DISHONEST OR INEFFICIENT

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Only Messrs Ozkahya, Narinc and Kan know the real answer ! The kankas watching the match know it is the former !! Was Ankaragucu's '3rd goal' over the line when it was cleared ? Everyone, except the referee and his assistant 'linesman' could see it was ! All I can say is ..... may they burn in Hell !!!

Fenerbahce 3 ANKARAGUCU 2

The kankas met up in The Chopin Bar. I was first in and didn't receive the normal warm welcome. Apparently the manager didn't want any Ankaragucu supporters in the pub, but Fener supporters were made welcome ! However, one of the waiter's found me a table 'in the corner'. This after being regulars for about 4 years ! Time to review our loyalties me thinks, but more of that in another post next week.

I was joined by Oz Kanka, Maniac Kanka and his buddy Nurer, Connect Kanka and his beautiful lady Ayisha, Venezuela Kanka Rom and Celtic Kanka Joe.

The match was played to an empty stadium as a punishment to Fener's fans behaviour during the Kasimpasa match a couple of weeks ago.

Ankaragucu's starting line up was -

Senecky
El-Yasa, Brabec, Baki Lentil and Broggi
Hurriyet, Adem, Cihan
Metin and Aydin
Vassell

2nd half substitues used were Meye, Konate and Volkan

Fener dominated the opening exchanges but the Ankaragucu defence, Senecky in particular, held firm, and after the initial flurry had subsided, Ankaragucu started to come more into the match.

However, I wasn't too happy that Vassell was being asked to plough a lone furrow up front with support coming from Aydin, Metin, Cihan and Hurriyet from the midfield.

The first goal arrived on the half hour mark and surprise surprise ..... it was from a defensive blunder. Mr Lentil and Brabec got themselves into a tangle going for the same ball and the breakaway was on with Alex slotting it in with Senecky left exposed and helpless.

Ankaragucu to their credit got stuck in and were chasing every ball - sometimes shadows ! It was all end to end stuff now, and to be honest, Fener was looking like adding another.

Then, just before the half time whistle a truly fantastic goal fashioned by Metin and Vassell. A breakaway attack, a through ball from Aydin to Metin. Without hesitating, he backheeled the ball into the path of Vassell and .... whooosh ..... goal ! Defo a candidate for goal of the season.

Into the 2nd half then and what a start. In Ankaragucu's first attack, Vassell this time turned provider with a cut back on the left for Aydin to sidefoot it in.

Fener were wobbling for a few minutes but Ankaragucu couldn't find the killer touch to put the match out of their reach. Half way through the 2nd half that man Alex again pounced to score the equaliser. I was thinking at this stage ....well, I suppose on the balance of play it was a fair result.

But ..... that irritating bassa Guiza pops up near the end to score the winner (I thought it looked offside but I can't be 100% certain). Grrrrrrrr !!!

In the closing minutes, Meye had two shots on goal which on any other day would have gone in. One rebounded off the bar and the other went just past the post.

Then came the '3rd goal' incident. No doubt Ankaragucu was robbed of a share of the spoils. As I said earlier, it was defo over the line when the ball was hoofed clear. Now we can understand how the Irish players felt when Henry scored 'that goal' !!

So, a very good performance from Ankaragucu with Senecky taking the Man of the Match award from me. More performances like this will see Ankaragucu winning, as long as they don't have to play against 14 !!!

Next weekend Ankaragucu will be at home to Sivas in the last match before the winter shut-down. This becomes a MUST WIN match if ever there was one !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

HE'S BACK !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Who's back ?

Our long lost kanka, Apple Kanka Erman, now to be re-named Avea Kanka !

However, it was not a job change that forced his temporary absence from the ranks of the kanka group, but his little 'bundle of joy' Ece Duru (sometime referred to as Cemile by Eski !!).

To view the latest photos of Cemile Kankie (the youngest Ankaragucu Kankie on the planet) please visit her blog at ........

http://eceduruyuksel.blogspot.com/

Is she beautiful, or ....... is she beautiful ??

Look forward to seeing Avea Kanka Erman soon - perhaps on Saturday night ?

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Gencler grab the three points

Pretty miserable weather in Ankara but all up not a bad game of football.

Genclerbirligi 2 - 0 Denizlispor

I was enjoying my pre-midday beer when Aussie Ambo Kanka Peter and his son Patrick showed up at the Chopin, soon to be joined by Spine. But that was it. Where was everyone else? No idea. But it was their loss as Gencler won a hard fought match.

The first half was quite a bit of fun, with Gencler probably the better team but with the best chance of the half falling to Denizli who had our defenders at sixes and sevens but could only manage to hit the side bar. Phew.

Second half and Denizli stepped up their attacks and we were lucky to keep them out.

Finally Mustafa Pektemek had a shot and GOOOOOOOOAAAALLLL.

It was pretty much Gencler for the rest of the match but it was Bilal who won our hearts with a great run from about the half-way line, he jigged in and then sent the ball over the Denizli keeper's head. Lovely stuff.

That's it. 2-0 and I was a happy boy.

PS: The reason that this report is rather short is because afterwards I went back to the Chopin Bar to watch the Trabzon-Ankaragucu match.

PPS: I'll put the youtube videos of the goals up as soon as I see them. Don't forget to check out the second one from Bilal, a real beauty.

ANKARAGUCU - PISSING INTO A BLACK SEA STORM

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Tonight will not go down in history as one of Ankaragucu's memorable performances !!

Trabzonspor 3 ANKARAGUCU 0

Ankaragucu was blown away (especially in the 2nd half) by a Black Sea Storm bordering on Hurricane strength.

If you only want to read positive reports on this blog about Ankaragucu then do NOT come back in and read the full report tomorrow.

For what it's worth, I now understand why Trabzonspor are called 'The Black Sea Storm' !!

All the best from 'Blown Away' Eski Kanka Jim


MONDAY 7 DECEMBER 2009

The Three Muskateers (Oz Kanka, Spine and Eski) met up in The Chopin Bar to see if Ankaragucu could string a couple of wins together. Mmmmmmm ...... reminder ..... I must visit my Chemist this week and get another supply of optimism pills !!

Oz and Spine had just returned from the Stadium having watched Gencler stay on the winning track with two late goals.

Ankaragucu started with the same line-up as last week, ie,

Senecky
El-Yasa, Ediz, Mr Lentil, Broggi
Hurriyet, Adem, Mehmet, Aydin
Vassell and Meye

2nd half substitutes used - Weeks, Emre and Ilhan

As expected, Trabzon came out with all guns blazing and for the first 10 minutes it was panic-stations in the Ankaragucu defence with the ball being hoofed anywhere to safety.

However, just as I was thinking that the storm had been weathered, the worst scenario happened.

Last week's hero, Mr Lentil, became this weeks's villain. Attempting to make a routine clearance he gave the ball away with a weak header (unusual for him). It was gratefully accepted and played out to Serkan on the right who took the ball almost to the corner flag and made a perfect cross into the box. 'Olde Boy', Umut Bulut, came powering in between Ediz and Mr Lentil to head the ball into the opposite corner of the goal with Senecky having no chance to save Mr Lentil's blushes.

Was this to be the beginning of the storm ? No, not yet !

All credit to Ankaragucu, they got their act together and started to press forward and create some chances. Similar to last week, Meye was caught offside a few times, but on his only serious shot on goal, Onur, in goal, pulled off a great save.

Vassell was trying to make some headway, but was running into a resolute defence.

No futher scoring and I was hoping that new coach, Nazmi Bey, would wave his magic wand during the half time team talk and send his charges out to turn the match around. Wrong ! It was the other new coach, Senol Gunes, who's magic wand was working !

The Black Sea Storm was in full force now and it hit Ankaragucu time and again in the 2nd half when Trabzon were rampant. Ankaragucu were chasing shadows for most, if not all, of the 2nd half.

Actually, I couldn't quite decide if Trabzon stepped up a gear or if Ankaragucu just lost the plot or if Ankaragucu were just blown away by the storm. Suffice to say that Ankaragucu's 2nd half performance was ..... to use a polite word .... pathetic !

2nd half goals were scored by Gabric on 63 minutes (a screamer which left Senecky clawing thin air) and Colman near the end. The least said the better !

The only Ankaragucu player who takes any credit for their performance yesterday was Senecky. Even though he conceded 3 goals, it could easily have been more but for some of his reflex saves.

New coach, Nazmi Bey, now has a monumental task on his hands to build some confidence back into the team for next week's visit to Kadikoy, and .... to adopt a 90 minutes plan of action that might emulate the performances of Kasimpasa and Eskisehirspor in recent weeks !!!

We will be watching the Ankaragucu v Fener match in The Chopin next Saturday night KO 8pm. Come early and reserve your seat !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

PS ..... Fatih Tekke was at the match. I wonder which team he was supporting ??!!

We interrogate Gencler coach Thomas Doll

From left to right: Zakumi, Oz Kanka, Thomas Doll, Ralf Zumdick and Lanky Kanka Jorg.

Last night I managed to corner Genclerbirligi coach Thomas Doll between a wall and the mascot of the World Cup to be held in South Africa. It was the sort of knock 'em down drag 'em out interview that only "The round ball in Ankara" can be subjected to. I'm sure it was supposed to be the other way around.

Oz Kanka: I wrote these questions a couple of weeks ago on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Where were you and how did you feel?

Doll: I was in Leipzig, in preparation for a World Cup game against Austria.

Oz Kanka: And how did you feel when the wall fell?

Doll: At first I couldn't believe what happened. I called my family and I was very, very happy at what happened.

Oz Kanka: You later played for the united German team, were there any problems between the west and east German players in the team.

Doll: (not quite understanding the question but nonetheless offering an interesting insight) The difference the both leagues were that the Bundesliga was much more public. The system was that in the Bundesliga it was much more quicker, on much more a higher level.

Oz Kanka: Fast forward to six months ago when you became Genclerbirligi's coach. Weren't you scared because Gencler had gone through so many coaches over the last few years.

Doll: We spoke together (with Doll's assistant coach and obvious good mate Ralf Zumdick) for this situation because it is not normal for there to be so many trainers. It is not an easy job. It is a challenge.

Oz Kanka: How different is it to train a team here in Turkey as compared to Germany.

Doll: We make the same training here in Turkey as we did in Germany. Now the boys have adapted very good. I think they have made a step forward. I think there is still a difference between the the German Bundesliga and the Super Lig but this is a challenge for us.

Oz Kanka: And where do you want to see Genclerbirligi at the end of the season?

Doll: This is the first season for us and last year Gencler were lucky to stay in the Super Lig. We are happy now that the boys are confident with us and we are in a safe place at the moment.

Oz Kanka: In the next couple of weeks we will be into the transfer season. Have the management given you money for more players?

Doll: We are in discussions now ... but there are lots of players who are under contract. We can't send away players who are under contract . So we have to look at getting some new players... but it is not easy.

Oz Kanka: Now for the serious questions.... Cheese, or chocolate?

Doll: (without hesitation) Chocolate.

Oz Kanka: What is your favourite drink?

Doll: Apple juice with water.

Oz Kanka: Apple juice with water?

Doll: You mean drink at a bar?

Oz Kanka: Obviously.

Doll: Ah, red wine.

Oz Kanka: Your favourite footballer?

Doll: Ahh.. Messi

Oz Kanka: Finally, Heidi Klum or Claudia Schiffer?

Doll: None of them.

Oz Kanka: Are you a man?

A slight discussion in German between Ralf and Thomas then ensues and then Thomas goes for the host of tonight's World Cup draw

Doll: Charlize Theron.

Oz Kanka: Thank you very much Mr. Doll and the very best of luck on Sunday against Denizlispor.

Doll: Thank you. And who are you?

Breaking news: Reaction to World Cup draw

It was just a few balls drawn out of some punch bowls but we at "The round ball in Ankara" took tonight's World Cup draw very seriously. At the German Embassy tonight after a few wiessbiers it was all friendly banter between the Aussies and the Germans but my, oh my... are they cocky.

Oz Kanka to German Ambassador Eckart Cuntz : Ambassador, what do you think of the draw and are you scared you are going to play Australia.

Kuntz: I'm not at all scared.

Oz Kanka: Your not!

Kuntz: Because Germany is the best. But Australia can be happy to be with Germany. This is the top group.

It's not just the German ambassador who was happy to get Australia in the draw. I also spoke to Genclerbirligi coach Thomas Doll (the full interview will be published tomorrow).

Oz Kanka: What do you think of the draw? Is it good for Germany?

Doll: Yes, I think we have a good draw. Serbia and Ghana I think ... ah Australia is not a favourite in the group. I think it is clear Germany will pass the group.

Oz Kanka: Do you realise that I'm from Australia?

Doll: It is quite difficult that Australia will pass from this group.

Ralf Zumdick (Gencler assistant coach): He is quite honest.

So that's it then. The Germans have already written us off. I can't wait until the kick-off.

A very big thank you to Lanky Kanka Jorg for inviting us to the German Embassy tonight. The full interview with Thomas Doll will be published tomorrow.

The reason Genclerbirligi are doing better this season

It isn't a classic season for Genclerbirligi but we are doing a hell of a lot better than last year. One of the main reasons for this is thanks to our Brazilian striker Kahe who is scoring at the rate of one every two matches. Last season he wasn't able to hit a barn door.

The reason for his amazing turn around appears to have been the brilliant decision at the end of last season to sack the club's dietitian as we reported here.

As you can see in the image below that was supplied by to The round ball in Ankara by someone who preferred to remain anonymous, five months after Aylin was sacked an unsourced story on sporyolu claims it was Aylin's policy of feeding Kahe purely on Big Macs and steroids that was the reason for him being overweight. This year and on the Atkin's diet Kahe has lost 10 kilogrammes and is now at his perfect match weight.*



Unfortunately the story doesn't explain how the sacking of cleaners and waiters at the end of last season has improved the club. No doubt we will learn that sometime soon.

* I may have slightly mistranslated the article slightly, so please don't sue.