I was wrong CimBom will be representing Turkey in the new Europa League next season. Having finished fifth we will have to start in the Second Qualifying round playing one of the following teams.
Personally I think it will be hilarious if we draw Crusaders.......you can just imagine the headlines.....
"Crusaders invading Istanbul.......again"
Bring it on....
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Oh well...
So the season is finished and Galatasaray came up short by finishing fifth due to a last minute goal in the 25th minute of injury time scored by FB in Trabzon. So no European soccer next season that will belong to Besiktas and Sivas in the Champions League and Trabzon and FB in the Europa League.
For all the BJK fans out there I hope you dont draw Liverpool again......
Personally I cant see any of those teams progressing very far ikn the repsective competitions although if Mustafa Denizli stays at Besiktas they may have a better chance than the others. Turkish teams used to have an advantage in the hoime matches due to the stadium atmosphere but in these days of global tv coverage everyone knows what its going to be like.
Now we await the inevitable clear out of players from GS as well as the serch for a new coach who hopefully will last more than half a season this time.
For all the BJK fans out there I hope you dont draw Liverpool again......
Personally I cant see any of those teams progressing very far ikn the repsective competitions although if Mustafa Denizli stays at Besiktas they may have a better chance than the others. Turkish teams used to have an advantage in the hoime matches due to the stadium atmosphere but in these days of global tv coverage everyone knows what its going to be like.
Now we await the inevitable clear out of players from GS as well as the serch for a new coach who hopefully will last more than half a season this time.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Frustration
What a frustrating feeling it is to play the possible champions off the pitch as CimBom did on Sunday when they took Besiktas apart and still ended up losing to two freaky goals, one an own goal by Mehmet Topal and the second a lucky richochet to Yusuf. In between GS socred an excellent goal, had at least two clear penalties due to handball turned down, probably scored when Rustu scooped the ball from near the line from an Arda corner and generally dominated play to the extent that they should have won. Add to that the clear opportunities spurned by GS, Kewell and Arda in particular and the pattern is depressingly familiar this season, good play but no real resultr. This loss coupled withe the Fantatastic Budgies won at Konya means we may not even have the consolotaion of Europa League football next seaons which is going to make keeping Baros, Kewell etc. even harder that it should have been. Oh well at leat we have a team that is predominantly Turkis and relatively young but I wonder how badly it will be affected thanks to the TFF desire to punish GS this season with one incompetent referring display after another.
Doubt me, just look at the number of times GS were leading and a player was sent off to even things up....
Now I know these things are supposed to even themselves out over a season but they have not and have directly affected the position the team finds itself in at the end of the season.
I have a feeling that next season is going to be a struggle, new coach again, no start players and a team in rebuilding mode again!
Doubt me, just look at the number of times GS were leading and a player was sent off to even things up....
Now I know these things are supposed to even themselves out over a season but they have not and have directly affected the position the team finds itself in at the end of the season.
I have a feeling that next season is going to be a struggle, new coach again, no start players and a team in rebuilding mode again!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Catching up
So after a break whilst I was in the UK for a few days I thought I should catch up on posts.
Thanks to dodgyturk deciding to spread the matches around I finally found the GS - Ankara 1 match whihc was settled relatively early on when a clear foul on Lincoln lead to a penalty which Baros clinically dispatched. After that not much happened until someone get sent off and then n ot much happened again.
Did not see the GS - Ankara 2 match but the result was satsifcatory.
So now we get to the last rtwo matches where although we cannot win anything we can act as Kingmakers in the League this season as we play Besiktas and then Sivas in the last two matches. If we beat Besiktas and Sivas win this weekedn then the season goes to the last match of the season, still I am not sure we can beat Besiktas unless we get the same referee that FB had a couple of weeks ago.
It promises to be interesting though
Thanks to dodgyturk deciding to spread the matches around I finally found the GS - Ankara 1 match whihc was settled relatively early on when a clear foul on Lincoln lead to a penalty which Baros clinically dispatched. After that not much happened until someone get sent off and then n ot much happened again.
Did not see the GS - Ankara 2 match but the result was satsifcatory.
So now we get to the last rtwo matches where although we cannot win anything we can act as Kingmakers in the League this season as we play Besiktas and then Sivas in the last two matches. If we beat Besiktas and Sivas win this weekedn then the season goes to the last match of the season, still I am not sure we can beat Besiktas unless we get the same referee that FB had a couple of weeks ago.
It promises to be interesting though
Monday, May 04, 2009
Confused
So when is a three match ban actually a three match ban???? Somehow the animals from Kadikoy miss one SuperLig game after their part in the GS - FB fight because their club played in the meaningless Fortis Cup and so they were able to play against Besiktas whereas GS will miss the players for three 3 Lig Games. Something stinks about that but then again its the TFF and FB so no real surprise there.
Add to that a referee who was so biased it was not even funny and of course the ineviutable happened. The only real goal being scored by Holosko.
The first "goal" for FB involved an American footbal stype block to take out Zan, by Semih of course and the second was offside. How the scything down of Ernst was not a penalty only the moron in blue wil be able to tell you but this was one of the more incompetent referee displays this season and after some of the crap dished out to GS this season that is saying something!
Add to that a referee who was so biased it was not even funny and of course the ineviutable happened. The only real goal being scored by Holosko.
The first "goal" for FB involved an American footbal stype block to take out Zan, by Semih of course and the second was offside. How the scything down of Ernst was not a penalty only the moron in blue wil be able to tell you but this was one of the more incompetent referee displays this season and after some of the crap dished out to GS this season that is saying something!
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Words fail me
Words fail me after the abysmal, pathetic and embarrassing display in Ankara yesterday.....
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Dismal
So its the 88th minute, you are winning 1-0 and the opposition crosses the ball into the penalty area, your goalkeeper calls for the ball but you choose to head the ball out for a corner even though there is no opposition player within 10 meters of you. From the corner you fail to mark the opposition player who scores.
Congratulations to Mehmet Topal for 15 seconds of no concentration which effectively ended any chance CimBom had, slim as it was, of catching Sivas.
So another game and another good kicking session for Galastasaray. A string of free kicks not given, more players injured because of it, Baros and apparently no desire on the part of the referees to protect players. Given the lack of fit and available players this was an experimental team to say the least, especially in defence where Hakan Balta had a poor game, which is unusual for him actually.
Barring a major collapse from Sivas or Besiktas it would appear that one of those two will claim the SuperLig this season. CimBom still has to play both of these teams so although we are unlikley to be kings this season we certainly still have a chance to be a kingmaker.
Oh well things could be worse, we could play in Kadikoy.......
Congratulations to Mehmet Topal for 15 seconds of no concentration which effectively ended any chance CimBom had, slim as it was, of catching Sivas.
So another game and another good kicking session for Galastasaray. A string of free kicks not given, more players injured because of it, Baros and apparently no desire on the part of the referees to protect players. Given the lack of fit and available players this was an experimental team to say the least, especially in defence where Hakan Balta had a poor game, which is unusual for him actually.
Barring a major collapse from Sivas or Besiktas it would appear that one of those two will claim the SuperLig this season. CimBom still has to play both of these teams so although we are unlikley to be kings this season we certainly still have a chance to be a kingmaker.
Oh well things could be worse, we could play in Kadikoy.......
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Disgraceful Part 2
So as expected the TFF punisehd Galatasaray excessively after the Derby match. Having provided a referee who allowed blatant assault on GS players to the extent that a Emre was sent off because he got in the way of Luganos headbutt, thats the only reason I can think off, the Club Chairman has now been banned for 45 days, and we have to play one match behind closed doors and one home match away from Istanbul. Of course the Kadikoy mob were not penalized for their part in all of this other than a paltry fine. I recall a couple of seasons ago when GS fans were stabbed and assaulted in Kadikoy, smoke bombs thrown at Mondragon etc. and what the TFF do.......nothing. Nice and consistent there then.
Also could somebody please explain how and why Sabri has been banned for 2 matches, he can be irritating but was not sent off. I have to say that the 3 match ban for Arda is probably a good thing as he was not playing particularly well anyway and a spell on the sidelines may do him some good
.
Anyway todays match was a relatively queit affair settled by one piece of quality play between Nonda and and Baros and takes us up into 4th place.
Also could somebody please explain how and why Sabri has been banned for 2 matches, he can be irritating but was not sent off. I have to say that the 3 match ban for Arda is probably a good thing as he was not playing particularly well anyway and a spell on the sidelines may do him some good
.
Anyway todays match was a relatively queit affair settled by one piece of quality play between Nonda and and Baros and takes us up into 4th place.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Disgraceful
Where to start after Sundays disgrace.
Lets start with the referee, not because I want to pick on him but just as a place to start. The Husband was watching the game with me and as early as the 15th minute he had picked up on the fact that the referee was being extremely tolerant of some poor tackling. For example as early as the 12th minute Semih had taken one of the GS Players out about 5 minutes after the ball had been played and although the free kick was awarded there was no yellow card. Whilst I am all for free flowing matches this was not the one to try it in because it was not until the 90th minute that Semih finally was booked for his 5th or 6th very late tackle. As the Husband said, if that was the Premier League he would have been booked for the first one, so the ref could set a standard. Instead worse and worse tackles were tolerated all evening which culminated in the events in the 93rd minute. Of course I am biased but FB should have been reduced to 10 men when Selcuk kicked Umit straight in the face, if you think this was nothing then you were obviously not watching the Everton - Villa match where a penalty was awarded for less than that. Given he had just been booked he should have walked but again the referee was very lenient. Its not that he was biased to FB its just that he lost control of the match, I mean when Sabri and Emre were strangling each other they should have both been red carded but again just yellows.
Now for the players. Neither set of players were very professional. Their actions in the last minute were ridiculous and one or two of them I am sure will be banned for considerable lengths of time, Lugano should just be thrown out of the country or sent to a psychiatric hospital he is a crazy eyed psychopath, Arda should be banned for the rest of the season and I hope the GS board decide to not pay him either and the same for Semih. I was not quite sure why Emre got the red card, after being head butted, then dropped with a right hook from Lugano and then stamped on I would have been upset so his ban should be a couple of games as he was pretty much the innocent party in all of that. These players and Arda and Semih especially are on posters pinned on kids walls and they should be deeply ashamed and embarrassed about their actions. I hope Fatih Terim is also told to drop them from the National Squad for a couple of matches, they really don't deserve anything else.
I am sure that the TFF will also punish GS for the fans behavior but they should take a long hard look at the referees performance before they point the finger elsewhere. Also when your player is clearly headbutted but no action is taken its no wonder that they get frustrated.
As for the match well Kewell apart there was no real quality on display, just spiteful tackling and a lack of creation. In the first half CimBom consistently opened up FB on their left hand side, Kewell and Sabri exposing Roberto Carlos time and time again but the last ball was always a bit hurried or off. Kewell had a couple of chances as did Baros although even he had scored it would have been offside! Second half was more even although over all I think GS were the better team. However the match clearly showed why the two teams are 4th and 5th and probably out of the championship. GS desperately need a holding midfielder and Arda needs to stop pretending to be Hasan Sas, you know run forwards, stop, run back and pass sideways. Of course he is not really fast enough to play as a winger. As for the rest of the squad, its promising I believe there is a strong backbone of young Turkish players who with the addition of a couple more defenders and a holding midfielder will be a good team.
Lets start with the referee, not because I want to pick on him but just as a place to start. The Husband was watching the game with me and as early as the 15th minute he had picked up on the fact that the referee was being extremely tolerant of some poor tackling. For example as early as the 12th minute Semih had taken one of the GS Players out about 5 minutes after the ball had been played and although the free kick was awarded there was no yellow card. Whilst I am all for free flowing matches this was not the one to try it in because it was not until the 90th minute that Semih finally was booked for his 5th or 6th very late tackle. As the Husband said, if that was the Premier League he would have been booked for the first one, so the ref could set a standard. Instead worse and worse tackles were tolerated all evening which culminated in the events in the 93rd minute. Of course I am biased but FB should have been reduced to 10 men when Selcuk kicked Umit straight in the face, if you think this was nothing then you were obviously not watching the Everton - Villa match where a penalty was awarded for less than that. Given he had just been booked he should have walked but again the referee was very lenient. Its not that he was biased to FB its just that he lost control of the match, I mean when Sabri and Emre were strangling each other they should have both been red carded but again just yellows.
Now for the players. Neither set of players were very professional. Their actions in the last minute were ridiculous and one or two of them I am sure will be banned for considerable lengths of time, Lugano should just be thrown out of the country or sent to a psychiatric hospital he is a crazy eyed psychopath, Arda should be banned for the rest of the season and I hope the GS board decide to not pay him either and the same for Semih. I was not quite sure why Emre got the red card, after being head butted, then dropped with a right hook from Lugano and then stamped on I would have been upset so his ban should be a couple of games as he was pretty much the innocent party in all of that. These players and Arda and Semih especially are on posters pinned on kids walls and they should be deeply ashamed and embarrassed about their actions. I hope Fatih Terim is also told to drop them from the National Squad for a couple of matches, they really don't deserve anything else.
I am sure that the TFF will also punish GS for the fans behavior but they should take a long hard look at the referees performance before they point the finger elsewhere. Also when your player is clearly headbutted but no action is taken its no wonder that they get frustrated.
As for the match well Kewell apart there was no real quality on display, just spiteful tackling and a lack of creation. In the first half CimBom consistently opened up FB on their left hand side, Kewell and Sabri exposing Roberto Carlos time and time again but the last ball was always a bit hurried or off. Kewell had a couple of chances as did Baros although even he had scored it would have been offside! Second half was more even although over all I think GS were the better team. However the match clearly showed why the two teams are 4th and 5th and probably out of the championship. GS desperately need a holding midfielder and Arda needs to stop pretending to be Hasan Sas, you know run forwards, stop, run back and pass sideways. Of course he is not really fast enough to play as a winger. As for the rest of the squad, its promising I believe there is a strong backbone of young Turkish players who with the addition of a couple more defenders and a holding midfielder will be a good team.
Monday, April 06, 2009
3 points at last
So after the excitement of watching Turkey lose twice in 5 days to Spain, the second time thanks to Mike Riley we had a Monday match to look forward to.
As is usually the case when the match is on TV in the US at 1pm on a Monday afternoon I missed the game so I cant really say too much except we won 1-0, Milan Baros scored and Lincoln was not even on the bench.
I know that there should be respect for the coach but Bulent's treatment of Lincoln is somewhat childish as is Lincolns stance. They should both grow up and work towards a successful outcome. Currently we are six polints behind Sivas who appear unstoppable but all it may take is one loss and a draw and assuming we beat them in the last match we could be champions but gthen so could Besiktas, Trabzon or the others. Its very tight at the moment although Trabzon have the smell of a team past their sell by date and are sliding.
As is usually the case when the match is on TV in the US at 1pm on a Monday afternoon I missed the game so I cant really say too much except we won 1-0, Milan Baros scored and Lincoln was not even on the bench.
I know that there should be respect for the coach but Bulent's treatment of Lincoln is somewhat childish as is Lincolns stance. They should both grow up and work towards a successful outcome. Currently we are six polints behind Sivas who appear unstoppable but all it may take is one loss and a draw and assuming we beat them in the last match we could be champions but gthen so could Besiktas, Trabzon or the others. Its very tight at the moment although Trabzon have the smell of a team past their sell by date and are sliding.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Poor, worse, terrible
The last three matches that is. Against Trabzonspor we probably deserved to win but as usual when we have been winning this season the referee feels the need to send one of our players off to enable the opposition to equalize and so it was against the Laz. Other than that the play was adequate.
Agasint Hamburg as a reult of having no central defenders in the squad after Emres red card and the wonderful decision to sell Meira we had Kewell at centre back and despite being 2-0 up managed to lose 2-3. Mostly a result of the feud between Bulent and Lincoln I believe and als the absolutely stupid decision to play Kewell at CB.
As for todays fiasco against Eskisehir, well allowing a team to score that only had 9 men on the pitch is appalling and the defence should take all the blame. And what on earth was going on by taking off Kewell and replacing him with Mehmet Guven....Only 2 players on the pitch appeared to be trying towards the end and that was de Sanctis and Ayhan. Arda gave up which is unforgiveable really and as for the rest well they never really got started. Given this was a must win match why was Lincoln not playing?
Bulent was a great player but I think we are seeing that he is not and is unliekly ever to be a particularly good coach. Today the team should have been fired up to reduce the gap to the top teams after they all drew or lost and what do we get, an inspid, technically poor and heartless display.
Agasint Hamburg as a reult of having no central defenders in the squad after Emres red card and the wonderful decision to sell Meira we had Kewell at centre back and despite being 2-0 up managed to lose 2-3. Mostly a result of the feud between Bulent and Lincoln I believe and als the absolutely stupid decision to play Kewell at CB.
As for todays fiasco against Eskisehir, well allowing a team to score that only had 9 men on the pitch is appalling and the defence should take all the blame. And what on earth was going on by taking off Kewell and replacing him with Mehmet Guven....Only 2 players on the pitch appeared to be trying towards the end and that was de Sanctis and Ayhan. Arda gave up which is unforgiveable really and as for the rest well they never really got started. Given this was a must win match why was Lincoln not playing?
Bulent was a great player but I think we are seeing that he is not and is unliekly ever to be a particularly good coach. Today the team should have been fired up to reduce the gap to the top teams after they all drew or lost and what do we get, an inspid, technically poor and heartless display.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Excellent Management
So Meira has been transferred to Zenit St Petersburg as of today for 6m Euros.
Two days before the match against Hamburg.
Last I read Servet and Emre are injured.
Brilliant just brilliant.
What next Kewell and Lincoln negotiating at half time......sorry guys just got a better offer so I wont be out for the second half......thanks ta-ra,
What happened to the transfer window?
Is this a case of CimBom needing money or is this once again an indication of the absolute zero influence the coaches have over the squad.....
Whatever its definitley not a recipe for success.
Two days before the match against Hamburg.
Last I read Servet and Emre are injured.
Brilliant just brilliant.
What next Kewell and Lincoln negotiating at half time......sorry guys just got a better offer so I wont be out for the second half......thanks ta-ra,
What happened to the transfer window?
Is this a case of CimBom needing money or is this once again an indication of the absolute zero influence the coaches have over the squad.....
Whatever its definitley not a recipe for success.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The thot plickens
Three wins from three is not a bad start even if the performance against Bursaspor was only adequate. At least the team seems to be getting back into a winning mentality after the poor start to the second half of the season even if they could perform better as individuals and as a team.
Did not see much of the match thanks to an appalling feed from dodgyturk over the Internet. Its amazing that the feed during the match build up is fine, no interruptions, but as soon as the match starts......aaarghhhhh.......buffering, connection dropped, buffering, loading.......
It seems like the second half of the season has been unkind to all the teams at the top of the leahue with the gap between top and 5th now only 3 points after Sivas and Trabzon only drew or lost recently. Still making up that gaop requires Sivas to lose and I have to say it would be better if that happened before the last match iof the season.
Still it makes for more interest in the next few weeks.
Next up for Galatasaray is the UEFA Cup as the only remaining represnetatiove from Turkey in European action. One of these days another team might help obtain points for Turkey to improve representation in Europe but I am not exactly holding my breath on that one due to the sheer incompetence and inbability of any other team to play against teams who cannot be bought and competent, not to say, unbribeable refs. Anyway this will be a tough match away at Hamburg who are currently 5th on 42 points, whihc is actually a similar position to CimBom who are 5th with 43 points. Here's hoping that a large percentage of the 60,000 or so Turks who live in Hamburg make it to the match and turn it into a home game atmosphere against Martin Jol's team.
Did not see much of the match thanks to an appalling feed from dodgyturk over the Internet. Its amazing that the feed during the match build up is fine, no interruptions, but as soon as the match starts......aaarghhhhh.......buffering, connection dropped, buffering, loading.......
It seems like the second half of the season has been unkind to all the teams at the top of the leahue with the gap between top and 5th now only 3 points after Sivas and Trabzon only drew or lost recently. Still making up that gaop requires Sivas to lose and I have to say it would be better if that happened before the last match iof the season.
Still it makes for more interest in the next few weeks.
Next up for Galatasaray is the UEFA Cup as the only remaining represnetatiove from Turkey in European action. One of these days another team might help obtain points for Turkey to improve representation in Europe but I am not exactly holding my breath on that one due to the sheer incompetence and inbability of any other team to play against teams who cannot be bought and competent, not to say, unbribeable refs. Anyway this will be a tough match away at Hamburg who are currently 5th on 42 points, whihc is actually a similar position to CimBom who are 5th with 43 points. Here's hoping that a large percentage of the 60,000 or so Turks who live in Hamburg make it to the match and turn it into a home game atmosphere against Martin Jol's team.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
And now for something different
Its not often I write about things unrelated to football but sometimes you have to despite Bill Shankly's quote that "football is not a matter of life and death......its more important."
I am not an Amerikan Turk like others in the blogosphere who were born in the US of Turkish heritage, I was born and lived the first thirty yeasr in Istanbul and only moved to the US due to the Husbands job. We have just recieved ou Permanent Residence or Green Card here in the US and I must admit we are thinknbg ahead to becoming US citizens, even though the Husband is of course a former colonial overlord of Amerika even he is thinking of getting a Blue Passport to go with his maroon one.
A few years ago I would hardly have thought about doing such a thing. So why am I. Well its not necessarily because the US is the most perfect country or place to live but it has more to do with what is happening in my home country. The culture of denial and repression of free speech and freedoms that has grown in the last few years is so depressing to watch that I can honestly state that at the moment I would not even want to go back to live in Turkey for the foreseable future. And that from someone who is very touchy, like most of my countrymen and women of criticism about Turkey from non Turks.
The author of Talk Turkey I think summed it up when he posted on the Istanbulian's blog the following list of issues whihc althoiugh rather long reflects the way I feel as well.
The following are not issues I openly deal with non-Turks, at my convenience or at my delight. In fact, I try to keep the conversation short, and find myself covering up most of the time, just so Turkey is not ridiculed!
First and foremost, for what it's worth, good or bad or ugly, Let me know when you can discuss Ataturk openly! without the fear of imprisonment!
Let me know when you end religious persecution!
And I am not talking about just non-Muslims!
Let me know when you deal with the 'Genocide' question!
Let me know when brain washing kids stops!
And let me know when YouTube is back on!
I am tired of having to defend Turkey, when I am asked ridiculous questions that I know the answers to be painful and show the backwardness, but convince my fellow Americans it ain't so... when it is in fact so...
Let me know when you deal with the Kurdish problem!
Let me know when you deal with minority rights, and 'foreigners' in Turkey!
Let me know when you stop blaming others for your problems, instead of yourselves!
Let me know ONE AREA in sports/entertainment/arts/politics/education/science/religion/pop culture where Turkey is a leader or is looked up to! or is a winner! (in a consistent manner/not some isolated exception)
And let me know when some exception does occur, the majority of the people have to find something faulty, or not worthy, with the whole event!
Let me know when you stop sending students to be educated in the fine institutions in the U.S., and beg them to come back!
Let me know when you excel in anything that really matters!
Let me know when you have the creative ability to invent anything, instead of 'copying/pasting' others' successes!
Let me know when the defense industry is more than just importing weaponry and arms from Israel or the U.S.!
Let me know when assembling parts is not called manufacturing anymore!
Let me know when bribes and corruption is not a matter of daily occurrence!
Let me know when Turkey is invited to the EU instead of trying force its way in as if it has lepresy!
Let me know when you deal with the Cyprus problem! Let me know when you admit your soldiers kill civilians too!
Let me know when Turkey's GNP is better than many of the countries it criticizes!
You and the your fellow Turks in Turkey should look in the mirror in your glass house you seem to have built, before you decide to throw stones at the U.S.
You can't be serious if you're comparing U.S. and Turkey?
You can't pick and choose a few bad apples in the U.S. to make your case, when the whole apple batch is rotten in your case!
Gitmo is purposefully not on U.S. territory; but in Turkey, you don't have to leave its borders to be abused by police... to be forced into a confession!
Where you are guilty before proven innocent...!
You make fun of Rush Limbaugh; but you can hardly have your own Rush, or he is sued by the Prime Minister for insulting...
Your major corporations and private industry is all sold out to foreign nations/corporations!
Unlike what Turks think, Turkey is not the center of attention, at least here in the U.S.
Whenever Turkey or anything Turkish is ever mentioned; it is merely worth seconds of air time, but if you read the Turkish papers, you'd think the entire U.S. was holding its breath waiting for the next bit of info out of Turkey!
Turkey doesn't matter!
And is irrelevant!
You make fun of Blagojevich; yet he is impeached. When was the last time Turkey impeached any of its members so corrupt, it would even put Blago to shame!
The TBMM is full of illiterate, immature members, who are out to waste everyone's time and money.
How many times did fists and guns interrupt the sessions in Turkey's legislature?
The evidence is clear that almost every 'leader' Turkey has elected and reelected a few times over have been failures!!!
Yet Turkey still recycles the same old people, except in cases where the military has to intervene!
Turkey is ridiculous! and is ridiculed! And I am sorry but it's a shame! and a sham!
Get ready to own your shortcomings! That's the only way Turks will rise to the occasion!
Not by hiding behind attacking and accusing the U.S.!
So if the U.S. is doing it; then Turkey doing it should not be criticized?
Start by admitting first! and trying to correct yourself and your ways and your stature!
Instead of attacking and criticizing the U.S., as if Turkey was U.S.'s equal!!!
Reform Turkey not because the EU or the U.S. pushes for them, but because it (Turkey) wants to do it for its own reasons!
Why is it that when it serves Turkey's purpose to brag, the Ottoman Empire's successes are widely discussed; but when the history is not favorable, the Turks can't wait to mention out loud they like to distance themselves as far away from the Ottomans, and insist that was the past and Turkey is now the Turkish Republic?
You can't have your cake and eat it too!
You're either proud of your history or you're not!
Turks in Turkey! Wake up and smell the coffee!
And stop being in denial!
Taking cheap shots at the U.S. is not going to improve Turkey's stand in the world... Own up to the responsibilities that it needs to hold itself accountable for!
Lead for once! Instead of always being a follower! and instead of criticizing who you follow!
Educate your people!
Send your daughters to school!
Stop killing hundreds of thousands of people every time an earthquake occurs; when higher magnitude earthquakes result in less deaths in more 'civilized' nations!
Building permits and inspections done by the book, not by how big your wallet is!
Using proper code and the right materials instead of cheap labor, bribed paperwork, and cheap parts... a recipe for disaster!
Teach your people to drive with licenses that are not paid or bribed for!
Teach your people not to drink the entire bar!
Teach your people not to drink and drive on two lane roads at more than 100 mph!
Teach your businesses that customer is the king, not the nuisance!
Teach your people to be honest, trustworthy, and respectful!
Teach your people to read!
Teach your people to learn how to speak intelligently!
Teach your people to practice patience!
Teach your people to respect others, and say 'thank you' or excuse me'!
Teach your people to not rub themselves against women in public buses!
Teach your people not to fire guns into the air at weddings, or any reason to celebrate, killing innocent bystanders!
Teach your people not to stare at every tall blonde who walks by, holding hundreds of cell phone cameras at her, as if she was some sort of a circus animal!
Teach your people sex education!
Teach your people to not hit their women!
Teach your people to learn how to give credit when credit is due!
Teach your people to learn 'etiquette'
I'll stop now... I guess you got the point!
Ne Mutlu Turkum Diyene!
Maybe we should all work toward changing Turkey for the better, instead of comparing our negatives, as if that's an excuse to stand pat!!!
As if... if the U.S. is doing it, so can Turkey too???
And what make me even more depressed is the attitude exhibited here with this knee jerk reaction to commenst such as the above and this totally ridiculous notion of the West whihc implies that the West is some form of lump that cannot accomoodate a multitude of different viewpoints and belief sets whihc of course the East does!! Plus when does someone migrate to the West, a Turk who lives in Amerika to be labelled with such a tag just reinforces what is the above.
I could go on and on with every single point that you have made and find you something much worse in the West, but I think you get the point.
Why not fix your own crap before criticizing others? How about it? :-)
I am not an Amerikan Turk like others in the blogosphere who were born in the US of Turkish heritage, I was born and lived the first thirty yeasr in Istanbul and only moved to the US due to the Husbands job. We have just recieved ou Permanent Residence or Green Card here in the US and I must admit we are thinknbg ahead to becoming US citizens, even though the Husband is of course a former colonial overlord of Amerika even he is thinking of getting a Blue Passport to go with his maroon one.
A few years ago I would hardly have thought about doing such a thing. So why am I. Well its not necessarily because the US is the most perfect country or place to live but it has more to do with what is happening in my home country. The culture of denial and repression of free speech and freedoms that has grown in the last few years is so depressing to watch that I can honestly state that at the moment I would not even want to go back to live in Turkey for the foreseable future. And that from someone who is very touchy, like most of my countrymen and women of criticism about Turkey from non Turks.
The author of Talk Turkey I think summed it up when he posted on the Istanbulian's blog the following list of issues whihc althoiugh rather long reflects the way I feel as well.
The following are not issues I openly deal with non-Turks, at my convenience or at my delight. In fact, I try to keep the conversation short, and find myself covering up most of the time, just so Turkey is not ridiculed!
First and foremost, for what it's worth, good or bad or ugly, Let me know when you can discuss Ataturk openly! without the fear of imprisonment!
Let me know when you end religious persecution!
And I am not talking about just non-Muslims!
Let me know when you deal with the 'Genocide' question!
Let me know when brain washing kids stops!
And let me know when YouTube is back on!
I am tired of having to defend Turkey, when I am asked ridiculous questions that I know the answers to be painful and show the backwardness, but convince my fellow Americans it ain't so... when it is in fact so...
Let me know when you deal with the Kurdish problem!
Let me know when you deal with minority rights, and 'foreigners' in Turkey!
Let me know when you stop blaming others for your problems, instead of yourselves!
Let me know ONE AREA in sports/entertainment/arts/politics/education/science/religion/pop culture where Turkey is a leader or is looked up to! or is a winner! (in a consistent manner/not some isolated exception)
And let me know when some exception does occur, the majority of the people have to find something faulty, or not worthy, with the whole event!
Let me know when you stop sending students to be educated in the fine institutions in the U.S., and beg them to come back!
Let me know when you excel in anything that really matters!
Let me know when you have the creative ability to invent anything, instead of 'copying/pasting' others' successes!
Let me know when the defense industry is more than just importing weaponry and arms from Israel or the U.S.!
Let me know when assembling parts is not called manufacturing anymore!
Let me know when bribes and corruption is not a matter of daily occurrence!
Let me know when Turkey is invited to the EU instead of trying force its way in as if it has lepresy!
Let me know when you deal with the Cyprus problem! Let me know when you admit your soldiers kill civilians too!
Let me know when Turkey's GNP is better than many of the countries it criticizes!
You and the your fellow Turks in Turkey should look in the mirror in your glass house you seem to have built, before you decide to throw stones at the U.S.
You can't be serious if you're comparing U.S. and Turkey?
You can't pick and choose a few bad apples in the U.S. to make your case, when the whole apple batch is rotten in your case!
Gitmo is purposefully not on U.S. territory; but in Turkey, you don't have to leave its borders to be abused by police... to be forced into a confession!
Where you are guilty before proven innocent...!
You make fun of Rush Limbaugh; but you can hardly have your own Rush, or he is sued by the Prime Minister for insulting...
Your major corporations and private industry is all sold out to foreign nations/corporations!
Unlike what Turks think, Turkey is not the center of attention, at least here in the U.S.
Whenever Turkey or anything Turkish is ever mentioned; it is merely worth seconds of air time, but if you read the Turkish papers, you'd think the entire U.S. was holding its breath waiting for the next bit of info out of Turkey!
Turkey doesn't matter!
And is irrelevant!
You make fun of Blagojevich; yet he is impeached. When was the last time Turkey impeached any of its members so corrupt, it would even put Blago to shame!
The TBMM is full of illiterate, immature members, who are out to waste everyone's time and money.
How many times did fists and guns interrupt the sessions in Turkey's legislature?
The evidence is clear that almost every 'leader' Turkey has elected and reelected a few times over have been failures!!!
Yet Turkey still recycles the same old people, except in cases where the military has to intervene!
Turkey is ridiculous! and is ridiculed! And I am sorry but it's a shame! and a sham!
Get ready to own your shortcomings! That's the only way Turks will rise to the occasion!
Not by hiding behind attacking and accusing the U.S.!
So if the U.S. is doing it; then Turkey doing it should not be criticized?
Start by admitting first! and trying to correct yourself and your ways and your stature!
Instead of attacking and criticizing the U.S., as if Turkey was U.S.'s equal!!!
Reform Turkey not because the EU or the U.S. pushes for them, but because it (Turkey) wants to do it for its own reasons!
Why is it that when it serves Turkey's purpose to brag, the Ottoman Empire's successes are widely discussed; but when the history is not favorable, the Turks can't wait to mention out loud they like to distance themselves as far away from the Ottomans, and insist that was the past and Turkey is now the Turkish Republic?
You can't have your cake and eat it too!
You're either proud of your history or you're not!
Turks in Turkey! Wake up and smell the coffee!
And stop being in denial!
Taking cheap shots at the U.S. is not going to improve Turkey's stand in the world... Own up to the responsibilities that it needs to hold itself accountable for!
Lead for once! Instead of always being a follower! and instead of criticizing who you follow!
Educate your people!
Send your daughters to school!
Stop killing hundreds of thousands of people every time an earthquake occurs; when higher magnitude earthquakes result in less deaths in more 'civilized' nations!
Building permits and inspections done by the book, not by how big your wallet is!
Using proper code and the right materials instead of cheap labor, bribed paperwork, and cheap parts... a recipe for disaster!
Teach your people to drive with licenses that are not paid or bribed for!
Teach your people not to drink the entire bar!
Teach your people not to drink and drive on two lane roads at more than 100 mph!
Teach your businesses that customer is the king, not the nuisance!
Teach your people to be honest, trustworthy, and respectful!
Teach your people to read!
Teach your people to learn how to speak intelligently!
Teach your people to practice patience!
Teach your people to respect others, and say 'thank you' or excuse me'!
Teach your people to not rub themselves against women in public buses!
Teach your people not to fire guns into the air at weddings, or any reason to celebrate, killing innocent bystanders!
Teach your people not to stare at every tall blonde who walks by, holding hundreds of cell phone cameras at her, as if she was some sort of a circus animal!
Teach your people sex education!
Teach your people to not hit their women!
Teach your people to learn how to give credit when credit is due!
Teach your people to learn 'etiquette'
I'll stop now... I guess you got the point!
Ne Mutlu Turkum Diyene!
Maybe we should all work toward changing Turkey for the better, instead of comparing our negatives, as if that's an excuse to stand pat!!!
As if... if the U.S. is doing it, so can Turkey too???
And what make me even more depressed is the attitude exhibited here with this knee jerk reaction to commenst such as the above and this totally ridiculous notion of the West whihc implies that the West is some form of lump that cannot accomoodate a multitude of different viewpoints and belief sets whihc of course the East does!! Plus when does someone migrate to the West, a Turk who lives in Amerika to be labelled with such a tag just reinforces what is the above.
I could go on and on with every single point that you have made and find you something much worse in the West, but I think you get the point.
Why not fix your own crap before criticizing others? How about it? :-)
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Another win
So after the excitement of the UEFA Cup it was a trip to the bread eaters in Konya.
And it was a second win out of two for Bulent. Again practically the same team that lost to Kocaeli but this time there was more determination about the team. Again is it new manager bounce or a real improvement. Other results went our way so the top of the Lig closed up again but I have a feeling this year will go to the last couple of weeks and may even be decided on the last day when Galatasaray host Sivas.
Oh yes and ESPN Soccernet remembered there is more to life than English, Italian and Spanish soccer with an articale on Sivas
And it was a second win out of two for Bulent. Again practically the same team that lost to Kocaeli but this time there was more determination about the team. Again is it new manager bounce or a real improvement. Other results went our way so the top of the Lig closed up again but I have a feeling this year will go to the last couple of weeks and may even be decided on the last day when Galatasaray host Sivas.
Oh yes and ESPN Soccernet remembered there is more to life than English, Italian and Spanish soccer with an articale on Sivas
Thursday, February 26, 2009
New manager bounce?
The theory is that a new manager or coach causes a bounce in performance for the team as the players seek to impress the new man.
For Bulent this lasted 11 seconds until Bellion scored.
So a win was managed 4-3 over Bordeaux who are pressing Lyon hard in the French League Unnnnn.
No idea really about the match as I could not find it online here in the You Ess of Ehh.
A wins a win but considering this was essentially the same team that lost 2-5 to Kocaeli it may prove the above theory although it may also indicate that defense is not exactly our strongest area at the moment.....
For Bulent this lasted 11 seconds until Bellion scored.
So a win was managed 4-3 over Bordeaux who are pressing Lyon hard in the French League Unnnnn.
No idea really about the match as I could not find it online here in the You Ess of Ehh.
A wins a win but considering this was essentially the same team that lost 2-5 to Kocaeli it may prove the above theory although it may also indicate that defense is not exactly our strongest area at the moment.....
Monday, February 23, 2009
Change is good??
So Buyuk Kaptan is back at the club this time as coach after the not exactly unexpected dismissal of Skibbe following the poor start to the second half of the season.
Bulent Kormaz was a great, great player for Cim Bom of that there is no question but his record as a coach is somewhat less exceptional.
His record is something like this from his time at Erciyes, Bursa and Genc:
Played 35
Won 10
Drawn 12
Lost 14
Of course it could be argued that he did not have the resources at these clubs etc. etc. it is questionable whether he really has the experience to manage Galatasaray right now?
So should the club have left the team management to Cevat Guler and his team who did a good job last season when Feldkampf left and won the Championship?
Given that the first person to be offered the job on Sunday night was Hagi who wanted a longer contract this seems like desperation to offer the post to Bulent.
I hope I am wrong............
Bulent Kormaz was a great, great player for Cim Bom of that there is no question but his record as a coach is somewhat less exceptional.
His record is something like this from his time at Erciyes, Bursa and Genc:
Played 35
Won 10
Drawn 12
Lost 14
Of course it could be argued that he did not have the resources at these clubs etc. etc. it is questionable whether he really has the experience to manage Galatasaray right now?
So should the club have left the team management to Cevat Guler and his team who did a good job last season when Feldkampf left and won the Championship?
Given that the first person to be offered the job on Sunday night was Hagi who wanted a longer contract this seems like desperation to offer the post to Bulent.
I hope I am wrong............
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Referee no way
So for third match running CimBom have a player sent off. This time it was Lincoln who was adjudged to have dived when it should have been a penalty and then failed to move away from a free kick quickly enough. I mean really if that is worth two yellows then some teams like FB should not bother turning up as that is their entire game plan, dive and block......
Horrible horrible refereeing made what should have been a routine home victory into a draw and opens up the top of the table again. Obvioulsy the referrees are under instruction to decimate the GS squad and make sure either the arsonist murderers from Sivas or the Black Sea big noses take the championship this year.
Cant be bothered to discuss this bullshit any further as I am somewhat angry
Horrible horrible refereeing made what should have been a routine home victory into a draw and opens up the top of the table again. Obvioulsy the referrees are under instruction to decimate the GS squad and make sure either the arsonist murderers from Sivas or the Black Sea big noses take the championship this year.
Cant be bothered to discuss this bullshit any further as I am somewhat angry
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Cup runneth over
Well overtime as CimBom got so tired of playing Sivas, three times in 2 weeks that they lost concentration during the penalty shoot out and succumbed 4-2.
Oh well at least that leaves FB with the possibility of winning something if they reach the final this season that is.
Not only that but the list of injured players grows wih Baris now with a knee problem. Lets hope they get some players back soon especially before the UEFA Cup, in particular we need Lincoln, Kewell and Baros back although it seems that Linderoth as well may finally be fit to play a match!!!
Oh well at least that leaves FB with the possibility of winning something if they reach the final this season that is.
Not only that but the list of injured players grows wih Baris now with a knee problem. Lets hope they get some players back soon especially before the UEFA Cup, in particular we need Lincoln, Kewell and Baros back although it seems that Linderoth as well may finally be fit to play a match!!!
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Rooster anyone?
Well after the two limp displays against Sivas in the SuperLig and then the Fortis Cup it was good to get back to business in the SuperLig with a 2-0 win away in Denizli.
Much better display all around with some of the injured and suspended players back in the team showing what we missed against Sivas with goal contributions from Baros and Nonda. Unfortunately Ayhan picked up two yellow cards so he will be out of the nexty match but hopefully Lincoln or someone will be back.
This was a match that we won farily comfortably and controlled the match most of the time with no major dramas. I have to say it would be nice though to get Linderoth, Lincoln and Kewell back in the team. If they were I have a feeling we would be leading the Lig rther tghan being 2 points behind Sivas and Trabzon. Luckily the rest of the teasm at the top failed to perform so its pretty much as you were at the top.
At the bottom it looks like Ankara may be down to 2 teams next season but hey who's really that bothered?
Much better display all around with some of the injured and suspended players back in the team showing what we missed against Sivas with goal contributions from Baros and Nonda. Unfortunately Ayhan picked up two yellow cards so he will be out of the nexty match but hopefully Lincoln or someone will be back.
This was a match that we won farily comfortably and controlled the match most of the time with no major dramas. I have to say it would be nice though to get Linderoth, Lincoln and Kewell back in the team. If they were I have a feeling we would be leading the Lig rther tghan being 2 points behind Sivas and Trabzon. Luckily the rest of the teasm at the top failed to perform so its pretty much as you were at the top.
At the bottom it looks like Ankara may be down to 2 teams next season but hey who's really that bothered?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Excellent start........not
So the first match of the second half of the season was a bit of a disaster for Galatasaray.
A 2-0 loss at the hands of Sivasspor who also stretched the gap between GS and themselves at the top of the Lig to 4 points.
A look at the starting line up shows the state of the squad:
De Sanctis, Volkan, Emre Aşık, Hakan Balta, Ayhan, Mehmet Topal, Barış Özbek, Ümit Karan, Arda, Milan Baros.
No Emre Gungor, Meira, Servet in defence, no Lincoln or Linderoth in midfield, no Hasan, Kewell or Nonda in attack.
And then of course Umit got himself red carded after which Sivas socred both their goals. Given the fact that te conditions are so bad at the hole in the arse of the country that is Sivas I am not sure why the TFF allows matches to happen there as it is advantage to Sivas. Also teams that play their later in the second half get the benefit of civilized conditions.
Either they should buy floodlights, install underpitch heating or they should be forced out of the SuperLig or should be forced to play all their winter matches in Antalya and level conditions for everyone.
Plus any city that allows a kebab shop to be opened in a building where arson was committed and people killed is just sick!!
A 2-0 loss at the hands of Sivasspor who also stretched the gap between GS and themselves at the top of the Lig to 4 points.
A look at the starting line up shows the state of the squad:
De Sanctis, Volkan, Emre Aşık, Hakan Balta, Ayhan, Mehmet Topal, Barış Özbek, Ümit Karan, Arda, Milan Baros.
No Emre Gungor, Meira, Servet in defence, no Lincoln or Linderoth in midfield, no Hasan, Kewell or Nonda in attack.
And then of course Umit got himself red carded after which Sivas socred both their goals. Given the fact that te conditions are so bad at the hole in the arse of the country that is Sivas I am not sure why the TFF allows matches to happen there as it is advantage to Sivas. Also teams that play their later in the second half get the benefit of civilized conditions.
Either they should buy floodlights, install underpitch heating or they should be forced out of the SuperLig or should be forced to play all their winter matches in Antalya and level conditions for everyone.
Plus any city that allows a kebab shop to be opened in a building where arson was committed and people killed is just sick!!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Cup of cheer
So after the disappointment of the Radyospor Cup in Antalya the team bounced back with a healthy 4-2 win over Malatyaspor in the Fortis Cup on Saturday.
Emre Gungor managed to get himself sent off within 12 minutes of getting on the pitch at the start of the second half, which was not a clever thing to do but the team managed without him and squeezed out the win thanks to 2 red cards to Malatya.
SuperLig action starts again on January 24th with an away match at Sivas. This is going to be a hard game especially with the weather in Sivas at this time of the year. Still a draw or a win would help with the momentum from the end of the first half of the season.
Emre Gungor managed to get himself sent off within 12 minutes of getting on the pitch at the start of the second half, which was not a clever thing to do but the team managed without him and squeezed out the win thanks to 2 red cards to Malatya.
SuperLig action starts again on January 24th with an away match at Sivas. This is going to be a hard game especially with the weather in Sivas at this time of the year. Still a draw or a win would help with the momentum from the end of the first half of the season.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Back to business?
Ok so in the middle of the winter break from football what do the TFF decide to do....that's right play the Fortis Cup Matches. My question is that if the weather is okay and conditions generally good enough to play these games why not continue the SuperLig Programme. It seems to be the same every year that the winter break is completed and then the weather turns really bad and games get postponed etc.....madness.
Anyway Galatasaray are in Izmir today to take care of Altay. A win would put us top of the group on 7 points and in good position to advance to the next round of matches. However with the teams continued existence in the UEFA CUp as Turkeys sole representative team I am not sure how much a priority the Fortis Cup match and then the meaningless Radyospor Tournament matches against Beyer Leverksuen are. Given the teams injury luck this year I would prefer them to concentrate on the SUperLIg and UEFA and then use some of the less regular players in these Cup games.
As for the UEFA Cup we will be up against Girondins Bordeaux who are managed by one of the most cultured defenders ever in Laurent Blanc. Currently sitting second in the French Ligue and playing some good football they will be difficult to get passed. We played them in the Champs League a couple of season agoa with little success and they have had more stability since then than we have. Anyway on the assumption we have a full healthy squad there is no reason to fear them.
Anyway Galatasaray are in Izmir today to take care of Altay. A win would put us top of the group on 7 points and in good position to advance to the next round of matches. However with the teams continued existence in the UEFA CUp as Turkeys sole representative team I am not sure how much a priority the Fortis Cup match and then the meaningless Radyospor Tournament matches against Beyer Leverksuen are. Given the teams injury luck this year I would prefer them to concentrate on the SUperLIg and UEFA and then use some of the less regular players in these Cup games.
As for the UEFA Cup we will be up against Girondins Bordeaux who are managed by one of the most cultured defenders ever in Laurent Blanc. Currently sitting second in the French Ligue and playing some good football they will be difficult to get passed. We played them in the Champs League a couple of season agoa with little success and they have had more stability since then than we have. Anyway on the assumption we have a full healthy squad there is no reason to fear them.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Holiday Cheer
I love Christmas!!
Well not the commercial travesty that passes for Christmas in the US and most of Europe but for the over the top schedule that gives 4 English Premier League matches in 10 days. Especially when here in the US thanks to Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Broadband the Husband and I were able to watch 6 matches in all.
These were :
Stoke v Man Utd
Chavski v Baggies
Liverpool v Bolton
Man City v Hull
Arsenal v Aston Villa
West Ham v Portsmouth
So that was Boxing Day sorted with a similar assortment planned for tomorrow Sunday. Perfect.
No boring Turkish SuperLig to get me frustrated and annoyed just pure theater from what is probably the best League in the World.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Eagles stuffed and trussed
The second Istanbul of the Derby was a feisty affair with the Lions of Galatasaray devouring the Besiktas Black Eagles.
6 goals and a red card tell the story of the game that Galatasary won 4-2 with a hattrick from Milan Baros and a rare toe poke from Servet as CimBom ran out 4-2 winners over the third Istanbul team who on current form may be in relegation trouble. Or perhaps not as 3 of the bottom five places in SuperLig are being occupied by teams from the second city.
So sitting here in New Jersey as the snow fell (again) giving 12 inches for the weekend and watching a match played in raw weather in Istanbul I felt sorry for the fans standing on the terraces but then again you can never forget the real atmosphere of being at the games. At least we now can watch the matches over the Internet but on the TV rather than the computer screen thanks to a new set top box received in the recent past. Much better even if the feed does sometimes freeze.
So back to the match which after the romps up the TEM over the last couple of weekends promised to be a real game. Well it was feisty alright with tackles flying in and bodies crashing to the turf with regularity. Once again Arda showed his immaturity and also lack of pace for a winger with his inability to beat people for pure pace and then every time he gets tackled dropping down to the turf and screaming for a foul. Thankfully Baris Ozbeck and Mehmet Topal are back and playing well in the midfield which is helping the team as they were important last season and are showing how much they have been missed whilst injured. Once Emre Gungor is back and fit we will have a much more solid look about us.
Lincoln had an excellent game and I just hope he will still be around at the restart of the Lig and the Board are not tempted to sell him. The pass for Baros second goal was superb and his all around play was excellent.
As for the sending off, well players have to learn not to make the gesture about yellow cards as the referees in Turkey are penalizing players who do this every time and its not the first time a player has ended up with a red as a result this season.
The penalties, well the first one and the second was clear. Having said that anyone who watched the FB Konya game will understand that referees are having a hard time this seasons with the outrageous decision to give FB a gaol when it was clearly a deliberate handball that should have been a card. Lets face it in the normal run of things Onder Turaci would have had a yellow and if that had been in his own penalty area a red, however when FB play Konya it seems that a handball goal is de-rigeur, remember Anelka anyone a couple of years ago. It was a disgraceful and shocking decision especially as the ref had already awarded Konya a free kick and changed his mind on the word of the assistant who could see nothing whereas the ref was directly behind the situation.
6 goals and a red card tell the story of the game that Galatasary won 4-2 with a hattrick from Milan Baros and a rare toe poke from Servet as CimBom ran out 4-2 winners over the third Istanbul team who on current form may be in relegation trouble. Or perhaps not as 3 of the bottom five places in SuperLig are being occupied by teams from the second city.
So sitting here in New Jersey as the snow fell (again) giving 12 inches for the weekend and watching a match played in raw weather in Istanbul I felt sorry for the fans standing on the terraces but then again you can never forget the real atmosphere of being at the games. At least we now can watch the matches over the Internet but on the TV rather than the computer screen thanks to a new set top box received in the recent past. Much better even if the feed does sometimes freeze.
So back to the match which after the romps up the TEM over the last couple of weekends promised to be a real game. Well it was feisty alright with tackles flying in and bodies crashing to the turf with regularity. Once again Arda showed his immaturity and also lack of pace for a winger with his inability to beat people for pure pace and then every time he gets tackled dropping down to the turf and screaming for a foul. Thankfully Baris Ozbeck and Mehmet Topal are back and playing well in the midfield which is helping the team as they were important last season and are showing how much they have been missed whilst injured. Once Emre Gungor is back and fit we will have a much more solid look about us.
Lincoln had an excellent game and I just hope he will still be around at the restart of the Lig and the Board are not tempted to sell him. The pass for Baros second goal was superb and his all around play was excellent.
As for the sending off, well players have to learn not to make the gesture about yellow cards as the referees in Turkey are penalizing players who do this every time and its not the first time a player has ended up with a red as a result this season.
The penalties, well the first one and the second was clear. Having said that anyone who watched the FB Konya game will understand that referees are having a hard time this seasons with the outrageous decision to give FB a gaol when it was clearly a deliberate handball that should have been a card. Lets face it in the normal run of things Onder Turaci would have had a yellow and if that had been in his own penalty area a red, however when FB play Konya it seems that a handball goal is de-rigeur, remember Anelka anyone a couple of years ago. It was a disgraceful and shocking decision especially as the ref had already awarded Konya a free kick and changed his mind on the word of the assistant who could see nothing whereas the ref was directly behind the situation.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Why bother
3 more points from the Second City. I mean why do they bother with 4 teams when they would struggle to provide 2 full teams??
Monday, December 08, 2008
What can I say
And you wonder why its called the second city.
0-3 thats why.
A routine romp up the TEM, with three points returning, as they should to Istanbul.
Three excellent goals in 5 minutes when CimBom decided to actually play instead of train and that was that.
Looks like the second city could be down to 2 reps next season, Hacetepe and Ankaraspor?
0-3 thats why.
A routine romp up the TEM, with three points returning, as they should to Istanbul.
Three excellent goals in 5 minutes when CimBom decided to actually play instead of train and that was that.
Looks like the second city could be down to 2 reps next season, Hacetepe and Ankaraspor?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Comedy Capers
Well the statistics will show a 3-1 win for CimBom and the fact that 2 players from Hacetepe were sent off. What the statistics and record books will not show was the general poor spectacle that the SuperLig is this season. Of course I am happy that Galatasaray won to narrow the gap to Trabzon to only 4 points and I am happy that Baros scored a hat-trick. What I am not so happy about is the general lack of quality on display in the matches I watch and the rather erratic, to say the least, standard of refereeing we have seen over the last few weeks in various matches.
I watched the Manchester derby on Sunday morning which was full of speed, skill, passion and non stop action played on a superb pitch. The day before I watched a poor match where the losing team was actually the better team but the match was decided by a very poor decision by the referee in the first half when Cisse was sent off after a dive from an opposition player. Plus the match was played on a truly awful pitch. Todays match also was affected by referee decisions, some good some bad. The second yellow for Tozo was deserved for asking for a card, Lincoln got one of those the other week as well which ended up with him being red carded, the first card much less deserved.
The standard of football is poor, the referees erratic, pitches sub standard, lighting bad and in general you can see the supporters are also in agreement as there are lots of empty seats in the stadiums this season.
This despite the fact that Sivas maintain their form of last season, Ankaraspor and Kayserispor continue to ask questions of the bigger teams and Trabzon are on top which should be seen as examples of healthy competition but when its obvious that you are playing 14 men in Istanbul its no surprise that people stop watching as the results are almost foregone conclusions.
I am looking forward to the winter break so I don't have to watch the matches for a while, maybe my enthusiasm will come back because right now there is not much there.
I watched the Manchester derby on Sunday morning which was full of speed, skill, passion and non stop action played on a superb pitch. The day before I watched a poor match where the losing team was actually the better team but the match was decided by a very poor decision by the referee in the first half when Cisse was sent off after a dive from an opposition player. Plus the match was played on a truly awful pitch. Todays match also was affected by referee decisions, some good some bad. The second yellow for Tozo was deserved for asking for a card, Lincoln got one of those the other week as well which ended up with him being red carded, the first card much less deserved.
The standard of football is poor, the referees erratic, pitches sub standard, lighting bad and in general you can see the supporters are also in agreement as there are lots of empty seats in the stadiums this season.
This despite the fact that Sivas maintain their form of last season, Ankaraspor and Kayserispor continue to ask questions of the bigger teams and Trabzon are on top which should be seen as examples of healthy competition but when its obvious that you are playing 14 men in Istanbul its no surprise that people stop watching as the results are almost foregone conclusions.
I am looking forward to the winter break so I don't have to watch the matches for a while, maybe my enthusiasm will come back because right now there is not much there.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Lugano is a cheat
Well no surprise there.
I just want to throw up watching the one sided referee performance in the FB BJK match. Somehow a deliberate trip by Lugano is not a red card when Nobre is clean through however when you blow on one of the precious budgies its a second yellow hence red.
When are we gouing to see a competent performance froem a man in blue this season in Kadikoy...oh the answer is never.
I just want to throw up watching the one sided referee performance in the FB BJK match. Somehow a deliberate trip by Lugano is not a red card when Nobre is clean through however when you blow on one of the precious budgies its a second yellow hence red.
When are we gouing to see a competent performance froem a man in blue this season in Kadikoy...oh the answer is never.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Instantly forgettable
Galatasaray and IBB served up 90 minutes of dross today but at least Cim Bom won 2-0 with goals from Kewell and Lincoln.
That was about it.
That was about it.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Same old story
So after a good run of results with only the Eskisheir blip we went into todays Derby match with confidence high as FB had been rather inconsistent. Of course I had forgotten the most important rule in Turkish soccer which is that FB are not allowed to lose at home to Galatasaray.
This means that the referee was the most important player and once again the referee showed where his allegiance was. How can a direct free kick that goes directly into the goal be disallwed for obstruction???????? I mean what makes it more obvious is when Devid wrestles Umit to the floor from a corner nothing is given and 7 yellow cards to three including one for Arda who was yellow carded because he wanted to take a quick corner which he is entiltled to do but the assistant referee stopped him to make sure FB could organize themselves.
Blatant bias like this is killing games and this total favouritsm at Kadikoy makes you wonder just how much is being spent on referees this season.
Can anyone tell me how Selcuk avoided being sent off as he made probably 6 tackles each worthy of a yellow card, of course when Lincoln complained he got the yellow rather than Selcuk for the late high tackle. 5 minutes later he finally got the yellow for underseeing Lincoln as that was simply too blatant for the referee to miss.
I guess the knives will be out for Skibbe but really GS played as well as they could despiet the refereeing and continous fouling from FB which went unpunished by the referee.
Its matches like this that make me wonder why I follow the SuperLig with the appaling quality of the referring etc. I watched the ManUtd Arsenal game yesterday and there was a single dodgy decision that affected the outomce of the game unlike today where the referee assured FB of the victory.
This means that the referee was the most important player and once again the referee showed where his allegiance was. How can a direct free kick that goes directly into the goal be disallwed for obstruction???????? I mean what makes it more obvious is when Devid wrestles Umit to the floor from a corner nothing is given and 7 yellow cards to three including one for Arda who was yellow carded because he wanted to take a quick corner which he is entiltled to do but the assistant referee stopped him to make sure FB could organize themselves.
Blatant bias like this is killing games and this total favouritsm at Kadikoy makes you wonder just how much is being spent on referees this season.
Can anyone tell me how Selcuk avoided being sent off as he made probably 6 tackles each worthy of a yellow card, of course when Lincoln complained he got the yellow rather than Selcuk for the late high tackle. 5 minutes later he finally got the yellow for underseeing Lincoln as that was simply too blatant for the referee to miss.
I guess the knives will be out for Skibbe but really GS played as well as they could despiet the refereeing and continous fouling from FB which went unpunished by the referee.
Its matches like this that make me wonder why I follow the SuperLig with the appaling quality of the referring etc. I watched the ManUtd Arsenal game yesterday and there was a single dodgy decision that affected the outomce of the game unlike today where the referee assured FB of the victory.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Little bit better
First of all today was about getting three points following Besiktas loss and TS winning. That was achieved. Does style matter, well yes but as I think it was Bill Shankly said if you want entertainment go to the circus. So today was a win and three points although the entertainment was rather low.
The team was reinforced with Lincoln back in midfield and we had more of a goal threat throughout the game because he was back in the team. Still the central defence pairing of Servet and Emre Asik makes me nervous and the central defensive midfield went missing too often for my liking. Ayhan was quite anonymous this week whihc was good but sometimes it let Antep get way too far forward.
The goals were well taken with Arda's a masterpiece of long ball football, Bolton would have been proud of that one.
Should ease some of the pressure on Skibbe although the idiots who are never satsified with anything except for getting Terim back etc. will now be complaining about how the team played rather than the result. I like watching exciting football which is why I watch the English Premier League, probably the most excotomg football there is when the top teams play, not quite as exciting when the others play but interesting nonetheless. Before the GS match I watched the Bolton Man City game and there was one major difference in the way the game was played. Was it exciting, not really, but the players worked so hard, with Kevin Davies acting as the lone striker and defending from the front closing down the opposition defenders and when he lost the ball chasing back. Arda on the other hand could be seen wandering back to his own half or just standing watching when he lost the ball. That attitude has to change and I for one do not think this team is as fit as last year under Feldkampf. But really the GS game was so slow after theBolton Man City match!
The worst part of the game was the injury to Kewell which may hurt the team with the UEFA cup match and the Derby coming up.
Anyway, three points in the bag and three points behind TS at the top so all in all its not too bad.
On a side note Eskisehir proved that the win over GS was not a one off as they held FB at home to a 2-2 draw and should probably have won the match if the linesman had real eyes instead of his yellow and blue glasses on.
The team was reinforced with Lincoln back in midfield and we had more of a goal threat throughout the game because he was back in the team. Still the central defence pairing of Servet and Emre Asik makes me nervous and the central defensive midfield went missing too often for my liking. Ayhan was quite anonymous this week whihc was good but sometimes it let Antep get way too far forward.
The goals were well taken with Arda's a masterpiece of long ball football, Bolton would have been proud of that one.
Should ease some of the pressure on Skibbe although the idiots who are never satsified with anything except for getting Terim back etc. will now be complaining about how the team played rather than the result. I like watching exciting football which is why I watch the English Premier League, probably the most excotomg football there is when the top teams play, not quite as exciting when the others play but interesting nonetheless. Before the GS match I watched the Bolton Man City game and there was one major difference in the way the game was played. Was it exciting, not really, but the players worked so hard, with Kevin Davies acting as the lone striker and defending from the front closing down the opposition defenders and when he lost the ball chasing back. Arda on the other hand could be seen wandering back to his own half or just standing watching when he lost the ball. That attitude has to change and I for one do not think this team is as fit as last year under Feldkampf. But really the GS game was so slow after theBolton Man City match!
The worst part of the game was the injury to Kewell which may hurt the team with the UEFA cup match and the Derby coming up.
Anyway, three points in the bag and three points behind TS at the top so all in all its not too bad.
On a side note Eskisehir proved that the win over GS was not a one off as they held FB at home to a 2-2 draw and should probably have won the match if the linesman had real eyes instead of his yellow and blue glasses on.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Dear oh dear
Not sure where to start today after that travesty of a football match.
When you play a team that is so limited that their basic means of stopping you is to kick the crap out of your skilful players and hope that the referee is generous enough to not issue yellow cards then its really hard to accept losing to such a team.
Its even harder to accept a result like this when two of the opposition teams goals were offside, one marginally and one so clearly it was unbelievable that it was not given. The third Eskisehir goal was so clearly offside as to be not funny but then with Firat Aydinus totally inept performace as a referee today I think anything went unless it was in favor of CimBom.
Having said that Galatasaray did not play particularly well today or at least some individuals and there were too many mistakes. Emre Asik had a horrible match and was directly repsonsible for goals 1 and 4, Meira seemed to find it difficult to control the ball, Kewell drifted out of the game early and de Sanctis had perhaps his worst game since joining, Arda spent most of his time on the ground thanks to the referee's generosity.
The sooner that Emre Gungor recovers from injury the better so he can replace Emre Asik in defence as the combination of Servet and Emre A is too slow and clumsy.
I am sure that the knives will be out for Skibbe after this but really what could he do, there is no answer to incompetent referees and with the injury list he has there were no real alternatives to bring in compunded with Lincoln also missing as a result of overfussy referees.
When you play a team that is so limited that their basic means of stopping you is to kick the crap out of your skilful players and hope that the referee is generous enough to not issue yellow cards then its really hard to accept losing to such a team.
Its even harder to accept a result like this when two of the opposition teams goals were offside, one marginally and one so clearly it was unbelievable that it was not given. The third Eskisehir goal was so clearly offside as to be not funny but then with Firat Aydinus totally inept performace as a referee today I think anything went unless it was in favor of CimBom.
Having said that Galatasaray did not play particularly well today or at least some individuals and there were too many mistakes. Emre Asik had a horrible match and was directly repsonsible for goals 1 and 4, Meira seemed to find it difficult to control the ball, Kewell drifted out of the game early and de Sanctis had perhaps his worst game since joining, Arda spent most of his time on the ground thanks to the referee's generosity.
The sooner that Emre Gungor recovers from injury the better so he can replace Emre Asik in defence as the combination of Servet and Emre A is too slow and clumsy.
I am sure that the knives will be out for Skibbe after this but really what could he do, there is no answer to incompetent referees and with the injury list he has there were no real alternatives to bring in compunded with Lincoln also missing as a result of overfussy referees.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Easy really
So much for the table toppers. I cant believe that Trabzon have been sweeping all before them so far in the SuperLig as they were far from impressive today despite a more than helpful referee.
Galatasaray 3-0 Trabzonspor
After a quiet opening CimBom gradually started to dictate the play with Ayhan finally managing to control the ball and not give it away. The first goal by Arda came somewhat against the run of play but was a superb goal from the sideline, not sure whether it was a cross or not but who cares it went in. The second had a touch of fortune about it as Arda miskicked after a scramble in the penalty area and the ball went in off Servet's hand. However the Trabzon players hardly complained and as his arm was at his side it was not ruled handball.
So to the second half where Galatasaray toyed with Trabzon. After 60 minutes Kewell and Baros combined to open the Trabzon defence like a can opener and in slipped Lincoln to score a relatively easy goal, 2 minutes later he was off but it really did not disrupt the flow of the match.
The referee decided to even things up by booking Lincoln for a handball in the second half just after he had scored which was his second so he had to take the long walk. Rather a harsh yellow when you consider what else was going on in the game.
A few minutes later and Tolga rugby tackles Sabri in the penalty area, clear penalty but somehow the referee and linesman decided the ball was already out of play, replays clearly showing it was not but should have been a penalty and a red card. Add in a totally incorrect offside decision against Aydin Yilmaz and well really, this would have been a massacre.
So the pretenders disposed of relatively easily which should ease some of the pressure on Skibbe and help shut up the idiots who want to see Terim back as coach. After the first 20 minutes Galatsary dominated the match playing a high and fast pressing game with quick interpassing and a relatively sound defence.
Lets hope this kick starts a good run, Eskisehirspor away next weekend so that should pose not too big a problem, but given they beat Bursapsor this weekend it may be harder than we thought especially as we have the small matter of playing Olympiakos in the UEFA Cup on 23rd October, still at least we are at home so no travel involved.
Galatasaray 3-0 Trabzonspor
After a quiet opening CimBom gradually started to dictate the play with Ayhan finally managing to control the ball and not give it away. The first goal by Arda came somewhat against the run of play but was a superb goal from the sideline, not sure whether it was a cross or not but who cares it went in. The second had a touch of fortune about it as Arda miskicked after a scramble in the penalty area and the ball went in off Servet's hand. However the Trabzon players hardly complained and as his arm was at his side it was not ruled handball.
So to the second half where Galatasaray toyed with Trabzon. After 60 minutes Kewell and Baros combined to open the Trabzon defence like a can opener and in slipped Lincoln to score a relatively easy goal, 2 minutes later he was off but it really did not disrupt the flow of the match.
The referee decided to even things up by booking Lincoln for a handball in the second half just after he had scored which was his second so he had to take the long walk. Rather a harsh yellow when you consider what else was going on in the game.
A few minutes later and Tolga rugby tackles Sabri in the penalty area, clear penalty but somehow the referee and linesman decided the ball was already out of play, replays clearly showing it was not but should have been a penalty and a red card. Add in a totally incorrect offside decision against Aydin Yilmaz and well really, this would have been a massacre.
So the pretenders disposed of relatively easily which should ease some of the pressure on Skibbe and help shut up the idiots who want to see Terim back as coach. After the first 20 minutes Galatsary dominated the match playing a high and fast pressing game with quick interpassing and a relatively sound defence.
Lets hope this kick starts a good run, Eskisehirspor away next weekend so that should pose not too big a problem, but given they beat Bursapsor this weekend it may be harder than we thought especially as we have the small matter of playing Olympiakos in the UEFA Cup on 23rd October, still at least we are at home so no travel involved.
Crunch Time
Well its been an interesting couple of weeks. We had the undignified sight of the Turkish National Team struggling to beat Bosnia and then drawing to that powerhouse of football, Estonia. There are probably more people live in Kasimpasa than Estonia and we cannot produce a team that can beat them? So that was 2 points dropped. It seems we have a good first eleven but strength in depth, forget it. I guess teams like Brazilbahce don't help and it feels like almost every Turkish club has a couple of south Americans or balkan players and still the clubs want to be allowed more foreigners. Way to go.
Turkey get elected to the UN security council, achieving some kind of recognition on the International stage even as the Istanbul Stock Exchange continues its merry slide.
In CimBom land the management of the club decide that after 2 draws 3 wins and a loss that this is not good enough and decide to get rid of the assistant coaches leaving Skibbe all alone. In other rumours it is thought that the Imperator may return. Well I sincelrely hope not.
Yes Fatih Terim was good when we won the UEFA Cup in 2000 but his more recent spell in charge 2002-2004 after Lucescu was unceremoniously dumped was not exactly a success 2nd and 6th for those who cannot remember and it took Gerets and then Feldkamp to get the squad and team sorted out. So you could say I am not in the bring back Terim camp.
Other strange goings n the SuperLig yesterday included a relegation threatened canaries escaping from Kocaeli with a win thanks to the referee not awarding a single free kick to Kocaeli in the second half despite clear fouls, see the run up to the second goal and then playing additional time until they scored. Having beaten CimBom last time out second placed Bursa then promptly lost at home to Eskisehir!!!
And today we have Trabzon at home, a match that ins the last few seasons would have been a relatively comfortable three points. If the team plays we should win but lets see.
Turkey get elected to the UN security council, achieving some kind of recognition on the International stage even as the Istanbul Stock Exchange continues its merry slide.
In CimBom land the management of the club decide that after 2 draws 3 wins and a loss that this is not good enough and decide to get rid of the assistant coaches leaving Skibbe all alone. In other rumours it is thought that the Imperator may return. Well I sincelrely hope not.
Yes Fatih Terim was good when we won the UEFA Cup in 2000 but his more recent spell in charge 2002-2004 after Lucescu was unceremoniously dumped was not exactly a success 2nd and 6th for those who cannot remember and it took Gerets and then Feldkamp to get the squad and team sorted out. So you could say I am not in the bring back Terim camp.
Other strange goings n the SuperLig yesterday included a relegation threatened canaries escaping from Kocaeli with a win thanks to the referee not awarding a single free kick to Kocaeli in the second half despite clear fouls, see the run up to the second goal and then playing additional time until they scored. Having beaten CimBom last time out second placed Bursa then promptly lost at home to Eskisehir!!!
And today we have Trabzon at home, a match that ins the last few seasons would have been a relatively comfortable three points. If the team plays we should win but lets see.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
UEFA Cup
So the draw was made for the UEFA Cup today:
Galatasaray
Hertha Berlin
Olympiacos
Metalist Kharkiv
Benfica.
Could be worse, but could not be much better. Personally I think the UEFA Cup is going to be hard for anyone to win this season with the likes of Villa, Ajax, AC Milan lying in wait.
Galatasaray
Hertha Berlin
Olympiacos
Metalist Kharkiv
Benfica.
Could be worse, but could not be much better. Personally I think the UEFA Cup is going to be hard for anyone to win this season with the likes of Villa, Ajax, AC Milan lying in wait.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Injuries out of control
At the moment it seems like a lot of teams are suffering from lots of injuries. For example Galatasary had officially 13 players injured before the Bursaspor match on Sunday. These were:
1. Emre Gungor
2. Ugur Ucar
3. Tobias Linderoth
4. Aydin Yilmaz
5. Baris Ozbek
6. Hasan Sas
7. Mehmet Topal
8. Harry Kewell
9. Sabri Sarioglu
10. Arda Turan
11. Serkan Calik
12. Umit Karan
13. Orkun Usak
Now of those Emre Gungor and Serkan Calik are long term injuries, Ugur has been out for a while, Linderoth seems to be permanently injured and Orkun Usak is a goalkeeper so is he really missed as Aykut and De Sanctis are not injured.
Funnily enough Arda and Sabri played on Sunday but neither of them looked as sharp as normal.
If you look at other teams around Europe you will see similar stories at some clubs and no injuries at others. Are these level of injuries only to be found at clubs with a lot of international players who thanks to Blatters insatiable greed and complete disregard for player fitness has the FIFA and UEFA treadmill at full throttle these days. Are the injuries a result of poor conditioning, poor nutrition, just bad luck or is it beacuse of the demands of the modern game, its speed and physicality.
Are Turkish teams less professional than other teams, I mean even at Euro 2008 they seemed incapable of rehabilitating players quickly unlike other countries.
For example Bolton Wanderes, not excatly a rich club, have conditioning coach, a nutrisionist, force players to undergo ice baths after matches to speed recovery and are able to recover players very quickly it seems. Do Galatasaray I wonder have similar facilities or even care about them?
1. Emre Gungor
2. Ugur Ucar
3. Tobias Linderoth
4. Aydin Yilmaz
5. Baris Ozbek
6. Hasan Sas
7. Mehmet Topal
8. Harry Kewell
9. Sabri Sarioglu
10. Arda Turan
11. Serkan Calik
12. Umit Karan
13. Orkun Usak
Now of those Emre Gungor and Serkan Calik are long term injuries, Ugur has been out for a while, Linderoth seems to be permanently injured and Orkun Usak is a goalkeeper so is he really missed as Aykut and De Sanctis are not injured.
Funnily enough Arda and Sabri played on Sunday but neither of them looked as sharp as normal.
If you look at other teams around Europe you will see similar stories at some clubs and no injuries at others. Are these level of injuries only to be found at clubs with a lot of international players who thanks to Blatters insatiable greed and complete disregard for player fitness has the FIFA and UEFA treadmill at full throttle these days. Are the injuries a result of poor conditioning, poor nutrition, just bad luck or is it beacuse of the demands of the modern game, its speed and physicality.
Are Turkish teams less professional than other teams, I mean even at Euro 2008 they seemed incapable of rehabilitating players quickly unlike other countries.
For example Bolton Wanderes, not excatly a rich club, have conditioning coach, a nutrisionist, force players to undergo ice baths after matches to speed recovery and are able to recover players very quickly it seems. Do Galatasaray I wonder have similar facilities or even care about them?
Sunday, October 05, 2008
There are bad days and then !!!!!
After ensuring their place in the group stages of the UEFA Cup, in fact as Turkeys only repsresentative with a chance of winning anything in Europe this season, Galatasaray came back down to earth with a bump with an away match to the third place team of Bursaspor.
Well to say it was a bad day at the office would be a kind. It was poor, the team looked half a metre slower than Bursa all over the pitch and the defensive midfled of eeerm and urmm was totally non-existent. I think the midfled was supposed to be Ayhan, Hakan Balta and Lincoln but as they were nowhere to be seen half the match and especially when both goals were scored that it was hard to tell. The defence was poor but with the zero protection they recieved its no wonder. Baros seemed isolated up front and there was no real support for him. As I said poor all around.
I have to say that I am glad its an International weekend coming up. Gives the team a chance to regroup and maybe get some of the injured players back up and running.
Of course whilst I feel bad we lost at least it was away against a team higher in the LIg than us....so I was immensley cheered by what happened in Kadikoy later, 1-4 against Kayserispor at home, half empty stadium to start with and an almost empty one at the end. No real supporters there, no team spirit and probably soon no manager, decade of dominance you really have to laugh.
Well to say it was a bad day at the office would be a kind. It was poor, the team looked half a metre slower than Bursa all over the pitch and the defensive midfled of eeerm and urmm was totally non-existent. I think the midfled was supposed to be Ayhan, Hakan Balta and Lincoln but as they were nowhere to be seen half the match and especially when both goals were scored that it was hard to tell. The defence was poor but with the zero protection they recieved its no wonder. Baros seemed isolated up front and there was no real support for him. As I said poor all around.
I have to say that I am glad its an International weekend coming up. Gives the team a chance to regroup and maybe get some of the injured players back up and running.
Of course whilst I feel bad we lost at least it was away against a team higher in the LIg than us....so I was immensley cheered by what happened in Kadikoy later, 1-4 against Kayserispor at home, half empty stadium to start with and an almost empty one at the end. No real supporters there, no team spirit and probably soon no manager, decade of dominance you really have to laugh.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Another 4 goals
So for the third match Galatasaray scored 4 goals. Interestingly in the three SuperLig matches CimBom have won they have all been by 4-1, the others were draws. This now puts us in third spot on 11 points with a goal difference of +9, one point behind Bursaspor who we play away next week so that should be a tasty match.
A good solid all round performance showing the benefits of sensible recruiting instead of blindly wasting money on over priced Latins and Spaniards. Baros and Kewell continue to have a sort of Indian Summer as they score goals almost for fun. Baros first goal, a 30yard screamer was as good a goal as you will see this season. Perhaps the only bad part of todays performance was the defending for Konyas goal, which was non-existent as the team stood and watched.
The scoreline could have been more than 4 with Lincoln, Kewell, Baros and Hasan all having good opportunities later on to add. The domination was such that Servet and Meira were playing as extra forwards towards the end leaving the defence in the safe and responsible hands of Hasan!!!!! Not exacty sure about his credentials as a right back but at least he has not made any huge mistakes since his inclusion in that position.
Nice to see some of the younger players also getting a run out as Erdem and Yaser Yildiz got a few minutes late on and also had a chance to score.
Lets hope that this good form continues into the Uefa Cup second leg this week where we are at home to Bellinzona with a 4-3 advantage from the first leg.
A good solid all round performance showing the benefits of sensible recruiting instead of blindly wasting money on over priced Latins and Spaniards. Baros and Kewell continue to have a sort of Indian Summer as they score goals almost for fun. Baros first goal, a 30yard screamer was as good a goal as you will see this season. Perhaps the only bad part of todays performance was the defending for Konyas goal, which was non-existent as the team stood and watched.
The scoreline could have been more than 4 with Lincoln, Kewell, Baros and Hasan all having good opportunities later on to add. The domination was such that Servet and Meira were playing as extra forwards towards the end leaving the defence in the safe and responsible hands of Hasan!!!!! Not exacty sure about his credentials as a right back but at least he has not made any huge mistakes since his inclusion in that position.
Nice to see some of the younger players also getting a run out as Erdem and Yaser Yildiz got a few minutes late on and also had a chance to score.
Lets hope that this good form continues into the Uefa Cup second leg this week where we are at home to Bellinzona with a 4-3 advantage from the first leg.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Chance to move up
So tomorrow we have Konyaspor, the bread eaters at home.
Quite a few injured players including Linderoth and Umit Karan as well as Sabri so I guess Hasan will continue at right back.
We really need to get a win tomorrow given that Trabzon are going like an express train at the top and FB have only won 2 games. I guess Aziz may need to adjust his ten year domination plan....
The Husband is happier today after Man Utd managed a win, albeit with some assistance from Rob Styles. Mind you after the Chavski game where Mike Riley seemed to be on a one man mission to book everyone in red it was nice to get a present from the ref today.
Wonder how long before the canaryites turn on Aziz, wont be long now I am sure.
Quite a few injured players including Linderoth and Umit Karan as well as Sabri so I guess Hasan will continue at right back.
We really need to get a win tomorrow given that Trabzon are going like an express train at the top and FB have only won 2 games. I guess Aziz may need to adjust his ten year domination plan....
The Husband is happier today after Man Utd managed a win, albeit with some assistance from Rob Styles. Mind you after the Chavski game where Mike Riley seemed to be on a one man mission to book everyone in red it was nice to get a present from the ref today.
Wonder how long before the canaryites turn on Aziz, wont be long now I am sure.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Not too bad
In weather more appropriate for ducks, CimBom finally clicked as a team with an emphatic 4-1 win at Kocaelispor.
However I must admit that for the first 20 minutes and especially after Kocaeli took the lead we did not look like a side that is the defending champions, especially with Hasan Sas playing at right back. I assume that Sabri was injured and that there was no-one else but that seems a bit desparate to me.
However I must admit that for the first 20 minutes and especially after Kocaeli took the lead we did not look like a side that is the defending champions, especially with Hasan Sas playing at right back. I assume that Sabri was injured and that there was no-one else but that seems a bit desparate to me.
I must admit that the goal that got us back into the match on another day could have been a free kick to the goalkeeper even tough in reality there was virtually no contact with Serdar by Nonda. Anyway from the resultant open play Baros made it look easy.
After that GS played much better and finally began to find each other on the pitch opening up kocaelspor relatively easily, with good goals from Baros, Nonda and Kewell to round things out.
Seems like the last couple of games the players are working out a system that works for them even if the so-called Derwall system it is not. Not sure how much Skibbe is having to do with it all or whether the payers have simply decided to play a certain way but they have scored 8 goals in the last 2 games, although the 4 they conceeded is a worry.
So its second position in the League, 2 points behind Trabzon althoug if Besiktas win later today they will retake second spot.
After that GS played much better and finally began to find each other on the pitch opening up kocaelspor relatively easily, with good goals from Baros, Nonda and Kewell to round things out.
Seems like the last couple of games the players are working out a system that works for them even if the so-called Derwall system it is not. Not sure how much Skibbe is having to do with it all or whether the payers have simply decided to play a certain way but they have scored 8 goals in the last 2 games, although the 4 they conceeded is a worry.
So its second position in the League, 2 points behind Trabzon althoug if Besiktas win later today they will retake second spot.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Swiss Cheese
So we almost slipped on the banana skin that is Bellinzona.
a 4-3 win away though gives us a good away goal advantage but really this should have been easier although I must admit I have no idea how the players were as I could not get a streaming internet connection for the game as ShowTV died just before the game started as usual.
Nice to Kewell and Baros amongst the goals, Kewell has scored a couple already but I think these were the first Baros has scored since his arrival.
However the most important goal was from Lincoln in the 95th minute. Having been 3-2 ahead after they had a man sent off we really should have killed them off but still an away won even so late is still an away win whihc is always good in European competion.
Elsewhere Besiktas won 1-0 at home and Kayeserispor lost 2-1 to PSG at home.
So roll on Sunday and an awauy game at rock bottom Kocaelispor, that had better be three points unless Skibbe really does want to leave.
a 4-3 win away though gives us a good away goal advantage but really this should have been easier although I must admit I have no idea how the players were as I could not get a streaming internet connection for the game as ShowTV died just before the game started as usual.
Nice to Kewell and Baros amongst the goals, Kewell has scored a couple already but I think these were the first Baros has scored since his arrival.
However the most important goal was from Lincoln in the 95th minute. Having been 3-2 ahead after they had a man sent off we really should have killed them off but still an away won even so late is still an away win whihc is always good in European competion.
Elsewhere Besiktas won 1-0 at home and Kayeserispor lost 2-1 to PSG at home.
So roll on Sunday and an awauy game at rock bottom Kocaelispor, that had better be three points unless Skibbe really does want to leave.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Late
Have been rather busy recently and only just got around to posting about he weekends fiasco. Despite scoring foist and playing Antalya at home CimBom were very flat after scoring the first goal and whilst defeat was never a realistic option the draw was probably fair.
Often the weekend after Internationals is a good time to play teams like GS who have many players on overseas duty. Anyway next weekend there is no excuse.
Anyway the best thing about the weekend was Hacettepe winning and Besiktas and Trabzon drawing which keeps things tight at the top.
Often the weekend after Internationals is a good time to play teams like GS who have many players on overseas duty. Anyway next weekend there is no excuse.
Anyway the best thing about the weekend was Hacettepe winning and Besiktas and Trabzon drawing which keeps things tight at the top.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Flat as a pancake
Well after the Armenia game this should have been a formality with 3 more points in the bag. But what do we get:
Arrogant coach
Arrogant canaries
Arrogant CimBom
Result is a draw 1-1 against Belgium, I mean realy Anderlecht are nothing these days even if Serhat Akin is still there. Is he????
Piss poor performance on a lot of levels, and why do we play at the supermarket stadium, I mean its better than Olympic but only just, I mean you alienate 50% of the fan base unless they need something from Migros.
Arrogant coach
Arrogant canaries
Arrogant CimBom
Result is a draw 1-1 against Belgium, I mean realy Anderlecht are nothing these days even if Serhat Akin is still there. Is he????
Piss poor performance on a lot of levels, and why do we play at the supermarket stadium, I mean its better than Olympic but only just, I mean you alienate 50% of the fan base unless they need something from Migros.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Road Win
So Turkey came away with a 2-0 road win against Armenia and England managed a 2-0 win against Andorra, keeping myself and the Husband happy. I have a feeling that Fatih Terim will be the happier of the two managers though.
Having said that playing teams like Andorra can cause problems as you play against 11 defenders, Turkey have also struggled against such teams and let us not forget that its not that long ago that Turkey were considered in the same breath as Andorra and Lichtenstein. Remember the 8-0 battering handed out by England. It seems that the so called bigger countries have developed not much recently whereas the smaller countries have improved a lot.
Turkey played quite well and it seemed like it was only a question of time before they scored and if the first goal was a bit scrappy the second was an excellent example of strikers anticipation.
Anyway a win is win and Turkey need to concentrate on getting ready for the next match against Belgium who overcam Estonia 3-2 at home. Once again though the TFF shoot themselves in the foot by insisting to play the game at the Olympic stadium thereby hadning an advantage to the opposition by reducing the impact of the crowd. Why are these people in charge of Turkish football???
Having said that playing teams like Andorra can cause problems as you play against 11 defenders, Turkey have also struggled against such teams and let us not forget that its not that long ago that Turkey were considered in the same breath as Andorra and Lichtenstein. Remember the 8-0 battering handed out by England. It seems that the so called bigger countries have developed not much recently whereas the smaller countries have improved a lot.
Turkey played quite well and it seemed like it was only a question of time before they scored and if the first goal was a bit scrappy the second was an excellent example of strikers anticipation.
Anyway a win is win and Turkey need to concentrate on getting ready for the next match against Belgium who overcam Estonia 3-2 at home. Once again though the TFF shoot themselves in the foot by insisting to play the game at the Olympic stadium thereby hadning an advantage to the opposition by reducing the impact of the crowd. Why are these people in charge of Turkish football???
Monday, September 01, 2008
Down to earth
After the ease of the opening day victory it was back to earth with a bump yesterday in Kayseri. For those with a short memory Kayserispor were probably the surprise package of last season finishing a creditable 5th behing the Istanbul 3 and Sivas.
This season it was a 0-0 draw, and last season it was 1-1 so history pretty much repeated itself.
Strange team selection from Skibbe for this match, no Nonda or Lincoln for example. Still Umit was back and Baros got some playing time. De Sanctis in goal seemed an able keeper so that is good that we have a couple of good keepers with him and Aykut.
Overall the match was a bit disappointing with GS struggling to make chances and when they had chances to covert them. I think a win would have been a more acurate reflection of the balance of play but we will take a draw. I am just hoping that Kayseri prove as stubborn opposition to other teams this season so we see this as a point gained rather than two lost.
Anyway the season is still young for CimBom. However it looks like being a long, long season for the second city teams, 4 matches and 1 point is not good........
This season it was a 0-0 draw, and last season it was 1-1 so history pretty much repeated itself.
Strange team selection from Skibbe for this match, no Nonda or Lincoln for example. Still Umit was back and Baros got some playing time. De Sanctis in goal seemed an able keeper so that is good that we have a couple of good keepers with him and Aykut.
Overall the match was a bit disappointing with GS struggling to make chances and when they had chances to covert them. I think a win would have been a more acurate reflection of the balance of play but we will take a draw. I am just hoping that Kayseri prove as stubborn opposition to other teams this season so we see this as a point gained rather than two lost.
Anyway the season is still young for CimBom. However it looks like being a long, long season for the second city teams, 4 matches and 1 point is not good........
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