Kocaeli v Genclerbirligi

Join me here from about 1:30 pm for me blogging the Kocaelispor - Genclerbirligi match. (I might be a touch late as I've been ordered to go shopping)

Pre-match: Last week was a big win for Gencler, 3-1 away to Kayserispor, but Kocaeli had an even bigger win, 4-0 away to Hacettepe. Having said that Hacettepe have been a bit of a joke this year whilst Kayseri had only conceded seven goals in their first 16 matches of the season... that was until Troisi came along and put three past them last week.

My predicition is that Gencler should win it as long as they don't concede an early goal. Last week they were rubbish in the first 20 minutes or so and were lucky not have been behind. Let's see.

2:00 pm National anthem done and we are about to kick off. Not sure of the teams yet.

2:41 pm Troisi misses a good chance. Not sure exactly what happened.

2:01 pm And they are off.

Gencler team: Isailovich, Mehmet Nas, Troisi, Momha, Koray, Ilhan, Burhan, Jedinak, Kahe, Hakan Aslantas, and Soner not sure.

2:08 pm Seems like we are attacking. Get a corner, bugger it up but the attack goes on. Sounds like we are playing okay.

2:10 pm Another corner for us, six in the box, but the keeper whacks it out. Attack continues... we lose the ball.

2:12 pm Commentator says that both teams have decided to actually play today. Whatever that means.

2:13 pm Kocaeli are attacking down the left and are creating a few chances. Attendance today at the Izmit stadium is about 9,000, says our Lig radyo man.

2:15 pm Kocaeli have a shot from six metres, which gets the commentator shouting, Isailovich sends it out for a corner which results in nothing. Sounds like we should be down.

2:23 pm No idea what is happening. My radio stream has collapsed. Will try to get back soon.

2:30 pm I'm back. No goals during that radio collapse.

2:31 pm Lots of midfield passing from us but no one taking real control and creating chances.

2:33 pm Free kick on the right after Aslantas was taken down. Crowd whistling away in protest. Ball out for a corner. And Goal.

2:34 pm It was Ilhan with a header. Kocaeli 0 - 1 Genclerbirligi

2:37 pm Commentator says Momha is having a great match and that Gencler in the last 10 minutes have stepped up their attacks. Good stuff.

2:40 pm Gencler are attacking and attacking... they just need to get a couple more shots off.

2:43 pm Kocaeli have their first touch of the ball for ages and then they send off a "cok kotu" shot. And Gencler go straight back onto the attack.

2:45 pm Jedinak is sending through fast balls in counterattacks. Sounds nice.

2:46 pm Momha is everywhere, pressing in defence and setting up great attacks.

2:48 pm Ahhh. Mehmet Nas gets one-on-one with the keeper but sends it out. "peep peep peep" Half-time.

Half-time stuff
Kocaeli 0 - 1 Genclerbirligi
Kayserispor 0 - 0 Sivasspor

Admittedly I missed a bit of the first half thanks to the radio stream dying... but I think my match preview thoughts were pretty much spot on. Survive the first 15 minutes, which we only just did after Kocaeli had a great shot saved by Isailovich, and then press on. The only problem I can see is that we aren't getting a lot of shots on goal. Midfield-wise, we are all over them. Time for a cigarette break. Back soon.

3:07 pm And we are off for the second half.

3:08 pm Kocaeli almost score in the first seconds of the second half. Phew!

3:09 pm Troisi goes through a whole heap and then buggers up the shot. Arggh.

3:15 pm Burhan sends a pass through to Troisi who shoots well but the Kocaeli keeper makes a good save.

3:17 pm Troisi has another shot saved. Ohhh boy.

3:19 pm Kocaeli have a wonderful attack but end up sending it out.

3:20 pm Despite the couple of shots from Troisi it sounds as if Kocaeli are starting to control the game.

3:23 pm Gencler get a corner and headed at goal but saved and then Soner hits it out.

3:25 pm This time Burhan its it out after a bad shot. Come on!!!!

3:29 pm Isailovich playing well to stop a good chance from Kocaeli. Sounds as if we need a substitution or two. Things are starting to slow down too much. I'd bring Djite on for Kahe.

3:30 pm Soner controls a ball, should have sent it to Troisi but goes for himself. Corner. Meanwhile Djite is brought on for Burhan. Corner comes to nothing.

3:33 pm Hakan Aslantas gets a graphic. Silly boy. Free-kick for Kocaeli in a dangerous position. Defence saves the boy from embarrassment.

3:35 pm Kocaeli are really going for the equaliser, a few shots coming in now but our defence is holding firm... for the moment. We need to put this beyond doubt.

3:37 pm Aussie Bruce in the box, is taken down... but no penalty. Gencler coach Aybaba goes wild in rage.

3:40 pm Sounds like Gencler are playing for time now. Medics on for someone who is probably perfectly fine. Kocaeli fans are whistling in protest. It is Kahe who is being treated.

3:41 pm Momha send one in and Aussie Bruce sends a header just out.

3:44 pm Both teams are making bad passes. Mistakes creeping in. This is getting scary. About eight minutes of normal time left.

3:45 pm I can't stand this. I'm off for a very quick fag.

3:48 pm And while I was having a fag, Aussie Bruce scored. Woooooooow. Kocaeli 0 - 2 Genclerbirligi

3:52 pm Three minutes of extra time. Surely we have this. Mustafa Pektemek is on for us, not sure who went off. Pektemek has been out injured for a while and its good to seem him back on.

3:56 pm And that's it. A good win. Two on the trot.

Kocaelispor 0 - 2 Genclerbirligi
Kayserispor 0 - 0 Sivasspor

Post match Well, that takes a bit of heat off us (just a bit). Not as great a win as last week but it seems that we are starting to get our act together. The midfield is looking good and Momha is a real find. We missed a few shots today but in the end 2-0 is a good result. Also great to see Aussie Bruce get a goal and in the sort of professionalism you have come to expect from "The round ball in Ankara" I was out having a cigarette when it was scored and so I have no idea what exactly happened. Tomorrow Ankaragucu are at home against Konyaspor. We are meeting up at the usual place at midday and Battle Damaged Kanka Damon will be writing up a post-match report. Farewell from Ankara.

Post-post match Seems as if Troisi got the yellow card, not Hakan, and Aussie Bruce's goal came from a pass from Kahe.

Troisi almost bags the big one

When it comes to sports awards the coveted "Round Ball in Ankara Player of the Year Award" is renowned as one of the most difficult to win, mainly because in the three years we have been running this blog we haven't actually given one out yet, but in the prestige stakes breathing down the neck of our as yet unwinnable award has to be the "TSN.ca Soccer Player of the Week".

Now TSN.ca is the first port of call for all sports mad North Americans who need minute-by-minute updates on everything sports eh. Although for me it is just a touch top heavy with the madness that is ice hockey (before you Canadians start complaining I'd like to point out that the game is mad for the players but a brilliant game to watch and laugh at - in fact your faithful writer should have checked out the site before he covered his first, and so far only, international ice hockey tournament - the embarrassing tale of which you can find here).

Anyway, all of that is irrelevant as to the story we know that you need to know. This is from the site:

"With the transfer drama behind him, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite or Kaka as he is better known can get back to doing what he does best, scoring goals and capturing awards. The latest is the TSN.ca Soccer Player of the Week."

Kaka must be over the moon and will no doubt be on the line to his carpenter to get the trophy cabinet extended.

But it the last line of the article that sent us in Ankara reeling:

"Others up for consideration this week included Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, Getafe's Roberto Soldado and Genclerbirligi's James Triosi (sic)."

I had no idea that TSN.ca followed the Turkish league so closely but I'm almost certain that this is the first time that Troisi and Kaka have been mentioned in the same article (with this blog post being the second time).

Who knows, if Kahe during the match against Kayseri on the weekend had allowed Troisi to take the penalty (which Kahe subsequently missed) the Aussie midfielder could well have ended up with four goals for the match. Our man Troisi could have won the "TSN.ca soccer player of the week"! To come so close ... it's the sort of stuff that will be giving Troisi nightmares for the rest of his life.

The goals from Saturday

If anyone wants to check out Troisi's three goals take a look at these youtube links.

Goal 1
Goal 2
Goal 3

ANKARAGUCU – HALFWAY TO THE 2nd LEAGUE ?!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

There are some adjectives (and nouns) to describe Ankaragucu’s performance yesterday which were voiced by the Kankas at the end of the match, eg, pathetic, pitiful, woeful, inept, inadequate, diarrhoea, etc. Get the picture ?!

Also, Kaleci Kanka was even quoted after the match as saying it was the worst Ankaragucu performance he had ever witnessed !

So, we were not very happy bunnies when we left the Stadium at 4pm on a cold, wet and windy Ankara winter’s day !

ANKARAGUCU 0 Antalyaspor 1

As usual, it all started out on an optimistic note, and why not. We were playing at home against one of the bottom clubs which had a history of not producing results ‘on the road’. So spirits were high !

I was first into The Chopin (as usual), to be joined soon after by Ema and Mike (exchange students from the USA). Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and Kaleci Kanka Tansu were next, followed by the 3 stalwart Ankaragucu Bilkent Yanks.

Off to the Stadium then where we were met by Yankee Kanka and his brother Huso. Also there was one of the original kankas from 2000, Desert Kanka Murat and his son Bora. By the way, Murat turned his back on the Libyan Desert a few years ago so we may have to rename him ?! Also, Bora is a Fener supporter (his Grandfather, Engin, taught him well me thinks ??!!).

We weren’t the only ones in an optimistic frame of mind. Gecikondu and Maraton were their normal boisterous selves and they gave us a new chant. We will call it the …… Oooooooooooo …………… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh chant ! True, not many lyrics to learn, but with a few thousand chanting, it brought some humour to the proceedings, and, God, did we need that !!

The first half was a non-event as far as footie purists were concerned. The gusting wind did play a factor in the shabby footie on offer, but that should not be used as an excuse for the garbage which we witnessed. Nor should the weird decisions given by the referee, Hakan Ozkan, (mostly in favour of Antalya !!).

The Antalya Coach obviously told his players at the half time ‘team talk’ that Ankaragucu was there for the taking and they came out in the 2nd half the more determined team. Having told Ema that we always score attacking the Gecikondu end in the 2nd half, I was made to eat my words !

There were only two serious efforts from Ankaragucu in the match (both in the 2nd half). The first from a goalmouth scramble when Omer managed to claw the ball away from crossing the line – from my advantageous position I thought the ball was over the line before he clawed it away, but the linesman thought otherwise !

The second was a rocket from Mehmet (his only valuable contribution in the entire match in what was a poor performance from him) which went screaming past the post with Omer stationary.

It was mostly all Antalya in the 2nd half and it was no surprise when they opened the scoring following a fast breakaway from midfield. Tita slotted it home on 70 minutes with the Ankaragucu defence nowhere and Serkan totally exposed and helpless.

The fight back never materialised, with Ankaragucu continuing to give the ball away and pass the ball to Antalya players. Frustration was creeping in on the field and in the terraces !

Jaba came on shortly after the goal (why wasn’t he on from the start ??!!) and tried to motivate the front runners and midfield, but it was like pissing into the wind !

Apart from Jaba, the only player with his ‘head up’ was the impressive Hasan Ucuncu and Abdulaziz who came on for the last 5 minutes.

All credit to Antalya for a great 2nd half performance and a fully deserved win which was rewarded at the end with a standing ovation from Gecikondu and Maraton.

As for Ankaragucu, more performances like this and they will be heading in a southwards direction as indicated in my headline !

So, at the halfway point in the league, Ankaragucu sit in 3rd bottom position in the league and after 17 matches their goal tally of 14 scored speaks volumes about their problems !

I don’t have the statistics to hand, but my guess is that most of these goals came from Gokhan (since departed ...... boo hoo hoo !), Captain Murat Erdogan and Jaba. So, my question to Hakan Kutlu is ………. why are you persisting to play Mehmet and Iglesias up front ??!!

The sooner De Negris dons the Ankaragucu top the better I say !

Next weekend is another home match against Konya. Details from Oz Kanka in a kanka mail soon.

All the best from a frustrated and worried Eski Kanka Jim

Live radio blogging: Kayserispor v Genclerbirligi

They don't like it up 'em: Handbags after Troisi's third goal.

Good afternoon and welcome to me listening to the radio.

Preview stuff: Winter break is over, although we could easily have played here in Ankara each and every weekend, but we still have one last match to go to finish off what has been a pretty wretched first half of the season for Gencler.

Transfer news: I have no idea what these guys are like but these are the people we brought in over the break. Boja Isailovic (gk) from Serbia, Mile Jedinak from Australia, Vitoria Guimares from Cameroon, Cem Can from Ankaragucu, Eren Aydin returns to Gencler after a stint at Gokcekspor, Hursit Meric from Holland (although he qualifies as a local player) and finally Mehmet Polat from Gaziantep.

That's quite a list. Fingers crossed one or two of them turn out okay because today we have a pretty hard match against Kayserispor, the team that beat us in the Cup final last season. The match is being played in Adana due to work being carried out at Kayseri's home stadium.

I'll be back here at about 1:30 pm for the match itself.

Kayserispor v Genclerbirligi
Kick-off 2pm (1200 GMT)

1:32 pm As Galatasaray and Sivas are playing at the same time as this match I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a "clean" radio feed. This could well be a very short radio report.

The Teams Taken from the Alkaralar forum, so I'm not 100 percent sure they are right. EDIT: In fact they are wrong. Hopefully I can put up the right teams a bit later. EDIT (2) the team for Gencler is now correct.

KAYSERİSPOR: Souleymanou, Mehmet Eren, Eren Güngör, Ali Turan, Bilal Aziz, Mehmet Topuz, Saidou, Ragıp, Olembe, Cangele, Turgay (Aghahowa)

GENÇLERBİRLİĞİ: Bojan, Hakan, Momha, Koray, İlhan, Soner, Jedinak, Mehmet Nas, Troisi, Burhan, Kahe

1:39 pm Found a clean feed :) on the Lig Radyo site.

2:01 pm National anthem played and then "Peep peep" and we are on our way. By the way there are three other matches on at the same time, Ankaragucu - Antalyaspor; Eskisehirspor - Gaziantepspor; and Sivasspor - Galatasaray. Temp in Adana, 10 degrees C.

2:03 pm Working off a free kick Gencler go onto the attack... Keep this up boys.

2:06 pm Goal... No... phew. Off a corner the ball was put in but the referee rules there was a foul on Koray Avci... lucky, lucky, lucky.

2:11 pm Combined with the fact that we have many new players whose names I'm not used to and the fact that this commentator is going for an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest speaker in Turkish football, I'm having a bloody difficult time understanding what is going on.

2:14 pm Bojan saves a shot, then Kayseri attack and attack but can't get it through. This sounds like it might be a long day for us.

2:18 pm The teams listed before are not right. As far as I can tell Aussie Bruce is not on the field. Gencler's two other Aussies, Mile Jedinak and James Troisi, are playing though, with Troisi seeming to be getting in amongst it.

2:22 pm Kayseri appeal for a penalty. Ref turns it down.

2:25 pm Goool!!!! Aussie James Troisi scores!!!! Love ya mate. Kayserispor 0 - 1 Genclerbirligi.

2:27 pm Commentator says Kayseri are playing the better football. Still, we are ahead.

2:32 pm The goal seems to have woken us up and we appear to be controlling possession. Get another chaps!

2:34 pm A million passes, commentator getting louder and faster and then Jedinak sent it out. Still, Gencler are sounding dangerous. Of course, this being Gencler this is the point when we will probably give a way a soft goal.

2:38 pm Still no goals from the other three matches.

2:42 pm Ooocchh. Soner almost scores, ball just out. Commentator says Kayseri are not paying attention.

Half-time First half done. 1-0 up and Gencler are playing much much better after Troisi's goal. This is good stuff. Off for a fag and a beer. Back soon.

Half-time musings So Aybaba decided to play four of the new transfers today and it seems to be paying off. Going in with only one striker in Kahe suggests a defensive approach but listening to the commentary and what seems to be a very nice midfield work (multiple quick passes between Burhan, Mehmet Nas, Jedinak and Troisi) it seems to be working. By the way, who is the Melbourne person who is refreshing this page every two minutes? Reveal yourself! Send us an e-mail through the "Contact us" button on the right of the page and I'll publish it here.

Half-time edit update I've fixed the team line-up for Gencler. It is near the top of this report.

Other half-time scores
Ankaragucu 0 - 0 Antalyaspor
Eskisehirspor 0 - 1 Gaziantepspor
Sivasspor 0 - 0 Galatasaray

3:05 pm Kick-off and Troisi almost scores but is denied after a great tackle by a Kayseri defender, Kayserispor counter attack but it petres out (or should that be "peters out").

3:07 pm Kayseri are attacking hard. Get a corner... but we get it out of there... Hadi Cocuklar!

3:09 pm Oh dear

3:09 pm Kayseri score after a corner. Kayserispor have been full on attacking. Kayserispor 1 - 1 Genclerbirligi

3:11 pm My radio feed is fading... (like Gencler's performance). I might be a minute or two behind the action.

3:16 pm Yessssssss!!!!!! Jedinak sends in a cross and Troisi scores a "harika" goal. Lovin' it. Aussie assists Aussie. Kayserispor 1 - 2 Genclerbirligi.

3:20 pm My radio feed is really buggering up now. Bloody interwebs.

3:22 pm Radio back... I hope. Still one up. Sivas have gone ahead against Galatasaray. Good stuff. All we need now is for Ankaragucu to score against Antalya.

3:27 pm I'm going to kill my internet provider. My speed has collapsed and the radio is having to buffer every four seconds. I'm going to restart everything and hope things get better.

3:31 pm Penalty.... Kahe missed. A red card for someone. Radio is back... I think.

3:33 pm Burhan is going off. New signing Cem Can coming on. As for the penalty they should have let Troisi take it... give him a hat trick.

3:34 pm Kahe stuffs up again. A mistake from Kayseri and he misses. Then Troisi sends a shot in that is saved. In three minutes we have missed three goals. Get it together!

3:37 pm Sivas are 2-0 up while the bad news is that Ankaragucu are losing 0-1 to Antalyaspor.

3:38 pm Aussie Bruce is on for Kahe. I really don't know what is going on. this radio feed is pissing me off.

3:40 pm Kayseri should have scored but the shot was terrible. I hate this part of the game.... Why can't we put this one away, we are a goal and a man up. I need a cigarette. Back in a second.

3:48 pm Just missed another, this time from Mehmet Nas but the ball stays in play and Troisi gets his hat trick!!! Kayserispor 1 - 3 Genclerbirligi.

3:49 pm The match must be over by now but my radio feed is lagging by a couple of minutes.

3:51 pm Troisi has had a brilliant match. Aussie Bruce almost scores... Come on... rub it in, just a minute or so to go... make it four!

3:54 pm The commentator is praising Troisi to the sky. He is also praising the new transfers Jedinak and Momha.

3:55 pm "Peep, peep, peep" and that's it. What a great start. Just our fourth win of the year. I'm a happy man. Kayserispor 1 - 3 Genclerbirligi.

Post-match Well, well, well. A great result away from home and what a great match from Troisi, a hat trick against the team that beat us in the Turkish Cup final last season (where they played for a boring 0-0 draw right from the kick-off). Never did get an e-mail or comment from our Melbourne watcher who updated the site every two minutes. Oh well, at least he or she should be happy with what is probably a historic first - an Aussie scoring a hat trick in a Turkish league match. But Melbourne dude --- do send us a message, we would love to know who you are.

Other Results
Ankaragucu 0 - 1 Antalyaspor
Eskisehirspor 1 - 1 Gaziantepspor
Sivasspor 2 - 0 Galatasaray

Farewell all from a happy Oz Kanka and get prepared for a depressed Sir Eski Kanka to give us a report on Ankaragucu's defeat soonish.

Mixed Fortunes for Hibs

Hibs got back to winning ways on Saturday with a hard fought 2-0 win over St Miren at Easter Road.

Rob Jones scored Hibs first heading in a corner in the first half and Derek Riordan curled in the second from 20 yards with ten minutes to go. The second goal calmed the nerves as St Mirren had laid seige to the Hibs goal for twenty minutes leading up to Riordans strike.

This game was an improvement from the two derbies played either side of new year, there was a bit more movement and confidence about Hibs play although all credit to St Mirren who came with no fear on the back of a six match unbeaten run.

Hibs created the better openings and should have been comfortable before St Mirren changed to a more attack minded formation midway through the second half.

These three points helped put a smile back on the Hibs fans faces following a 0-0 draw against Hearts in the SPL folowed by a 2-0 home defeat to Hearts in the cup. Both Derbies were very poor affairs with a distinct lack of quality on show.

In the cup defeat Steven Fletcher of Hibs was sent off for a late tackle after 30 minutes, it was a soft decision from the referee and one Hibs cuold not recover from. Hearts scored in each half to cruise home comfortably.

Next up for Hibs is Celtic away. Celtic suffered a 4-2 loss to Aberdeen this weekend so will be hurting, generally the worst time to play them.

ANKARAGUCU – INCOMING TRANSFERS ……. AT LAST !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

You will recall my post last week when I announced that two new singings had arrived from Trabzonspor, ie, Abdulaziz and Hasan Ucuncu.

Since then, there has been further activity in the right direction, ie, incoming !

It was announced yesterday that Ufukhan Bayraktar has arrived from Diyarbakirspor. He played previously for Trabzonspor and I understand he is an attacking midfielder.

A further three transfers were announced today –

Ismail Bouzid from Toulouse, who is a stopper.

Bora Kork from Sakaryaspor, who is a goalkeeper (he played for Besiktas previously).

Ozan from Bucaspor, who is a left winger.

There isn’t much I can say about these new singings at present. As always, ‘the proof of the pudding will be in the eating’ and time will tell if these moves prove to be a success !

I think the main point to make is that Hakan Kutlu recognises the need to strengthen the squad and correct the weaknesses which have been exposed in the first half of the season.

However, I still remain worried about our lack of firepower up front. Yes, it’s true that Jaba is a class act, but his lack of height puts him at a distinct disadvantage in aerial attacks. Mehmet and Iglesias haven’t done the biz and this is an area where we have suffered. Perhaps Hakan has something up his sleeve on this subject ?!

It will be interesting to see what the starting line-up will be next weekend against Antalyaspor.

In the meantime, it’s now a case of …….. wait and see !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim