The Ankaragucu Family !

This was my fourth trip to the Turkish Capital to watch Ankaragucu play this time against Pazarspor who had traveled from the City of Rize. The first two matches i traveled for we lost 3-0 to Fenerbahce and 5-1 against Bursaspor. Last season i saw my first victory as Ankaragucu won 1-0 against Kartalspor. Its now 2 defeats and 2 victorys as Ankaragucu won 5-0 as Pazarspor were blown away with Ankaragucu just to strong.

The weekend started off with a trip to Tandogan where i met Coskun who is the clubs media man, he is  responsible for the clubs Official Website, facebook and twitter pages. He wanted to meet up after finding out i had travelled from Scotland for the match. I met respected coaches Cengiz Paca and Murat Tuksoy before meeting the clubs vice president Tamer Acar who presented me with an Ankaragucu scarf.

President Mehmet Yiginer has done a fantastic job at the club and has branded this season Ankaragucu Dirilis which means resurrection, so i decided to do my bit buy purchasing a season ticket and buying some merchandise from the club shop. At Tandogan i would watch the reserve team train which included Samil Yagci, Emir Ozbey and Oguzhan Bicer. After lunch and some Turkish Tea it was time to head off and meet the Kanka Group.

The Ankaragucu and Genclerbirligi Kankas would meet at Beyzade for another excellent night which included Turkish Food and traditional Turkish entertainment. Harun took the place of Chris this year by drinking the most Raki. He also made sure Paul was to become an Ankaragucu fan and taught him some Ankaragucu songs.

Saturday afternoon was the day of the match, the Kankas met at the Hilton hotel before heading off to the stadium. Upon entering the stadium we met President Mehmet Yiginer who stopped for a photo with the Kankas after hearing Ankaragucu has a couple of Scotland fans. The game itself was excellent , with all the fan groups singing to each other, and the team responding with a fantastic 5-0 win.

At full time i met up with the Aykildiz family who after hearing that i had traveled from Scotland wanted to meet up after the match. We stopped for a couple of photos before they invited us for dinner at their house the next night. We continued our night watching the El Classico in the Red Lion as Bugra and his Friend joined us. Damon was delighted as his Barcelona won 2-1 to make it a good day all around.

As i checked the latest news on my phone back at the hotel, i received a message from Coskun to say that he had done an article on the Ankaragucu official website and Facebook page of my journey from Scotland.  Article Here ! I was delighted to see i had made it onto the official page as well as Turkish Sports websites SporYolu and Sporanki. That was followed by facebook requests from many Ankaragucu fans who sent messages thanking me for my support.

Sunday, myself, John and Basak met up with Ozan who took us to his parents house for dinner. Having only met the Aykildiz family the day before they put on a fantastic dinner for us and presented me with the new Ankaragucu home strip. It was that night i realised that supporting Ankaragucu is like a family. The fans are so happy that a foreigner supports their club and i started to understand why they turned up in their numbers to welcome Darius Vassell at the airport when he signed for the club. The happiness in the familys face that i had came to meet them and have dinner with them is something i will never forget and cant thank them enough.

Monday night i met up with Jim, Damon, Harun, John and his friend to say goodbye and thank them for another fantastic trip. Hopefully if we win the league i will be there for the title party !

ANKARAGUCU EXIT THE TURKISH CUP WITH PRIDE INTACT

Team - Bayram Olgun, Metin Aydin, Aydin Toscali, Volkan Geyik, Mehmet Tasci, Mert Erdogan, Serhat Gulpinar, Gokhan Erdogan, Emre Tasdemir, Ibrahim Sahin, Veli Torun

Subs Used - Bilal Gundogdu, Teoman Erkan, Batuhan Aykildiz


Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Sivas   3      ANKARAGUCU    1     (After Extra Time)

Giving the fringe players a run-out in the 3^rd Round of the Turkish Cup is a great tactic when it is obvious to everyone that promotion to the PTT League is Ankaragucu's priority. The Turkish Cup Final will be contested between two Super League teams, so this is a journey of experience for the players in what they are likely to come up against in the seasons ahead.

Well done to AHaber TV for showing the match live and this will be a brief report.

The match got underway with Sivas taking the initiative and in the 3^rd minute Bayram was called upon to make a save from a goal bound effort.

10 minutes in and it is fairly even with Ankaragucu holding their own. Great to hear the Ankaragucu supporters making their presence 'heard' !

However, Sivas is starting to take control at the half way mark in the 1^st half with most of the possession and goal efforts, but to their credit, Ankaragucu is still attacking when possible.

Approaching half time and from a left wing cross-cum-shot, Bayram saved and the ball was cleared to safety.

Well done Ankaragucu going in 0-0 at half time, especially with Sivas having 65% of possession.

Man of the Match so far is definitely Captain Aydin who is playing a stormer in defence. Emre is also having a good match and continuing from where he left off last weekend against Pazarspor. However, I have to say that Ibrahim Sahin is too slow for a striker and looks out of his depth here.

I expect Sivas to up the pace in the 2^nd half and make their pressure count.

Into the 2^nd half then and it was almost the breakthrough for Sivas from the kick-off. A blatant miss in front of goal, first from a header, and then with a gaping goal with only Bayram to beat, the Sivas attacker shot wide.

53^rd minute, and from an Ankaragucu breakaway, Mert's shot from outside the box was just inches over the bar with the goalkeeper clawing air.

61^st minute and Gokhan has to go off injured with Akyildiz replacing him.

70^th minute, and Goooooooooooooool …................ against the run of play.

A great defence splitting pass from Sahin (I don't retract what I said earlier !) to Emre who controlled the ball and placed it in the corner of the goal with the goalkeeper getting a slight touch.

72^nd minute and almost the equaliser but the effort well saved by Bayram.

75^th minute and Veli goes off injured to be replaced by Bilal.

84^th minute and Sahin goes off (at last !) to be replaced by Teoman.

87^th minute and …..... it eventually came after sustained pressure from Sivas. A cross from the right and a precision header from the Nigerian forward, John, into the path of the unmarked Hakan who blasted in for the equaliser.

To be honest, it is no more than Sivas deserve for their continual attacking play. Their 62% possession at this stage says it all.

5 minutes of time added on and this is nail biting stuff.

Another crucial tackle from Aydin to prevent a shot on goal. Definitely Man of the Match.

In the last minute now and some tired legs in the Ankaragucu team. I think they are running on adrenalin. Ahhhhhh ….... shit …....... Teoman missed an open goal at the end !!!!

Well done Ankaragucu for a great team performance and, for once, we can praise our normally leaky defence !

It's into Extra Time now …..........

106^th minute and a scrappy goal to put Sivas ahead. A cross came in from the right, which was headed backwards to a Sivas forward who shot. Bayram parried the save, but into the path of Aydin who couldn't prevent the ball crossing the line. A pure accident on Aydin's behalf and a real sickner.

Sivas was running the match down now, but all credit to Ankaragucu for still plugging away with obviously tired legs.

Almost at the final whistle now and a catalogue of errors allowed Sivas in for a 3^rd goal. A free kick for Ankaragucu just outside the Sivas box had all the Ankaragucu players up for it, including Bayram, who eventually retreated to near the half way line.

However, the free kick was cleared and the ball moved quickly down the right and over Bayram who was scampering back to no avail. The ball was despatched into an empty net to seal Ankaragucu's exit from the Cup.

A great effort by Ankaragucu but it is obvious that the Coach needs to work on their fitness. There are too many 'slow coaches' in the team !!! Who knows what might have happened if Levent and Umut had been playing ??!!

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

ANKARAGUCU TURN ON THE STYLE FOR NADEEM

Greetings Kankas and Kankies.

Bellshill Kanka Nadeem's annual pilgrimage to Turkey to see Ankaragucu this season proved to be a winner. Blue skies, sunshine, and more importantly, lots of goals to enjoy and celebrate.

ANKARAGUCU 5 Pazarspor 0

Team – Gokhan Akkan, Orhan, Gurkan, Volkan, Onur, Gokhan Erdogan, Selim, Harun, Kaan, Levent and Umut

Substitutes used – Aydin (club captain), Emre and Batuhan

We met up at Nadeem's hotel – Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Cider Kanka John and the gorgeous Basak Kankie. At the Stadium we met some friends from Gecikondu, Ozan and his family who then introduced us to Club Chairman, Mehmet Yigner, who was doing a walk-about around the Stadium to meet the supporters. A photograph of this event will be posted by Nadeem next week !

Into the Stadium we went where we were joined by Apple Kanka Erman, Yankee Kanka, Huso Kanka and Gecikondu Kanka Bugra.

Pre-match comment from Nadeem …...... he mentioned in a previous post that Selim should be in midfield and Volkan in defence and that is how it turned out for this match. Obviously the Coach has been reading our Blog !!

Match comment from Damon …...... he is pleased to see that Ankaragucu is starting to bring the ball out of defence rather than hoofing it into the other half more in hope than anything else which has been the case in previous matches. This is obviously something that has been worked on in the training ground.

Lots of noise from a full Gecikondu and an almost full Maraton with the expectation of a win and maintaining top position in the league.

Ankaragucu started the match in full throttle and were taking the match to Pazar who were pressed back into their own half for the first half an hour. Ankaragucu had the lion's share of possession but without creating many scoring opportunities. Also, it took until the 28^th minute of the match for Ankaragucu to win their first corner but it was easily cleared by the Pazar defence.

After the half hour mark, Pazar started to come more into the match and they almost scored when Gokhan was lobbed by a Pazar attacker, but the ball went past the post much to our relief. There followed another scare when Gokhan and Volkan got in a tangle with each other and almost gifted a goal to Pazar. Fortunately, Gokhan was able to retrieve the situation and another sigh of relief all round !

A few minutes later there was more 'panic stations' in the Ankaragucu defence from a Pazar free kick with Gokhan requiring treatment after falling awkwardly.

Just as I was thinking that Pazar might 'steal' a goal and even win the match, all hell broke loose. Ankaragucu suddenly exploded into action in the 5 minutes before half time.

First, it was the ever reliable Levent who received a flick-on from (I think it was Umut) and he opened the scoring much to our relief. Then, just as we were thinking …... hmmmm …. 1-0 at half time is acceptable ….... Umut scored what for me was goal of the match. He received a great through ball on the right and was one-on-one with Pazar's keeper Fethi who did well to narrow the angle. With everyone, including Fethi, expecting Umut to blast the ball, he coolly flicked the ball around and over Fethi with an outstanding piece if skill.

No sooner, had we stopped celebrating than we were up on our feet again. Kaan received the ball on the left wing, and with the Pazar defender backing off, he shot just outside the penalty area into the opposite corner of the goal being guarded by Fethi for Number 3.

What an end to the first half after 40 minutes of frustration !

Into the 2^nd half then and Ankaragucu continued where they left off by taking the game to Pazar.

5 minutes in and it was almost 4 when Levent cut the ball back for Kaan who sent in a screamer but just over the bar.

However, we didn't have to wait long for the 4^th goal when a cross came in from the right wing and Umut was well positioned to head in.

With 15 minutes to go, the moment arrived which we have been waiting for. Club Captain Aydin came on to a tremendous welcome and took up his customary position in central defence.

With 2 minutes to go and following a chorus of ….. bes bes bes (Turkish for Five !!) it duly arrived courtesy of substitute Emre who sent a rocket into the corner of the goal with Fethi well beaten. The impressive Emre almost made it six just before the end with another shot which hit the post and was cleared to safety.

My Man of the Match was Levent who impressed me with his work-rate, tackling back and his constant harrying of opponents. He is turning out to be a great signing for the Club.

After the customary lap of honour by the players, it was off to The Chopin to celebrate.

A great day for us all and especially for Nadeem to see FIVE goals.

Photographs will be posted here by Nadeem next week on his return to Scotland.

All the best from Eski Kanka Jim

Ankaragucu vs Pazarspor match preview !

I have just packed my suitcase for my next visit to Ankara as i take in the Ankaragucu vs Pazarspor match. An early flight from Edinburgh to Istanbul and then onto the Capital Ankara. People ask me why ? Why would you travel all the way to Ankara to watch a third tier club ? I cant answer the question with one single answer, but the hospitality shown by Ankaragucu fans, the atmosphere at the 19 Mayis stadium and the Ankaragucu community are like a family, they are more than just a football club.

Its 1 year since i was last in Ankara, as we won 1-0 at home to Kartalspor thanks to a Timur Ozgoz goal. Hopefully we can get the 3 points again the club who equaled their 5 match winning record at the weekend will be looking to make history with 6 in a row. Ankaragucu will need to up their game after the weekends performance at Kizilcahamamspor where we were maybe fortunate to get away with the 3 points.

A later winner from Levent Kale kept Ankaragucu top of the league but Bandirma and Altinordu are both keeping up the pressure and the 3 points are important to keep the momentum with only 1 automatic place up for grabs. Although Hayati Soldas has to take some credit for the great start from Ankaragucu i cant help but pick out some areas where he needs to address.

First up is the midfield, with Mert Erdogan, Bilal Gundogdu and Veli Torun all out of the team it means Serkan Sirin has been playing in the middle with Serhat. For me Serkan does his best work when played out wide or just off the striker, he doesn't have the work rate or tactical awareness to play in the middle of the park. Selim Teber drove the team to victory at the weekend and he should be played in the middle of the park with Serhat instead of playing in the centre of defence. With Volkan Geyik and Aytac Oden both fit Hayati should play one of them with Gurkan at the back until Aydin Toscali is fit.

Hasan Ayaroglu, Emre Tasdemir and Mehmet Cakir have all picked up injuries meaning we dont have any natural wide players, hence the reason the manager has been playing Levent and Teoman in the wide areas. Both players are better through the middle and although Levent has been scoring he does his best work in the centre. Young Oguzhan Bicer has been impressing in the youth teams and should be given a chance to impress in the First Team with so many players out injured.

Pazarspor must be respected haven only lost 1 of their last 5 games. After a disastrous start the club from the city of Rize have been on a good run including a 3-2 win at the weekend against Altay. Young striker Feyyaz Aydil has scored 5 goals in 8 games and is their key player. Another big crowd is expected at the 19 Mayis for this Saturdays match. This should be to Ankaragucus advantage with the crowd cheering the team on for 3 points !

I will see you all on Friday night at Beyzade Restaurant for what will be another excellent night.

Ankaragucu 2-1 Kizilcahamamspor

Ankaragucu stay top of the league after a 2-1 win over Kizilcahamamspor thanks to a late penalty from Levent Kale. The other goal came from Selim Teber who scored his first ever goal for the club.

Team- Gokhan Akkan, Orhan Evci, Selim Teber, Gurkan Alver, Onur Atasayer, Serhat Gulpinar, Kaan Kanak, Serkan Sirin, Teoman Erkan, Levent Kale, Umut Nayir

Subs - Bayram Olgun, Metin Aydin, Gokhan Erdogan, Harun Aydin,

Bandirmaspor won 7-1 and Altinordu won 5-0 to keep up the pressure on Ankaragucu. Their are also rumours that Gencler chairman Ilhan Cavcav is set to resigm, can anyone confirm this?

Time to start worrying. Gencler go down again

At what stage are we supposed to get worried about Genclerbirligi? About now I reckon. Eight matches played for a total of four points. Dear oh dear oh dear.

Genclerbirligi 1 - 3 Kasimpasa

After such wonderful weather during the bayram it was bloody cold in Ankara on Saturday night but that didn't stop a decent crowd from showing up at the Beer Bus. Ten of us all up, four of whom were making their debut for Genclerbirligi.

Got to the stadium to find that the newbies had only gone and bought their tickets from Biletix for Gecekondu. Bye!

Pre-match drinks in the cold.

The mixture of the cold and the bayram meant it was only a smallish crowd but we were still in good spirits. Kasimpasa were in mid-table before kick-off and most were at least confident we could get a draw. We were to be totally embarrassed.

All started well when we scored in the 7th when Tomic sent in a corner for Ahmet Celik to score his first ever goal for Genclerbirligi.

Going by the first couple of minutes this was going to be a walkover. Instead we were the ones who got trampled with Kasimpasa putting three past us in the 15th, 28th and 39th. All three goals were the result of both great play from Kasimpasa but also some absolutely woeful bird shit from our lot.

Basic, basic! passes in midfield were being intercepted and resulted in counter attacks. Our defenders and goalkeeper Ramazan are certainly not going to be putting this match onto their career highlights youtube page.

Half-time and we were in despair. There was nothing to come back with. Except...

"Yonetim Istifa"

Even Tanner's Amulet of Blinding (the) Opposition couldn't save us

Chairman Ilhan Cavcav and his sidekick Cem Onuk ended up getting plenty of stick for most of the second half. Cavcav mainly for being Cavcav but Cem Onuk for his absolutely disastrous transfers this year. How on earth did we let go of Bjorn at the end of last year. He was the first decent striker we have had since
the days of Souleyman Youla and Ahmed Hassan.

The Alkaralar fans website has made what is probably its 573rd call for the pair to resign. The fans in the stands, including a large number in the expensive seats opposite us, were in unison with their shouts of "Yonetim Istifa".

So everyone is in agreement. That doesn't mean they will resign. Much more likely is that they will sack the coach.

It's all a bit of a mess and I don't see any way out of it at the moment.

EDIT News just in an hour after I posted. Cem Onuk has been sacked. Source Anadolu Ajansi (in Turkish).

EDIT II (Monday morning) Coach Metin Diyadin has left as well... Who is next?

Ankaragucu vs Kizilcahamamspor match preview !

Top of the League Ankaragucu take on Kizilcahamamspor on Sunday in what will be another top of the table clash with the visitors in 5th place. It looked like the game was going to be played at the 19 Mayis Stadium but the Turkish FA have rejected this despite both clubs having come to an agreement. The stadium in which Kizilcahamamspor play at holds 1800 spectators, The Turkish FA have stopped both clubs from making extra revenue which would have been made if the game was played at the 19 Mayis Stadium. Another baffling decision by a football governing body.

Kizilcahamamspor can be counted as a friend of Ankaragucu as both sides have met in friendlies in the last couple of years during the troubled times for Ankaragucu. The game can be described as a local derby with the town only 70km from Ankara. They have shown this season they are capable of fighting  for a play off place having beaten Alanyaspor a couple of weeks back. They lost 3-1 at Altay which is no disgrace with the Izmir club being one of the favourites this season.

Ankaragucu go into the game full of confidence after a fantastic win over Altinordu at the weekend which saw them go top of the table. After a first half where Altinordu were the better team, Ankaragucu grabbed a deserved 3 points thanks to a last minute winner from Levent Kale. Manager Hayati Soldas has some big decisions to make, but decisions he wont mind making with so many on form players to chose from.

Mehmet Cakir will miss the next 6 weeks of the season after picking up an injury in the game against Altinordu. Mert Erdogan, Aydin Toscali and Veli Torun are all working their way back to fitness. Young Onur Atasayer has been filling in for Mehmet Tasci at left back while the later has been on International duty and has been very impressive, it would be very harsh if Onur lost his place but again the Manager will need to make that decision. Then he has Levent Kale who has scored 4 goals in 3 games, he played out wide instead of a more central role in which he is used to, he worked hard but his final ball and decision making from those areas were poor. With Umut Nayir on top form does Hayati go 4-4-2 or stick with his usual formation and play Levent out wide again ?

Talking of Umut Nayir, there has been a lot of doom and gloom for Ankaragucu over the years, but things are looking up, and the club are bringing through some talented youngsters like Gokhan Akkan, Emre Tasdemir, Hasan Ayaroglu to name a few. Young Umut Nayir looks to be a top class prospect and one who could go all the way to the top. He is deadly in the air and his technique for a big lad is fantastic, im really looking forward to watching him develop. Hopefully the club can keep a hold of him.

The game will be played at 3pm on Sunday, and its a game i would expect Ankaragucu to win. No doubting it will be a tough game as all away games are, but if Ankaragucu want to show the rest of the League that top place is theirs, then these are the games we need to win. Im predicting a 1-0 win for Ankaragucu.