A huge game for Ankaragücü this weekend as they host Yeni Malatyaspor at the Yenikent Stadium in Ankara. After 2 successive defeats Ankaragücü will be looking to bounce back with a victory in front of their own fans.
It’s been a turbulent couple of weeks at Ankaragücü both on and off the field, and the club have again reminded us that, with Ankaragücü you are only days away from bad news or revelations about the clubs fiancial situation.
After last weeks 1-0 defeat at Bursaspor, İsmail Kartal said in his after match interview that no manager in the Super Lig has more difficult challenges. Understandably he pointed to the teams injury situation with Heurtaux, Djedje, El Kabir, Mokhtar, Moulin, Cerci, and Putsila all either injured or having had some issues with fitness.
More worryingly Kartal revealed that the clubs players haven’t been paid their wages due to the club having to pay off old debts from the previous Melih Gokcek regime. He had a bit of a go at the foreign players stating that if they don’t get paid they don’t give everything for the jersey.
We can admire the commitment of the Turkish players who still give everything for the club when these situations arise. However I think it’s disrespectful to the foreign players having a go at them and questioning their commitment when they haven’t been paid. We are a Super Lig professional club and when these players signed their contract the minimum they would expect is to be paid their wages.
It will be interesting to see how the team responds against Malatyaspor on Sunday afternoon. Some good news for Kartal is that El Kabir, Djedje and Mokhtar should all be fit and available for selection. Alessio Cerci has also stated that he is feeling good and ready to play. As I mentioned on another post, the Italian winger could be a huge player for the club if he shows the right commitment and stays fit.
Malatyaspor have had a decent start to the season and sit 8th just above Ankaragücü. They have already defeated Fenerbahce and Goztepe this season and drawn with Basaksehir. They draw 4-4 with Sivasspor last weekend in a thrilling match and have some talented players such as Khalid Boutaib, Danijel Aleksic and Arturo Mina. Malatyaspor have enough quality in their side to take all 3 points and will be coming to Ankara looking for the win.
For details on how you can watch the match with the Kanka Group please see the comments section as Jim will have the details.
Well, it goes without saying that this Sunday’s match will be the acid test for Ankaragucu.
ReplyDeleteIt is a MUST that they halt the run of defeats and return to winning ways. As Nadeem says, this won’t be easy even allowing for the fact that this is a home match in The Stadium from Hell in Yenikent. Malatya is a strong team and will give no quarter. Therefore, Ankaragucu will have to be up for this match and everyone on top of their game.
Damon and I will be watching it in The Anasson Bar in the Sakarya district of Kizilay and will be there for the 4pm kick off.
I will put the report of the match up the following day. Here’s hoping for an upbeat report for a change !!!