Not Bonkers But Ridiculous, Not Cavcav But Generally

Stuart Baxter has denied calling Ilhan Cavcav "bonkers."

Speaking to the Klasspor website, Baxter said:

"I don't know what is being written in the media in South Africa and Turkey, but I can tell you I did not use the words 'bonkers' or 'off the wall' that you're mentioning. I would never use such words. I am a professional. They seem more like the journalist's own words. They asked me about the situation at Gençlerbirliği and I said I found the situation here ridiculous."

And:

"Across the world, there are good journalists and bad ones and it is impossible for me to examine and stop all of their comments. As I said, I have my own views on this ridiculous situation at Gençlerbirliği and with journalists I commented on the general situation, not about individuals."

Fair enough. It's been fun, but probably time to move on.

Bonkers and Beyond

“Cavcav is bonkers” is actually a perfectly workable explanation for everything that went on at Gençlerbirliği over the last few months. And it is the one I'll use if I am asked by a newcomer to Ankara.

But for those who are curious for more detail, the Hürriyet Ankara supplement provided some additional treats this morning. With the warning that the story is poorly sourced and confusing in some regards, here are some gleanings in summary form:

- Baxter didn't want Naci Şensoy as an assistant, preferring Erdem Akşimşek. But Şensoy was forced on him, and Akşimşek, who'd first brought Baxter up as a possibility for Gençler, soon found himself unwanted at the club.

- Baxter feels that Şensoy was a liability in the dugout. Şensoy questioned decisions, caused arguments, and bears some responsibility for losses. Baxter thinks his assistant was "not well-intentioned". The implication I get from this -- particularly badly sourced -- section of the article is that Baxter feels Şensoy was the Cavcav agent inside the training team. Şensoy is of course now in charge.

- Baxter had no say in new signings, except for Skulason. His call for Kaiser Chiefs players to be signed was received badly by the club.

- Cavcav also didn't like Baxter pushing to bring his son, a goalkeeping coach, to the club.

- Cavcav removed Mervan Çelik from training without informing Baxter. This was after Mervan argued with Cavcav in the club building, silly boy.

- The club felt that while pre-season results in Holland were good, not enough attention was being paid to fitness and condition training. They also didn't like Baxter's reported response: “I'm training a football team, not an athletics team.”

- Cavcav felt the manner of the first two losses was unacceptable and that Baxter's substitution decisions were flawed. (Note: Subbing seems to be a Cavcav obsession.)

- The club didn't like the decision to play Ferhat, when they'd paid out for a foreign keeper.

I can't vouch for any of this reporting, which has the air of being based on a source within the club who has a measure of sympathy for Baxter. But there's a ring of truth in a lot of it, especially since much of it boils down to the question of “Who runs the team?”

If you've managed to follow Gençler without knowing the answer to that question, well, now there's no excuse.

Sport Minister Sticks to His Passo-Guns

Sports Minister Akif Cagatay Kilic has said the government will press on with the Passolig ticket system that has decimated attendance at top-level matches so far this season.

The poor attendance and complaints are part of a "transition period," Kilic said today. "Everyone needs to make a bit of effort" to make the system work, he said.

His comments follow sharp declines in attendance and criticism from club owners including our beloved Ilhan Cavcav, who said last week that Passolig is damaging the game. Cavcav said the system was a "pettifogging" attempt to deal with football violence, and the real solution lies in applying the law to deter bad behaviour.

Those looking for good news in the minister's comments may reflect on the following:

1) In football, when anyone says "We have complete confidence in X", X generally ends up getting fired within a month.

2) Sports Minister Akif Cagatay Kilic is not the most powerful man in the Turkish Government.

Finally, the word "decimated" may not be entirely accurate in this context, but it's not far off.