LENTIL 'SOUP' IS OFF THE MENU IN ANKARA !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Grrrrrrr..... I was going to open with a strong adjective, but Phillie Kanka has already been there, and I'm sure Maniac Kanka will not be long in following !

I used to like a big dish of steaming hot lentil soup on a cold winter's night, but ..... no more ! Lentils are defo off the menu, as is Mr Lentil, who gifted TWO effin goals to Sivas yesterday.

Calling Santos ..... for God's sake, please mame a miraculous recovery and come back soon ........ we need you !

ANKARAGUCU 2 Sivasspor 3

I went to our new meeting place, The Beer Bus Bar, where I met up with Costacurta Kanka Caner and his two buddies Mustafa and Bugra (loyal Gecikondu boys). Then came Flying Dutchman Kanka Carlo. Off to the Stadium where we were joined by Connect Kanka Steve, Phillie Kanka Jamie, Yankee Kanka and Huso Kanka.

Only one surprise in the starting line-up with Captain Hurriyet missing (injured ?) - El-Yasa took the armband.

Senecky
El-Yasa, Ediz, Baki Lentil and Broggi
Konate, Weeks and Adem
Aydin
Vassell and Meye

2nd half substitutes used - Metin, Mehmet and Volkan

Lots of razamataz pre-kick off with hundreds (well .... at lot) of flag wavers on the peri-track and the tribunes in full voice as usual.

If we thought that relegation threatened Sivas was going to be whipping-dogs we were sadly mistaken ! They came out of their traps like greyhounds and were dominating the opening exchanges.

However, what was to come took the smiles off our faces and even the tribunes turned down the volume.

Just 12 minutes into the match and a Sivas corner comes over. Played to the back post where full back Sedat was lurking unmarked. Thank you very much he says to the Ankaragucu 'defence' and then coolly chooses his spot to blast the ball in with Senecky helpless.

As if that wasn't bad enough, two minutes later in another Sivas attack, Mr Lentil attempted a simple back pass to Senecky which was an aberration. Thank you very much says Ibrahim and in it goes with Senecky again left exposed and helpless to rectify Mr Lentil's mistake.

At this stage of the match Sivas was in total control and threatening to add another. Mutterings of discontent in the tribunes became violent with fights breaking out in Left Kapali and Maraton. Cue .... steel helmeted Police reinforcements called in to quell the fighting, especially in Kapali where the ambulance was required for an unfortunate few.

During all this nonsense, Mr Lentil was being booed every time he touched the ball !

The half time whistle came as a relief. Time to re-group and change tactics I was hoping.

Sure enough. Metin and Mehmet replaced Konte and the ineffective Meye for the start of the 2nd half and that tactic seemed to be working. Ankaragucu looked a different team and started to play footie at last and attack Sivas full-on. However, we had to wait until halfway through the 2nd half for the breakthrough.

It was a goalmouth melee from a corner which wasn't cleared by the (up to that point) effective Sivas defence, and Metin was on hand to blast the loose ball in. Was this the turning point I wondered ? Hmmmmmm ..... I wasn't convinced because Sivas was still looking dangerous when they broke out of defence.

Then came the equaliser with one minute left. Another scrappy finish with Metin getting the final touch. A fair reward after all the 2nd half Ankaragucu pressure. OK, I thought, one point is not a bad return after being 0-2 down, and to be unbiased, a fair result after a brave fight back.

Then, straight from the re-start, with everyone still celebrating Metin's equaliser, the ball was played into the Ankaragucu penalty box. Senecky ran out to clear, but either Mr Lentil is deaf (as well as dumb !) or Senecky didn't shout, so Mr Lentil decided to have a backheader which looped over Senecky and into the empty goal ! Very clever trick ...... I don't think !!!

Stunned silence !

Still, there was time for Ankaragucu to equalise in time added-on but a great effort was missed by Mehmet when the cross-bar prevented what would have been another equaliser and .... justice.

Off we trudged out of the Stadium with long faces, shaking heads and foreboding of what's in store in the 2nd half of the season !! Ankaragucu has been sucked into the relegation zone again and now have the winter break to prepare to put things right in this their Centenery Year.

What to do about the defence is what will no doubt be troubling the new coach ! Broggi continues to impress, but, I would say that even the performances of El-Yasa and Ediz were not up to scratch yesterday. The less said about Mr Lentil the better - I'm sure there will be lots of comments flooding in on this 'gentleman's' performance !!!

In the meatime, there is a trip to Denizli to negotiate on Wednesday when Denizli BBS play host in the first group match of the Turkish Cup.

Hopefully I will have some good news to report on Thursday.

All the best from an almost despairing Eski Kanka Jim

No happy Christmas for Ankaragucu

Just to allow you lot a space to scream obscenities before Eski Kanka sobers up and posts a report.

Ankaragucu 2 - 3 Sivasspor

And in other news, Ankaragucu have apparently come to an agreement for the Frenchman Roger Lemerre to take over as coach. He was also seen at the match taking copious notes.

Full report later.

PS: If you are a Mr. Lentil fan you had better not check out the comments that will be coming in soon.

Compulsory beauty

French Kanka Hande sent me an e-mail last night which I feel I must share with you all.

"I think he should be training instead of giving teammates a hair cut and talking crap about women..." the militant feminist wrote concerning a story run by the semi-official Anatolia news agency on Genclerbirligi midfielder Kerem Savaş opening a beauty salon.

In the Anatolia piece that French Kanka probably found whilst googling "top class hairdressers in Ankara", Kerem said it was his first investment since starting football and that he did so in order to further the cause of women's rights. Asked by a top hack "why a salon?", Kerem replied:

"Because it is compulsory that women at all times must look beautiful they choose these type of salons," Savaş said.

What a kind fellow.

And here is Kahe, hopefully just half-way through a haircut.



For those Kanka women out there who are finding it difficult to look beautiful at all times, you can find Kerem's place in Cayyolu - Trio Bay, Bayan Kuaför ve Güzellik Salonu.

Sıhhatler olsun.

Genclerbirligi-Ankaragucu rivalry

I just found a very weird clip from a Fox TV (Turkey) soap called Deniz Yıdızı. To see the clip, click on the link and scroll down past the comments and click on the youtube type thingy.

Cringe worthy... but brilliant.

Click here

ANKARA AWAITS THE VIP VISIT OF KIRKCALDY KANKA

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

In answer to Kirkaldy Kanka Martyn's comments in the post 'He's Back', I am giving Ankaragucu's home fixtures for the 2nd half of the season for his forward planning. Of course, they may be subject to change, and if so, I will give details here if necessary.

23/24 January - Ankaragucu v Diyabakir
6/7 February - Ankaragucu v Bursa
20/21 February - Ankaragucu v Antalya
27/28 February - Gencler v Ankaragucu
6/7 March - Ankaragucu v Gaziantep
20/21 March - Ankaragucu v Kayseri
2/3/4 April - Ankaragucu v Besiktas
17/18 April - Ankaragucu v Eskisehir
30/1/2 May - Ankaragucu v Trabzon
7/8/9 May - Ankaragucu v Fenerbahce

We await details of your visit dates Kirkcaldy Kanka, and can assure you, Kirkcaldy Kankie Sinead and your two Ankaragucu Kanka Boys a VIP welcome !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

CHANGE OF KANKAS MEETING VENUE

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

As I mentioned in my previous match post, the time has come to change our meeting venue.

It has become quite clear recently that the Head Waiter of The Chopin Bar, Ali Bey, (a cantankerous bassa at the best of times !) doesn't want us in his establishment when Ankaragucu or Gencler are playing any of the Istanbul teams. However, he is quite happy to take our hard earned money on other occasions (maybe he has some Jewish blood in his veins - with apologies to Battle Damaged Kanka and Connect Kanka ho ho ho !!).

Last Saturday night was the defining moment as far as I was concerned, when if it hadn't been for Ismail (the waiter, and a very nice guy) shepherding me to a table I would have left the premises in view of Ali Bey's comments that he didn't want any Ankaragucu supporters in his pub.

Therefore, having discussed this with Oz Kanka Chris, we have decided to move next door to The Beer Bus Bar which is a regular haunt for Gencler fans and where we will be made more welcome than the Chopin.

To answer Phillie Kanka's question, the prospect of moving back to Genclik Park is a dead duck. There is only one 'restaurant' open (Pinar), and quite frankly, it looks more like an 'effin transport cafe' than a place which we could use.

Looking forward to this weekend's match against Sivas, we will meet in The Beer Bus Bar on Saturday from 1.30pm, and go to the Stadium at 2.45pm for the 4pm KO. Remember, this is the last league match before the winter break, so the Stadium will probably be full.

We will then return to The Beer Bus Bar after the match to watch Gencler stuff CimBom in Istanbul KO 8pm. btw, perhaps Gencler were pacing themselves at the Antep match for this one ??!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Cold and distracted as Gencler draw with Antep

In the end a draw was probably the right result. just annoying that Gencler failed to score a winner. Off the field, there was a bit of excitement when someone in the stands unfurled a MHP banner. The silly boy was promptly beaten up by the Gencler fans and had to be rescued by the security guards.

Genclerbirligi 1 - 1 Gaziantepspor

The weather didn't seem so bad when I left home but by the time Justin Paul and myself joined Ambo Kanka Peter and his son Patrick it had changed big time. It was bloody cold. The rain was coming down to annoy the players but for us under the stadium roof it was a biting wind that it was taken me some six hours to thaw out my fingers in order to write this report.

The pitch was crap and very waterlogged in places but Gencler started very nicely indeed. We were making good moves done the flanks and were creating chances, one of which was converted in the 18th minute when Burhan sent a ball in to Sandro who somehow managed to get it past the keeper. I'm not exactly sure what happened but will hopefully have a youtube clip up soon.

The rest of the first half Gencler seemed to be attempting to find another goal but didn't really look as if they were in top form.

The second half though saw us have a number of chances but none which would be put away. Kahe seemed as if Aylin is back as the Gencler dietician. In fact Ambo Kanka made the point after the match that at times Gencler seem to be the slowest team in Turkey. I'd have to agree, we do some good stuff in midfield but so often we slow it down as if to allow the opposition defenders to get back.

It wasn't just that though, our pssing today was pretty woeful as well. Although I guess some of the blame for that can be attributed to the waterlogged pitch.

It was about half-way through the second half when Antep got the equaliser. No one to blame really. Well, at least I don't think so. As I said before, I'll put up a video as soon as one becomes available. In the meantime I'm off to soak my toes in some warm water in an attempt to get some feeling back into them.