Thursday, August 29, 2013

Ankaragucu 0-0 Kizilcahamamspor





Ankaragucu drew 0-0 with Kizilcahamamspor in the teams latest pre season match. The game was played at Tandogan training facility as the players looked to get closer to match fitness.

The season start is upon us with the visit of Istanbul Gungorenspor. Match preview coming soon on the blog....

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Ankaragucu 2-1 Anadolu Selcukluspor





Ankaragucu maintained their unbeaten pre season run after a 2-1 win over Anadolu Selcukluspor at Tandogan facilities. The club have returned to Ankara after a successful training camp in Bolu. Again Umut Nayir was on the scoresheet to make it 3 goals in 2 matches for the young striker. Umut has the task of filling the void left by Timur Ozgoz. The youngster has a fantastic goalscoring record at youth level and showed glimpses of his talent last season.

The other goal came from Serkan Sirin as Ankaragucu prepare for the start of the new season which is two weeks away. In other news reports claim the season ticket numbers has risen to 15,000. A truly remarkable achievement for a club who will be playing in Lig 2.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

The One-Eyed man is King !




Last nights Gencler report courtesy of Spine as Gencler won 3-0 at home to Akhisar Belediyespor. A nice 3 points after a poor start last week for Gencler. Picture above of Dan welcoming his fellow countryman Bodgan Stancu with the Romania Flag.

So it was a fine evening for Genclerbirligi on Friday, August 23. The team put in a confident and sometimes stylish performance to defeat Akhisar 3-0 at 19 Mayis. All three main strikers - Jimmy, Zec and Stancu - got on the scoresheet. The turnout in Maraton was no less than last season, despite the 50 pct increase in the cost of a season ticker (150 TL versus today's match price of 15 TL, stats fans) And our happy band saw the return of Dan the Man and Flying Dutchman Kanka, who have decided to end their principled boycott of the club over the match-fixing scandal.

Diring the pre-match warm-up exercises at the Beer Bus i asked them why they were returning. While Dan is mainly testing the suitability of the ground for a visit with his five year old, both also admitted to being curious about the politics. So lets get that over with first.

The Political Match Report

As you'd  expect from a club with a support base consisting of students, communists, over-educated "intellectuals" and malcontents, the Gezi spirit still animates the crowd in Maraton.

Climbing the steps to the top of C Section i noticed what i first thought was a medical oddity: a fair few people seemed to be wearing eye-patches as treatment for lazy eye. In some areas whole groups of people were wearing white stick-on eye patches.





You will remember that at least 11 people lost an eye in the course of Gezi protests according to the Turkish Medical Association. Three injuries are widely attributed to police officers who fired tear gas at close range directly into crowds.

So the mood was clear from the start, and within minutes of kick off the crowd launched into a new chant: Her Yer Kara, Her Yer Kimizi. Yes, by pure chance, that does scan and sound exactly like a political chant heard during the protests. But the words have been changed to celebrate the team colours, so its really just an innocent football song, officer.

No Gencler people, you are not fooling anyone.

Of course, all this is playing with fire, at least as far as the club and 77 year old Chairman Ilhan Cavcav are concerned. Sports Minister Suat Kilic has used his special TRT Anchorman Voice to warn clubs of unspecified but heavy punishments if they allow grounds to become venues for "politics". Witty and non-violent Gencler protests may have been, but that may not save the club (or fans) from repercussions if the authorities decide to stand by their warnings.

In this atmosphere police surveillance naturally takes on a new meaning. For years the Gencler fans have generally ignored the policemen who constantly film the crowd from the touchline. Not this season. The cops were given loud jeers around Kick-off. The tear gas song Sik Bakalim (a ditty that essentially says Gas us if you think your hard enough) was a fairly regular chant, and sometimes morphed into Cek Bakalim ( Take our picture if you ....)

And of course the 34th minute was greeted by Her Yer Taksim, Her Yer Direnis.

The Footballing Match Report 

Despite all the above, everyone was really there to see football, and the slightest action on the field dragged the crowd out of the political mode, like a tug on a leash from Cesar Milan.

The 3-0 win was a wonderful thing, but it may be misleading. Akhisar had their chances, and it was only thanks to an almost flawless performance from Ramazan in goal that the score wasn't more "nuanced". He held everything that came his way firmly and twice denied goal shots on goal from the visitors. His distribution out of goal was a bit weird at times, but generally he was great.

Akhisar had those chances because the Gencler midfield still doesn't seem right to me. The ball was often given away in the middle of the park win ways that as Dan pointed out would be rapidly and ruthlessly punished by more effective opponents. Part of the problem here i think, is Jean-Jaques Rousseau, the famous Ivorian philosopher who has cut off his dreadlocks since the Rize game, i'm sad to say.

Gosso sits just in front of the back four as a defensive midfielder, and while his tackling does seem solid, his passing is less predictable. His instinct seems to be to move backward, and since he's already positioned just outside the box, bis passes often put the defenders and keeper under unnecessary pressure.

The Goals

17: Jimmy opened the scoring with a drive from the right after a rather ornate free-kick move.
33: Zec hammered one home from a pass from Stancu.
88: The philosopher robbed and Akhisar attack and disproved me by surging forward and generously passing to Stancu on his left on the edge of the box, Stancu finished cleanly.

Other Notes

Jimmy had a fine game, roaming both wings and being knocked over a lot. Petrovic was brought on late in midfield and made two or three lovely passes. Oktay Delibalta looked useful in a central role. The Thompson Twins Tosic and Tomic both had good games, although i think Tosic was given a more central defensive role, thanks to the Kulusic red card. Gencler were wearing all black strip that apparently has been designed to mark the clubs 90th anniversary. They will soon be on sale at the club shop, i read.


Sunday, August 18, 2013

Ankaragucu 2-2 Inegolspor





Ankaragucu drew 2-2 today in Bolu against Inegolspor having twice came from behind. Both goals were scored by Striker Umut Nayir which will give him confidence going into the new season. The training camp in Bolu looks to be going well as the team looks to get match fit for the start of the season.

As Jim reported earlier today, Ankaraspor made their comeback to competitive football after a 3 year ban. They won 3-1 at home to Manisaspor with former Ankaragucu striker Tonia Tisdell scoring 2 goals. There looked to be a crowd of about 3000 at the game and Ankaraspor look to have built a decent side.

Hopefully Ankaragucu can win promotion and meet Ankaraspor next season providing they don't win promotion to the Super Lig.

GENCLERBIRLIGI KICK-OFF SEASON WITH YELLOW AND RED !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Not a happy start in the League for Gencler last night with 5 Yellows, 1 Red and Zero points !

Rizespor   1       Genclerbirligi   0

I was unable to watch the match, but perhaps Oz Kanka saw it down south on his holiday and can add a brief report.    Also, Spine or The Flying Dutchman ?

Team - Ramazan, Gosso, Mervan, Doga, Kulusic, Jimmy, Stancu, Tosic, Serkan, Sedat and Tomic.

Subs used - Zec, Ozgur and Oktay

The Rize goal was scored by Sercan on the half hour mark, and according to The Hurriyet this morning, Men-of-the-Match were Rize goalkeeper Pawelek, and defenders Viera, Ali Adnan and Sylvestre.   Indications that Gencler was on attack mode but unable to find the back of the net ?!

Kulusic of Gencler received his Red Card near the end of the match.

On another subject, and I know that our Webmaster (Oz Kanka) doesn't like us to mention Ankaraspor, but I feel bound to say that they return to action tonight in the PTT League having served out their 3 years banishment punishment.  

Let's hope they don't get promoted this season so that we can have an Ankara Derby in the PTT League next season with Ankaragucu taking them on after winning the 2nd Division Title yesssssssss !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Ankaragucu 2013/14 Kits released !





Ankaragucu Home Strip






Ankaragucu Away Strip







Ankaragucu Third Strip






Ankaragucu Fourth Strip

Friday, August 16, 2013

Ankaragucu 1-1 Sakaryaspor





Todays friendly finished 1-1 with Mert Pamukkaya scoring the goal for Ankaragucu. The young midfielder who signed a professional contract a couple of weeks ago is hoping to impress in pre season and push for a place in the first team.

Ankaragucu have also at this stage sold 10,000 season tickets with Besiktas only selling 7,000 :-).

THE TURKISH SUPER LEAGUE KICKS OFF

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

With Oz Kanka on his way to the south coast on holiday, let me try and keep you up-to-date with what's going on with Genclerbirligi's fixtures.

The Super League kicks off tonight (KO 9.45pm) in Antalya, with the home side playing against Erciyes.

As Oz told most of you in an email recently, Gencler will be playing tomorrow night 17 August KO 8pm in Rize.   The match will probably be on one of the League TV channels.

Gencler's first home match will be the following week on Friday night 23 August against Akhisar and the KO will be ......... wait for it ....... another 9.45pm.

So, if any of the Gencler Kankas are going to this match then please make a brief report for the Blog.   If you can't access the Blog to do this, then send it to me and I'll copy and paste.

As for Ankaragucu, the season is all about pre-season friendlies at the moment as you can see from Nadeem's recent report.

The League season for Ankaragucu will KO on 8 September with a home match against Gungoren.   However, we are still under a Stadium Ban from last season's 'problems' so it will be ladies and children only in attendance.

The first home match which we will be able to attend in on 27 October against Pazar !!!

Hopefully the Ankaragucu 'supporters' who caused this 'problem' last season will have learned their lesson and will heed Mehmet Bey's warning about stadium behaviour this season.

10 Months without being able to watch a home match is the type of punishment we do NOT want to witness again !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Ankaragucu 2-0 Gaziosmanpasa !




Ankaragucu got off to a winning start on their first pre season game of the 2013/14 season. The game was played in Bolu where the first teams training camp is located. Manager Hayati Soldas was very happy with the teams performance as they created many chances and all the players got a good run out.

The team that started the game is as follows : Bayram, Orhan, Gurkan, Aytac, Mehmet, Mert, Harun, Kaan, Serkan, Gokhan, Umut Nayir

Ankaragucu will play against Sakaryaspor tomorrow night as the team continue to be put through their paces. In news off the field, President Yiginer spoke today saying he believes the club can sell 20,000 season tickets. Its reported that the club have already sold 9,000 season tickets to date.

Yiginer also spoke to the clubs Tribune leaders and said Ankaragucu will have a new image and no more trouble on the terraces of Stadium bans. Lets hope that is true as the club has lost too much money for crowd trouble in the past.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Ankaragucu season ticket sales going strong !





The Dirlilis Ankaragucu campaign started by President Yiginer has been a massive success with Ankaragucu fans flocking in their numbers to snap up their Kombine Cards. Its reported that the club has sold 6000 season tickets to date which is a remarkable achievement for the Lig 2 club. The clubs facebook page has been inundated with photos of fans and staff with their season tickets.

We have even had a fan from America buying his ticket. I have booked my flights for 24th October - 29th October for the Pazarspor match. Im hoping to maybe even buy a season ticket when im over and do my bit in this campaign.

In other news Koray Kantemir has left the club and signed for fellow Lig 2 club Sekerspor . Ankaragucu also won 2-0 tonight in a friendly against Gaziosmanpasa. More to follow.....

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Kizilcahamamspor team profile !



Founded in 1950 Kizilcahamamspor are another of the Ankara clubs who will play in the Turkish Lig 2 this coming season. Formerly known as Pursaklarspor the team play their home matches in the Kizilcaham Country Stadium which holds about 5100 people.

Both sides met last season in a friendly where Ankaragucu came out 2-0 winners. Last season was very successful for Kizilcahamam as they finished 6th and only 4 points away from the playoffs. This season they will be looking to go one better and challenge for promotion.

With Pursaklar being a district of Ankara this may also be a good game for the Kanka group to consider for an away match. Both clubs also have a friendly relationship which should make a safe trip for anyone looking to attend the game.

In other news, Season ticket sales have reported to have reached near the 2000 mark with Ankaragucu fans queueing up for their new Kombine cards. Prices range from 75-150 Turkish Lira and can be purchased from the club shop.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

THE TSYD CUP (SPORTSWRITERS CUP) - 2013

Greetings Kankas.

It's that time of the year again when the season kicks off with the Ankara Sportswriters Cup as the curtain raiser for the Super League next week.

Whaaaaaaat ?    No Ankaragucu in the mix ?    Shock horror !!!

Perhaps they received an invitation and decided that they were too good for this competition and continued to train at their Bolu Camp ??!!

Well, at least there is one Ankara team in the competition ....... Genclerbirligi !

It all kicks off tonight at 19 Mayis Stadium and the details are as follows -

10 August - KO 8pm - Konyaspor v Genclerbirligi
10 August - KO 10pm - Elazigspor v Kayseri Erciyes

11 August - KO 7pm - 3rd and 4th place
11 August - KO 9pm - Final

Only two more words to say ...............

C'mon Gencler !!!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Friday, August 09, 2013

Polatli Bugsasspor team profile !





One of the most interesting teams that Ankaragucu will come up against this season is Polatli Bugsasspor who play in the outskirts of Ankara. They are also linked to the Gokceks and like Ankaragucu have had troubled times under their leadership. It is believed that they still have links to Melih Gokcek which could see the game between the two teams quite hostile.

Speaking to Jim today we were trying to work out where Polatli play their home games. It seems that they play in the Stadium of Hell otherwise known as Yenikent which is in the outskirts of Ankara. The stadium holds just over 25,000 which means there will be plenty tickets for the match available. Some reports also say they play their home games at Sincan Sehir Stadium which holds about the same amount.

Founded in 1984 as Egospor they changed their name to Polatli in 2005, the club were close to promotion last season but lost out in the play offs. Their squad consists of former Ankaragucu players Emre Aygun, Baki Mermicek and Mustapha Er.  Both Timur Ozgoz and Bayram Olgun have spent time on loan at Polatli in the past.

Both sides will meet on the weekend of 9th October at Polatli. The home match will be played at the 19 Mayis on 26 February. Polatli are one of the favourites this season for promotion and both matches Ankaragucu will need to be at their best if they are to take any points.

In other news Bilal Gundogdu will miss the first couple of months of the season after picking up an injury in training. The club also wished the fans Byrami Mubarak Olsun and season tickets are on sale from the club shop on the 12th of August from 1300.


Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Ankaragucu duo called up to International side !




Ankaragucu youngsters Gokhan Akkan and Emre Tasdemir have been called up to the Turkish Under 19 squad for their upcoming match against Slovakia. Genclerbirligi player Atabey Cicek has also been called up to the squad.

Gokhan Akkan has established himself as first choice Goalkeeper at Ankaragucu despite still only being 18 years old. A string of impressive performances has saw him replace Bayram Olgun who has a fight on his hand to win back his place.

Emre Tasdemir made a couple of substitute appearances last season and has also attracted interest from Bursaspor, Trabzonspor and Galatasaray. The youngster also 18 will be looking to challenge Mehmet Tasci for the left back position this coming season.

From all at the Round Ball in Ankara well done to the youngsters from both clubs on representing their country.

Ankaragucu news round up !





Ankaragucu youngster Mert Pamukkaya has become the latest youth player to sign a professional contract with the club as he signed a 3 year deal. Not all good news though as the club have been handed a 1 point deduction for the coming season due to debts owed to Robert Vittek and Ariel Broggi.

The club have stated the will appeal the deduction as they continue to fight against the financial crisis at the club. Timur Ozgoz has been linked with a move to Sivasspor after his move to Antalyaspor fell through, its almost certain he wont be wearing the Ankaragucu jersey this coming season.

Saturday, August 03, 2013

Ankaragucu youngsters sign professional contracts !




Ankaragucu youth players Ahmet Bahutan Aykildiz and Onur Atasayar have both signed professional contracts with the club and are pictured above with President Yiginer. After all the doom and gloom over the past 3 years, President Yiginer has delivered this summer and brought a bit of stability to the club. The majority of the squad apart from Timur, Bilal and Enes have stayed with the club and Yiginer  is confident the team can challenge for the Championship.

Ahmet Bahutan was on the bench a couple of times last season and will be hoping to push on and challenge for a first team place. Onur meanwhile has a fight on his hand as he is a left back and will have competition from Mehmet Tasci and Emre Tasdemir.

Iskenderun Demir Celikspor team profile !




Only founded in 1991 it was difficult to find any information on Iskenderun. Located in the Hatay province of Turkey they have played all their years in the lower leagues in Turkey. They finished 10th last season in Lig 2 and play their home games at the Iskenderun 5 Temmuz Stadi which holds 12390.

They will more than likely be looking to avoid relegation this season and like most clubs will be relishing a trip to the 19 Mayis Stadium to face Ankaragucu. For these small clubs Ankaragucu will be seen as a scalp, no game will be easy and this young Ankaragucu team will need to be up for it from the start.

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Ankaragucu 2013/14 fixtures announced !





Ankaragucu will start the 2013/14 campaign at home against Gungorenspor on the 8th of September. The match will be played behind closed doors as Ankaragucu have 4 games left of the current stadium ban. The second home game is against Diyarbakir Buyuksehir Belediyespor. The first away game of the season is in Istanbul where Ankaragucu will take on Eyupspor.

The much anticipated clash with Altay doesn't take place until the 15th of December in Izmir. For a full list of the fixtures click on the link below.

Ankaragucu 2013/14 fixtures !

I will be checking flights tonight to see what date i will be returning. But it will be likely between February-April. Looking forward to the season which will be known as Dirilis !