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.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
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........
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Consolation...maybe
So after being dumped out of the Chimps League Galatasaray get the consolation of a place in the UEFA Cup, the only European tournament won by a Turkish Club in 2000 when Galatasaray beat Arsenal.
And in the first round we have been dawn against Bellinzona FC a team from the Swiss League. Now before we get carried away by this a quick check on Wikipedia reveals that as Bellinzona is in the Italian speaking area of Switzerland they are a feeded club for AS Roma so we can expect there to be a few good players there looking to make a name for themselves.
So we have a chance for redemption after the dismal showing in the Champs League. Lets hope the team relaize this and take their chance.
Next up Kayserispor who we beat already this season.
In other news I see FB's referee buying has already started. They could only beat IBB after 2 players had been sent off, surprised, I'm not.
And in the first round we have been dawn against Bellinzona FC a team from the Swiss League. Now before we get carried away by this a quick check on Wikipedia reveals that as Bellinzona is in the Italian speaking area of Switzerland they are a feeded club for AS Roma so we can expect there to be a few good players there looking to make a name for themselves.
So we have a chance for redemption after the dismal showing in the Champs League. Lets hope the team relaize this and take their chance.
Next up Kayserispor who we beat already this season.
In other news I see FB's referee buying has already started. They could only beat IBB after 2 players had been sent off, surprised, I'm not.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Not sure to be honest
Milan Baros has apparently signed a 3 year contract with CimBom. He is not, and never will be despite how successful he may be, one of my favorite players. He falls over much too easily for my liking and should therefore really have joined the other lot........
Last season was a bit of a mixed bag for him with half a season at Portsmouth and the other half warming the bench at O Lyonnais.
Still it potentially adds more speed to an already quick forward line that includes Kewell and Arda so it could be an interesting season...
Lets just hope the team plays better in Bucharest tomorrow than in Istanbul two weeks ago. At least it looks like Skibbe may have an almost full squad to choose from altthough Kewell was sporting a large bandage on his left knee. Mind you a good 30 minutes may be the best we can hope from him in matches this season, whihc if they are as effectove as in the first leg may be good enough but on the other hand lets hoipe the rest of the team pick up the tone and beat Bucharest properly.
Last season was a bit of a mixed bag for him with half a season at Portsmouth and the other half warming the bench at O Lyonnais.
Still it potentially adds more speed to an already quick forward line that includes Kewell and Arda so it could be an interesting season...
Lets just hope the team plays better in Bucharest tomorrow than in Istanbul two weeks ago. At least it looks like Skibbe may have an almost full squad to choose from altthough Kewell was sporting a large bandage on his left knee. Mind you a good 30 minutes may be the best we can hope from him in matches this season, whihc if they are as effectove as in the first leg may be good enough but on the other hand lets hoipe the rest of the team pick up the tone and beat Bucharest properly.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Roosters roasted and chili budgies
So we're off and the hunt for the SuperLig championship started in style today with lots of games and excellent quality streaming feed from Dodgyturk.
First off Galatasary, defending champions, were at home to the roosters of Denizli. Game got off to a good start with CimBom bossing things without really creating very much. Then in crept Harry Kewell to knock home his first SuperLig goal with ease. That should have been the start of domination from Galatasary but oddly it seemed to encourage Denizli who started to attack and finally scored a somewhat dodgy goal, still not sure if the goal scorer was onside. The second half started with CimBom looking rather flat, creating no real chances and then Denizli decided to make it easy for us by getting a man sent off and having to play the last 40 minutes with only 10 men. But GS did not make the keeper work for a long time, the ball retention was good but the final ball seemed lacking and no-one wanted to have a go except from long range.
Anyway finally we got the goals with Hakan, Baris and Lincoln knocking in 3 more goals to seal a 4-1 win and ensure we start the season top of the league.
Of the new signings Meira had a solid game at centre back with Servet and seems like a good replacement for Song. Kewell did his usula by drifting in and out of the game with some excellent play and then disappearing for 10 minutes at a time, still at least he did not get injured.
Meanwhile over in Antep budgies were getting made into chili kebabs......
First off Galatasary, defending champions, were at home to the roosters of Denizli. Game got off to a good start with CimBom bossing things without really creating very much. Then in crept Harry Kewell to knock home his first SuperLig goal with ease. That should have been the start of domination from Galatasary but oddly it seemed to encourage Denizli who started to attack and finally scored a somewhat dodgy goal, still not sure if the goal scorer was onside. The second half started with CimBom looking rather flat, creating no real chances and then Denizli decided to make it easy for us by getting a man sent off and having to play the last 40 minutes with only 10 men. But GS did not make the keeper work for a long time, the ball retention was good but the final ball seemed lacking and no-one wanted to have a go except from long range.
Anyway finally we got the goals with Hakan, Baris and Lincoln knocking in 3 more goals to seal a 4-1 win and ensure we start the season top of the league.
Of the new signings Meira had a solid game at centre back with Servet and seems like a good replacement for Song. Kewell did his usula by drifting in and out of the game with some excellent play and then disappearing for 10 minutes at a time, still at least he did not get injured.
Meanwhile over in Antep budgies were getting made into chili kebabs......
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Silverware
It may only be the Turkish Super Cup but at least Galatasaray started the season with a victory over the powerhouse of Kayserispor.
Nonda made it 3 in 2 games and Kewell scored on what I think was hos competitive debut, so all in all not too bad. Lets hope this is where the team kicks off from especially with the Chimps League return game coming up.
Obvioulsy its going to be hard to win the 18th League title bnut here in NJ both the supported teams are aiming for that, Man Utd as well as CimBom are aimining for no. 18 in case you wondered.
Meanwhile the stadium and team rebuilding goes on so by next season not only will we have the best team but also by far the best stadium in Turkey, no Migros in the stands for CimBom for example.....
Nonda made it 3 in 2 games and Kewell scored on what I think was hos competitive debut, so all in all not too bad. Lets hope this is where the team kicks off from especially with the Chimps League return game coming up.
Obvioulsy its going to be hard to win the 18th League title bnut here in NJ both the supported teams are aiming for that, Man Utd as well as CimBom are aimining for no. 18 in case you wondered.
Meanwhile the stadium and team rebuilding goes on so by next season not only will we have the best team but also by far the best stadium in Turkey, no Migros in the stands for CimBom for example.....
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Not the best start
So I finally found some time to make a post.
New manager, some new players but no different result in the Chimps League. I mean Steau Bucharest were a good team but have not been for a long time and Galatasaray should really have done better than the 2-2 draw. Having said that we could have won the game with the 2nd half performance its just that the first half was poor. I could only watch the game on delay as I could not find it live anywhere!
As for the new players its a bit difficult to say anything about them after just one meaningful game. Anyway lets hope the team play like the second half next week to make sure we are in the group stages of the ChimpsLeague, if not the campaign is not off to a very good start!
New manager, some new players but no different result in the Chimps League. I mean Steau Bucharest were a good team but have not been for a long time and Galatasaray should really have done better than the 2-2 draw. Having said that we could have won the game with the 2nd half performance its just that the first half was poor. I could only watch the game on delay as I could not find it live anywhere!
As for the new players its a bit difficult to say anything about them after just one meaningful game. Anyway lets hope the team play like the second half next week to make sure we are in the group stages of the ChimpsLeague, if not the campaign is not off to a very good start!
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