthem. Ankaragucu in the yellow strip while Adana will play in Orange and white stripes. Looks like a decent crowd in Adana.


2000: Game is underway !!


1- Bright start from Ankaragucu winning a corner after only 1 minute, Timur looking sharp up top.

10 - Even game so far, Timur nearly on the end of a through ball but Tolgahan comes out to collect the ball.

17 - A message of support from our Gencler friends as Oz Kanka messages Haydi Ankaragucu !

21 - Adanaspor living dangerously as Teoman nearly in on goal and Tolgahan makes a mess of the clearance. Ankaragucu growing in confidence but Adana look dangerous on the attack.

24 - Sedat fires his shot over the bar from about 30 yards for Adana.

25 -  Kaan kanak goes inches wide with his free kick, so close as Ankaragucu nearly take the lead.

32 - Ankaragucu counter attack ends when Kaan makes the wrong decision when he puts his shot wide with men in support. Again encouraging signs from Ankaragucu.

37 - Kaan whips in a dangerous free kick but no one can get on the end of it, Ankaragucu look comfortable but need to put the ball in the net.

45 - Teoman so close to giving Ankaragucu the lead, lovely cross into the box from Mert which Teoman headed past Tolgahan but the ball went inches past the post.

Half Time - Adanaspor 0-0 Ankaragucu, excellent spirited first half performance from Ankaragucu, but as so often the case Ankaragucu just can't get that breakthrough. Adanaspor will be looking to up their performance in the second half as they showed nothing going forward. Bayram will be pretty happy that he had a quiet first 45 minutes.

2050 - Cider Kanka John, comments "exciting times, guess we didn't lift the transfer ban ?" We are hoping to find out the answer to that question after the match.

46 - Second half under way, Serkan plays in Kaan  but his first touch lets him down. Wasted chance from Kaan.

48 - Good run from Mbilla down the right hand side, he cuts the ball back but the Ankargucu defence clears for a corner.

49 - Another chance for Kaan but he shoots high and wide, looks like Kaan has lost his shooting boots tonight

51 - Gol Gol Gol, Kaan redeems himself with a lovely pass for Teoman who finishes with a lovely shot with the outside of his foot. 1-0 Ankaragucu !!!!

52 - Fevzi Ozkan shoots from distance easily saved by Bayram in the Ankaragucu goal

54 - Burak Calik played through on goal but shoots hight and wide for Adanaspor. Good response from Adana since the goal.

57 - Adanaspor nearly equalise but their headed effort is cleared off the line

61 - Battle Damaged Damon and Timotheos Leonidas join us and the later comments, " goals lead to victories, victories lead to points, points keep us in the league. Hope is rising.

63 - Nwogbo replaces Tayfun for Adanaspor.

69 - Great chance for Teoman after mistake in the Adana defence , but Tolgahan saves before the defender clears the ball.

75- Nwogbo fires just wide for Adanaspor, seconds later Adana had a chance at the back post but the ball was headed back across goal with no one on the end of it.

76- Timur fires over from just outside the box, good effort from the striker who is working his socks off.

77- Another chance for Adana but shot deflected wide for a corner.

78 - Enes Kubat replaces Mehmet Tasci for Ankaragucu.

80- Corner from Kaan nearly finds its way into the net as Tolgahan drops it, but the Keeper manages to grab the ball at second attempt.

84 - Mehmet Umut Nayir replaces the goalscorer Teoman for Ankaragucu.

88 - Hasan comes on to replace Serkan Sirin for Ankaragucu.

90 - Big penalty shout for Adanaspor as Gurkan looked to have caught Sedat in the penalty area, referee waves play on.

Full Time - Adanaspor 0-1 Ankaragucu !!! Fantastic performance tonight from Ankaragucu who deserved the 3 points in Adana. The gap is now 6 points, with news coming up on the transfer ban, lets hope its good news. !!

Not pretty but Gencler get the three points

From left to right: @SpineSideburn (on Twitter now!), Matt (possibly on Twitter) and @RobinSderberg (on Twitter now!)

"Rubbish"

That was the subject line of the e-mail that @SpineSideburn sent me. The photo above was all that was in that e-mail... no text, no context... no apology.

It was sent to me some time during this afternoon's match...

From left to right.

@SpineSideburn: "Wow. This is a great start" 

A few minutes pass

Matt: "We have gone ahead!"

Pretty much any time after that.

@RobinSderberg: "This is the worst match I've ever seen in my life"

Genclerbirligi 1 - 0 Akhisar Belede... spor

It has been forever, well a month or so since us Gencler fans were able to get together and so it was great to get down to Kizilay and say hello to our friends at the Beer Bus. They aren't really our friends, but they give us beer and pretend that they are interested in Genclerbirligi.

It was a who's who of Ankara society joining us on Saturday as I, your loyal and trustworthy chronicler was joined by none other than my own son! And you else? Yes, it was @SpineSideburn, and @RobinSderberg and our Erasmus friends Dan and Paddy, not only them but also Matthew's mate Tom!!!, and his Dad,... Simon... and that's not all we also had Oguz!!!! And er... Matt from the Australian embassy who was there to make Hursut not feel so sad. Been quite a while since we have had to squish into two taxis.

A half decent crowd on a mild Saturday afternoon. According to @kirmizikara the attendance was 4,556. Not huge but we were rather loud today. The amazing thing is that the attendance figure was even announced. I've never seen such a stat announced in Turkey.

Gencler started off nicely. Seemingly following on from last week's good performance against Antalya. Ermin Zec got a shot on early on and Bjorn was looking nice up front. Hursut and Jimmy were getting a few "sort of" decent crosses in. Then after a dangerous attack from Hursut we got a corner. Hursut sent it in and our defender Ante Kulusic headed it.... IN!!!!

Celebrations after Ante scores. Photo from Genclerbirligi facebook page.

That was about 20 minutes in.

The rest of the match was pretty much rubbish from us.

Basic passes were being buggered up. We seemed to give their attackers a lot of time on the ball. Luckily for us most of the shots were either straight at Ramazan or out. At one stage in the second half it was the post that spared us blushes.

In attack we seemed to go for Hursut on the right almost every time even though there were quite often big spaces in the middle. Hursut was getting his crosses in as good as he was last week and Zec seemed to be playing too far back.

Add to that some silly slipping over and most of the crowd was groaning away at the total uselessness of the afternoon.  

Finally the whistle blew and quite frankly Akhisar deserved to win it. The Gencler players knew it as well as they took forever to come over to accept the congratulations from us. A sheepish celebration... but hey, how many many times have I reported that we were the much better team but came away with nothing.

Ankaragucu vs Adanaspor match preview !

Bit of news just in before we look at Monday nights game at Adanaspor. Ankaragucu have promoted A2 players Emre Tasdemir, Emir Turan and Eren Ozmen to the first team after signing professional contracts. Emre Tasdemir is a very highly rated left back who had offers to sign for Trabzonspor, Galatasaray and Bursaspor. Siaka Bangura will also play with the A2 team until the transfer ban is lifted after arriving from Istanbul BBS. Furkan Guraslan continues to train with the club. The club have also taken a Nigerian player on trial.

Back to matters on the pitch, Ankaragucu travel to Adanaspor this coming Monday night as the club look to stay in the battle against relegation. After the disappointing defeat at home to Kayseri Erciyesspor at the weekend, Ankaragucu will be looking to bounce back by taking something from the game. Adanaspor are in the playoff places at the moment and won 1-0 thanks to a late Chuks Nwogbo goal the last time both sides met.

Although Ankaragucu lost 3-1 at home to Kayseri at the weekend, there were lots of positives to take from the game. For the majority of the match the team defended well and created many chances late on in the game. Enes Kubat came into the team and looked a very good player. Having Emre Tasdemir in the squad will be a huge boost to the side.

Timur Ozgoz will be looking to get back on the scoresheet at the weekend after having a disappointing game at the weekend by his usual high standards. The likes of Gokhan Erdogan and Mert Erdogan will also be called upon as they can be match winners for the side. Kaan Kanak of late has been one of the teams best performers and he will also be an important player for the team.

Ankaragucu are running out of time in this battle against relegation, they need to start winning games and putting a run of wins together. Rivals Goztepe have done exactly that and are now clear of the drop  zone. Adanaspor have a good side and will have former Ankaragucu duo Koray Colgacen and Metin Akan in their squad.

No predictions from me this week, a huge game for Ankaragucu, lets hope we can get the three points !

Bjorn ready for Akhisar match

GBTV Röportaj: Björn Vleminckx from Gençlerbirliği Spor Kulübü on Vimeo.

Gencler are Bjorn again

What the fuck!!!! Gencler today scored five!!!. Yes five!

 Antalyaspor 3 - 5 Genclerbirligi

 I was just a few minutes late to the Beer Bus and as I was walking in one of the waiters was already jumping up and down. "Iki, iki, iki," he shouted. I never know who these waiters support, most of the time people here seem to support the big three, and so I went inside to see that just five minutes in and Gencler were two up.

 I walked inside and was given high fives from everyone as if I had personally scored the goals. So, five minutes in. We are two-nil up. I can probably enjoy this match. And what a wonderful match it was. Gencler at times were sublime. At other times they were pretty crap. But it was one hell of a match and hats off to Antalya as they never gave up.

 Before I had arrived, our new signing Bjorn scored the first... then he scored the second. I showed up and then Sir Eski Kanka Jim's favourite player Murat Duruer scored for Antalya off a fairly dodgy free kick. It was a good goal though and well....

 It was then a bit of a ding-dong affair until Bjorn seemed to have scored again. Instead, it was an own goal but it didn't really matter as he scored again later on. All up, it was great stuff from Gencler. It was also great stuff from Antalya as the second half was all end-to-end action. Bjorn ended up getting four goals. He is surely our new hero.

You are allowed to take the piss after scoring 

three goals. After the forth, you can just laugh at them. 

Ankaragucu 1-3 Kayseri Erciyesspor match report !

Before todays game had started Kayseri were the overwhelming favourites, Ankaragucu rooted to the bottom of the league whilst Kayseri are involved in the promotion places. At the end of the match Ankaragucu will be wondering how they came away empty handed. Mustafa Kaplan summed it up perfectly at the end when he said their experience saw them take advantage of the things Ankaragucu failed to.

Team - Bayram, Enes, Gurkan, Volkan, Aytac, Gokhan, Mert, Bilal, Kaan, Serkan, Timur

Subs - Gokhan Akkan, Hasan, Umut Nayir, Ahmet Aykildiz, Bilal Gundogdu, Teoman, Orhan


The team lined up with a 4-5-1 formation with Timur up front on his own. Serkan, Kaan and Gokhan would supply the support from midfield. At the back Gurkan replaced Umit Kurt who signed for Sivasspor, whilst Enes Kubat came in at right back and Aytac moved to left back.

The 19 Mayis stadium was empty due to the stadium ban, although there were about 40 women and children who made it into the stadium. Its difficult to tell before a match just what kind of influence an empty stadium can have on the players.

4 - Nice play from Kaan Kanak as he rides two challenges before finding Aytac who shot wide of the post.

9 - Kayseri had the ball in the back of the net but the referee rightly ruled it out for offside.

13 - Mistake at the back from the Kayseri defence allowed Timur through on goal, he decided to take the shot from just outside the box but fired wide of the post with Atilla scrambling across.

21 - Half chance for Timur as he headed well wide from a Serkan cross.

31 - Ankaragucu take the lead, and what a fantastic goal it was. Serkan flicked the ball inside fro Kaan, who took a touch before lobbing Atilla to make it 1-0. Brilliant piece of individual skill from Kaan which he is capable of.

34 - Ankaragucu nearly double their lead as Bilal Gulden fires inches wide from a 30 yard free kick with Atilla beaten.

43 - A nice move from Kayseri which has the Ankaragucu defence all over the place finds its way to Gerrard Gohou whose shot came back off the cross bar with Bayram having no chance.

Half Time - Ankaragucu 1-0 Kayseri Erciyesspor

A good first half performance from Ankaragucu with the defence keeping things tight at the back. Gurkan was doing a good job replacing Umit and Enes looked comfortable at right back.

57 - Kayseri float a ball into the back post which the unmarked Emrah heads toward goal, Bayram makes a good save but Emrah is first to react as he puts the ball into the back of the net. 1-1

61 - Ankaragucu look to get back in the lead as Aytac closes down Ragip in the Kayseri box, but the defender gets back to block Aytac shot.

62 - Bilal Aziz shoots from distance for Kayseri but Bayram saves easily.

66 - Kayseri should have taken the lead as Emrah got on the end of a Bilal Aziz header but he sends the ball wide of the post.

67 - Nice break from Ankaragucu as Bilal finds Timur whose cross finds Gokhan who miss hit his shot at the back post. Unlucks as the Kayseri defender got a touch to put Gokhan off.

70 - Umut Nayir replaces the disappointed Kaan Kanak.

78 - Bilal blasts over from a Gokhan lay off.

79 - Serkan's corner into the box is headed back off the crossbar from Gokhan Erdogan.

84 - Excellent run from Volkan whose determination sees off three challenges before finding Timur whose shot is saved by Atilla

85 - Hasan replaces Bilal

87 - Excellent ball from Serkan plays in Timur one on one with Atilla but he shoots straight at him. Golden chance to win the game.

88 - This time Hasan plays in Timur again one on one with Atilla but somehow he shoots at the side netting. Two glorious chances to win the game.

89 - Kayseri go up the other end of the park as Gohou plays in Emrah who goes past Gurkan and makes no mistake by slotting the ball past Bayram. The Ankaragucu players looked devastated.

90 - Gerrard Gohou has the ball in the back of the net again but ruled out for offside.

93 - One last chance for Ankaragucu as Umut Nayir heads the ball on for Enes but Atilla collects the ball.

94 - A brilliant counter attack as Hanni plays in Emrah for his hat trick and finishes the game at 3-1.

Full time - Ankaragucu 1-3 Kayseri Erciyesspor

A harsh lesson for the Ankaragucu players as they should be celebrating 3 points. The only way Ankaragucu can survive now is if the transfer ban is lifted this coming week. Mehmet Yiginer spoke after the games saying 4-5 players are wanting what is owed in full and that is what the hold up is. He said it needs to be lifted though.

Next up is Adanaspor away, lets hope Ankaragucu have a host of new players ready to play and take 3 points before it is too late.

Man of the Match - Volkan Geyik

Transfer ban close to being removed !

According to Ozel Haber, Mehmet Yiginer, Atilla Suslu and Metin Aykuz have flown to Istanbul for meetings with the Turkish FA in order to lift the transfer ban. Sources close to the club believe 90% of the work has been done to remove the ban and are hopeful that within the next week the job will be complete.

Mehmet Yiginer has commented yesterday saying " We are hopeful of lifting the transfer ban by the end of the month and will sign 6-7 experienced players to help the team." The club are also believed to have agreed a deal with a foreign striker who will come if the ban is removed.

More good news as Mert Erdogan, Mehmet Tasci, Timur Ozgoz and Hasan Ayaroglu were all paid outstanding payments. Hasan is believed to be in talks with Russian giants Rubin Kazan, the youngster has impressed playing for the Turkish U17 National side. The management team have paid the latest instalment owed to Roman Bednar.

Hopefully as Jim arrives back in Bonnie Scotland the ban will be lifted and he can pick up his optimism pills :-)

Modern artist and former Gencler player Burhan Dogancay dies aged 83,

I'm putting here the entire Reuters report by Ayla Jean Yackley on the death of modern artist Burhan Dogancay. 

Ayla joined me for a few Gencler games years and years ago. Admittedly, it was a fare few years after Dogancay had played for the club back in the 1940s.   

Turkish modern art's "bridge" Burhan Dogancay dies age 83

By Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL | Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:50am EST

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Painter Burhan Dogancay, whose celebrated career spanned the rise of modern Turkish art, died on Wednesday in Istanbul. He was 83.

Dogancay was best known for his prolific series of "urban walls," in which he travelled to 114 countries to record graffiti-splattered and poster-covered walls in some 500 cities that he would then reinterpret onto large canvases that were part painting, part collage.

"The whole human experience has been reflected on walls, beginning with cave drawings 20,000 years ago. It's in our genes," Dogancay told Reuters last year.

"I take the documentary and transform it into something abstract so that the real and unreal are side-by-side."

Dogancay's career began as Turkey's modern art movement took off, and he was at its leading edge for much of his life.

Until his death, he was Turkey's most expensive living artist after "Symphony in Blue," a modernist Turkish masterpiece, fetched $1.7 million at a 2009 auction.

His work also appears in the collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the National Gallery of Art in Washington; and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

Born just six years after the founding of the modern Turkish Republic, Dogancay first learned to paint from his father, Adil Dogancay, a topographer and artist in the military who tried to dissuade his son from a career in art in a country where no galleries existed outside of state museums.

A semi-professional football player for the Ankara club Genclerbirligi, the younger Dogancay studied law and then earned a doctorate in economics in Paris where he took courses on art at Academie de la Grande Chaumiere.

He left Turkey for New York in the early 1960s amid the political upheaval following a military coup, working for the Turkish cultural agency but he soon quit to devote his life to his art.

Last year the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art held a retrospective of 50 years of Dogancay's work, drawing more than 215,000 visitors.

Dogancay was "something rare, a bridge between modern and contemporary," Levent Calikoglu, chief curator at the Modern, told Reuters before his death. "By birth he is modernist, and he continued that tradition, never 'updating' himself, and yet his work still feels incredibly fresh, like it was made today."

Ankaragucu vs Kayseri Erciyesspor match preview !

Its back to football this Sunday after the 3 week winter break as Ankaragucu host Kayseri Erciyesspor at an empty 19 Mayis Stadium. The match will be the first of the 5 match stadium ban the club has due to the crowd trouble against Konyaspor. It looks like the team will go into the match with no new faces as to date the transfer ban hasn't been lifted.

Both sides met on the first day of the season in Kayseri where Ankaragucu took the lead through Timur. Ankaragucu looked comfortable until Timur was wrongly sent off for an apparent elbow. Second half goals from Mehmet Ayaz and Gerard Gohou gave Kayseri Erciyesspor the three points against 10 men Ankaragucu.

Since then Ankaragucu have struggled at the bottom of the table whilst Kayseri are involved in the promotion places. Sitting second in the league they have hit a bit of a sticky patch of late with 1 win from their last five games. The game is a huge game for both sides for different reasons, Ankaragucu cant afford to lose any more ground on the teams above them.

Ankaragucu have lost two key players over the winter break. Umit Kurt signed for Sivasspor and Sinan Kurumus completed a shock move to Besiktas. Their replacements will be Gurkan Alver who will move into defence to partner Volkan Geyik, whilst Umut Nayir will replace Sinan. Some of the A2 players will be promoted to the first team as well.

Unless the new management team can lift the transfer ban, it will be impossible to avoid relegation. During the winter break the defence showed the same problems by conceding  to many sloppy goals. With Umit gone, the likes of Timur, Mert and Bayram will be called upon for their experience.

The game will be shown live on Sunday from 2pm Turkish Time, 12pm UK time on TRT Web TV. Lets hope the team can take the three points !

Mehmet Yiginer becomes Ankaragucu president !

Mehmet Yiginer became the 47th president of Ankaragucu today as he received 480 votes from the delegates who also attended. A crowd of over 500 fans gathered outside the Tandogan facility awaiting the news they were all wishing for. It was only last month that Atilla Suslu brought Mehmet Yiginer a friend of Melih Gokcek to the table.

There was good news straight from the start as it was announced Cemal Aydin has been removed from the club as Honorary chairman. The man responsible for the near death of Ankaragucu is finally gone. Yiginer also spoke of the great history of Ankaragucu and asked for the help from the Ankara community to get behind the club.

In regards to the transfer ban, there is still a bit to go but they think it is possible to remove the ban. Atilla Suslu will stay on as part of the management team and also part of the team will be Abdullah Karaata. This is a small step for Ankaragucu on a long road back to recovery. It will be interesting to see the next steps of the new management team.

Thank you Atilla Suslu and Mehmet Yiginer !

The big news today was the announcement that Mehmet Yiginer will run for President of Ankaragucu on Sunday. He will become the clubs 47th president. This is a very small step towards rebuilding Ankaragucu and Yiginer has managed to convince Melih Gokcek to support him.

During these troubled times one man who has stood up and fought to save Ankaragucu is Atilla Suslu, when all hope was lost and President after President trying to make a quick buck, he was there to help. He opened up membership to the fans, paid outstanding debts to prevent points deduction and also brought Mehmet Yiginer to the table. With Atilla Suslu now a member of the club it gives us more confidence that these problems wont happen again.

Mr Yiginer will now press on with his future plans of investment from businesses, he wants the fans to behave themselves as well and spoke of the wonderful history of Ankaragucu and the duty of Ankara to back the club. The biggest question is when will he remove the transfer ban by paying the outstanding debt ?

Sources close to the club say the transfer ban will be lifted on Sunday at the clubs congress. Please let this be true.

Ankaragucu eye move for Guraslan and Bangura !

According to Sporyolu, Ankaragucu will offer contracts to both Furkan Guraslan and Bangura if the transfer ban is lifted. Guraslan has impressed while on trial from SC Lustringen in Germany. Meanwhile Bangura has joined the Ankaragucu training camp in Antalya today from Istanbul BBS youth team. Only information we have on Bangura is that he comes from Guinea.

In other news, Mehmet Yiginir will tomorrow at 10am hold a press conference in the Rixos hotel to announce weather he will run for president. Lets hope for some good news for a change. Yiginir also spoke of his wish to have three thousand members of the club by the end of the year, and then five thousand the following year.

Stay tune tomorrow for all the latest news !

Ankaragucu 3-3 Hatayspor !

A 6 goal thriller in Antalya today as Ankaragucu drew 3-3 with Hatayspor. Goals came from Bilal Gulden, Gokhan Erdogan and Timur Ozgoz. Thats 8 goals in the last two games for Ankaragucu but those defensive problems are still there and need to be addressed.

In other news, It is still unclear weather Mehmet Yiginir will be come President of the club at Sundays congress. He has still not received the backing from Melih Gokcek although a meeting has been scheduled for Sunday morning according to Klasspor.

The transfer ban is no closer to being lifted, intact just today it was said that the management team have come up against a few problems and need more money than expected to lift the ban. Also Baba Diame has left the training camp in Antalya and has flown to France to sign for a French team. Muhammed Turkmen has also had his contract canceled by the club.

Ankaragucu 5-2 Bucaspor !

Ankaragucu took on Bucaspor in their second winter break game today in Antalya. Sol Kapali were there to cheer on the team and there were also members of Avrupali Guculer. The game ended 5-2 to Ankaragucu with the goals coming from Umut Nayir, Mert Erdogan, Furkan Guraslan, Bilal Gulden and Timur Ozgoz.

Team - Bayram, Enes, Gurkan, Aytac, Kaan, Mert, Bilal, Serkan, Timur, Furkan, Umut

Subs - Gokhan, Bilal Gundogdu, Ahmet, Mehmet, Eren, Baba, Orhan

I found out a bit more about Baba Diame the French player we have on trial. He is of African descent and has been playing with Alcoron B team who are a Spanish first division club. He plays as a striker and as you can see from the picture above is a big powerful lad.

Damon sent me a link from Sporanki today which claims the club will name all its members as it looks to be more transparent in the running of the club. Mehmet Yiginir is also at the clubs training camp in Antalya and handed out one thousand Turkish Lira between the players.

Erzincan Refahiyespor 2-1 Ankaragucu

Ankaragucu lost 2-1 today in their first friendly in Antalya over the winter break. Teoman Erkan scored the only goal in a disappointing result against the local side. We can't read to much into a friendly match but it just shows how much the club needs to bring new players in especially with the sale of Umit Kurt and Sinan Kurumus.

News broke tonight that the congress has been postponed and will now take place on the 13th of January with the possibility that it will be moved to the 20th January. According to an interview with Orhan Sal, Mehmet Yiginir will wait until he speaks with Melih Gokcek tomorrow or Monday before making his decision on weather he will run for President.

Melih Gokcek has already stated he wouldn't recommend anyone to become Ankaragucu president so it remains to be seen if his close friend can convince him to change his mind.

Vleminckx Finishes Season at Gençlerbirligi

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After the winter stop Björn Vleminckx will no longer play for FC Bruges. The Belgium club will loan the 27-year-old, and former topscorer of the Dutch League, to Turkish Gençlerbirligi.

Björn Vleminckx travelled to Turkey himself to negotiate a possible transfer. The negotiations have now been positively concluded hence the 27-year-old striker will play half a year for Gençlerbirligi.

Capa and Nilis

Gençlerbirligi - a Turkish football club with Belgian influences. The Belgian-Turkish coach Fuat Capa is trainer of the squad, Luc Nillis is his assistant.  After 17 match-days Gençlerbirligi ranks eleventh in the Süper Lig. The club also strengthened itself with Serbian midfielder Nemanja Tomic (24). He was taken over from Partizan Belgrado.

Vleminckx hopes to play more in Turkey because at FC Bruges he had fallen from grace with coach Garrido. At his employer he ranked third in hierarchy after Carlos Bacca and Mohamed Tchité. In 2011 the Belgians took Vleminckx for 3,3 million Euro from N.E.C Nijmegen where he was topscorer (23 goals) in the Eredivisie (Dutch Premier League).

3 Trialists arrive at Ankaragucu training camp !

The Ankaragucu facebook page today confirmed that three trialists have joined the clubs training camp in Antalya. The team will spend the winter break in the golf resort in Belek while staying at the Arcadia hotel.

French striker Baba Diame along with 2 German born Turks Kerim Avci (pictured above) and Furkan Guraslan joined the rest of the team today and Diame will stay with the club for the next month. The french striker Diame is an unknown quantity but likely to come from African origin.

Kerim Avic is playing with Rott Weiss Essen in the German regional league and is a 23 year old  attacking midfielder. Furkan Guraslan is 24 years old and also plays in midfield. In recent years there have been a lot of success for Turkish teams signing German born Turks from German lower leagues.  Three years ago Ankaragucu had Cenk Tosun on trial before he signed for Gaziantepspor. Ankaragucu have also had success with Timur Ozgoz and Ishak Dogan.

Its going to be a busy January in terms of rumours and players coming and going, but it all counts for nothing if we cant lift the transfer ban. A bit of good news tonight as Ankaragucu will receive 55 thousand Lira due to Gokhan Akkan playing with the Turkish National youth team. Well done Gokhan !

Ankaragucu close to removing transfer ban !

After all the heartbreak and disappointment in the last couple of years, there looks to be some good news on the horizon at Ankaragucu. Although past experience teaches us not to get carried away, the interview tonight with Atilla Suslu certainly gives us some hope that the club are moving in the right direction off field.

I would also like to add what a fantastic job Atilla Suslu has done in his short time in charge. If and its a big if Ankaragucu can come out of this mess then he can take all the credit. It really is refreshing to have someone like him in charge of the club. The following statements were all made tonight by Atilla Suslu and thanks to the official Ankaragucu Facebook page for breaking the news.

* After very positive discussions the club are very close to removing the transfer ban. It has been agreed the club will pay 1.5 Million Lira instead of the 7.5 Million that was supposed to be paid.

* The club will pay outstanding payments to Umit Sozen, Muhammet Hanifi, Darius Vassell, Baki Mercimek and Fatih Tekke.

* Timur Ozgoz has confirmed he wont be going to Adana Demirspor and wants to stay at the club.

* Genclerbirligi, Bursaspor and Fenerbahce have all confirmed they will help Ankaragucu by sending players on loan for free.

* Trabzonspor general manager Sadri Sener also said he will send Paulo Henrique to the club on loan as well as other young players if the ban is lifted.

* Augustine Ahinful who now works with the Ghana FA, will send players from Ghana to the club

* Mustafa Kaplan has a list of 15 players he wants, names mentioned are Murat Aykuz from Karsiyaka, Cihan Yilmaz from Boluspor and Kemal Aslan from Denizlispor. Also linked to the club are Kursat Duymus from Akhisar and former Ankaragucu striker Jaba who is with Antalyaspor.

Exciting times indeed, but lets not get carried away as we have been disappointed to many times in the past. The one that im most excited about above is the possible signing of Paulo Henrique from Trabzonspor.