Ankaragucu vs Menemen match preview!

There's a real buzz about the club at the moment for the first time in a long long time, and there are no better example of that then Wednesday night. A cold Winter night, after most people had just finished their work, an incredible 16,000 Ankaragucu fans turned up to cheer the team onto a memorable 6-2 win over 1461 Trabzon. The result puts Ankaragucu top of the league on goal difference over Gumushanespor.

Ankaragucu have taken plaudits all week from the Turkish media with many pointing out that the leaders of the Super Lig Istanbul Basaksehir play in front of empty stadiums every other week, while a club in Turkeys 3rd tier can attract crowds like this. Well done to everyone associated with the club and let's hope we can keep the good times going.

A tough trip to Menemen tomorrow for Ankaragucu, but with the spirits high the team will be looking for another win to make it 7 in a row. Menemen who were promoted last season are sitting in 4th place and have some familiar names in their squad.

Former Ankaragucu goalkeeper Bayram Olgun is the teams first choice after a move from Manisaspor in the Summer. Former Super Lig players Erhan Kilic, Gokhan Unal, Ibrahim Dagasan and Ahmet Ari all ply their trade with the Muncipal side.

They lost 1-0 at Tuzlaspor midweek and will be looking to bounce back from that result. The Menemen Sehir stad only holds 2,500 with Ankaragucu getting less than 100 tickets for the match.

Ismet Tasdemir deserves a lot of credit as Ankaragucu manager. The fans have been used to poor attacking play, no goals and nothing exciting over the last couple of years. The manager has addressed the attacking issues and is playing an exciting brand of football. We now have Mustafa Ozturk, Ahmet Yazar, Emre Sahin, Enes Kubat, Erhan Senturk, Omer Bozan, Murat Yilmaz and Muharrem Cengiz all fighting for those 3 attacking places.

It's going to be a difficult decision for Tasdemir picking his first 11 tomorrow with everyone impressing including the substitutes on Wednesday night. Enes Kubat marked his return with a goal and assist and could take his place back in the starting line up.

Hursit Tasci, Cenk Kaplan, Serkan Balci and Altay Bayindir are all still out with injury and will miss tomorrow's match.

Gumushanespor are at home tomorrow as they take on Kastamonuspor in what will be a tough game but one most expect the home side to win. Ankaragucu need to return with the 3 points as Gumush show no signs of dropping points themselves.

We will have all the live updates as usual on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Tune in to Ankaragucu vs Menemen just before kick off. Game kicks off 10:30 UK time and 13:30 Turkish time.

ANKARAGUCU POWER THEMSELVES TO THE TOP OF THE LEAGUE !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The kankas returned to their ‘2^nd Home’ last night for their first home league match of the season after the 5 match stadium ban was served, and what a night it was too.   An unbelievable crowd of about 20,000 attended which must surely go into the Guinness Book of Records for a 2^nd Division match on a weekday evening !

ANKARAGUCU   6      Trabzon (1461)      2

The kankas met up at The Sportswriters Club prior to the match for some ‘refreshments’.    Maniac Kanka Harun and his friend Nurer, Cider Kanka John, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Kaleci Kanka Tansu, Posh Kanka Ahmet and Scouse Kanka Marcus.

Into the Stadium we went and what an atmosphere.   There was about 100 in the away end, but they didn’t have s ‘snowball’s chance in hell’ of being heard, even after Trabzon scored their two goals !

The first action last night of any note was on the 06^th Minute when hundreds of blue and yellow balloons and confetti were released in Gecikondu and Maraton and the volume of singing increased !

However, Trabzon had obviously decided to be ‘party poopers’ in the 9^th minute by taking the lead, but it didn’t affect the Ankaragucu supporters singing !   It was a defensive nightmare !   A cross came in from the left to an unmarked attacker who had the simplest of jobs to tap the ball in.   I am sure that Ismet Bey will replay the video to show his defenders how NOT to defend crosses into the box !!!

It took Ankaragucu until the 16^th minute to make their first meaningful attempt on goal, but just as most of us jumped up thinking it was a goal, the referee pointed for a corner.

Ankaragucu was attempting to find the equaliser but Trabzon was digging-in and defending well.

However, it eventually came in the 34^th minute and what a fantastic piece of skill from the impressive Omer.   Ankaragucu was awarded a free kick on the right just outside the penalty box and everyone lined up expecting it to be flighted into the back post area.   Omer surprised everyone, except himself, by sending his shot along the ground to just inside the near post with the goalkeeper scrambling along his goal-line to no avail.

Ankaragucu then deservedly went ahead just before the half time whistle.   It was a great sweeping move on the left with the ball being directed across the field to the right and then an inch perfect cross into the box for Serhat to bullet a flying header in.      There was almost time for a 3^rd before the whistle when an Ankaragucu attacker was unable to take advantage of a sloppy back pass.   He was obviously too surprised to mke good contact with the ball as it sailed over the bar.

8 minutes into the 2^nd half and we were all singing and high-fiving when No3 went in.   A great through ball was played into the path of Mustafa who struck it well and it zipped in via the post.

There was an incident after this goal when someone scaled the Gecikondu fence to congratulate  Mustafa.    As we all know from past experience, it only takes one idiot for the ‘other sheep’ to follow.   Fortunately, the Police reacted quickly to apprehend the perpetrator and led him to the Kapali exit.   However, the fans in Gecikondu and Kapali protested 100% sure of that.   Eventually, he was led out of the stadium by the Police to spend some prime time with the Police at the local Police Station !!

In the 64^th minute Trabzon almost pulled a goal back, but Emrah came to the rescue with a great save.   Incidentally, Emrah’s distribution from hand, foot and goal kicks is excellent.

It was round about the 70^th minute mark when I was wondering if Ismet Bey would tell the team to play a ‘holding game’ when Trabzon put the jitters up us with their 2^nd goal.   It was a cracking left foot shot which gave Emrah no chance.

15 minutes to go and then came arguably the goal of the match from substitute Ahmet.   He   picked up the ball around the half way line and went on a fast run heading for the penalty box, and in the process, weaving past 3 defenders who were left in his wake.   Inside the box he let fly and there was no way any goalkeeper would have saved that shot.   He’s definitely a player to watch out for and I hope we see more of him !

3 minutes to go and the stadium was going mental.   With the scoreline at 4-2, Ankaragucu was top of the league on goal difference.

It was just time for Enes to show us his skill when he came on as a substitute and made an immediate impact.   He collected a pass sent out of defence and went on a run down the right, then crossed for the inrushing Omer to bundle the ball into the net.   We’ll take it !!!

Then, deep into time added on, as we were making our way to the exit, the 6^th goal arrived.

Enes received a great pass through the middle which he took in his stride and then fired in an  unstoppable shot to put the icing on the cake !

It was then off to the Yeni Sedir to celebrate, and try to figure out the last tme Ankaragucu scored 6 goals.

Maniac Kanka Harun remembers them doing this but he couldn’t remember when, so his homework tonight is to put the answer here in the comments section !!

It will be interesting to see if Ankaragucu can keep the momentum going and perhaps Gumushane will eventually crack under the pressure.   We live in hope !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

And Gencler lose another coach

UPDATE: New coach announced. See end of article

Monday night was a busy evening with me having been locked out of my house. Little Oz Kanka was inside and had obviously gone to sleep and couldn't be bothered answering my 30 minutes of door bell ringing. So I made the most of a bad situation by heading off to the Red Lion Club. I was then kicked out of there after a couple because of a "private party". Still no answer at home so I got the key people in. He ripped out the lock and put in a new one. Through all this Little Oz Kanka was still sound asleep inside.

Whilst all this was happening Genclerbirligi were imploding.

The timeline according to a report from Klassspor:

6:30 pm : Coach Ibrahim Uzulmez arrives at club headquarters. He said he was there for a training  session. He left the admin building with club officials.

6:45 pm : Uzulmez leaves the facilities.

7:20 pm : Club Chairman Cavcav arrives

(At this point the Klasspor timeline gets confusing... but basically)

7 something pm : Uzulmez's agent/manager Emrah Yildiz arrives and has a 20-minute meeting with club officials.

7:40 pm : Yildiz goes to Uzulmez' hotel.

Klasspor notes at this point the negotiations are all about the conditions of terminating the contract. Uzulmez wanted to be paid the full seven months he had left on his contract. Cavcav wanted to pay him just three months salary.

8:20 pm : Uzulmez and Yildiz return to the Bestepe club headquarters. They hold a 40 minute meeting with club officials after which it was announced that the contract has been cancelled after mutual agreement. Klasspor doesn't say what that agreement was.

Yeni Teknik Direktörümüz Ümit Özat pic.twitter.com/pFoXzimIHf

— Gençlerbirliği SK (@kirmizikara) November 8, 2016

UPDATE: They certainly didn't hang around long as former Gencler player and Ankargucu coach Umit Ozat on Tuesday afternoon signed a contract to coach the team. No details of the new contract were immediately available.

What was immediately available was an outpouring of bitter anger from Genclerbirligi fans. Not because of the bloke's pretty average record as a coach but because of the extremely sexist comments he has made in the past.

Ankaragucu vs 1461 Trabzon match preview!

It's been 7 months since Ankaragucu last played a home league match in front of their own fans at the 19 Mayis stadium after the 5 match stadium ban. The club were punished due to the behaviour from the VIP section who ended up fighting with Amedspor officials back in April after a 2-1 home defeat. The irony is that the Ankaragucu fans were banned for 5 matches while the VIP section and club officials were still allowed to attend the games.

Let's home the club can put the behavioural issues behind them and help guide the team to promotion which in Mehmet Yiginer's words is a must this season. Next up at home on Wednesday night is 1461 Trabzon who are the B side of Super Lig giants Trabzonspor.

After a poor start to the season 1461 find themselves on a 4 match unbeaten run including wins against Kastamonuspor and Tuzlaspor. They also drew with Menemen and will be no pushovers with Ankaragucu needing to be at their best if they are to extend their winning streak to 6 in a row.

Some players of note in the 1461 side are 16 year old Cafer Tosun who is very highly rated and has played 6 games this season in midfield, an incredible achievement for someone of that age. The front two of Yasin Hacimustafaoglu and Ali Kucik have scored 8 goals between them and are highly experienced at this level.

It was another good win for Ankaragucu at the weekend and it will be interesting to see the effect the fans have on the performance. The Ankaragucu fans are like a 12th man with the passionate backing they provide from the stands.

As of yet there are no reports on whether Enes Kubat and Erhan Senturk will make the game with both struggling through injury. Serkan Balci was injured in the warmup at the weekend and is also a doubt.

Ticket prices have been priced at 10TL - 15TL and with the club needing all the money they can get I don't think anyone can complain.

Gumushanespor travel to Inegolspor and we will be all hoping that Inegol can take something off them as they look a formidable force at the moment. Both Gumush and Ankaragucu sit top of the table on 24 points.

The Kankas will be in attendance on Wednesday night and Jim will be back with his first match report of the season. Let's hope it's a positive one and another win for Ankaragucu!!

Gencler are not looking good

Things just aren't working at Genclerbirligi this season. They just aren't clicking.

Antalyaspor 1 - 0 Genclerbirligi

Just Spine and me down at the Alerta Pub last night for what was in the end a disappointing night of football. Let's dive straight in.

Nice start from Gencler. It was the usual sort of line-up with the only big difference being Vedat Muriqi being up front instead of Stancu.

For the first 40 minutes or so we were on top, not completely dominating but certainly the better team. Even when Irfan had his penalty shot saved by the keeper in the 15th the crowd at the Alerta still had their hopes high.

Ante Kulusic was denied by the post at one stage and Serdar should have scored but instead sent it flying.

Then in the 40th Antalya were awarded a penalty and Eto'o stepped up and scored.

Rest of the match was arrrrrgggggghhhhhhh

Antalya could have put a couple more in but buggered up and Stancu, who came on in the second half, missed a shot that is the entire reason for his position in the team. Groans all round.

And so Gencler slowly slide down the table. There was even talk last night of a relegation battle. Dear oh dear.

Ankaragucu victors in local derby!

Ankaragucu made it 5 wins in a row with a 2-1 win down the road at Etimesgut. There were a couple of injury blows with Erhan Senturk ruled out due to injury and Serkan Balci injured during the warm up. In came Cenk Kaplan and Mustafa Ozturk to taken their place and help Ankaragucu secure the 3 points.

Team - Emrah Tuncel, Cenk Kaplan, Sezgin Coskun, Alihan Kubalas, Onur Atasayer, Ferhat Culcuoglu, Harun Aydin, Orhan Gulle, Omer Bozan, Mustafa Ozturk, Muharrem Cengiz Ozan

Subs - Emre Koyuncu, Adem Saglam, Omer Bayramoglu, Murat Yilmaz, Ahmet Yazar, Emre Sahin

One noticeable difference this season with Ankaragucu is the strength in depth they have within the squad which has been missing since 3 years ago when we lost in the playoffs. Losing key players such as Enes Kubat, Erhan Senturk and Serkan Balci is always going to be tough, but when you have replacements such as Cenk, Mustafa and Muharrem it softens the blow.

I didn't manage to see any of the match today as there weren't any decent live links to follow. Etimesgut did miss a penalty on 22nd minute with Emrah saving his 2nd penalty of the season.

Ankaragucu took the lead after 34 minutes through Orhan Gulle who scored his first goal for the club. They only had to wait 10 minutes for their second as the impressive Onur Atasayer made it 2-0.

The scores remained that way until the 90th minute when Former Ankaragucu striker Emrah Bozkurt scored a consolation goal for the home side. The Ankaragucu fans took a huge away support with health and safety coming into question as a number of Ankaragucu fans looked like they managed to sneak in with the away allocation sold out.

Gumushanespor also won today to remain joint top with a 1-0 win over Karsiyaka. They are already showing they won't let Ankaragucu have it all their own way and it looks like we could have a two horse race for the title.

Next up is 1461 Trabzon on Wednesday night, and the good news is that the fans can attend the game for the first time this season with the 5 match stadium ban now finished. Jim will have the match report for the first time this season also and let's hope it's a positive report and 3 points.

Ankaragucu vs Etimesgut match preview!

We have a local derby this weekend as Ankaragucu travel to nearby Etimesgut with both sides eager for the 3 points.Etimesgut won promotion to Lig 2 last season and find themselves in 8th position leaving them just outside the playoff places.

As Jim mentioned, the Kemal Ataturk stadium only holds 3000 people and will be sold out with a large travelling Ankaragucu support expected. Ankaragucu find themselves on a 4 match winning run and will have to be at their best to take 3 points from this weekends match. Etimesgut are undefeated in their last 5 games conceding only 3 goals.

Both sides met in the TSYD cup in the summer as mentioned earlier. Ankaragucu ran out 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Erhan Senturk, Enes Kubat and Onur Atasayer. Etimesgut showed that they were no pushovers in that match and made Ankaragucu work for their win.

Their will be familiar face in the Etimesgut team on Saturday afternoon as former Ankaragucu player and captain Emrah Bozkurt playing in attack. Emrah didn't have the best of times at Ankaragucu but was one of the few players who can hold his head high after last seasons campaign and chipped in with 6 goals.

Ankaragucu put in an efficient and professional performance last week but still haven't had that perfect match where everything has come together. The team still find themselves joint top with Gumushanespor, but we still believe there is a lot more to come. The defence looks solid enough but they need to take care of the ball more and concentrate for the full 90 minutes. Onur gives the team so much more options with his attacking play coming from the back and it looks like Mehmet Tasci will find it tough to win his place back in the team.

Harun Aydin is the most improved player in the Ankaragucu team and is now one of the first names in the team sheet. Since breaking into the team Harun has been used more as a defensive midfielder sitting in front of the defence. He picked up too many yellow cards and missed a lot of matches through suspension. Ismet Tasdemir has given him a more attacking role and he has thrived. He is creating chances while also a goal threat himself and gets better every week. It could be difficult for Ankaragucu to keep a hold of him if he keeps these performances up.

Muharrem Cengiz is another one who has impressed over the last couple of weeks. The striker has scored 3 stunning goals helping Ankaragucu to 6 points in the two games he has started. With Enes Kubat close to returning it will be interesting to see if both players will play in the team together and if they can forge a deadly partnership.

As usual we will have all the updates live on the Facebook and Twitter pages!