Breathing space

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

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




So as I said a good weekend.

Robbed, again

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

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

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

Green - my new favorite color

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

Frustrating

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

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

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

Good enough

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

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

Return to the top

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

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

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

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

Level pegging

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

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

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

Poor result

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

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

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

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

Snow business

With the bad news that Kewell will be out for at least 2 months to join Baros on the sidelines, Linderoth leaving the club and the horrible weather in Istanbul it was good to finally have a match to watch.

All in all this was hardly a free flowing easy to watch match but at the end of the day it was three more points gained by CimBom. There is little point making any real comments about individual performances as it was not really the weather or conditions for that today. However Neill had a solid match, with juts a couple of mis-communications during the match, Jo looked okay when he finally came on although he should have done better with his one chance. Nonda again failed to look like the replacement for Baros. After one of the clearest penalties you will ever see his penalty kick was awful and saved easily by the Antep keeper.

Anyway, as I say three points was the important thing here and that was achieved by Sarp with a good run and well taken goal from an Arda free kick.

Choices......

So here we are in the New Year, season start is tomorrow and what am I posting about.......toilets.

I recently started to keep on eye on Vassells world even though he plays in the second city. I must admit that its interesting to hear from a player rather than the endlessly optimistic Kankas...

There was a recent post about hamsi....and also toilets.

So anyway here is a picture of, what is I suppose the ultimate in toilet choice, I believe its taken in a club in Istanbul but whatever....

Stroll in the park

Looks like the CiMBom are taking the Turkish Cup more seriously this year as they recorded a 5-1 win over Denizli BD spor.

So top of the pool with a healthy goal difference and only Ankaragucu to play to finish off with, no worries.

Wizards of Oz

So whilst Genclerbirligi lose their anotpodean influence CimBom add a second Aussie that people have actually heard of. Whilst he is purely in Istanbul for the money irrespective of what he actually says Lucas Neill is a good addition to the squad and is a ball playing defender who will complement Servet or Gokhan Zan.

Progress remains smooth in the Turkish Cup and I am looking forward to the restart of the season.

Transfer Window

Its officially known as the Transfer Window but in reality its more of the silly season when Galatasaray are linked with all kinds of players who they have absolutely no chance of signing. I am not even going to bother with the list of people who have been linked to CimBom as it si about half the players in the world.

Having said that we probably need a central defender and a striker to cover for Baros and the permanently injured Zan and Gungor.....

Apparently we have or are about to sign Ali Turan from Kayseri which should help with the defense but as for a striker who knows, maybe Ruud really is going to arrive but somehow I doubt it and with the rumors about Kewell we definitley need to add someone.

Half time

So, we ended the first half of the season in second place in the SuperLig just one point behind the leaders. The top 4 in the Lig being filled by Kayseri and Bursa probably to most peoples surprise with last years Champions Besiktas down in 5th spot although only 5 points separates the top 5 teams.

The last match of the season was a hard fought win over Genclirbriligi where the team made hard work of a 1-0 victory. Having said that we did have the ball in the net on a number of occasions only for the referee to disallow all but the most obvious goal. Overall the team played well but as I mentioned in my previous post we really need someone to lead the line and cannot rely on Kewell and Arda to keep scoring especially as Mustafa Sarp appears to have forgotten where the goal is at the moment. Lets hope Baros is back in the New Year.

A 2-1 win over Trabzonspor in the Turksih Cup during the week followed and looks like we will be qualifying for the next round in that competition as well.

Catch up

Its been a while but what with the snow here in New Jersey its been a bit like hard work as the end of the Year approaches.

Back in Istanbul after a fantastic start to the season CimBom fell flat on their faces and as usual failed to capitalize in others inadequacies. If the defence could have stayed awake long enough against Manisaspor and as for the dodgy IBB result well really we should and would be top of the Lig. Mind you with the way the deck is stacked in FB's favor this season its still going to take a small miracle to win the Lig.

The Europa League was rather a stroll in the park with the hard work done in the first three matches we could take our foot off the gas and afford to lose in the Terminator's stadium in Austria. Of course that tournament now gets harder as the Chimps League failures drop down into it but still at least the group stage was negotiated without too much drama.

Overall then probably a B+ for the first half of the season and it will be interesting to see whether the club tries to bring in a striker in January as ever since Baros got injured we have struggled to break down teams. Nonda is not the answer.

So this week sees the visit of one of the high flying Ankara teams but even so it should be three points if we play to our strenths and do not get sucked in to the opposition tactic, a habit we sometimes still have despite the abundance of playmakers we have.

Daylight Robbery

Ignore the handball, ignore the foul on Keita in the build up, ignore the offside, ignore the fact that Sarp almost had his shirt ripped off, ignore the free kick count that ikn the last 10 minutes was 10-1 in favor of IBB, ignore the fact taht GS should really have been more than 1-0 ahead, but most of all Huseyn Gocek you are a wanker......

Why cant we have a referee who just for once has obviously not been bought by that fucker Aziz because only the Fucking Budgies are allowed to win anything..

Incompetent, useless, crap does not do justice to the biased, bought referee.

And I know people will say I am upset because we only drew but then you do did not watch the match, I do not know what we have to do to win, obviously Adnan needs to put his hand in his pocket and buy some refs because its obvious we are going to get nothing but shit otherwise.

Turkey day

So today is Thanksgiving that typical all American Day where religion and ethnicity does not come into play, probably the biggest and most important holiday of the year in the You Ess of Eh. Of course any mention that this a tradition that arrivied with the colonists and is almost certainly based on the old English tradition of Goose day is granted with derision but lets face it Thanksgiving started with the so called Pilgrims who were Brits, the term American was not excatly in common useage at that time.

Anyway its the one time of the year when Turkey gets all the headlines, just the wrong Turkey as far as I am concerned.

Four day weekend started today as well, excellent news except it means the Husband will be hanging around the house instead of working but that's a small price to pay.

Oh yes and GS blew the chance to go top with a woeful draw at home to the former washing machine mechanics of Manisa!

France handed place in SA

Thierry Henry cheats, well that's not news but his pathetic attempts to claim innocence, it was ball to hand hardly convince especially when you see the replay, double hand movement!

And as for sblatter and platypus....

In other news the Seyrantepe stadium is back on track, Arda has swine flu and its Manisa at home on Sunday...

Kurdled

Another weekend another three points even though the performance was not very good we will take the three points thank you.

After 11 minutes though I would have settled for a draw as CimBom played very poorly. I tell you at the moment Spurs or Arsenal could have Servet for free the way he is playing! With Sabri and then Arda scoring finally the result went our way although not until Baris got himself sent off for two relatively innocuous tackles. Not sure why Rijkaard did not take him off mid way through second half to avoid that happening, we certainly had enough midfield players on the bench with Linderoth and Elano available.

Reflecting on the TFF's punishment after the crime in Kadikoy I find it hard to understand why its only 2 matches behind closed doors, last seasons GS got 5 matches plus one that had to be played away from Istanbul! I guess throwing bottles into players faces and using lasers is not considered very dangerous. I also read a lot about ppor littel cheat Carlos and the assault on him by Keita, of course Keita should have been red carded but how else are you supposed to get a monkey off your back when its hanging on around your neck. Watch the incident again and tell me why Carlos stayed on the pitch for that rugby tackle made as last man. Oh I forgot it must have been written into the contract with the Aziz stooge in black who took 9 minutes to either count his money or wait for the wire transfer to arrive. Still at least we wont have to watch that slap head for too much longer as he announced he will leave Brazilbahce in January, good riddance I say.

So easy League

2009 Second Round - Second Round Group F
CLUB	GP	W	D	L	Pts	GD
Galatasaray	4	3	1	0	10	8
Panathinaikos	4	3	0	1	9	1
Dinamo Bucuresti	4	1	0	3	3	-6
SK Sturm Graz	4	0	1	3	1	-3

And this is supposed to be a competition? 3-0 away in Bucharest with our old player Tamas playing?

I guess the remaining matches we can roll out the reserves.

Of course it will get harder when the likes of liverpool and barcelona drop out of the chimps league and get added to the Europe League but this is embarrassingly easy.

So long as we beat the greeks, who cares.