Gencler are Bjorn again

What the fuck!!!! Gencler today scored five!!!. Yes five!

 Antalyaspor 3 - 5 Genclerbirligi

 I was just a few minutes late to the Beer Bus and as I was walking in one of the waiters was already jumping up and down. "Iki, iki, iki," he shouted. I never know who these waiters support, most of the time people here seem to support the big three, and so I went inside to see that just five minutes in and Gencler were two up.

 I walked inside and was given high fives from everyone as if I had personally scored the goals. So, five minutes in. We are two-nil up. I can probably enjoy this match. And what a wonderful match it was. Gencler at times were sublime. At other times they were pretty crap. But it was one hell of a match and hats off to Antalya as they never gave up.

 Before I had arrived, our new signing Bjorn scored the first... then he scored the second. I showed up and then Sir Eski Kanka Jim's favourite player Murat Duruer scored for Antalya off a fairly dodgy free kick. It was a good goal though and well....

 It was then a bit of a ding-dong affair until Bjorn seemed to have scored again. Instead, it was an own goal but it didn't really matter as he scored again later on. All up, it was great stuff from Gencler. It was also great stuff from Antalya as the second half was all end-to-end action. Bjorn ended up getting four goals. He is surely our new hero.

You are allowed to take the piss after scoring 

three goals. After the forth, you can just laugh at them. 

Ankaragucu 1-3 Kayseri Erciyesspor match report !

Before todays game had started Kayseri were the overwhelming favourites, Ankaragucu rooted to the bottom of the league whilst Kayseri are involved in the promotion places. At the end of the match Ankaragucu will be wondering how they came away empty handed. Mustafa Kaplan summed it up perfectly at the end when he said their experience saw them take advantage of the things Ankaragucu failed to.

Team - Bayram, Enes, Gurkan, Volkan, Aytac, Gokhan, Mert, Bilal, Kaan, Serkan, Timur

Subs - Gokhan Akkan, Hasan, Umut Nayir, Ahmet Aykildiz, Bilal Gundogdu, Teoman, Orhan


The team lined up with a 4-5-1 formation with Timur up front on his own. Serkan, Kaan and Gokhan would supply the support from midfield. At the back Gurkan replaced Umit Kurt who signed for Sivasspor, whilst Enes Kubat came in at right back and Aytac moved to left back.

The 19 Mayis stadium was empty due to the stadium ban, although there were about 40 women and children who made it into the stadium. Its difficult to tell before a match just what kind of influence an empty stadium can have on the players.

4 - Nice play from Kaan Kanak as he rides two challenges before finding Aytac who shot wide of the post.

9 - Kayseri had the ball in the back of the net but the referee rightly ruled it out for offside.

13 - Mistake at the back from the Kayseri defence allowed Timur through on goal, he decided to take the shot from just outside the box but fired wide of the post with Atilla scrambling across.

21 - Half chance for Timur as he headed well wide from a Serkan cross.

31 - Ankaragucu take the lead, and what a fantastic goal it was. Serkan flicked the ball inside fro Kaan, who took a touch before lobbing Atilla to make it 1-0. Brilliant piece of individual skill from Kaan which he is capable of.

34 - Ankaragucu nearly double their lead as Bilal Gulden fires inches wide from a 30 yard free kick with Atilla beaten.

43 - A nice move from Kayseri which has the Ankaragucu defence all over the place finds its way to Gerrard Gohou whose shot came back off the cross bar with Bayram having no chance.

Half Time - Ankaragucu 1-0 Kayseri Erciyesspor

A good first half performance from Ankaragucu with the defence keeping things tight at the back. Gurkan was doing a good job replacing Umit and Enes looked comfortable at right back.

57 - Kayseri float a ball into the back post which the unmarked Emrah heads toward goal, Bayram makes a good save but Emrah is first to react as he puts the ball into the back of the net. 1-1

61 - Ankaragucu look to get back in the lead as Aytac closes down Ragip in the Kayseri box, but the defender gets back to block Aytac shot.

62 - Bilal Aziz shoots from distance for Kayseri but Bayram saves easily.

66 - Kayseri should have taken the lead as Emrah got on the end of a Bilal Aziz header but he sends the ball wide of the post.

67 - Nice break from Ankaragucu as Bilal finds Timur whose cross finds Gokhan who miss hit his shot at the back post. Unlucks as the Kayseri defender got a touch to put Gokhan off.

70 - Umut Nayir replaces the disappointed Kaan Kanak.

78 - Bilal blasts over from a Gokhan lay off.

79 - Serkan's corner into the box is headed back off the crossbar from Gokhan Erdogan.

84 - Excellent run from Volkan whose determination sees off three challenges before finding Timur whose shot is saved by Atilla

85 - Hasan replaces Bilal

87 - Excellent ball from Serkan plays in Timur one on one with Atilla but he shoots straight at him. Golden chance to win the game.

88 - This time Hasan plays in Timur again one on one with Atilla but somehow he shoots at the side netting. Two glorious chances to win the game.

89 - Kayseri go up the other end of the park as Gohou plays in Emrah who goes past Gurkan and makes no mistake by slotting the ball past Bayram. The Ankaragucu players looked devastated.

90 - Gerrard Gohou has the ball in the back of the net again but ruled out for offside.

93 - One last chance for Ankaragucu as Umut Nayir heads the ball on for Enes but Atilla collects the ball.

94 - A brilliant counter attack as Hanni plays in Emrah for his hat trick and finishes the game at 3-1.

Full time - Ankaragucu 1-3 Kayseri Erciyesspor

A harsh lesson for the Ankaragucu players as they should be celebrating 3 points. The only way Ankaragucu can survive now is if the transfer ban is lifted this coming week. Mehmet Yiginer spoke after the games saying 4-5 players are wanting what is owed in full and that is what the hold up is. He said it needs to be lifted though.

Next up is Adanaspor away, lets hope Ankaragucu have a host of new players ready to play and take 3 points before it is too late.

Man of the Match - Volkan Geyik

Transfer ban close to being removed !

According to Ozel Haber, Mehmet Yiginer, Atilla Suslu and Metin Aykuz have flown to Istanbul for meetings with the Turkish FA in order to lift the transfer ban. Sources close to the club believe 90% of the work has been done to remove the ban and are hopeful that within the next week the job will be complete.

Mehmet Yiginer has commented yesterday saying " We are hopeful of lifting the transfer ban by the end of the month and will sign 6-7 experienced players to help the team." The club are also believed to have agreed a deal with a foreign striker who will come if the ban is removed.

More good news as Mert Erdogan, Mehmet Tasci, Timur Ozgoz and Hasan Ayaroglu were all paid outstanding payments. Hasan is believed to be in talks with Russian giants Rubin Kazan, the youngster has impressed playing for the Turkish U17 National side. The management team have paid the latest instalment owed to Roman Bednar.

Hopefully as Jim arrives back in Bonnie Scotland the ban will be lifted and he can pick up his optimism pills :-)

Modern artist and former Gencler player Burhan Dogancay dies aged 83,

I'm putting here the entire Reuters report by Ayla Jean Yackley on the death of modern artist Burhan Dogancay. 

Ayla joined me for a few Gencler games years and years ago. Admittedly, it was a fare few years after Dogancay had played for the club back in the 1940s.   

Turkish modern art's "bridge" Burhan Dogancay dies age 83

By Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL | Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:50am EST

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Painter Burhan Dogancay, whose celebrated career spanned the rise of modern Turkish art, died on Wednesday in Istanbul. He was 83.

Dogancay was best known for his prolific series of "urban walls," in which he travelled to 114 countries to record graffiti-splattered and poster-covered walls in some 500 cities that he would then reinterpret onto large canvases that were part painting, part collage.

"The whole human experience has been reflected on walls, beginning with cave drawings 20,000 years ago. It's in our genes," Dogancay told Reuters last year.

"I take the documentary and transform it into something abstract so that the real and unreal are side-by-side."

Dogancay's career began as Turkey's modern art movement took off, and he was at its leading edge for much of his life.

Until his death, he was Turkey's most expensive living artist after "Symphony in Blue," a modernist Turkish masterpiece, fetched $1.7 million at a 2009 auction.

His work also appears in the collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the National Gallery of Art in Washington; and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

Born just six years after the founding of the modern Turkish Republic, Dogancay first learned to paint from his father, Adil Dogancay, a topographer and artist in the military who tried to dissuade his son from a career in art in a country where no galleries existed outside of state museums.

A semi-professional football player for the Ankara club Genclerbirligi, the younger Dogancay studied law and then earned a doctorate in economics in Paris where he took courses on art at Academie de la Grande Chaumiere.

He left Turkey for New York in the early 1960s amid the political upheaval following a military coup, working for the Turkish cultural agency but he soon quit to devote his life to his art.

Last year the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art held a retrospective of 50 years of Dogancay's work, drawing more than 215,000 visitors.

Dogancay was "something rare, a bridge between modern and contemporary," Levent Calikoglu, chief curator at the Modern, told Reuters before his death. "By birth he is modernist, and he continued that tradition, never 'updating' himself, and yet his work still feels incredibly fresh, like it was made today."

Ankaragucu vs Kayseri Erciyesspor match preview !

Its back to football this Sunday after the 3 week winter break as Ankaragucu host Kayseri Erciyesspor at an empty 19 Mayis Stadium. The match will be the first of the 5 match stadium ban the club has due to the crowd trouble against Konyaspor. It looks like the team will go into the match with no new faces as to date the transfer ban hasn't been lifted.

Both sides met on the first day of the season in Kayseri where Ankaragucu took the lead through Timur. Ankaragucu looked comfortable until Timur was wrongly sent off for an apparent elbow. Second half goals from Mehmet Ayaz and Gerard Gohou gave Kayseri Erciyesspor the three points against 10 men Ankaragucu.

Since then Ankaragucu have struggled at the bottom of the table whilst Kayseri are involved in the promotion places. Sitting second in the league they have hit a bit of a sticky patch of late with 1 win from their last five games. The game is a huge game for both sides for different reasons, Ankaragucu cant afford to lose any more ground on the teams above them.

Ankaragucu have lost two key players over the winter break. Umit Kurt signed for Sivasspor and Sinan Kurumus completed a shock move to Besiktas. Their replacements will be Gurkan Alver who will move into defence to partner Volkan Geyik, whilst Umut Nayir will replace Sinan. Some of the A2 players will be promoted to the first team as well.

Unless the new management team can lift the transfer ban, it will be impossible to avoid relegation. During the winter break the defence showed the same problems by conceding  to many sloppy goals. With Umit gone, the likes of Timur, Mert and Bayram will be called upon for their experience.

The game will be shown live on Sunday from 2pm Turkish Time, 12pm UK time on TRT Web TV. Lets hope the team can take the three points !

Mehmet Yiginer becomes Ankaragucu president !

Mehmet Yiginer became the 47th president of Ankaragucu today as he received 480 votes from the delegates who also attended. A crowd of over 500 fans gathered outside the Tandogan facility awaiting the news they were all wishing for. It was only last month that Atilla Suslu brought Mehmet Yiginer a friend of Melih Gokcek to the table.

There was good news straight from the start as it was announced Cemal Aydin has been removed from the club as Honorary chairman. The man responsible for the near death of Ankaragucu is finally gone. Yiginer also spoke of the great history of Ankaragucu and asked for the help from the Ankara community to get behind the club.

In regards to the transfer ban, there is still a bit to go but they think it is possible to remove the ban. Atilla Suslu will stay on as part of the management team and also part of the team will be Abdullah Karaata. This is a small step for Ankaragucu on a long road back to recovery. It will be interesting to see the next steps of the new management team.

Thank you Atilla Suslu and Mehmet Yiginer !

The big news today was the announcement that Mehmet Yiginer will run for President of Ankaragucu on Sunday. He will become the clubs 47th president. This is a very small step towards rebuilding Ankaragucu and Yiginer has managed to convince Melih Gokcek to support him.

During these troubled times one man who has stood up and fought to save Ankaragucu is Atilla Suslu, when all hope was lost and President after President trying to make a quick buck, he was there to help. He opened up membership to the fans, paid outstanding debts to prevent points deduction and also brought Mehmet Yiginer to the table. With Atilla Suslu now a member of the club it gives us more confidence that these problems wont happen again.

Mr Yiginer will now press on with his future plans of investment from businesses, he wants the fans to behave themselves as well and spoke of the wonderful history of Ankaragucu and the duty of Ankara to back the club. The biggest question is when will he remove the transfer ban by paying the outstanding debt ?

Sources close to the club say the transfer ban will be lifted on Sunday at the clubs congress. Please let this be true.