ANKARAGUCU SIGN GUVEN VAROL
As we heard from Bellshill Kanka Nadeem a day or two ago, Guven Varol has signed for Ankaragucu.
It was in The Hurriyet this morning so we must assume that it's a done deal.
He began his career with semi-pro Clubs, Anadolu Hisari, Pendikspor and Beykozspor before turning pro with Sakaryaspor and Denizlispor.
He is now coming from Manisaspor where he was Club Captain and generally operated on the left wing.
We will soon see if he can settle into the team and add some bite up front. With the sad departure of Vassell this will be much needed. Added to the fact that the situation surrounding the future of Vitek and Geremi is still unclear.
As a matter of interest, Kahe of Gencler is off to Manisa. No doubt a case of 'services no longer required' with the arrival of Billy Mehmet.
To answer Ata's question about Billy Boy, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be referred to as Mehmet by the TV and Press, but I'm sure the fans will call him Billy if he gets off to a good start with them. As Andrew said in a previous post, he was a fans favourite at St Mirren so there is no reason to doubt that he will be a favourite here too.
Watch this space for more comings and goings from Ankara !
By Eski Kanka Jim - May 29, 2010 21 comments:
THE BILLY MEHMET TRANSFER TO GENCLERBIRLIGI
As you probably saw in the newspapers this morning, Billy Mehmet's transfer to Gencler from St Mirren has been confirmed.
My nephew, Andrew Doran, has been a fanatic St Mirren supporter for most of his life and so I asked him to give us an assessment of Billy Mehmet so that we could have a rough idea of his talent and strengths.
I have to say that Andrew's father and I tried our best to influence Andrew to support a major club in Scotland like ..... Hibernian, and dare I say it ..... rangers, but to no avail. However, he is a Renfrewshire boy and proud to support his local team - congratulations to him for that !
So, here is Andrew's assessment of Billy Mehmet and thanks for taking the trouble to do this for us 'favourite nephew'.
'As a first timer putting a blog on this site I'd like to give you my assessment of Billy Mehmet who's recently been transfered from my local team, St Mirren to Genclerbirligi .
St Mirren for those who are unaware of who they are, are a team from Paisley on the west coast of Scotland. We are a small club with a small but very passionate fan base. This season has been a very bizzare one, we've just survived relegation again for the fourth season in a row but we survived and credit to the players and management team for their massive efforts on a very tight budget.
Billy, was born in London 3rd January 1984 and he is of Turkish/Cypriot decent but has played for Ireland at under 21 level.
Billy started at West Ham in London before moving to Dunfermline Athletic on the 8th of May 2003 and two years later he signed for St Mirren.
In season 2007/2008 Billy was the clubs top goal scorer with 9 goals and in 2008 the club offered Billy a extension to his stay at Love Street to 2010 which was welcomed by all St Mirren fans.
Billy scored his first hat-trick against lowly Dumbarton in the cup at Love Street and in 2009 billy scored 5 of the 6 St Mirren goals in a 6-3 thriller against East Stirling, also in the cup.
Billy has scored some very important goals for St Mirren over the years but probably two of the biggest were against Gordon Strachan's Celtic team who turned up at New St Mirren Park on the 7th March 2009 in the Scottish Cup after destroying us the week before 7-0 at Celtic park. Celtic captain Steven McManus brought down Craig Dargo for a penalty in which Billy stepped up and slotted it past Arthur Boric. The other was against Hearts in february this year in the league cup semi final, Billy screamed the ball high into the net to send us into the league cup final against rangers. We did loose that final to a Kenny Miller strike late on.
As a fan of Billy's, I and many others will be sad not to see him running out with the team next season, Billy created so much and was probably the hardest working player in the team who created a lot of space for himself and created plenty goals for his team mates. Billy is a strong strong player and I'm sure he will be a great signing for Genclerbirligig over the next 3 seasons.
I hope you all enjoy watching him play and I hope he scores plenty goals.
Good luck Billy.
ktf, ftof, ftt!!!!!!
andrew doran
St Mirren fan
By Eski Kanka Jim - May 25, 2010 3 comments:
Eski Kanka drones on
The Turkish Super lig podcast that has no competitors is up on the intertubes and this week was better than ever... mainly thanks to Sir Eski Kanka's contribution. Check out the whole podcast here. (We are on from about 58 minutes in).
Unfortunately the main subject this week was Turkey's chance of winning the European Championships for 2016. Listen in and er... listen to Oz Kanka and Sir Eski destroy Turkey's chances.
Listen in people!
By Oz Kanka - May 21, 2010 22 comments:
THE MICHAEL STEWART TRANSFER
So, now we know who brokered the transfer of Michael Stewart to Genclerbirligi from Hearts !
Why else would Dan the Man Kanka be in Edinburgh ?!
Eski Kanka's spies are everywhere and Dan was caught on camera (photo coming soon) with some shady looking people outside The Black Rose in Edinburgh obviously wheeling and dealing !
Actually they bear a striking resemblance to Brat Kankie Laura and Paddy Kanka Paul, but aren't they Ankaragucu supporters ??!!
The plot thickens !
Here's hoping that Dan doesn't go on a scouting mission to Europa Cup Qualifiers Hibernian - Colin Nish, Anthony Stokes and Derek Riordan are NOT for sale !!!
By Eski Kanka Jim - May 20, 2010 No comments:
Gencler transfer news
Just got a note from Spine that the fullback Michael Stewart is about to sign on the dotted line and will be playing for Gencler next season.
According to the Anatolia news agency he will be coming on Thursday and has agreed on all issues. No source though.
He was playing at Hearts for the last couple of seasons and I'd be interested if anyone has any knowledge of what he is like as a player.
In the meantime, Ambo Kanka Peter was yesterday awarded his own Gencler top by Board member Halil Erkman. Erkman also told us that Aussie midfielder Mile Jedinak will be returning to the side having spent most of last season at Antalyaspor on loan. Good news to me.
Translator, Ambo Kanka and Mr. Erkman
Our new number 3, Ambo Kanka.
By Oz Kanka - May 18, 2010 4 comments:
Gencler down Galatasaray
Genclerbirligi 2 - 1 Galatasaray
Normally a victory over Galatasaray would warrent a billion word rant against Gulay. But tonight I ended up travelling back from the Black Sea only to get to the Red Lion Club to see Australia lose to England in the T/20 (or whatever it is called) cricket world cup.
Withtin seconds of England winning I headed off to the guards box to listen to the footy on the radio. Four minutes of extra time was booed extensively but then the final peep came and Bursa had done it.
Excellent result! Well done Bursa!
Even better... I just saw here that just at the end of the Fener match there was an announcement that the Bursa - Besiktas match was a draw, thus meaning that Fener had won thwe league. There was much rejoicing in the stands. But of course it was completely untrue... suckers!!!!!!
Oh, by the way, Hurshoot and Harbuzi scored Gencler's goals.
CHAMPIONS ..... BOOOORRRRRSSSSAAAAH !!!
Just a short post to congratulate Bursa on winning the League and being only the 5th team to do so !
Unfortunately, or maybe not unfortunately ......... we (the kankas) had to watch the Fener v Trabzon match in the Beer Bus because ........... Ankara is full of traitors and they all come out of the woodwork when Fener are on TV !!! Of course, the Bursa match will be relegated to .... not important !!!
A disappointing turnout for this important match with only a few kankas - Phillie Kanka Jamie, Connect Kanka Steve, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon, Marash Kanka Hakan and I were the only ones who had belief to think that Bursa could do this ..... and they did !!
Bursa 2 Besik....spit....tash 1 and ........
Fener...spit...bahce 1 Trabzon 1
Olay ......... Olay ......... Booorrrsssaaaaspor ...Olay ...... Olay !!! and ...
well done and well played Trabzon.
What can we say ? Fantastic ? Marvellous ? Wonderful ? Perm any 1 from 3 !!
Points from the Fener match ....... Steve had his head in his hands most of the time and Eski Kanka's language was not for the squeemish !!
Also, the Fener 'fans' in the next Pub blew a gasket and exploded into violence a few minutes before the end when it spilled over into the Beer Bus. Fortunately, there were no casualties among us, but with all the glass and chairs flying around it was a miracle.
It might almost be eligible to be called .... The Battle of Sakarya III.
Steve might have some photos of the events before, during and post match, but even if he doesn't ...... take it for me ....... it was a truly wonderful sight to see so many 'Ankara' Fener 'supporters' with their tails between their legs !!! A truly effin memorable experience !!!
Look forward to lottsa and lottsa comments !!!
All the best from still up in the air and under the affluence of incohol Eski Kanka Jim
ANKARAGUCU - THE DRAW CHAMPIONS !
The team with the most draws in a season and the 2nd highest spectator bans in a season is not really an accolade which should be shouted from the rooftops ! However, that is exactly what we have to celebrate in our Centenery Year.
Sivas 3 ANKARAGUCU 3
However, it could be argued that it could have been a lot worse after a disastrous first half of the season. That it wasn't is down to Monsieur Lemerre's intervention and at least for that we must be eternally grateful.
Monsieur Lemerre can return to France with his reputation intact and grateful thanks from the Kanka Group for easing the team out of the relegation zone and into mid-table security, and at the same time, showing us that Ankaragucu can play footie if they are coached by a professional !
As usual, Hurriyet's non-report of Ankaragucu's last match last night was one or two lines, so I don't have any details. However, I do know that all of the foreigners returned to their respectve countries which left Ankaragucu with a '2nd string' yesterday. I will do an edit tomorrow when I have the details.
What I can say though is that Ankaragucu conceded a goal in the 1st minute of the match but then fought back to make it 3-1 with two goals from Ilhan Parlak and a goal from Mehmet Cakir (probably their first for the Club). Sivas scored their equaliser near the end of the match.
So, in the meantime, most of the Kankas will be meeting in The Beer Bus tonight to support Bursa's attempt to wrest the League Trophy away from Istan...spit...bul. Whatever happens in Kadikoy against Trabzon, the fact is that Bursa MUST win their home match against Besiktas.
Eski kanka gets a mention
Sir Eski Kanka got himself a mention this week in The Turkish Football Weekly podcast, at around 20 minutes in. Unfortunately they didn't mention that we had two fans who came all the way from Scotland for the Ankaragucu - Fener match.
You can check out the podcast here.
Sir Eski and myself are booked in to take part in the podcast next week. My plan is to share a dozen beers with Eski before we take part.
There's only one Billy Mehmet
You have to admit that Billy Mehmet is an excellent cross-cultural name and it seems as if Gencler have signed him. Billy's background: Turkish-Cypriot father, Irish mother, born in London, played for Ireland Under 21s and until yesterday played for Scottish side St. Mirren.
According to a BBC report, the striker will be joining us in June on a Bosman free transfer. Me thinks it is time for us to grab an interview with the fellow (although I may need some help in understanding his accent).
In other news Gencler are also after another Scottish player. This time Michael Stewart from Hearts.
And here is Billy Mehmet showboating. Love the statement from the cameraguy. "That's just quality... in a glass"
ANKARAGUCU ARE THE PARTY POOPERS !
I thought the Ankaragucu players read our Blog ? Obviously not, and .... nobody informed them that Friday night's party to welcome Bellshill Kanka Nadeem and Weegie Kankie Rebecca to Ankara was supposed to continue into Sunday and beyond !
ANKARAGUCU 0 Fenerbahce 3
Three lapses of concentration from the Ankaragucu defence did the damage last night. The fact that Fener gave a disciplined and uncompromising display also added to Ankaragucu's woes. More on that subject in a moment, but first .....
A belated welcome to Nadeem on his first visit to Ankara and Rebecca's first visit to the Asian Continent.
They were given a Kanka Welcome in the Beyzade Restaurant on Friday night in typical Turkish Style, ie, mezze, pide and kebabs, all washed down with gusto by copious amounts of Raki and Efes - not forgetting the Ouzo supplied by Phillie Kanka Jamie ! Oh yes, and not forgetting the entertainment by the Fasil Group and the luvllie delectable lady singer with the blonde hair and the luvvlie ..... hmmmmmm ..... voice !!!
No doubt Nadeem will have something further to say about it in the comments section later ?!
Fast forward to Sunday and we all met up in the Beer Bus Bar for pre-match refreshments. Nadeem, Rebecca and I were first in, followed by Oz Kanka Chris and Mini Oz Kanka Mathew who couldn't come to the match.
Next up was Jamie, Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and then Maniac Kanka Harun and his luvvlie daughter Hazal.
At this stage we had to split into two groups due to a problem acquiring match tickets, but all credit to Jamie for achieving what could be described as the impossible task of finding tickets in the mayhem of the ticket box.
Nadeem, Rebecca, Jamie and Damon went to Gecikondu, while Harun, Hazal and I went to our normal place in Maraton where we were joined later by Rip Off Kanka Erman and Kaleci Kanka Tansu.
Two of Tansu's friends who were supposed to join him were 'detained' by the Police outside the Stadium for some minor misdemeanour which left Tansu with two extra tickets (they were expensive !). Oh dear. Nadeem now has two virgin match tickets as souvenirs !!
So, it was all razzmatazz in the Stadium before the KO with Maraton, in particular, leading the way. Gecekondu finally woke up and joined in the carnival atmosphere.
With Vittek injured and Vassell just returning from injury, the starting line-up in attack looked a little 'powder-puff' ... and so it proved.
Geremi, Muhammed, Koray and Broggi
Sapara, Hurriyet, Rajnoch and Rothen
Ilhan and Mehmet Cakir
2nd Half Substitutes used - Vassell, Murat and Kagan
Fener looked 'up for it' from the KO and Ankaragucu was defending in depth and sometimes in desperation. High balls out from goalkicks and free kicks to Ilhan Parlak were being swallowed up by the Fener defence, so Volkan had an easy night.
At times, Ankaragucu didn't seem 'in the mood' as much as last week when the played Trabzon off the park, but in all fairness, it was probably down to a greater desire to win from Fener.
On the 25th minute mark I was hoping to play it out till half-time and let Lemerre try new tactis in the 2nd half, but the first on many blunders in the Ankaragucu defence put paid to that notion.
From a Fener corner swung over by Alex it was too easy for an unmarked Mehmet to fire in a header to open the scoring.
Not content to learn a lesson from that basic defensive error, Ankaragucu compounded the mistake by allowing Fener to do a reprise just after the 2nd half got underway.
I don't want to point the finger at any particular player, but Serkan totally mis-read the flight of the ball from the corner and Guisa, lurking at the back post - unmarked grrrrrrr - had the simplest of tasks to make it 2.
Worse was to follow in the 70th minute when Christian latched on to a loose ball in midfield and with the Ankaragucu defence backing off, and nobody anywhere near Christian, he decided to have a pot-shot from outside the penalty box. i suppose he muttered something to himself like .... 'wow, this is my lucky day, nobody wants to tackle me' !!
He sent in a swerver which totally deceived Serkan, and was it any wonder that Serkan was left helpless with a defence which was posted absent ??!!
There is no doubt that Fener deserved to win the match. With 7 goal positions during the match to Ankaragucu's 2, the statistics speak for themselves !
Time to head back to the Beer Bus and drown our sorrows we thought.
So, not the party that we were hoping for to give to our visitors from Glasgow, but I'm sure they will take back some happy memories from their brief visit to Ankara.
Next Saturday KO 7pm will be Ankaragucu's last match of the season away to Sivas and with relegation issues already resolved, the only thing for both teams to play for is .... pride.
Gencler will play their last match at home against Galatasaray on Sunday KO 8pm.
I hope to have some photos soon from the weekend's various activities and they will be added when they are received.
Gencler grab an away draw
As my enthusiasm falls lower than the value of the Euro, Gencler grabbed a draw away today agaınst Gaziantep. Mustafa scored in the 25th and then Murat scored an own goal in the 46th. I listened to the second half on the radio and even the commentator seemed bored.
Tomorrow night though... C'MON GUCU!
By Oz Kanka - May 08, 2010 No comments:
Six and Half a Dozen
The Hibees have been struggling over the last few months, the good times of pushing Rangers and Celtic for top spot have gone to be replaced with a dog fight for the last Europa League place.
Two wins in sixteen games have seen Hibs loose out on third place to Dundee Utd and currently sit one point behind forth placed Motherwell. There is one game to go so there is still hope for the forth place if we can better Motherwells result on Sunday.
If fifth place is what Hibs end up with we can still sneak into the Europa League if Dundee Utd win the Scottish Cup against Ross County next weekend.
Now for the really painfull news, Hibs could have been sitting in fourth place now had it not been for one of the most remarkable comebacks ever seen in the SPL. On Wednesday night Hibs were playing Motherwell in a league match, at half time Hibs were 4-2 ahead thanks to a Colin Nish hat-trick.
Motherwell started the second half as you would expect trying to get back into the game however they soon lost another 2 goals to go 6-2 down. Game over you would expect but no one told Motherwell.
Motherwell then scored 3 goals in 9 minutes to bring the score to 6-5. Motherwell then won a penalty with three minutes remaining but the Hibs keeper pulled off a great save. Surely job done now! Nope, Motherwell scored the equaliser in the 93rd minute with the goal of the season, it has been compared to Van Baston at the European championshipa few years ago but in reality it was better!
The pain for us Hibs fans is still too much and I will have to back to bed.
By Hibbee Kanka - May 07, 2010 1 comment:
Denizlispor 2 - 0 Genclerbirligi
Gencler coach Thomas Doll said after the match that some of the Gencler players appear to have already gone on holidays. Much like me really.
There was no Black Sea 'Storm' in Ankara yesterday !!
ANKARAGUCU 1 Trabzonspor 0
Trabzon was sent packing back to the Black Sea with a whimper and were it not for some woeful finishing from Ankaragucu, especially in the first half, were lucky not to have been on the end of an Anatolian Storm !
It might be assumed in some quarters that Trabzon had one eye on Wednesday's Turkish Cup Final, but I'd like to think that it was a culmination of the new style of Ankaragucu's footie and the nullifying of Trabzon's midfield which was responsible for a well deserved Ankaragucu victoreeeee.
I'm not saying that Trabzon came to 'make up the numbers'. They were their usual fast flowing selves and always dangerous on the break. However, as I said last week, without Umut Bulut up front they were always struggling to conjure up an equaliser.
The day started sedately with Battle Damaged Kanka Damon and I meeting in the Beer Bus and enjoying the repartee and then it was off to the Stadium. It was just the two of us, but there were lots of familiar faces around us.
No surprises in the Ankaragucu line-up......
Geremi, Koray, Muhammed and Broggi
Hurriyet, Rajnoch, Rothen and Sapara
Vittek and Mehmet
Substitutes - Kagan, Adem and Ilhan
Ankaragucu went straight into the attack in a similar mode to that used against Eskisehir two weeks ago, and it was that man again who did the damage.
After 5 minutes play, a great move down the right wing involving Geremi and Mehmet, the ball swung over into the goalmouth and Vittek was first to it to slide it home for a great opening goal.
I have to confess that I thought Trabzon would crumble and they almost did but for some poor finishing and good goalkeeping from Onur. Ankaragucu dominated the first half and again showed the value of good coaching with lots of possession footie and making Trabzon chase the ball.
Things slowed down a bit when Vittek was surprisingly withdrawn with 10 minutes of the first half remaining. He didn't appear to be injured and the general concensus of opinion was that he was being rested for the big match against Fener next week !!
Ilhan replaced him, but with all due respect to Ilhan, notwithstanding all his running and effort, he didn't cause too much danger to the Trabzon rearguard !
Into the 2nd half then and Trabzon stepped up a gear to put the Ankaragucu defence under pressure. Serkan made a few brilliant saves and the back four held firm.
It appeared that Ankaragucu was 'running out of steam', or were they just pacing themselves ? Whatever. The fact remains that Serkan saved the blushes !
However, Ankaragucu seemed to catch their 'second wind' in the last ten minutes of the match and might have made it two with a little luck.
Man of the Match was a difficult one with Serkan, the midfield and Geremi all contenders, but I nominate Rothen for his 100% effort even when he was obviously knackered in the last 10 minutes.
A wee bit of comedy to report ! Near the end, Rothen was calling to the bench to be substituted, but the bench was signalling that all 3 subs had been used. A shrug of the shoulders from Rothen and he got stuck in again ! Great stuff.
Another positive report then and let it continue next weekend when hopefully we can give Nadeem a victory and at the same time help Bursa to realise a dream end to their season.
The date and KO time hasn't been announced yet, but I'll add it in the comments section when it is announced.