I'll take the draw

Just when you thought things could not get much worse they did, so I'll take a draw this week.

After signs of improvement against FB with a 0-0 draw which we could easily have won, then a 2-1 win at home against Antalya the wheels fell off with a 2-0 loss at Trabzon and reached a nadir with a 2-0 loss at home to Manisa. This was such a bad game, only Lucas Neill emerged with any credit at all, Servet looked hopeless but he was not the only one.

So an away match at Kayseri who were second in the Lig at start of the day was not something to be looked forward to. Anyway the match was fairly even and either side could have won. In short GS played reasonably but we are desperately missing Baros. Considering we hit the post and should have had a penalty the draw was a bit disappointing but still it was not a loss. So we are now only 13 points behind Trabzon.....

Catch up

Quick recap of the last few days.

GS strolled to a 2-1 win over Antalya. Well at least it was a win and it seems like a shape for the team is finally emerging.....

Over in the US the well informed electorate voted back in the people who got them in the mess they were in before....turkeys and thanksgiving seems appropriate.

Oh and Bursa got stuffed........they have been woeful in Europe but all conquering in Turkey. What does that tell us about the standard of the SuperLig? Man Utd took them apart at will.....

Point earned

Todays 0-0 draw with FB actually felt like a win.....simply because it could have been a lot worse after the last couple of weeks.

The defence was much stronger today with Neill back in the side, someone who can actually defend and is not afraid to leave his mark on the opposition forwards either...

Pino looked lively as the lone striker, with Baros, Kewell and Arda injured I guess he was the only option and with a bit more luck could have had a couple of goals.

All in all a reasonable performance considering Hagi and Tugay only had a couple of days to get the team ready, plus they managed to extract a performance from Elano that was closer to his National team form than he has shown for a long time.

Okay we still need to start winning games but I would say that the FB fans out there should be more worried than the GS fans as GS looked more likely to win the game and created more chances.

Everyone of them is a moron

So after a shambolic display against Ankaragucu where we appeared to be playing a 0-0-11 formation with defence and marking as an optional extra, we are now left with no coach 4 days before the FB derby in Kadikoy.

Absolutely mind numbingly moronic on all levels.

It should have been obvious to all concerned that Rijkaard was not interested after the summer break and the fact that the club management managed to sign Insua (not good enough for Liverpool), Misimivic and Pino......who the f*** they are, lost Caner to FB and basically screwed up the entire summer transfer dealings, you could see from his body language that he was not happy. Add to that his personal issues and he was a resignation waiting to happen.

So well done one and all.

As for the players only Baros showed any desire on Sunday, and I felt sorry for Ufuk as time after time the defence vanished.

I am not sure anyone knows who our strongest 11 is but subject to injuries and suspensions the one below would be closest to it in my opinion:

Ufuk
Hakan Balta (out of sorts but still best LB we have)
Neill
Sarp (Servet is a lame donkey, Zan has vanished so who else?)
Sabri

Misimovic
Elano
Ayhan
Arda

Baros
Kewell.

Rubbish

After the last four excellent matches, last Friday was like a bucket of vomit being thrown on your head. A dodgy penalty and a deflection left us grasping at straws but really we should have been able to come back against this team who we beat last year in the Turkish Cup. The only good thing this weekend was that Bursa did not win.

Baros hat-trick

Bit slow in making a post this week but thats mainly because I have been busy as my father is here in the US at the moment so finding a few minutes to post has proved to be a challenge.

Anyway a much improved performance especially in the first half against IBB secured all three points. It would have been better to have kept a clean sheet as well but one goal can be tolerated. The result improved our position in the Lig and completes 4 straight wins with 8 scored and 2 against.

I guess the high point was that Baros scored a hat -trick including a penalty but I guess we will take all goals as counting, and he could and should have scored more as GS for once this season opened up a team with relative ease. We were equal on points before the match so a victory was by no means certain especially after IBB had turned over Besiktas at Iononu earlier in the season.

Most of the summer buys, excluding Ali Turan were on display. I am still not convinced about Insua but Pino looks like a good aggressive central midfielder who can complement or even replace Ayhan. Misimivic looks useful as well in the attacking midfield position, similar player to Ilic.

Not sure what Sabri and Hakan will do to get back in the team.......

WTF????????????????

Turkish football rocked after boss is stabbed six times on the touchline - by his elder brother!

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1311997/Turkish-football-boss-stabbed-touchline--brother.html#ixzz10D4INlMK

9 points in three matches

After the Old City match I mentioned there was perhaps a spark, well maybe there is, small but valid. After the International break we came back with a 1-0 win over Antep and then another 1-0 over Bucaspor a recently promoted team. Totally not pretty but three points is three points and we will take that. Temporarily we are up to 5th with the BJK/FB match today which might change that.

As I am currently in Turkey access to blog has been a tad tricky, holidays you know so hopefully we will be back on track next weekend.

A spark?

Well maybe there is life left in the old cat after all as CimBom suddenly found it within themselves to win a game. The last couple of seasons trips to Eskisehir have proved less than fruitful so I have to admit I feared the worse before the game especially after the insipid showing against Carpet Life in the Europa League.

As the first half unfolded it looked like my fears would be realized as we got ahead only to give up a soft goal. It would be easy to blame Ufuk for dropping the ball from the initial cross but given that our left back of the day was nowhere to be seen and was not tracking the Eskisehir player he had no choice but to go for it. At that point I feared the worst because the team suddenly appeared to become 11 individuals who were meeting for the first time. For a few minutes they played some of the worst football I have seen GS play for a long time and I could understand why Rijkaard was going nuts on the sideline and why Lucas Neill was screaming at everyone......Arda had as usual disappeared at this point except when he was complaining about something or other.... he really does need to leave so that his ego can be brought under control.

Anyway the second half was better and after Volkan Yaman scored for his former employers confidence appeared to return with the team playing better as the match went on and a third, scrappy, goal added by Servet.

Three points but still problems. The defense, Neill apart looks fragile. Servet seems to be missing a spark, Hakan Balta is struggling and Sabri has disappeared. The new signing Insuea will fill some gap but he hardly set the English Premier League alight with Liverpool. Midfield is looking promising with Cana, Misimivic, Elano able to bring some order to things with Mustafa Sarp and /or Ayhan to do the water carrier or Makelele role. In attack Baros continues to score with Kewell and Arda (when he can be bothered to play) adding some subtlety. Problem is that this is quite a few changes and it has to be hoped that the team gels quickly

Cheating bastards

So Bursa won again.

Volkan Sen scored. However that cheating little shit should not even have been playing after his deliberate handball last weekend. An offence that only bthe referr can explain was not worth a yellow and hence a red for second offense, even the payer knew he should be off.

Here is the effect that a shithead referee has. No red card, player gets to finish game and play the next match where he scores. Possible point swing 6 due to incompetent wanker blowing whistle.

To say I am pissed is an understatement. The only good thing is that I am waiting for Bursa to get absolutely mothered by Man Utd.

Season over already

So with the 1-1 tie against Karpaty Lviv where we allowed a team reduced to 10 men to equalize in injury time and so progress at our expense, plus the played 2 lost 2 status in SuperLig it would seem that the season is practically over. Maybe the club should focus on rebuilding the team, clear out the dross, sell Servet to anyone who will offer money for example....

And I guess we will be looking for a new coach in the very near future.

No where do we go

So the poor results continued with a 2-0 loss at home to Bursaspor.

Having said that this match was one way traffic most of the time with GS attacking and Bursa defending. I think Bursa had like three opportunities, unfortunately they scored with 2 of them although the second goal was really an own goal as without the Neill deflection Ufuk had it covered.

Not to make excuses but how was Volkan Sen not sent off. Already on a yellow card and then an absolute deliberate handball which from his reaction he knew was worth a second and hence red but somehow the useless referee failed to produce the card. As I mentioned previously its clear the refs have already been given their orders because that was an absolutely blatant piece of cheating.

Ho hum.

So next up is the Europa League....

Can it get worse.....probably

So the same result as last time in the home leg, 2-2. But this time CimBom had to rescue the match, thank goodness Baros remembers where the goal is.

What the hell is going on?

Well first thing is Arda should be left off the team, he is slow and useless irrespective of the transfer rumors, plus his big head wobbles too much when he runs.......

Frankie boy needs to get this lot motivated or he will be gone before long, or maybe that's his plan

Next up Bursa at home....I can see us being 6 points behind after only 2 matches if this garbage continues

Blaagh

So the new season opened with a trip to Sivas, the place that turned a murder and arson location into a Kebab shop...such sensitive souls.

And the new season started with failure. First half CimBom played okay and gained a 1-0 lead after only seven minutes through Sarp. For some reason the referee decided to get involved and awarded Sivas a free kick after a foul on Lucas Neill from which an own goal was scored thanks to a rather large push in the back on Ali Turan. After that it was all downhill and the referee's have obviously decided to not bother waiting until later in the season but start with the crap decisiosn from match day one.

Second half GS were poor and looked very tired, with the defense being opened up on a number of occasions.

Not sure why Baros only got 20 minutes and where was Pino? Some strange selections but there should be enough quality in the Galatasary squad to see off the likes of Sivas.

Paperwork woes

Byzantine hardly begins to describe the difficulties I have been having to acquire one of the new Turkish Passports. My old style passport expired and so I had to apply for one of the "biometric" passports deemed so essential these days.

Easy you may think. Well think again, maybe in Turkey but when dealing withe the Consulate in New York.....!!!

First step, let me check the ekonsul web site to see what it says about passport applications. Ah yes. obtain pictures, fill in forms, provide money order, return envelope and submit your application. So I did all of that and as requested included my old passport and my ID card. That was on July 12th. After hearing nothing for 3 weeks I call the "Hotline" as the consulate phone is never answered and no-one ever answers email and am told, in contradiction of what I was told previously that "Postal applications are no longer accepted and you have to make an appointment at the Consulate." Couple of questions I had, will I ever receive my documents back from the consulate so I can make the personal appointment. no idea was the reply, please call the consulate!!!!!!!!

On checking the website again I now see that as of August the 3rd there is a new notice that says "As of June 1st, appointments have to be made to process passport applications." That's useful, 2 months after this started the website is updated!!!

So I make an appointment, 1 month after I sent the documents, which by the way have still not been returned to me. I arrive promptly at 2.30 and am processed promptly at 5.30. From 2.30 to 3.15 the 6 people who are scheduled for appoint ents at 2.30 are completely ignored by thej consulate staff, in fact we are asked "What are you doing here, there are no appointments this afternoon?" All of us are attemptiong to renew our passports we reply. Oh well the passport person is not here, please rescheule your appointments we are told. Err, No we reply. Now considering that some people had driven 4 + hrs from Boston as the NY consulate serves the whole NE of the US that would be a bit of an inconvenience.

So at 4pm I am called to a window and asked for my paperwork. You still have it I tell them,, I sent it here one month ago and you have not returned it to me even though there is a prepaid envelope. One hour later they find my paperwork.

At 5.30pm we are finally called in one by one to be processed, including fingerprints.

So what now. Well they will see whether the photo I provided is okay, if not I will have to take another and make another trip to NY. After that they will contact me and ask me to resend my old passport so they can cancel that and then send me my new passport, I mean why can they not just keep my old one when I was there? All in all the process may take 3 months which is just ridiculous.

On the other hand my father just renewed his passport in Istanbul, took him three days. The difference, the Polis issue passports in Turkey not the uncivil service.......

Smooth progress

Could not watch the match but a 1-5 scoreline away rather reinforces the fact that the lads choked last week at home. Despite the pink shirts.

So after allowing two away goals CimBom remember their history and pride and cruise through. Compare and contrast to the disaster that is Kadikoy. Sack a cokehead, bring in an unproven coach, gain two away goals and then lose at home to Young Boys, a competent side but really one that should have been put away fairly comfortably. I just hope Hiddink was watching these matches so that he omits to select Volkan..... for ever.

Chokers

Once again a good start followed by crap defence........when will we ever learn...now we have to score and allow no goals....fat chance. Congrats boys looks like Europe is over for another year

Almost there

Now that the cloggers ceased clogging the dahlings we may be able to et back to some sensible and meaningful football instead of the bad tempered, cheat fest that was the WC Final. I have to say what a disgrace both theams were, the Dutch with their clogging and the Spinach with their whining, diving and constant play acting. Second half should have been a 5 a side game!!!

Oh well.

So GS continue to steamroll all before them, healthy wins against local sides and then a 4-0 effort over the future of Turkey?

Shades of last year when we rolled over everything in our path until the winter break and then.....pop went the season. Some good news, I hope, is that Kewell is staying so as long as he remains injury free that will be good news. Franco is leaving and Carrusca is leaving although I have to say I though he left a couple of years ago! Keita also left which was a surprise although I guess we need all the money we can get. Lorik Cana appears a good buy but El mago we will have to see, dont get to watch much French soccer in the US so really dont know that much about him....time will tell. I am sure this is not the end fo the transfer action, we may need a new goalkeeper although as far as I am concerned Aykut is a perfectly good keeper.

So the new season creeps closer and its looking positive, at least for now.

Musings on the World Cup

So, my last post aside and there was a significant reason for it not just a brain dead rant, the World Cup is finally showing signs of springing into life, partly for the right and partly for the wrong reasons.

I find it incredible that the French having blatantly cheated their way into the finals anyway now look like they are about to totally implode. Anelka sent home, the team refusing to train, staff resigning etc. And this was the team that FIFA preferred to have at the finals rather than the admittedly technically less proficient Irish but seriously does anyone think they would be doing worse, at least they would have been proud to have been there and represented themselves with pride and passion unlike the riff raff passing itself off as French.

The ball, nothing wrong with it as far as I can see, its just excuses. The New Zealand keeper had no trouble with it today despite all the long distance shots.

The Italians are also doing badly, drawing with Paraguay and New Zealand and to be honest their attitude sucks as well, demanding yellow cards, attempting to get players sent off and the dive for the penalty, Oscar worthy. The thing is they are only team resorting to such blatant cheating so its a bit embarrassing, but as Platini played in Italy don't expect any harsh words on this aspect of their game anytime soon.

England - enough said.

So far the so called underdogs have done a good job of upsetting the odds, Chile, Uruguay, Switzerland etc. have been well organized, and up for it. I find it amazing that people are using the long Premier League/Serie A, Primera Lig seasons as excuses for tiredness. I would imagine that more than 50% of the players on show play there and most seem to be okay.

Anyway not much has been decided except that Holland are through and Cameroon out, the only definite we know right now so who said this was a boring World Cup.....roll on the final group matches.

B*stards

Sometimes I wish all the Armenians had been killed, what a bunch of pathetic loser, traitors they are. Fuck them. That way the Kardashians would not be inflicted on us......

And yet the rest of the world takes these assholes seriously.......