Mesut Bakkal a new Chapter at Ankaragucu !

As Spine confirmed earlier today, Mesut Bakkal has been confirmed as Ankaragucu manager until the end of the season.

Bakkal may be a familiar face in Ankara as he was a member of Ankaragucu coaching staff between 2001-2003. He also had two spells as manager with Genclerbirligi. His last job was with Sivasspor.

I can't say I'm too impressed with this appointment, but we have to give him a chance and get behind him. Umit Ozat, although a popular man amongst the team and management, allowed the team to lose all discipline and consistency on the park. Bakkal took charge of his first training session today and the players all looked very happy like they were enjoying it.

You can see pictures of todays training session here

Robert Vittek and Jarioslav Cerny took part in training and are available for the weekend's trip to Konyaspor. I have a good feeling Mesut will surprise us. Lets hope so !

ANKARAGUCU CAPITULATE ...... IN THE END

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

As Bellshill Kanka Nadeem put it in the comments section of the previous post ..... what a shite defence. Spot on. Statistics don't lie, and with the 2nd worst defence in the League, it is clear to see where Ankaragucu's major weakness is.

Maniac Kanka Harun (and his friend Muco), Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I met up at the Stadium, and as usual the Ankaragucu tribunes around the Stadium were full. We counted 36 Gencler supporters in the away end, which should have been the normal 39 had it not been for the absence of Oz, Spine and The Flying Dutchman partying in Istan....spit.....bul !!!

The Gencler supporters (God bless them !!) were trying to sing pre-match but the Ankaragucu refused to allow it and drowned them out !!

ANKARAGUCU 2 Genclerbirligi 4

Maniac was full of pessimism pre-match, but when Battle Damaged and I saw the team line up with 3 recognised strikers on, we were upbeat about our chances of recording a rare victory against Gencler.

Ozden
Zewlakow, Aydin, Rajnoch, Murat
Adem, Kagan, Sapara
Sestak, Fatih and Serdar

Substitutes used - Metin, Gabric and Dogan

The match started at a hectic pace and Ankaragucu almost scored in the 1st minute when Fatih fired in a shot which was well saved by Serdar.

However, as the half progressed, it was Gencler who was looking the more dangerous. Their defence was winning everything in the air from the diminutive Fatih, Sestak and Serdar. They were also looking a lot livelier with their tackles and passing, and Ankaragucu was being restricted to the odd foray into the Gencler half.

Then on 19 minutes Serdar had to go off - looked like he pulled something in his left leg - which was a blow in view of the fact that he was looking dangerous down the left side. Metin came on to replace him and had a reasonable match, but it was obvious Ankaragucu missed Serdar's aggressive running and creative passing.

Ankaragucu did have a few chances before half time. Metin saw his long-range screamer whiz past the post with Serdar beaten and Rajnoch headed over from a Sapara cross.

However, it was Gencler who finished the half the stronger team. The ball was in the net on 40 minutes, but the referee blew for a 'feet up' challenge on Ozden. Then just before the half time whistle, Gencler hit the post from a free kick.

I for one was pleased to hear the half time whistle to give the team a chance to re-group and catch their breath. The pace didn't let up all through the half.

Gencler started the 2nd half as they had finished the 1st half, ie, on the attack, and 2 minutes in Oktay waltzed through the Ankaragucu defence to score an excellent solo goal.

The Ankaragucu defence persisted in giving away free kicks around the penalty area which is like shooting yourself in the foot. However, Ozden saved Ankaragucu's blushed on numerous occasions throughout the match with some great saves.

He made a great save on 57 minutes which was a goal all the way, but the ball wasn't cleared by the Ankaragucu defence and was crossed back into the box where Mustafa was well positioned to head in to make it two.

Ankaragucu wasn't quite ready to capitulate at this point and were still trying to attack the Gencler goal. Fatih sent a header just past. Then on the 66th minute Metin showed what he is capable of when given a run on goal. He received a great pass, controlled the ball on the run, and fired in a great shot to put Ankaragucu back in the match.

The Ankaragucu tribunes upped the volume and 10 minutes later the equaliser came. It was a dangerous looking free kick which was floated into the box. Lots of players went up for it, but the ball came off Orhan's head to score a great own-goal.

Ankaragucu looked up for it now and expectation was in the air.

However, that bloody defence again screwed up at a corner on the 77th minute when they didn't deal with covering the Gencler attackers. Orhan made amends for his own-goal and forced the loose ball in.

Stunned silence before the singing started again. Could Ankaragucu force another equaliser ?!

Then on 84 minutes a great sweeping move from Gencler had the Ankaragucu defence chasing shadows and Serkan had the easiest of tasks to put the 'nail in the coffin'.

Ankaragucu capitulated and Gencler played 'pass the ball around' for the remaining few minutes.

Great all round performance by Gencler which bodes well for the remainder of the season.

However, where does Ankaragucu go from here ? That's too difficult a question to answer at the moment. The new coach has his work cut out before he takes over. His remit is quite simple .......... avoid the drop !!!

Ankaragucu will be away in Konya next Saturday 5 March. Gencler will be at home to Fener on Monday 7 March, and if they put in another performance like they did yesterday, we could be looking at another 3 points. Please do it says Trabzon and Bursa !!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

SOME THINGS IN LIFE NEVER CHANGE !!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Gencler winning the Ankara Derby ? Yeah, so what ? Errrrrmmmm .... just a question ...... but a stupid question !!

If you want to know the score of the Ankara Derby, just say ...... how many ??? .... and you will reply .... FOUR. That obviously means that Gencler won by 4 goals. Gottit ????

ANKARAGUCU 2 Genclerbirligi 4

Full report tomorra, which will be music in Gencler ears !!

Ankaragucu ? Mmmmmm .... we are talking mountains to climb !!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

btw, Hibs made it FOUR wins in a row ..... so, perhaps FOUR is not a bad number after all ??!!

Ankaragucu vs Genclerbirligi Match Preview !

I mentioned to Jim the other night that every week a couple of days before our game i would do a match preview. What better way to start with the Ankara Derby ?? Its a massive games for both clubs who find themselves in a relegation fight.

Last Season the Ankara debry finished 1-1 with both teams winning in there away games. Gencler won the oppening game 2-1 with goals from Mustafa Pektemek and Kahe, with Barbaros Barut scoring Ankaragucus only goal. In the second game a 1-0 win for Ankaragucu thanks to Darius Vassell scoring the games only goal.

This season Gencler won in the Ankara Cup on penalties after a boring 0-0 draw. They won the first league game 1-0 and we drew 1-1 in the cup. So its fair to say Gencler have had the upper hand on the derby matches.

After last weeks performance, Ankaragucu will want to win this game and give the fans something to cheer about again. The news coming from Ankaragucu tonight as we heard from Damon, is that Robert Vittek will make a return to the team. No doubt this would be a huge boost for us. It has also been confirmed this will be Umit Ozats last game in charge. Names been mentioned to take over are Jurgen Rober and Mesut Bakkal. Ankaragucu are also set to welcome back Stefan Senecky and Michael Kulkowski to the team as well.

As for Genclerbirligi, they have been boosted by Mustafa Pektemeks return to the team, one of Turkeys best young players. Like Ankaragucu they havennt had a good season but are capable of winning on there day. Its a tough one to call but im going for Ankaragucu 3-2 Genclerbirligi with a good attacking game.

Nadeemm

Audio for the blog?

THE ANKARA DERBY

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

The Ankarakara Derby will take place at 19 Mayis Stadium on Saturday KO 2pm.

Ankaragucu is the home team, so Gencler Boys will be confined to the away section.

With Oz and Spine in Istanbul partying at a wedding, and using Maniac Kanka's mathematics, that means there will only be 37 Gencler supporters. However, if the Flying Dutchman attends that could push the 'crowd' up to 38 !!!

Meeting at the Beer Bus Bar as normal and going to the stadium at about 1pm.

See you there for what is an important match for both teams, bearing in mind their precarious league positions !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Karabuk take the North Anatolian derby

A pretty miserable day on Saturday for Ankara in general. The weather was cold and wet and our two teams both went down. From the reports below it sounds like Ankaragucu deserved it... Gencler did not.

Genclerbirligi 2 - 3 Karabukspor

There were long faces in the Beer Bus when Little Oz Kanka showed up right at the end of Ankaragucu's match. I don't think I've ever seen Sir Eski so depressed. A couple of drinks and it was time to go. For an idea of just how crap the weather was Spine decided he was going to stay in the pub. Oh well, Little Oz and myself went off to find a taxi.

Just about to drive off and Spine jumped in the front seat. Apparently he had received a lecture from Sir Eski. Good stuff Sir!

Raining away when the match started off and it took the players from both sides quite a while to get used to the ball either stopping dead or skidding off. The wet ground did mean we got to see some good slides though.

The footy wasn't great but then Zec somehow got clear. For some reason he didn't have a shot when he seemed to have plenty of time. Instead he passed to Mununga who did have a shot, saw it rebound back and then had another go. This time it was in the back of the net. 1-0 up and Mununga got a big shout out from the crowd following his first goal for the club.

Time for Little Oz Kanka to go to the loo and so I missed the penalty call against us. Going by the fact that none of our lot said much I'm guessing it was only fair. 1-1 and it stayed that way till half time.

Hopes were still high. Gencler appeared to have been playing the better football but we were leaving some gaps at the back... and there were some wayward passes with Jedinak in particular not seeming to be in form.

And then 50 minutes in they scored from a corner. Arggh. Plenty of time though and Gencler went on the attack.

This was good stuff. We were all over them and at times we played some very attractive football. At times our finishing was rubbish, other times we just weren't getting lucky, especially when the referee refused to give us a penalty.

Still hopes were high and it finally came in the last minute. We had a corner and our keeper Serdar came up in an attempt to be a hero. The ball didn't go anywhere near him but a scramble in the box ended up with the ball in net. I had no idea who scored and only later learnt it was actually an own goal.

The crowd was going wild, the Gencler players were estatic and then... I have no idea what happened. Karabuk scored in the 93rd minute. Punch in the guts... evil, evil stuff.

Ankara derby this weekend. Unfortunately Spine and myself will be visiting the Bizanslar but I'm sure the rest of the Kankas will be up for it.