Since the end of the regular season it seems that there is a huge void in my life. I guess every football supporter feels the same. Normally this lasts until August which means that during the summer you get some kind of normal life back, Saturday is not spent watching Fox Soccer Channel from 7am to 5pm, one match after another for example. Instead you have to cut the grass, do the gardening and try and be a functioning member of society again. At least this year there is the small matter of the World Cup though to keep us occupied.
For Galatsaray everything seems quiet on the transfer front at the moment but if you believe the guys over at Galatasaray.com every half washed up has been will soon be playing at Ali Sami Yen.
On the other hand a few of the players who performed so well this season have renewed their contracts. Hakan Sukur has signed a new contract which I am happy for Hakan, after his efforts this season, but this should not stop the club looking for new talent.
As for the World Cup its seems that Wayne Rooney will not make it. Even if you don't support England this is a pity because he is one of the best players in the World and he was in excellent form. Just typical that a Chelski player caused the injury! I am of course devastated that Turkey will not be there, but they had their chances and could not produce when they needed to. So who will I support?? The Husband is English so there is significant pressure there, Oz Kanka has been suggesting that I should support the other team playing in gold, Oztralia or someone. However I think I may just start off with the USA, after all I live here and they are badly supported at the bet of times. Lets face it how can football compete against a bunch of tattooed giants earning more than some of the countries GDP that will be at the World Cup. So I think the USA gets my vote for now.
Anyway time to go, have to take the dogs for a walk before it gets too hot, Cleveland just warmed up this week and its 30C today!!!
Monday, May 29, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Lauren Robert goes home
Well its Thursday and even though the season has ended there is still lots of football and other sports going on.
First of all the revloving door that is the transfer policy at Galatasaray is in full swing. I was very sad to see Saidou leave as I believe he was one of the best playuers of the season. For the board to offer no resistance to his leaving is really sad. Then to contemplate signing Laurent Robert as replacement, really. This is a player even Souness did not want and lets face it he has picked a few bad ones in his time, Boumsong, Saunders etc. I was very glad to see Robert heading out of Istanbul and back to France I must admit.
As for the rest the usual rumors are out there, Ronaldo, PIres etc. etc. but they wont come to a team that cannot pay the players even they are already millionaires. I think the team needs a new midfield player, Roy Keane anyone, and an attacker, maybe Sheringham to replace the ageing Kral Hakan!!!!!! Maybe even Sergen........... Anyway it depends who actually leaves and who the board can persuade to stay and it will be a long summer.
So TUrkey drew with Belgium and next up its Ghana, thats better than the Husbands lot who lost to 10 men Belarus although I have to say they were a trifle unlucky. As for the Kanka's I see they are moderatley happy, Oz because they beat a former province 1-0 and Eski becasue he is in lurrrrvee with a Croatian Girly. Chekc out the thread on The Round Balls in Ankara for the full story. Turncoat...at least Brendan had the decency to say my blog was run by a glamarous female....as for Bovril, I was listening to the Beeeb broadcasting classic Carrot!!!
Anyway must run, there is a thunderstorm outside and my dogs need to pee, what joy!!!!! And its the Western Conference Game 2, I hope Detroit toast the Heat..........
Bye for now.....
First of all the revloving door that is the transfer policy at Galatasaray is in full swing. I was very sad to see Saidou leave as I believe he was one of the best playuers of the season. For the board to offer no resistance to his leaving is really sad. Then to contemplate signing Laurent Robert as replacement, really. This is a player even Souness did not want and lets face it he has picked a few bad ones in his time, Boumsong, Saunders etc. I was very glad to see Robert heading out of Istanbul and back to France I must admit.
As for the rest the usual rumors are out there, Ronaldo, PIres etc. etc. but they wont come to a team that cannot pay the players even they are already millionaires. I think the team needs a new midfield player, Roy Keane anyone, and an attacker, maybe Sheringham to replace the ageing Kral Hakan!!!!!! Maybe even Sergen........... Anyway it depends who actually leaves and who the board can persuade to stay and it will be a long summer.
So TUrkey drew with Belgium and next up its Ghana, thats better than the Husbands lot who lost to 10 men Belarus although I have to say they were a trifle unlucky. As for the Kanka's I see they are moderatley happy, Oz because they beat a former province 1-0 and Eski becasue he is in lurrrrvee with a Croatian Girly. Chekc out the thread on The Round Balls in Ankara for the full story. Turncoat...at least Brendan had the decency to say my blog was run by a glamarous female....as for Bovril, I was listening to the Beeeb broadcasting classic Carrot!!!
Anyway must run, there is a thunderstorm outside and my dogs need to pee, what joy!!!!! And its the Western Conference Game 2, I hope Detroit toast the Heat..........
Bye for now.....
Saturday, May 20, 2006
The Empire turns to dust
So not only did Galatasaray win the Championship but events in Kadikoy just cheered me up even more, if that is possible!
Yildirim and Daum leaving, Nobhead off to Besiktas......oh how the mighty are fallen.
This must be true it's in the Turkish Daily News.
Yildirim and Daum leaving, Nobhead off to Besiktas......oh how the mighty are fallen.
This must be true it's in the Turkish Daily News.
A strange week
I think that I have finally come to terms with the events of last Sunday. That was one of the most stressful days that I have had to endure or at least the last 16 minutes of the game was. The delays due to the paper being thrown were almost unbearable.
What a season though. To come down to the last minutes of the last games to not only decide the Champions but also the final relegation team and also the UEFA Cup representative is almost unheard of. It made for 90 minutes of high drama that's for sure. Here in Cleveland though, the locals just cannot grasp why there is so much passion and excitement about soccer. I guess when sports are franchises to be moved on a whim by their owners there is less supporter association with the team. Another aspect my be that as there is no relegation, and that after about three games in the NFL season you know whether your team has a chance for the play offs that there is just not as much to play for!
This championship, Galatasaray's 16th is one of the sweetest though, and maybe even surpasses the night in Copenhagen when Galatasaray became the only Turkish Club to win a European trophy, given all the well documented problems during the season. The club in debt, the stadium in pieces, players not being paid etc. In addition given the dubious nature of some referring decisions, comments made by other teams directors about closing Galatasaray down etc. and the scale of the money etc. available to our opponents this has been a major achievement.
For a team made up of rejects from other teams, Tomas, Song, cheap foreign imports, Ilic and Heinze, long term foreigners such as Mondragon together with a core of players like Hakan, Hasan, Umit, Ayhan etc and the younger upcoming players such as Ferhat, Ugur, Hasan Kabze it has been a truly remarkable victory. Most importantly there was not a diving, cheating Brazilian or Frenchman to be found. Eric Gerets I think proved he is a much better coach than Cokehead given the resources he had to deal with.
So there you go, that was the season that was, next up is the World Cup and then the Chimps League Qualifying round in July, at least for the Kadikoy mob and we get a bit more rest until August I believe.
Anyone who feels like reliving the last 10 minutes of the seaons in all its nail biting and heart stopping details have a look to the Galatasaray Official web site.
Monday, May 15, 2006
On a related subject
I am still coming to terms with the events of Sunday so please forgive me whilst I comment on another football related matter.
I see that Chelski are determined to assemble the most egoistic squad in the history of the English Premier League. Michael Ballack has of course joined them on a free transfer and will recieve huge amounts of money each week to play for themn after the World Cup. According to his Press Conference, Chelski are a better and stronger team than Man Utd. ON the basis of the last two seasons that is probably a correct assessment and even the Husband a fanatic Manc agrees, painful as it is for him, with this. But as he says if you are supposed to be one of the best players in the World why join Chelski, why not prove you are one of the greats by joining Man Utd, Tottenahm, Liverpool etc. and proving you have the ability to push them to the same level as Chelski. In my opinion Frank Lampard is one of the best midield players in the EPL and probably Europe at the moment. So why do Chelski need him? and why does he think he will succeed there given the abundance of talent the Portugese bloater has at his disposal, Lampard, Essien, Makelele, Cole, etc. etc. or is he going to join Shaun Wright Philips on the bench or better still disrupt the balance of the team like Veron did at Man Utd a few seasons ago.
And now Chelski are linked with Schevchenko. If Splatter is serious about greed and distortion in the game maybe there has to be some control pover the squad build up, like the six foreigner rule in Turkey otherwise the rest of the EPL, including Man Utd might as well not bother turning up as Chelski simply scoop up all of the available talent and dont bother developing their own.
I think tomorrow or Wednesday I will be able to examine the season with balance and reason!
I see that Chelski are determined to assemble the most egoistic squad in the history of the English Premier League. Michael Ballack has of course joined them on a free transfer and will recieve huge amounts of money each week to play for themn after the World Cup. According to his Press Conference, Chelski are a better and stronger team than Man Utd. ON the basis of the last two seasons that is probably a correct assessment and even the Husband a fanatic Manc agrees, painful as it is for him, with this. But as he says if you are supposed to be one of the best players in the World why join Chelski, why not prove you are one of the greats by joining Man Utd, Tottenahm, Liverpool etc. and proving you have the ability to push them to the same level as Chelski. In my opinion Frank Lampard is one of the best midield players in the EPL and probably Europe at the moment. So why do Chelski need him? and why does he think he will succeed there given the abundance of talent the Portugese bloater has at his disposal, Lampard, Essien, Makelele, Cole, etc. etc. or is he going to join Shaun Wright Philips on the bench or better still disrupt the balance of the team like Veron did at Man Utd a few seasons ago.
And now Chelski are linked with Schevchenko. If Splatter is serious about greed and distortion in the game maybe there has to be some control pover the squad build up, like the six foreigner rule in Turkey otherwise the rest of the EPL, including Man Utd might as well not bother turning up as Chelski simply scoop up all of the available talent and dont bother developing their own.
I think tomorrow or Wednesday I will be able to examine the season with balance and reason!
Sunday, May 14, 2006
they thinks its all over...it is now...
45 minutes between glory or despair. I am so glad I dont support the team Denizli are playing after spedning all that money for it come down to the last game must be really emabarrasing!
Come on Denizli, come on cimbom.
So the second half starts, or at least it should, once again in Denizli there is a delay whilst the paper is cleared and the flares are lit and thrown hitting the police. so no there is an advantage to the team Denizli are playing. Flares are now thrown at Ali Sami Yen to try to even up the time I guess. Now they have a three minute advantage but who cares because
47mins Sabri GGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
In Denizli the bullshit continues and now there is almost 5 minutes difference between the matches, so we all know what will happen. Once the GS match is finished one of the Brazilians will dive and be awarded a penalty, just watch, what a disgrace as if stabbing and killing opposition fans is not enough for the Kadikoy shit.
My nerves would improve if Mondragon stopped dropping the ball. In Denizli, Luciano punches someone in the face directly in front of the referee which 999/1000 times would have been a red card but today nothing...wtf....now we know where the championship is going if the TFF have their way. In Denizli cokehead Daum is complaining but really they should be down to 10 men now. Again more delays as the pitch is cleared, how much paper do the Denizli fans have. Of course in Istanbul Ilic is given a yellow card for playing after a whistle, compare and contrast readers. And now its started, FB players diving like the Olympics and thankfully the referee booked the first one.
Denizli are unlucky when Rustu flattens an attacker and guess what, no penalty.
In Istanbul, Galatasaray should have scored when Hasn Kabze was clean through only to trip over the ball.
77 mins and Ilic is replaced by Ayhan, we hold what we have.
In Denizli "Hand of God Part II" replaces Nobhead and the Denizli goalkeeper gets booked for not punching a player in the face. In Istanbul, Hakan misses an open goal and Necati replaces Hasan Kabze.
10 minutes to go, haydi cimbom, haydi denizli. Into the second packet of Winstons now......sweating, pulse rate 300, blood presure way too high...
85 mins..Sabri GOOOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLl 3-0
and in Denizli the roosters goal keeper is knocked out by Lucian0 who should of course have been sent off earlier and again the pitch is covered with paper.....which of course will give more additional time.
3 minutes to go and the Brazilians and French are diving as if this is the high board at the Olympics.
Suddenly it all changes
89 minutes GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss denizli 1-0
Even the Lig TV commentator has lost his voice...
3 minutes extra in Istanbul and 16!!!! in denizli and the FB fans are destroying Denizli's stadium, way to go......
This is horrible the waiting.......
96 mins FB score 1-1 with all the delays there is till time for a winner how much longer will they play!!!!
99 mins and still playing.....wtf and again the Denizli keeper is injured....
How much longer...this is a nightmare
And finally its all over
Galatasaray Champions
Come on Denizli, come on cimbom.
So the second half starts, or at least it should, once again in Denizli there is a delay whilst the paper is cleared and the flares are lit and thrown hitting the police. so no there is an advantage to the team Denizli are playing. Flares are now thrown at Ali Sami Yen to try to even up the time I guess. Now they have a three minute advantage but who cares because
47mins Sabri GGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
In Denizli the bullshit continues and now there is almost 5 minutes difference between the matches, so we all know what will happen. Once the GS match is finished one of the Brazilians will dive and be awarded a penalty, just watch, what a disgrace as if stabbing and killing opposition fans is not enough for the Kadikoy shit.
My nerves would improve if Mondragon stopped dropping the ball. In Denizli, Luciano punches someone in the face directly in front of the referee which 999/1000 times would have been a red card but today nothing...wtf....now we know where the championship is going if the TFF have their way. In Denizli cokehead Daum is complaining but really they should be down to 10 men now. Again more delays as the pitch is cleared, how much paper do the Denizli fans have. Of course in Istanbul Ilic is given a yellow card for playing after a whistle, compare and contrast readers. And now its started, FB players diving like the Olympics and thankfully the referee booked the first one.
Denizli are unlucky when Rustu flattens an attacker and guess what, no penalty.
In Istanbul, Galatasaray should have scored when Hasn Kabze was clean through only to trip over the ball.
77 mins and Ilic is replaced by Ayhan, we hold what we have.
In Denizli "Hand of God Part II" replaces Nobhead and the Denizli goalkeeper gets booked for not punching a player in the face. In Istanbul, Hakan misses an open goal and Necati replaces Hasan Kabze.
10 minutes to go, haydi cimbom, haydi denizli. Into the second packet of Winstons now......sweating, pulse rate 300, blood presure way too high...
85 mins..Sabri GOOOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLl 3-0
and in Denizli the roosters goal keeper is knocked out by Lucian0 who should of course have been sent off earlier and again the pitch is covered with paper.....which of course will give more additional time.
3 minutes to go and the Brazilians and French are diving as if this is the high board at the Olympics.
Suddenly it all changes
89 minutes GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss denizli 1-0
Even the Lig TV commentator has lost his voice...
3 minutes extra in Istanbul and 16!!!! in denizli and the FB fans are destroying Denizli's stadium, way to go......
This is horrible the waiting.......
96 mins FB score 1-1 with all the delays there is till time for a winner how much longer will they play!!!!
99 mins and still playing.....wtf and again the Denizli keeper is injured....
How much longer...this is a nightmare
And finally its all over
Galatasaray Champions
The Fat Lady has almost Sung
12pm ET and raining in Cleveland Ohio, 7pm in Istanbul and a glorious sunny evening.
Gerets has gone with a tried and trusted team no experiments with Ferhat and Ugur (good young players that they are), the only surprises being Song and Necati not starting but then Hasan Kabze is a good replacement.
And so the matches start with Mondaragon in a very smart new jersey, rather than the recent fluorescent one he has been wearing.
Well the matches might start once they clear the paper from the Denizli pitch! This will be no formality for Galatasaray with Kayseri fighting for a UEFA Cup poistion and both teams make a bright start, Mondragon having to be quick off his line to deny Kayseri. Then Ilic managed to miss from 1 yard after Hasan hit the bar. Agony. Hakan then blazed over from 10 yards out after a great run by Hasan Sas. Haydi cimbom. Winston No.2. Then Ilic missed another great chance, thats 3 in 10 minutes, come on. Again Ilic and then Hasan Kabze made a mess of clear chances, do they want to win????? this is getting irritating. Meanwhile in Denizli assorted Brazilians can be seen thrwoig themselves to the floor at every opportunity!
Winston No. 3. I have to cut down, but its either cigarettes or my nails!
18 mins GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Ilic from a Hasan Sas cross, yes, yes, yes get in you bastard.
Ali Sami Yen starts to go more mental than usual and dares to believe. Of course even if we win Denizli have not to lose. Come on the roosters.
What is wrong with Hasan Kabze tonight, he has made a mess of at least 4 good chances. Nerves, or just bad luck, or the wrong boots, lets hope he finds his shooting boots at some stage tonight.
And so the first half went on, Kayseri occasionly threatening and GS making lots of chances and wasting most of them, damn it!
This is getting to me, my nerves are toast, relying on Denizli not to lose is hard especially as their players are being assaulted at all turns and no yellow cards!!! Mind you some of GS defending is not helping either. Galatasaray need a second goal to be a bit safer of winning or it could all end in tears of despair rather than joy.
42 mins Denizli missed an open goal....aaaarrrggghhhh.
Half Time in Istanbul and at the moment GS will be the Champions.
Gerets has gone with a tried and trusted team no experiments with Ferhat and Ugur (good young players that they are), the only surprises being Song and Necati not starting but then Hasan Kabze is a good replacement.
And so the matches start with Mondaragon in a very smart new jersey, rather than the recent fluorescent one he has been wearing.
Well the matches might start once they clear the paper from the Denizli pitch! This will be no formality for Galatasaray with Kayseri fighting for a UEFA Cup poistion and both teams make a bright start, Mondragon having to be quick off his line to deny Kayseri. Then Ilic managed to miss from 1 yard after Hasan hit the bar. Agony. Hakan then blazed over from 10 yards out after a great run by Hasan Sas. Haydi cimbom. Winston No.2. Then Ilic missed another great chance, thats 3 in 10 minutes, come on. Again Ilic and then Hasan Kabze made a mess of clear chances, do they want to win????? this is getting irritating. Meanwhile in Denizli assorted Brazilians can be seen thrwoig themselves to the floor at every opportunity!
Winston No. 3. I have to cut down, but its either cigarettes or my nails!
18 mins GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Ilic from a Hasan Sas cross, yes, yes, yes get in you bastard.
Ali Sami Yen starts to go more mental than usual and dares to believe. Of course even if we win Denizli have not to lose. Come on the roosters.
What is wrong with Hasan Kabze tonight, he has made a mess of at least 4 good chances. Nerves, or just bad luck, or the wrong boots, lets hope he finds his shooting boots at some stage tonight.
And so the first half went on, Kayseri occasionly threatening and GS making lots of chances and wasting most of them, damn it!
This is getting to me, my nerves are toast, relying on Denizli not to lose is hard especially as their players are being assaulted at all turns and no yellow cards!!! Mind you some of GS defending is not helping either. Galatasaray need a second goal to be a bit safer of winning or it could all end in tears of despair rather than joy.
42 mins Denizli missed an open goal....aaaarrrggghhhh.
Half Time in Istanbul and at the moment GS will be the Champions.
The Fat Lady is about to sing
So here we are, Sunday 14th May and the Turkish Super Lig Champion will be decided today as will the final UEFA Cup positions. In 90 minutes time I may be the happiest or saddest person. The nerves are going already, pulse rate is up and I hate to think what my blood pressure is.
I have both matches going here, IPWorld deserve a pat on the back for allowing this. The GS game is on the big flat screen and the Denizli match is on the Husband's laptop as is my blog editor.
Cigarettes, beer and kleenex to hand and so the world turns.
I have both matches going here, IPWorld deserve a pat on the back for allowing this. The GS game is on the big flat screen and the Denizli match is on the Husband's laptop as is my blog editor.
Cigarettes, beer and kleenex to hand and so the world turns.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
A shaggy dog story or not
So to take my mind off things I watched the FA CUp Final. What a great game, no diving, no cheating non stop action, no Frenchmen or Brazilians, maybe that's why it was so good!!!!! I felt West Ham were unlucky to loose but what a goal by Gerrard.
Anyway at the same time I took Kimi, one of my dogs for a haircut.
Before:
and after
Is that the same dog, why yes and I guess he feels better for having a marine cut as the weather, even in Cleveland is warming up.
Until tomorrow.....
Anyway at the same time I took Kimi, one of my dogs for a haircut.
Before:
and after
Is that the same dog, why yes and I guess he feels better for having a marine cut as the weather, even in Cleveland is warming up.
Until tomorrow.....
Friday, May 12, 2006
Tense, nervous....
This has been a long week and the weekend will probably prove to feel even longer but by 2pm Eastern Time on Sunday 14th May it will all be over and I will either be celebrating or upset.
I think this is in some ways the worst way to end the season. If like in England there is a gap of more than three points then okay we were not as consistenet as the Champions. But in this case Galatasary could win on Sunday and still not be Champions. I have to say that if that happens it will suck big time.
So whilst assorted Kanka's will be supporting Galatasaray for some unknown reason, but rest assured it may become a habit, I and I guess 20 million or so other cimbombom will be wearing the green of Denizli, whilst also not forgetting that we have to beat Kayseri which is not a formality I have to say.
Prode, passion, joy and tears, dont you just hate what this game does to you......
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Mr Bush and Football
I thought by way of a minor diversion to bring the following to your attention as it involves two things important to me, football and football, and also helps reveal why the USA will probably never win the World Cup.
George W was asked quoted recently regarding his knowledge and attitude to the beatiful game. For the full text read here together with some reader comments. W and the beautiful game.
Probably the most interesting statement was "And some of us older guys are now beginning to understand the significance of the World Cup around the world. It is the major sporting event worldwide" followed by "they tell me we've got a good team". So there you have it the Football World CUp is the major sporting event in the Wolrd, eat that NBA, NFL, NHL who are under the mistaken belief thaht the inclusion of Canadian Teams somehow makes their end of season play-offs "World Series". But then as was found in a recent study most Americans would have trouble finding their ass with both hands, the notion of the World is I guess fairly hazy, so I its not really a great shock.
Still at least the Pres knows the World Cup is on. Actually for the first time all 64 matches will be shown live over here on ESPN and abc so I guess the Husband will be using some sick and vacation time for the England matches!!!
George W was asked quoted recently regarding his knowledge and attitude to the beatiful game. For the full text read here together with some reader comments. W and the beautiful game.
Probably the most interesting statement was "And some of us older guys are now beginning to understand the significance of the World Cup around the world. It is the major sporting event worldwide" followed by "they tell me we've got a good team". So there you have it the Football World CUp is the major sporting event in the Wolrd, eat that NBA, NFL, NHL who are under the mistaken belief thaht the inclusion of Canadian Teams somehow makes their end of season play-offs "World Series". But then as was found in a recent study most Americans would have trouble finding their ass with both hands, the notion of the World is I guess fairly hazy, so I its not really a great shock.
Still at least the Pres knows the World Cup is on. Actually for the first time all 64 matches will be shown live over here on ESPN and abc so I guess the Husband will be using some sick and vacation time for the England matches!!!
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Eagle Soup
First of all let me tell you that I am not happy. I missed the match today because of United Airlines incompetence. A delayed flight meant that I landed in San Francisco after the game had finished so I am writing this only knowing the results of the games.
Looks like Galatasaray had a comfortable! win against Besiktas with Hasan Kabze scoring in the last minute. I had thought this match might be slightly easier following Besiktas's efforts during the week in beating the other Istanbul team but it sure looks like they were fresh enough.
This excellent win was of course offset by the other result which means it will be all to play for next weekend. I am of course confident we will win but I am not sure whether I would want to put my house on Denizli, although a draw would be good enough.
So another week of tension, stress and nervousness awaits, I can't wait.
Oh yes. This issue of closing stadiums due to crowd misbeahvior. Whilst I have no problem with them shutting Kadikoy for ever it does seem to me somewhat unfair on the visiting team that their supporters are also banned from the game because of problems with the home support. Surely a way can be found that allows the away team's support to be there. Why are they being punished?
Bye for now,
Looks like Galatasaray had a comfortable! win against Besiktas with Hasan Kabze scoring in the last minute. I had thought this match might be slightly easier following Besiktas's efforts during the week in beating the other Istanbul team but it sure looks like they were fresh enough.
This excellent win was of course offset by the other result which means it will be all to play for next weekend. I am of course confident we will win but I am not sure whether I would want to put my house on Denizli, although a draw would be good enough.
So another week of tension, stress and nervousness awaits, I can't wait.
Oh yes. This issue of closing stadiums due to crowd misbeahvior. Whilst I have no problem with them shutting Kadikoy for ever it does seem to me somewhat unfair on the visiting team that their supporters are also banned from the game because of problems with the home support. Surely a way can be found that allows the away team's support to be there. Why are they being punished?
Bye for now,
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Six foreigners
Well hello and good evening.
Tonight a few things that occurred to me about the six foreigner rule in Turkish football. Tomorrow comments about some of the recent statements made by Sepp Blatter, or Splatter, with regard to being a non-corrupt, non-biased head of FIFA and having the best interests of the game at heart.
First though the foreigner rule in Turkish Football. I don't know about you readers out there but personally I think this is a good thing. First it helps keep the league slightly more even as being limited to only six non-Turkish players teams have to identify and develop local talent. Whilst this can mean that the less rich clubs simply become feeder or farm clubs for the Big 4 it is refreshing to see the numbers of good Turkish players being developed as a result of this rule. If you drop it then the bigger clubs would I believe simply fill the teams with foreigners in a desperate attempt to buy success. This would not be good for two reasons. First anyone who watches the EPL cannot fail to be slightly annoyed when L'Arse turn out a team with no English players, similarly for Bolton and one or two others. But does this increase your chances in Europe as some people like to believe. Well Liverpool won the Chimps League last year with a mixture of foreign and local and L'Arse could win it with a totally foreign team so I guess nothing is proven. But as a number of the players at L'Arse have come up through the youth team, just how foreign are they?
I suspect that the Turkish Clubs who could afford it would simply go shopping through the agent books to identify the finished articles to achieve the instant success demanded rather than taking on younger players and developing them. Of course the less rich clubs may end up doing that. But at what cost to Turkish players and the National Team. As Oz Kanka rightly reminded me representing your National Team is the highest honor but do we really want to go back to 8-0 losses and headlines like "England stuff Turkey"???? Because our top teams develop no local talent and the National Team has to feed on scraps, or use German born Turks playing in the Bundesliga?
Comments please.
Tonight a few things that occurred to me about the six foreigner rule in Turkish football. Tomorrow comments about some of the recent statements made by Sepp Blatter, or Splatter, with regard to being a non-corrupt, non-biased head of FIFA and having the best interests of the game at heart.
First though the foreigner rule in Turkish Football. I don't know about you readers out there but personally I think this is a good thing. First it helps keep the league slightly more even as being limited to only six non-Turkish players teams have to identify and develop local talent. Whilst this can mean that the less rich clubs simply become feeder or farm clubs for the Big 4 it is refreshing to see the numbers of good Turkish players being developed as a result of this rule. If you drop it then the bigger clubs would I believe simply fill the teams with foreigners in a desperate attempt to buy success. This would not be good for two reasons. First anyone who watches the EPL cannot fail to be slightly annoyed when L'Arse turn out a team with no English players, similarly for Bolton and one or two others. But does this increase your chances in Europe as some people like to believe. Well Liverpool won the Chimps League last year with a mixture of foreign and local and L'Arse could win it with a totally foreign team so I guess nothing is proven. But as a number of the players at L'Arse have come up through the youth team, just how foreign are they?
I suspect that the Turkish Clubs who could afford it would simply go shopping through the agent books to identify the finished articles to achieve the instant success demanded rather than taking on younger players and developing them. Of course the less rich clubs may end up doing that. But at what cost to Turkish players and the National Team. As Oz Kanka rightly reminded me representing your National Team is the highest honor but do we really want to go back to 8-0 losses and headlines like "England stuff Turkey"???? Because our top teams develop no local talent and the National Team has to feed on scraps, or use German born Turks playing in the Bundesliga?
Comments please.
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