Breathing space

All in all it was a good weekend. The Husband excavated the cars after 38inches of snow fell between Thursday and Saturday so we could actually get out and buy beer. Then Citeh beat Chavski 4-2 with 2 of the Kings Road cheaters red carded. Man Utd then won the Carling Cup and after FB lost to IBB with that fine upstanding player Alex getting a straight red card it was the turn of CimBom to see if they could, for once take advantage of the situation. The answer was a resounding yes with a 4-1 victory putting GS on top with a 5 point advantage over Brazilbahce and a 4 point lead over Bursa. However before we get too carried away we have Eskisehir next week a team that over the last couple of seasons we have not done too well against away.

Good all round performance to day and dos Santos should have had a hat-trick if it was not for Sahin in goal. Anyway he continued to play well and set up Keita for a string of chances as well. I have to say that Keita's first goal is a contender for goal of the season, what a stunning volley that was.




So as I said a good weekend.

Robbed, again

Let me see we are playing a Spanish team so we get an Italian ref who books 4 CimBom players and sends one off as well as missing a quite blatant handball that should have been a penalty.

While GS did not play that well the one eyed referee display was another shocker from so called UEFA's best, a theme that seems pervasive this season. Anyone who saw the Champions League this week and last week may also have been perplexed by some of the decisions. For example the non penalty and non red card not awarded to Chelsea against Inter when Samuel clearly took down Kalou. If these guys, and I include the Norwegian Overbro in this as he also had a shocker last week are the best then it seems like its the team who cheats and cons the referee best who will win matches. I wacth the English Premier League a lot and there from corners ther is pushing and shoving but nothing that approaches the outright dragging down we saw in the GS BJK game or the physical assault handed out to Drogba by Mourinhos team of cheats, posers and divers. Obvioulsy there are either different laws or different levels of interpretation.

Whatever these controversies are soiling the game, lets face it you don't mind losing if you are outplayed but when its the ref that hands victory over it is far far worse. And yes I know that GS have recoeved favorable calls in the SuperLig but still it is not right.

Green - my new favorite color

Bursa, the birthplace of Turkey and the home of my second favorite team.......for now!

Frustrating

Although it was good to see Jo back in action a 1-1 draw at Besiktas feels like 2 points lost rather than 1 gained. Given the injury situation at the club it was no surprise that Rijkaard started with a 4-6-0 formation. The problem was that whilst this made it difficult for Besiktas to break us down it meant that whenever the ball was played out of defence there was no real attacking threat from CimBom. I lost count of how many times Keita, Caner or Arda would receive the ball, look around and have to wait for support.

It was a surprisingly frustrating match though and one that CimBom should really have won having got their noses ahead. They probably should have been 2-0 up by then though after the very clear foul by Toraman on Topal in the penalty area. Again the frustration was apparent when dos Santos was penalized for an inoccuous tackle and Besiktas got lucky from the free kick when the clear out of Franco was not penalized and then the ball deflected in off Mehmet Topal.

Otherwise the team played quite well, Emre and Lucas Neil were solid at the back, Elano got through a large amount of work in midfield and the one poor player was probably Keita who struggeld with possession and control during the match.

Good enough

A 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid was a reasonable result in light of the injuries affecting the squad. Overall the team performance was quite good especially the second half with Elano having an influential match.

Lets hope we get a striker or two fit before tomorrows match away at Besiktas which on current form should be at least a draw but we need a win.

Return to the top

Brushing aside the pathetic dispaly against Antalya where Necati, of course, scored twice to knowck CimBom out on away goals it was nice to return to he summit of the SuperLig even thoiugh we did not play. The three points gained as a result of the Ankara fiasco leaving us top after the Kadioky MOb could only draw with Manisa.

I watched that game and again I was struck by the whining, diving, cheating nature of Brazilbahce, NOT. Alex is a disgrace and Emre should after a dive worthy of the summer olympics high diving competition should have had at least a yellow card. Of course this being FB Isaac was shown a yellow card and therefore a red as it was his second yellow after the full time whistle as he had the nerve to inquire of the referee why the deliberate and very clear handball in the build up to FB's second goal was not spotted by the referee, and was actually waved away. Actually we all know the answer to that, its why Maraton is lacking a journalist and why referees in Turkey get richer by the week. Seriously, 7 minutes of injury time, no yellow for Emre's pathetic attempt to win a penalty, foul after foul going unpunished and the handball was just the icing on the cake.

I am sure there are FB supporters who are embarrassed and ashamed about the theatrics on the pitch but they are few and far between as the desperate attempts by a coke head and someone who thinks money makes a pig important, it doesn't just makes a rich pig, seem to be justified as they attempt to win the Lig title.

As for CimBom here's hoping the physios have been doing their job and can get a couple of strikers fit for next weekend.

Level pegging

Kayseri away was always going to be a hard match and it was made even harder because all of the strikers were injured. So all in all a 0-0 draw was a good result, even though we perhaps should have taken advantage of the fact that Kayseri had a man sent off in the 60th minute. Keita looked tired as if he was still adjusting to playing in the cold after the Africa Cup of Nations but all in all a satsifactory result which kept Kayseri 4 points behind us.

Next week is Ankaraspor which means three points and a rest for the team which is perhaps fortunate as it will give the medical squad time to get the various damaged players back to health so maybe Servet, Hakan Balta, Kewell and Jo will be available in two weeks time. IN between we have the second leg of the Cup match and we need to overturn a 1-2 deficit against Antalya which even with the shortage of players should be achievable.

Then Sunday I watched the FB match against Diyarbakir. What a bunch of whining, complaining, cheats was on show.....obviously Aziz will be upset as despite the referees best efforts to let FB win due to continuous free kicks awarded for phantom fouls it did not work and in fact almost backfired as a 1-1 draw was the result which means the Kadikoy mob are still one point ahead.

Poor result

First Baros gets injured, then Kewell gets injured and now Jo is injured.........what is this some form of curse???? Probably just bad luck but still its frustrating. Of course with Nonda gone we are now somewhat short of strikers although Keita will be available this weekend after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Having dispatched Denizli at the weekend 2-1 with goals from Arda and Jo the team was brought down to earth with a bump losing 2-1 to Antalya in the Cup with our old friend Necati scoring the second Antalya goal. It would be expected that we will win the return leg on the 10th but it means we will probably have to field a slightly stronger side than expected with the risk of injuries that brings.

Its still too early to say whether the new signings will turn out to be a success or not but I have a feeling that Rijkaard will be shuffling the pieces in midfield quite frequently as we seem to have an abundance of players for that area. Santos was hardly played at Spurs so its a bit difficult to assess him. The one player that does need to get a grip this half of the season is Elano, he has played some very good matches but has also disappeared in others. He needs to find some consistency and if he does a midfield of Arda, Elano, Keita and Sarp would be quite an effective one with the forwards taken from Kewell, Jo, Santos and Baros. In defence it looks like Neill, Servet, Hakan Balta and Ugur or Sabri when fit which has a solid look to it.

Overall it looks like the Superlig may be developing into a two horse race although Bursa are still lurking 4 points behind with a game in hand. Besiktas had a major dip in form and the other top 4 team from last season, Sivas will be lucky to survive this season with their current form. However iven that Ankaraspor are relegated and Denizli's horrible form it is going to be a fight for that third spot with Ankargucu, Kasimpasa, Manisa and Diyarbakir in the mix with Sivas.