Dog days of summer

So EURO 2008 is over, the season has not started, the phony war is on with transfer rumors by the bucketful but no real substance and so what to do.......I have no idea. I could watch baseball but that would be less than interesting.

MLS is on and watchable these days, not brilliant but then Samsun versus Adana hardly gets the pulse racing either and I have to say the technical level is high even of the oppressive summer heat here slows things down.

Galatasaray are in Germany and won the first preparataion match against Holmberg 2-0. Good to see that Linderoth was in action again after almost a season out.

Still no movement on Lucas Neill but thats not exactly a disappointment. If Servet and Emre can get fit and play as well as they did at EURO 2008 then the defence is sorted.

New goalkeeper would be a benefit and a 25 goal a season striker but thats maybe wishful thinking.....

Roll on the new season

Well the final was not so good but the team that had the shots and chances won the game. Can you believe that Germany did not have a shot on target in 90 minutes!!!! It was such a pity that Turkey was stripped of its best players thanks to the Italian/Croatian ref. I have to say though that he proved that his incompetence was not restricted to only booking Turks, he was almost as bad on the final hading out yellow cards for imaginary elbows and failing to book send of Michael Ballack for continuous fouling, makes you wonder if Ballack was Turkish whether he would have stayed on the pitch because he made tackles way worse than what Arda and Tuncay got booked for. Anyway, its past but it still leaves s lightly bitter taste.

On to the new season now. With a new younger manager, we will leave the geriatrics to Kadikoy for now, a couple of Turkish recruits already and possibly Harry Kewell, not my favorite player I have to say, this may be one of slight optimisim. I can see GS providing they replace Hakan and can keep Linderoth and Lincoln free of injury easily defending their title this season and also possibly getting out of the group stages in Champions League. With Song leaving for Trabzon though we do need a new defender to partner Servet although Emre Gungor looked good at Euro 08. Of course both are injured!!!

Team is having a good clear out with Okan Buruk, Carrusca and Bouzid on the way out as well as a large number of younger fringe players.

Anyway lets see what happens in the next couple of weeks but I am cautiously optimistic.

Reality bites

It was a great roller coaster ride of emotions while it lasted but now its back to life and back to reality after Germany beat Turkey 3-2 in the final minute of the Semi finals in Basel.

Of course we could not see what happened as the International feed kept getting blacked out after lightning in Vienna. I know you cannot control the weather but how about Plan B?? This meant we missed the last 5 minutes after Lahm scored.

In some ways this defeat hurts more than it should, I mean we were lucky to get this far right but then we basically were the best team on the pitch and should really have won. I know many reporters are mentioning the clear penalty Germany should have had, for contact outside the box, but not many are mentioning the rather blatant shirt pull a couple of minutes later on the Turkish player which I guess was not given in order to even things up. But still and all Turkey did enough to win and wipe the smile of Bolloks face.

I still think its a pity that the Croatian/Italian ref just happened to book three of the more important players in the Croatia game meaning that we were really playing with the reserve team. Just goes to show how motivation and the right technical ability can do. Of course Mehmet Topal was partly to blame for two of Germany's goals but then he is a midfielder not a central defender.

At least we put up a good show which with the squad I though was going to be impossible but I am glad to have been proven wrong and I can say that we have been involved in some of the most exciting matches of what has been so far, and with the exclusion of the Spain/Italy snooze fest an exceptional tournament.

New Manager at last

So whilst all the attention is focused on the Euro 2008 and Turkey's incredible performances Galatasaray have named their coaching team for the season.

Michael Skibbe formerly of Bayer Leverksusen will be the coach and he will be assisted by former CimBom favorite Umit Davala.

Interesting choices for sure and lest see how the playing staff will change. He is probably concerned that the performances of Arda, Hakan Balta etc. have other clubs counting the dollars.

Speaking of the Turkish National Team do they have any idea of the emotional roller coaster they are making us ride and each game it happens later and later.

I mean I am happy we are in the semi finals and that Germany will probably underestimate us which should be in our favor but the agony of the matches is getting too much to handle.

Medical ward

so 17 players fit or available, no defence, no chance you might think lets see

Nervy

After a couple of weeks silence I thought its time for a post.

So today is destiny day for the Turkish team at Euro 2008. Lets just hope Terim sticks with his best 11 which would be the team that started the Switzerland match rather than the team that started aganst Portugal. I mean really Kazim is not nternational class whereas Arda is. And why bring the top scorer in Turkey if you are not going to use him except for 45 mins in the first 80. May as well have taken Hakan..

Anyway lest see what happens, personally if Volkan plays as he did against Switzerland then we have a chance but if he plays like he did against Portugal, forget it.

So roll on the match.

Second hand news

So it looks like the Kadikoy mob have decided that items previously owned, used and found wanting by Galatasaray should be their major signings.

Thats the big news?

I thought they would be announcing the purchase of more over the hill washed up South Americans to waste their money on and finish second again.

But I was wrong, oh well theres plenty of time for that to happen.

As for CimBom not too much news on summer signings at the moment but I am sure they must be working on some and as for the manager search I guess we have to wait for the will he wont he of Mourinho at Inter Milan and then the rest of the managerial merry go round to stop and see who we end up with.

Personally I think we should get Big Sam in, well it might get the team fit if nothing else!!!

England 2- 0 USA

So anything the Husbands lot can do we can also do.....with a 2-0 hammering of mighty .....Finland. Whilst the majority of the English Press declared themselves no more than satisfied with a solid performance against allegedly inferior opposition we find the Turkish media lauding the Imperator etc...

Finland have a couple of world class players, Jasskalainen, Hyppia and Litmarnen spring to mind but as opponents for a EURO2008 finalist one should expect a slightly more comprehensive victory.

Once again Semih and Kazim prove that they are not really international class and thats not GS talking its reality. If Basturk is sent home then Kazim is not international class.....

And over in Toulon the next generation were embarrased with a 4-0 loss against Ivory Coast....

oh life is good.

The hills are barely alive

So after a crushing victory over Slov someone Turkey followed that up with a resounding 3-2 loss to Uruguay that powerhouse of South American football.

Just when you thought it could not got any worse as well.

I hope Fatih Terim has some form of plan because so far there appears to be a complete lack of one. Oh and if Volkan is an International Goalkeeper then there is hope for almost anyone, he is useless.

We have the makings of a good team but not with Kazim on the pitch. Obviously Nihat has to play but where is the target man to allow Nihat and Arda to run on to the ball, oh yes we don't have one because the only forwards taken are small and like to play running at the defence rather than holding the ball up so we have no tactical options, absolute genius to do that.

Wonder what the excuse will be for the next embarrassment against Finland.

Wind of change......

With apologies to the Scorpions a wind of change blew through the Luznikhi stadium this afternoon or night depending where you are and probably ended Chavski as we know them.....oh dear.
I watched the match with the Husband who was remarkably restrained except for the occasional abuse directed at the Chavski players especially fat Frank.

It was an intriguing game with two very different tactical approaches on show which was won by the manager who believes in youth and flair rather than raw power, although if Man Utd want to dominate for the next couple of years they need an enforcer or is that going to be Anderson.

Anyway penalties are an absolute killer and the relief when John Terry hit the post was immense. On balance I think the best team overall won but then I would say that, however the Chavski goal was rather lucky so I think the result was fair overall.

Oh and Turkey beat Slovakia 1-0 in a warm up match for Euro 2008...impressive eh.

Oh dear, oh dear

It appears that Fatih Terim is mad after all......earlier this evening I was teasing the Husband as England will not be at Euro 2008 and then about an hour later I found him crying with laughter in front of the computer which was open at the page that showed the Turkish Team for 2008.....and after I read it I could understand why he reacted.....what is this squad....

Emre Asik ffs??????????????????????????????? cannot get a game at GS and still in the Turkish squad!!!!!!

I mean why not ask Alpay to play?????

Who is going to score the goals, not Semih, who has regularly been found wantnig at International level and definitely not the others, what happened to Fatih Tekke, Umit Karan and Mehmet Yilmaz???

And for goalkeeper, an idiot, a has been and who??

Its such a shame that one of the best players this season in the Superlig Baris Ozbek holds a German passport, otherwise he should be in the squad as he has been a standout player for GS this season. And why is Ayhan in the squad, he cannot operate at the next level....

I hope I am wrong but I feel we will be home early...

Champions Again

So Galatasaray wrapped up their 17th Championship with a fairly routine win against some team from Ankara.

I must admit that although I am happy we won the SuperLig the feeling was not the same as a couple of years ago when it went to the last game of the season. I guess this was because the hard work had been done with the victories against FB and Sivas in the previous two games. This meant all we had to do was not lose and as GS have only conceded 23 goals in the SuperLig this season, which is the lowest of all teams, meant that unless the defence had a complete meltdown (not impossible remember Leverkeusen) then the one point we needed was fairly safe.

A goal each from Hakan and Hakan Balta was enough to seal the points and start the celebrations.

Speaking of which what on earth was the management thinking bring a live lion to the stadium. Totally unnecessary and cruel...really. This annoyed me so I am still not able to really enjoy the victory and the championship because of this.

Still its a good achievement when you consider that the expensive imports brought in to provide the edge hardly figured except for Nonda. Lincoln missed half the season and Linderoth was also injured. One of the best payers was Baris, a snip at $1m, lets face it who needs washed Brazilians costing millions of dollars. Add to that a temporary coach for the last third of the season and its a remarkable achievement..!!

Touching distance

Thank goodness that is over....the stress is too much at times. For a neutral that was probably a good match to watch, 8 goals, end to end attacking but as a fan it was horrible...

I am not sure whether the defending was poor or the attacking was of such a high grade but I must admit the ComBom defense looked at its most vulnerable this season, big holes, uncertainty and occasional panic certainly contributed to the scoreline and nerves in this observer at least. I would imagine a central defender should be on the shopping list for the summer and a new right back if Sabri leaves for Italy, although there are one or two defenders in the squad so maybe thats not a top priority.

As for Sabri, after some awful performances earlier in the season the last couple of games he is back to something like his best which is as an attacking full back. If he does go to Italy he will fit right in though with his attitude and ease with which he goes to ground.

Some good goals from both sides although there were also a couple of dodgy ones, the second Sivas goal may have crossed the line but there should have been a fee kick to GS earlier in the action. Hakan was offside for goal 5 but I am not sure how much real difference that made, except to the average. Arda claimed a hat-trick with some well taken goals but I think the best was Ayhans from 30 yards out.

Why on earth the team did not play like this against Kasimpasa I do not know because if they had we would now be Champions!!

Anyway all to play for next week at home to Genc Oftas where as long as we do not lose we will be Champions irrespective of what the Kadikoy mob do. Heres hoping Trabzon do the business although I have a feeling neither Sivas or BJK can finish second even if they level on points due to their worse goal average.

We are within touching distance, despite no coach and what is basically a home grown team......

Three points in the bag

Another home game and another three points is added to the total for the season. The win puts CimBom clear at the top of SuperLig with 73 points followed by a couple of teams on 70 points which includes our main challenger now for the title, Sivas.

All in all today was a good performance with no real concerns and in fact we should have won by a bigger margin that the 1-0 as Umit Karan hit the post and there were a couple of other positions where we should have scored but only a desire to score a perfect goal and some desperate defending by kept the score at 1-0. Aykut had a relatively uneventful day in goal as the defense and the defensive midfield played extremely well in denying space and time. Mehmet Topal and Ayhan played extremely well and never stopped running with Ayhan in particular linking the defense to attack very well. Baris was another that caught the eye, what a bargain that boy has been. Using Nonda and Umit in attack was also a good tactic as both are comfortable playing with their back to goaldand screening the ball allowing others to run on. It was noticeable after Hakan came on from Nonda that we lost that outlet and I have to say that as great a player as Hakan has been its time to stop, he looked slow and heavy footed today.

Of course the goal was a result of a defensive mix up and it was such a shame that it happened to those two particular players, oh dear my heart bleeds especially after the Fortis Cup Match at Ali Sami Yen....

So our fate is now in our own hands, 4 more points from 2 matches and we will be the champions irrespective of what any other team does. The hardest game is the away match to Sivas where Umit will be missing, lets hope Lincoln is back to add some experience in the middle of the pitch as well as an attacking threat, lets also hope Sivas will roll over the same way they did just after the winter break, although I cannot see that right now.

Come on Genclirbirligi

Another three points

For once there were some supporters in the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul although I am not sure just how many were IBB supporters. Anyway those that were there saw a relatively straightforward 3-0 win by CimBom.

The win and the three goals scored keeps everything the same except for total points. A lot of people are saying next weekends match will be the decider but I have a feeling that whilst the winner of that match will have an advantage they will not necessarily have a decisive advantage, cast your mind back 2 years when the title went to the last match and the conveniently delayed match in Denizli, not that the gamesmanship there helped. It does mean that the prospect of team without a permanent coach, mostly Turkish squad etc. has a distinct chance of still winning the league and lets not forget that Sivas are still hanging in there.

Back to the match Galatasaray never seemed to be threatened. Even when the score was only 1-0, albeit from an own goal, there was no real goal threat from IBB and once Necati went off that vanished almost completely. The two later goals were of significant benefit as it leaves the advantage at only 1 goal difference. Again the team was all Turkish except for Lincoln, even IBB had more foreigners in the squad than Galatasaray.

So back to the Champions League this week with the semi finals and the possibility of an all English final if Man Utd get past Barcelona.....I bet the Moscow police are looking forward to that!

The Shearer of the Bosphorus??

Alan Shearer who was one of the top strikers in the English Premier League caused immense damage to a team he claimed to love with his selfish quest to become the clubs top scorer. Before he retired he had seen off at least one manager, Ruud Gullit, who had put him on the bench for a game against local rivals Sunderland. After retirement he continues to cause problems, every time the team do not win, which is often, the fans call for him to take over and while he has done little to suggest he wants to he also refuses to end the speculation and so undermines managers.

My view is that Hakan Sukur is doing the same at Galatasaray. I really hope the management show him the door and ask him not to come back, of he wants today, when he has coaching experience gained the hard way and preferably well away from Galatasaray. They did that to Bulent and should do the same to Hakan to clear his influence from the club. You cannot afford to hold onto nostalgia for too long.

Getting closer

I have to say that I did not expect such a favorable result in such a manner from the second city today but what a game.

For once the Mafia fell to a very late injury time goal and had the worst of the referring decisions and the faces of the players was joyous to behold.

What does that mean. Well it means that Galatasary go back second but on goal difference or average, but that is only one difference. There are now four games left in the season with a hard finish for Galatasaray, we have IBB away, hopefully Necati cannot play, FB at home, Sivas away and end with G Oftas at Ali Sami Yen. Still no one said it would be easy......

Top....for a day?

Another game and another three points, Galatasary finally woke up in time to finish off the season. Its going to be hard to win the championship especially as we play Mafia at home and Sivas away but as long as the team keeps grinding out 1-0 wins then we will be okay, in fact 4 wins and we are champions.

Again a totally Turkish team took to the pitch to start the match with only Nonda coming on to replace Umit. Only Lincoln was suspended so where was Song I wonder? Okan Buruk started his second match in succession which I must admit I find strange as he is pretty much finished. But what the hell it was a win.

Team played okay if not spectacular and there were no real scares. It would be better for the nerves though is we could get a couple of goals ahead instead of just the one as the defence does sometimes make me nervous.

No real referee issues today unlike last week apparently. So the spotlight falls tomorrow on Ankara where mafia meets mafia junior, now thats going to be an interesting referee influencing session.

Call that a pitch......

You can always tell when you move away from the big city and travel out into the backward parts of the country because the pitch on which soccer is played starts to resemble a cabbage patch rather than a lawn. Obviously the good people of the second city have been feeding their cows in the stadium because that pitch was nothing short of a disgrace and not fit for SuperLig, which is probably ok because with this weekends results the two teams that play there are heading down the Lig again.

So despite Galatasaray management shooting themselves in the foot by parting ways with Fedkampf just before the weekend games the team managed to get a win which keeps us only 2 points behind Brazilbahce. Whatever you think of Feldkampf he has achieved good results with a limited squad and budget. Despite losing Linderoth and Lincoln to long term injuries and Song to the African Nations Cup and having to use a team mainly based on young Turkish players to be only 2 points behind the Kadikoy money bag means he has done well. He has made the team fitter and faster and even though Hakan is now doing his best Alan Shearer impersonation, that s hangng around long after his sell by date the team has improved and I think we can look forward to the next couple of seasons. Of course the 5-1 loss to Leverkeusen was poor but these things happen, look at Newcastle this season against as well as AS Roma last season and Besiktas Liverpool.

Anyway I though the game today was agricultural to say the least playing on that cabbage patch and skill was at a minimum. The goal from Lincoln was a good one though probably the best piece of skill in the game. Still thats three more points and with Besiktas beating Sivas and CimBom still to host Brazilbahce things are still tight.

More rubbish

Dear oh dear,

And there I was thinking that the inconsistent and frustrating side of Galatasaray had been removed by Herr Feldkampf and what happens, a 0-0 draw at home with Gaziantep. And with the Mafia winning this leaves us two points off the pace and with a worse goal average.

The team has struggled for consistency since the winter break and once again is having a hard time scoring goals and dropping 4 points against the likes of Kasimpasa and Antep does not exactly fill me with confidence for the rest of the season. Its hard enough without constantly being penalized by the TFF, 6 home matches so far this season without fans, 1 day between Konya and Leverkeusen, horrible referring decisions in favor of Mafia etc.

And where have the players gone? Linderoth is injured but where is Nonda, Barusso, Hasan Sas?
Why is Sabri playing again?

Come on guys sort things out, lets face it we have a perfect chance for a morale boosting win next week against Genclirlirgi so lets not blow it as I am sure whoever Mafia are playing the brown envelopes are already changing hands for another easy match.