A letter from Darius Vassell

This e-mail from former Ankaragucu player Darius Vassell just arrived via the "contact us" button on the right-hand side of the blog.

Hi Guys, im reading your blog and also nadeems ankaragucu website to keep track of the clubs progress. Im saddened for what i hear and hope things improve drastically... Ankaragucu supporters have shown so much support and patience with me during my affiliation with the club, i cant understand the whole situation but i do wish the club and its fanbase a full recovery not just for myself but for the thousands of fans that invest so much and receive so little.. Happy new year!!

You can see Vassell's blog here.

Happy New Year to you too Darius, and to the tens of other people who read the blog.

Gencler wow us again

Wow,wow, wow. Genclerbirligi end the first half of the season in fifth spot. FIFTH SPOT! I was so unconfident at the beginning of the season I would have been happy with fifth last spot. Goals from Yasin, Herve Tum (2) and Ermin Zec near the end had everyone at the Red Lion Club jumping up and down. This was great stuff.

I have to go Christmas shopping with Mrs. Oz Kanka now so I'll finish this report later on. Let me just leave you with the magic score from last night.

Genclerbirligi 4 - 0 Istanbul BBS

There is only one person to blame for why I wasn't at the match... Sir Eski Kanka! He had asked last week if we could play our darts match last night. I didn't realise that the Gencler match would be on at the same time. Oh well.

It was just Little Oz Kanka and myself at the Red Lion Club for the kick-off, slowly but surely though the club started to fill up as news of Gencler's exploits spread throughout the capital.

It was all looking okay at the beginning and then the magic started. Yasin took the ball down the left. Starting from about the half way line he cut back in somewhere near the box and got past a couple of defenders before shooting from outside the box. The Istanbul keeper dived to his right but the shot was just too good. 1-0 up and seven minutes gone.

Even though Istanbul had more of the possession for the whole match they only looked like scoring once or twice. Another great effort from the backs and keeper Ramazan.

As Gencler went on the attack again and again the second came in the 24th minute when Azo sent a ball in to Soner in the box. There was no shot on so Soner did his Whirling Dervish impression and then half shot from an angle. The keeper dived but missed and the ball was probably going to miss when Herve Tum's outstretched leg sent it in. 2-0. Looking good.

Almost half-time and Tum gets his second in what can only be described as weird circumstances. Soner passed it to the edge of the box... The keeper comes out but Azofeifa just manages to get a touch on it to keep it going. Tum was being marked but got off a shot from a fairly acute angle, the keeper was missing and an Istanbul player had too much momentum and was unable to intercept the ball as it slowly rolled over the line. Wow.

Second half and well... I don't think Gencler cared any more. We made a few changes to give some of our fringe players a bit of a run around but the performance was nothing like that in the first half.

Hursut gets past his man. Photo by Sabrican Sarak via the Alkaralar website

The fourth goal came via one of those fringe players, Ermin Zec, who scored after being fed wonderfully by Oktay.

All up this was a great performance and we go into the Christmas break with great hope that we can grab a European spot by the end of the season.

Happy Christmas all from a very happy Oz Kanka.

ANKARAGUCU - FLATLINING ?!

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Is it too late to resuscitate the sleeping giant of Ankara ? After last night's 'performance' I now believe that the line will be flat at the end of the season, ............ unless ........... the UEFA transfer ban is lifted ! It is glaringly obvious that the present team is dead on its feet !

Kayserispor 3 Ankaragucu 0

Team - same as last match.

Kaleci Kanka Tansu and I watched the match in the Red Lion Club and it only took 4 minutes for Kayseri to prise open the Ankaragucu defence.

A fairly innocuous shot from outside the box came in, which under normal circumstances, would have been dealt with easily by Ozden, but the attacker in front of him got a touch with his head and Ozden could only parry the ball which was heading over the line until Turgut palmed it out to Triosi who calmly accepted the 'present' and tapped in. If Triosi hadn't scored, there would no doubt have been a straight red card, but Mr Ozkahya was obviously feeling generous and gave Turgut a yellow !

20 minutes in and No2 arrived courtesy of a 'comedy show' by the Ankaragucu defence. The ball was crossed into the Ankaragucu penalty box and a defender (who ?) had a swipe at it and blasted it straight into another defender (who ?). The ball then took a ricochet off him to Triosi who again had the simplest of tap-ins ........ thinking to himself ........... who's a lucky boy then ??!!

10 minutes later another comedy of errors when a Kayseri breakaway put Sefa through, but he was covered by an Ankaragucu defender (who ?) and just as he was about to tackle, he fell, leaving Sefa tearing away on his own to shoot past a helpless Ozden.

At this point, I'm shaking my head in disbelief at the ineptitude of Ankaragucu and 'biting my tongue' to control my normal stream of profanity - there were ladies sitting near me !!

True enough, Ankaragucu was playing some nice tip-tap footie in midfield, but approaching half time I still hadn't seen the Kayseri goalkeeper' face (Navarro) farless witnessed him making a save !

Atilla and Umut came on for the 2nd half to replace the ineffective Keles and Turgut and Atilla almost scored from the kick off, but the angle of his shot was tight and he found the side netting.

It was on the 70th minute mark that I uttered these words for the first time at an Ankaragucu match. I turned to Tansu and said, 'I'm bored with this match' ! He nodded in agreement !

10 minutes to go and Ankaragucu's only real chance in the match came when Ediz sent in a bullet of a header from a corner, but Navarro made a great save. Near the end, Hurriyet tried his luck, but to no avail. Incidentally, Hurriyet's yellow card means he will miss the next match !

So, halfway through the season and Ankaragucu is still propping the rest up. 8 points behind 4th bottom Antep who are at home to Bursa tonight. It's looking grim and I honestly don't know how Ankaragucu will be able to avoid flatlining !

Winter Break ? What Winter Break ? The next round of league matches are on Wednesday 4 January -

Mersin v Ankaragucu and Gencler v Samsun

I'll give the KO details nearer the time.

In the meantime, A Happy New Year to all our readers !

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu vs Kayserispor Match Preview !

The final match of the first half of Season 2011/12 games are upon us and we take a look at Kayserispor vs Ankaragucu.

Ankaragucu go into the game knowing they need to take the three points as they fight for survival. Saturdays match against Gaziantepspor should have seen Ankaragucu take three points, but there finishing let them down and instead had to settle for a sole point.

Kayserispor have hit a bit of form of late after a poor start to the season. Manager Shota Arveladze has a young squad of players and will be hoping to bounce back from there 1-0 defeat at Eskisehirspor.

The key players for Kayseri are Gokhan Unal who is the clubs leading scorer with 6 goals and Nordim Amrabat who has arguably been the best player in the Turkish Super Lig this season. The playmaker is a target of Galatasaray who hope to sign him in January.

Last season the sides drew 1-1 in Ankara, Serdar Kesimel gave the visitors the lead, but Mehmet Cakir gave Ankaragucu a share of the points with a second half goal. In the return game Kayseri won 2-1, Murat Duruer gave Ankaragucu the lead but two late goals from Ermin Kujovic and Marcelo Zalayeta won the game for Kayseri.

Ankaragucu key players will be Hurriyet Gucer , Serdar Ozkan and Turgut Dogan Sahin who is also a target for Galatasaray. Ankaragucu are capable of the win but can they finish there chances?

Time to dream of Europe?

My head is starting to get a bit giddy. Just one match before the end of the first-half of the season and Genclerbirligi are in sixth place. Not only that but we are playing good football that is fun to watch, even when we lose or grind out a 0-0 draw. Considering that at the beginning of the season I put Gencler down as one of the teams most likely to go down... this is amazing stuff.

Manisa 0 - 1 Genclerbirligi

Having been told to stay at home on Sunday I had to rely on my trusty little radio to follow today's match. Unfortunately my one-year-old nephew loved the radio too and played havoc with the reception for the full 90 minutes.

That's my excuse in early. From the first half I understood that neither side was great but that we really should have gone ahead except that Herve Tum again missed in a one-on-one situation with the Manisa keeper. Oh dear, that man makes me groan at times.

He made up for it though in the second half when he scored a header from an Azofeifa corner. That's becoming a bit of a habit for Gencler. Tum misses a sitter and then gets a header a bit later on.

I can't be totally sure but it sounded like we had a few great opportunities towards the end but all were blown. Manisa also fought like hell but Ramazan had another great match in goal.

Er... that's it really.

A few matches ago, I think it was after we beat Besiktas, Sir Eski Kanka predicted a European spot for Gencler. I laughed at the time... but maybe he was onto something.

ANKARAGUCU - WELCOME TO THE 'REAL' WORLD HAKAN KUTLU !

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

'Prodigal Son' Hakan Kutlu returned to Ankaragucu in a different time zone to what he was familiar with ! Gone are the glory days of the Ankaragucu days of yore when they took on the might of Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup in the early 2000s. This is 2011 and he faces an uphill struggle to keep his beloved Ankaragucu in the top tier !

Ziya Dogan took the poisoned chalice and now it is in the hands of Hakan Bey, and who can envy him his task after yesterday's performance ?! He would probably be reflecting at the end of yesterday's match that the team he played in would have won 8-0 with the likes of Kennedy, Augustine, Hakan Keles, Niyazi et al. However, that's how many genuine chances Ankaragucu passed up yesterday and a result that may come back to haunt them at the end of the season !

Ankaragucu 0 Gaziantepspor 0

Huso Kanka, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Cider Kanka John and I met up in The Stadium and we were initially entertained by the boisterous Antep fans before Gecikondu decided to join in the singing and drown them out.

It was a familiar line-up apart from the recent 'leaves which fell off the tree', ie, Weeksie and Tisdell (the last 2 foreigners of the team) !

Ozden
Kagan, Aydin, Ediz and Ishak
Guven, Hurriyet and Murat
Serdar and Turgut
Keles

Substitutes used - Umut and Atilla

It was pretty much a non event until the 20th minute when Murat was put through, but instead of opening the scoring, he shot past the post. Sound familiar ?

10 minutes later, and with Ankaragucu enjoying the lion's share of possession, it was Turgut's turn to pass up a chance when he shot tamely at Karcemarskas when a goal was the easier option !

5 minutes before the interval and Ozden still hadn't been called upon to make a save when he might easily have been caught out when the impressive Olcan's shot went just past the post with Ozden struggling to cover it.

It was more or less one way traffic in the 2nd half towards the Antep goal, and Turgut should have opened the scoring within one minute of the resumption when he was put through, and instead of blasting the ball into the goal, he flicked it past the post.

5 minutes later that man again Turgut was put through with an excellent pass from Murat and he screwed the ball past the post when it was too easy to find the back of the net. Cue ....... kankas look at each other in astonishment !!!

5 minutes later Ankaragucu almost paid the price of carelessness when Antep's No9 was presented with an open goal on a rare attack, but he somehow got himself in a tangle of feet and ball which gave the defence that split second to clear.

Into the 60th minute and some really fine footwork from Turgut allowed himself to make space for his angled shot which came back off the bar with the goalkeeper beaten.

At this point Hakan Kutlu made a strange decision to substitute Turgut for Umut. Whaaaaat the f.....k I was shouting ?! He was the only player who looked capable of breaking the deadlock and Guven (who had a shocking match) stayed on much to my disgust !

5 minutes to go and it was all Ankaragucu pouring forward desperately seeking the winner. Serdar sent over an inviting cross which Atilla met well, but it was saved the the keeper.

Ankaragucu left holes in the back and were almost punished when a saving tackle from Hurriyet spared the blushes with the clock ticking down to the 90th minute.

There was still time for Ankaragucu to pull the rabbit out of the hat, but Murat had the miss of the match when he found himself in front of goal with only the keeper to beat, but guess what ................. he missed !!!

The final chance fell to Guven when he headed over from a free kick.

So, 5 points lost against a very poor Antep team. Hakan Bey, you have to impress on the players that the round leather thingie must go between the sticks and not past or over !!!!

Man of the Match goes to Ishak who had a great match and completely bamboozled the Antep defence with his surging runs upfield from defence. If I was Hakan Bey, I would put him in midfield alongside Hurriyet as an attacking midfielder !

Now for the last match in this half of the season away to Kayseri on Wednesday KO 6pm. Not sure where we are watching that one with the Fener match KO at the same time. Probably in The Red Lion Club, but watch this space.

It goes without saying that the result of the match in Kayseri will speak volumes about Ankaragucu's chances of mounting a challenge in the 2nd half of the season.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Genclerbirligi finally win away from home

Hooray! Mid-December and Gencler finally win an away match. Not against some middling team but against Trabzon. All good stuff except for the KO time.

I ranted last week and I'm ranting again today. Last night's mid-week match kicked off at 5:45 pm. Is it any wonder that the stadium just outside Trabzon was empty?

Trabzonspor 1 - 2 Genclerbirligi

I was volunteered to become the bar manager at the Red Lion Club so last night I headed down there to do some work and to watch bits and pieces of the Trabzon-Gencler match. The sound was down but the club certainly knew it when we scored.

Things didn't start off so brilliantly with Trabzon in complete control, especially in the midfield, but somehow or other we managed to score first.

Before that there was a clear handball from a Trabzonspor player. Of course, neither the referee nor the linesman saw it.

But anyway, it was enigmatic Hursut who was the hero for this one. As we have seen so often, he had the ball down the right wing near the touch line, and a defender in front of him blocking any chance for a cross. He takes the ball slightly to the left (with his left foot mind you), defender goes with him, and then flicks it through the defender, follows it up and sends in a perfect cross to an unmarked Soner who headed it home.

Lovely stuff and Trabzon upped the ante but thanks to some great defending, especially from Aykut, and with some luck we managed to hold out till half time. Possession at this stage was something like 65 percent to 35 percent in Trabzon's favour.

Second half and Trabzon kept on coming but Gencler stretched the lead when Herve Tum sent a great ball to Yasin who shot from outside the box and perfectly placed it in the bottom left-hand of the goal. Much shouting and celebrations.

Trabzon upped it again but ultimately it was the referee who had to gift it to them when he gave a penalty for handball.

It was no handball. It was obvious from the very start and the TV replays made it even more obvious. Aykut even took his jersey off to show the welt mark where the ball had hit him. Yellow card for Aykut and Trabzon scored.

Then it was about half-an-hour of defending. Attack after attack from Trabzon, at least two shots hit the post, desperate defence, keeper Ramazan making saves left, right and centre, scary scary stuff but finally the whistle blew.

An away win against Trabzon. I'd say that we were very lucky, but at the same time we took our chances and Trabzon didn't. Got to put it in the back of the net boys.