So after becoming UEFA's team of the month and having not lost a game and hardly conceded a goal CimBom's run ended thanks to a rather bizarre goal conceded against Eskisehirspor.
This was probably Galatasaray's worst performance so far this season. Even though the game was mostly played in Eskisehirpsors half of the pitch there were not that many real clear cut goal scoring opportunities unless you ignore the 3 gold plated ones that Keita managed to waste. He really should have had a hat-trick before half time and those misses came back to result in 2 points wasted after one of the 2 chances they had resulted in a massive deflection and a goal. Thats football I guess but really we should have been out of sight by halftime. I have a feeling Rijkaard will be reminding the players that they have to play for all of the 90 minutes and that 1-0 is not a good scoreline. So now the Kadikoy mob who have playing dismal football are somehow top of the League with amazingly a 100% record.
Having said that CimBom never appeared to be in danger of losing this game as Eskisehirspor hardly threatened and the GS defence even without Emre Asik and Zan is looking solid with Ugur an able deputy to Hakan Balta who has been playing central defence the last couple of games.
Next up on Thursday are Sturm Graz in the Europa League at Ali Sami Yen and I really hope we get a better result than last time we played them. I would expect to see Elano and Baros starting this one as well as Ayhan who was on the bench for Sundays match in place of Nonda and Mehmet Topal and maybe Sarp. But lets see.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
6 more goals
So after the expected win over Besiktas last weekend it was a short hop over to Athens to put the Greeks firmly in their place with a 3-1 win over Panathinaikos in the first match of the Europa League group stage. Elano with 2 and Baros with the other, the only blemish on an otherwise excellent display was the goal conceded.
Then it was back to reality on Monday night with the short trip to Kasimpasa. By the way what is it with all of these Monday night matches? They used to be a very rare occurrence but now seem to happen every week, what happened to Friday night, Saturday and Sunday evening, those are the correct times for football not Monday. Anyway as I was saying reality hit rapidly with the poorest performance of the season rescued by Nonda with three goals in about 20 mins in the second half.
Although its the reality of modern day football with all the matches to be played but the constant changing of the team hardly helps the continuity needed to be consistently good. Still it was three more points, even if I had no nails left after the game and a potentially tricky match out of the way. Next up is Eskisehirspor who have re-established themselves in the Super Lig and a team who embarrassed CimBom last season so lets hope we give a better performance this year.
Then it was back to reality on Monday night with the short trip to Kasimpasa. By the way what is it with all of these Monday night matches? They used to be a very rare occurrence but now seem to happen every week, what happened to Friday night, Saturday and Sunday evening, those are the correct times for football not Monday. Anyway as I was saying reality hit rapidly with the poorest performance of the season rescued by Nonda with three goals in about 20 mins in the second half.
Although its the reality of modern day football with all the matches to be played but the constant changing of the team hardly helps the continuity needed to be consistently good. Still it was three more points, even if I had no nails left after the game and a potentially tricky match out of the way. Next up is Eskisehirspor who have re-established themselves in the Super Lig and a team who embarrassed CimBom last season so lets hope we give a better performance this year.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Lions eat eagles
Well well well.
Last season must have been a vintage year for overachievers as the champions were comprehensively outplayed with a score line that could have been worse. Also Sivas were beaten 3-1 by Manisa leaving Sivas with no points after 4 matches.
Anyway back to the matter in hand. The team was pretty much as expected with Baros as a single striker supported by Kewell, Keita and Arda with Mustafa Sarp and Mehmet Topal as the defensive midfield.
Mustafa Sarp is looking like an extremely good buy as he ghosted in at the rear post in the 4th minute to head Ardas corner in unmarked. Following that were two goals by Baros as the goal king started to fire. Kewell should have had 2 goals as well but somehow failed to convert two excellent chances.
Overall an excellent performance that underlines just where the power has swung in the SuperLig, played 5 won 5 and it looks like a straight fight between GS and Brazilbahce this season, of course things can change but the way Rijkaard has got the team playing it is looking good. Having Elano on the bench was a bonus although when he came on it seemed like the team balance was changed somewhat and it took a later adjustment to balance things up when Baris came on to be the ball winner.
Last season must have been a vintage year for overachievers as the champions were comprehensively outplayed with a score line that could have been worse. Also Sivas were beaten 3-1 by Manisa leaving Sivas with no points after 4 matches.
Anyway back to the matter in hand. The team was pretty much as expected with Baros as a single striker supported by Kewell, Keita and Arda with Mustafa Sarp and Mehmet Topal as the defensive midfield.
Mustafa Sarp is looking like an extremely good buy as he ghosted in at the rear post in the 4th minute to head Ardas corner in unmarked. Following that were two goals by Baros as the goal king started to fire. Kewell should have had 2 goals as well but somehow failed to convert two excellent chances.
Overall an excellent performance that underlines just where the power has swung in the SuperLig, played 5 won 5 and it looks like a straight fight between GS and Brazilbahce this season, of course things can change but the way Rijkaard has got the team playing it is looking good. Having Elano on the bench was a bonus although when he came on it seemed like the team balance was changed somewhat and it took a later adjustment to balance things up when Baris came on to be the ball winner.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Walk in the Park
Monday night in Ankara, must be 3 points and it was. A routine victory over a somewhat limited Ankaraspor, looks like the rumors swirling over at the Round Ball in Ankara may have an element of truth in them, dismember the team, get relegated and disappear. I mean last season there were 4 teams from Ankara in the SuperLig and looks like this will be reduced to 2 at the end of this season whihc is probably about the right number.
So two goals in the second half from Kewell and Nonda took GS back to the top of SuperLig after the Kadikoy mob had briefly held that position thanks to some rather inconsistent refereeing. Having stoped Manisa because one of their forwards was offside even though the ball was not played to him, 2 minutes later the same happened at the other end with the offside player eventually scoring but where was the whistle??? Of course not...
We added another player to the roster yesterday, Caner Erkin who had been playing at CSKA Moscow. He is a left winger so is Arda on the way out?
Next up is Besiktas in the first Istanbul derby of the season. On from this should be a straight forward win for CimBom but form in derbies tends to go out of the window and last season GS were very bad against their main rivals. I have a feeling it may be different this season as BJK will also have one eye on their upcoming Champions League elimination...
So two goals in the second half from Kewell and Nonda took GS back to the top of SuperLig after the Kadikoy mob had briefly held that position thanks to some rather inconsistent refereeing. Having stoped Manisa because one of their forwards was offside even though the ball was not played to him, 2 minutes later the same happened at the other end with the offside player eventually scoring but where was the whistle??? Of course not...
We added another player to the roster yesterday, Caner Erkin who had been playing at CSKA Moscow. He is a left winger so is Arda on the way out?
Next up is Besiktas in the first Istanbul derby of the season. On from this should be a straight forward win for CimBom but form in derbies tends to go out of the window and last season GS were very bad against their main rivals. I have a feeling it may be different this season as BJK will also have one eye on their upcoming Champions League elimination...
Friday, August 28, 2009
Europa League
CimBom cruised into the Group Stages of the Europa League with a 1-1 tie with Tallinn giving a 6-1 overall victory.
Today the draw was made for the group stae and we have been drawn with Panathinaikos, Sturm Graz and Dinamo Bucharest.
Those are three clubs with European form.
Dinamo have reached the European and Cup Winners Cup semi finals in the 1980's and during 2006/7 beat Besiktas, admittedly not that difficult, en route to the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup. Like a lot of Eastern European Clubs the sweeping away of communist regimes led to problems in the 90's as the financing of the clubs was severely affected but this is a team we should not take lightly.
Panathinaikos founded in 1908 just 3 years after GS is like the FB of Greece, that is the number 2 team in Greece. A good solid team in Europe they are managed by Henk Ten Cate and the forward line is led by Djbril Cisse. The game with these guys will likley be long on emotion and short on quality but interesting none the less.
Sturm Graz are an Austrian team founded in 1909. We have come across them before in the 2000 Champions League Group stages with a 3-0 loss in Austria and a 2-2 in Istanbul they are not fondly remembered.
So all in all an interesting group but with the the current squad and Rijkaard in charge I am cautiously optimistic we will get through. At least this season the competition has home and away matches rather than last season when it was single match against each team.
Next up in the SuperLig is Ankaraspor away on Monday. Given the turmoil in the Ankara clubs this season I would expect a win but teams always raise their game against CimBom so nothing should be taken for granted.
Today the draw was made for the group stae and we have been drawn with Panathinaikos, Sturm Graz and Dinamo Bucharest.
Those are three clubs with European form.
Dinamo have reached the European and Cup Winners Cup semi finals in the 1980's and during 2006/7 beat Besiktas, admittedly not that difficult, en route to the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup. Like a lot of Eastern European Clubs the sweeping away of communist regimes led to problems in the 90's as the financing of the clubs was severely affected but this is a team we should not take lightly.
Panathinaikos founded in 1908 just 3 years after GS is like the FB of Greece, that is the number 2 team in Greece. A good solid team in Europe they are managed by Henk Ten Cate and the forward line is led by Djbril Cisse. The game with these guys will likley be long on emotion and short on quality but interesting none the less.
Sturm Graz are an Austrian team founded in 1909. We have come across them before in the 2000 Champions League Group stages with a 3-0 loss in Austria and a 2-2 in Istanbul they are not fondly remembered.
So all in all an interesting group but with the the current squad and Rijkaard in charge I am cautiously optimistic we will get through. At least this season the competition has home and away matches rather than last season when it was single match against each team.
Next up in the SuperLig is Ankaraspor away on Monday. Given the turmoil in the Ankara clubs this season I would expect a win but teams always raise their game against CimBom so nothing should be taken for granted.
Monday, August 24, 2009
One horse race?
Three matches into the season and three wins with 11 goals scored and 4 conceded. Not a bad start really. In fact this season could well be a one horse race. Trabzon and Besiktas appear to have hangovers from last seasons modest success and the wheels have fallen off the Sivas wagon. Trabzon's loss to Toulouse at home in the Europa League was simply a shambles.
Anyway Sunday saw a competent display by the Lions who swatted Kayseri aside 4-1, and no Harry Kewell either. An instant hero was made on Sunday with Elano's superb strike for the third goal, what a finish that was, top corner volley, superb. Baros got off gthe mark as well with a couple of strikes so the goal king is back in the hunt. Kayseri did an awful lot of complaining to the referee during the match when in reality they should be extremely thankful he did not as a minimum send Cangele off for repeated poor fouls. Most of their complaints were irrelevant although they had a valid complaint about the corner for the second goal, it did come of Baros and not the defender but hey these things even themselves up during the season!
So the team and squad is coming together nicely, the defence seems to be picking itself although it will be interesting to see if Rijkaard rotates the defence again like last week, even if he does it seems like he actually has a plan to manage the health and fitness of the players. Another midweek match is on the horizon in the return match in Talinn, so that's a lot of matches already this season!
One horse race, maybe, lets see after todays matches.
Anyway Sunday saw a competent display by the Lions who swatted Kayseri aside 4-1, and no Harry Kewell either. An instant hero was made on Sunday with Elano's superb strike for the third goal, what a finish that was, top corner volley, superb. Baros got off gthe mark as well with a couple of strikes so the goal king is back in the hunt. Kayseri did an awful lot of complaining to the referee during the match when in reality they should be extremely thankful he did not as a minimum send Cangele off for repeated poor fouls. Most of their complaints were irrelevant although they had a valid complaint about the corner for the second goal, it did come of Baros and not the defender but hey these things even themselves up during the season!
So the team and squad is coming together nicely, the defence seems to be picking itself although it will be interesting to see if Rijkaard rotates the defence again like last week, even if he does it seems like he actually has a plan to manage the health and fitness of the players. Another midweek match is on the horizon in the return match in Talinn, so that's a lot of matches already this season!
One horse race, maybe, lets see after todays matches.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Roosters roasted
Somehow I feel a little bit sorry for Denizli. Your first two matches are against Brazilbahce and then Galatasaray and you lose both on aggregate 6-1. Oh well things can only improve for them!
Intertesting selections from Rikjaard on Saturday with three of the four defence changed compared to the opening match. First match it was Hakan Balta, Servet, Gokhan and Sabri. Against Denizli it was Ugur, Emre, Emre and Volkan Yaman who was replaced by Hakan Balta after 60 mins. The first 40 minutes they were somewhat of a shambles and gave Denizli some hope that they may come away with a point or points. The Denizli goal was due to a complete misunderstanding between Emre G, Ugur and Franco who both stood and watched as the Denizli player nodded the ball home. Obviously Rijkaard is still trying to work out the best defensive partnership but I would have though that it would be obvious, it would be the group from the first match with the others able to rotate in and out due to injury, suspension etc.
Midfield and attack looks relatively straightforward with Arda, Kewell, Ayhan, Keita and maybe Baris and or Elano with Baros operating as a one striker and Arda and Kewell being the overlapping wide men. Keita looks a good buy and I am sure when Elano gets fit he will prove to be a good signing.
Anyway after the shock of Denizli scoring first once the defender had tried to hide his handball and the referee had awarded a penalty the result was never really in doubt although I have to say that Kewell's first penalty was poor and he was lucky the keeper dived over it.
As for Baros well he had no luck again and its a bit strange that we have scored 7 goals in the Superlig and last years goal king has yet to score!
Intertesting selections from Rikjaard on Saturday with three of the four defence changed compared to the opening match. First match it was Hakan Balta, Servet, Gokhan and Sabri. Against Denizli it was Ugur, Emre, Emre and Volkan Yaman who was replaced by Hakan Balta after 60 mins. The first 40 minutes they were somewhat of a shambles and gave Denizli some hope that they may come away with a point or points. The Denizli goal was due to a complete misunderstanding between Emre G, Ugur and Franco who both stood and watched as the Denizli player nodded the ball home. Obviously Rijkaard is still trying to work out the best defensive partnership but I would have though that it would be obvious, it would be the group from the first match with the others able to rotate in and out due to injury, suspension etc.
Midfield and attack looks relatively straightforward with Arda, Kewell, Ayhan, Keita and maybe Baris and or Elano with Baros operating as a one striker and Arda and Kewell being the overlapping wide men. Keita looks a good buy and I am sure when Elano gets fit he will prove to be a good signing.
Anyway after the shock of Denizli scoring first once the defender had tried to hide his handball and the referee had awarded a penalty the result was never really in doubt although I have to say that Kewell's first penalty was poor and he was lucky the keeper dived over it.
As for Baros well he had no luck again and its a bit strange that we have scored 7 goals in the Superlig and last years goal king has yet to score!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Comfortable Start
So after 4 matches in the Europa League which saw CimBom travel to Kazakhstan and Israel and progress comfortably to the next round where we have to travel to Estonia I think it was back to the real action in the SuperLig with an away match in Gaziantep.
The result, a comfortable 3-2 win. Of note during the match was Keita swallowing his tongue after a bad fall and some good performances from Sarp, Keita and our new goalkeeper Leo Franco. Arda started off well but did his usual disappearing act except later in the game when he became visible again as he argued with the referees! Despite being a great talenet he needs to learn how to control his emotion on the pitch as the yellow cards he picks up for stupidity outweigh his contribution.
Otherwise an average start, no real standouts and no real failures.
I feel a bit sorry for Linderoth though, he has hardly played and looks like he is out for another long spell after a knee ligament operation, that is one player who has had terrible luck with injuries, wonder whether we will see him in the yellow and red again.
Looking forward to seeing Elano get a start, obvioulsy not fully match fit but I have a feeling he could ba a very good signining for GS to replace Lincoln who at times looked like he could not be bothered last season.
So summer is over and soccer is back, this seaosn I am cautiously optimistic about Galatasarays prospects with Rijkaard in charge, just hope he remembers that there are more than just the Istanbul teams in the Lig.
The result, a comfortable 3-2 win. Of note during the match was Keita swallowing his tongue after a bad fall and some good performances from Sarp, Keita and our new goalkeeper Leo Franco. Arda started off well but did his usual disappearing act except later in the game when he became visible again as he argued with the referees! Despite being a great talenet he needs to learn how to control his emotion on the pitch as the yellow cards he picks up for stupidity outweigh his contribution.
Otherwise an average start, no real standouts and no real failures.
I feel a bit sorry for Linderoth though, he has hardly played and looks like he is out for another long spell after a knee ligament operation, that is one player who has had terrible luck with injuries, wonder whether we will see him in the yellow and red again.
Looking forward to seeing Elano get a start, obvioulsy not fully match fit but I have a feeling he could ba a very good signining for GS to replace Lincoln who at times looked like he could not be bothered last season.
So summer is over and soccer is back, this seaosn I am cautiously optimistic about Galatasarays prospects with Rijkaard in charge, just hope he remembers that there are more than just the Istanbul teams in the Lig.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Season starts with a win
So Galatasaray managed to beat the might of FC Tobol over the two legs of he Europa Cup 2nd qualifying round. Not very easily but the home match was never really a problem and CimBom ended up with a routine 2-0 win with none of the new players appearing.
Next up is Macabi Natanya or somene from Israel.
No real view of the new players yet so not much to report.
Vacation time is over hence the sudden retunr to posting and now the pre-season taining starts as the Super Lig is back in action on August 9th.
Next up is Macabi Natanya or somene from Israel.
No real view of the new players yet so not much to report.
Vacation time is over hence the sudden retunr to posting and now the pre-season taining starts as the Super Lig is back in action on August 9th.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
New faces and the season starts already!!!!
With a new coaching team in place the transfers are starting to dribble in. Mustafa Sarp has been recruited from Bursaspor presumably as cover/option for Ayhan who looked knackered at the end of last season as he had to run the entire midfield by himslef as Arda looked moody on the touchline.
Gokhan Zan has been snapped up on a free from Besiktas. Not a huge fan but would be a good replacement or partner for Servet depending on whether Servet heads to France or not.
Lots of rumours as usual and lots of the fringe players coming and going but nothing else major on the horizon.
The squad is already back in training as the season starts already on July 16th with the 3rd Qualifiying round match for the Ueropa League against Tobol from Kazakhstan and the second leg on July 23rd. Lets hope Rijkaard does his research as these kind of teams are a banana skin waiting to happen sop early into the season.
Gokhan Zan has been snapped up on a free from Besiktas. Not a huge fan but would be a good replacement or partner for Servet depending on whether Servet heads to France or not.
Lots of rumours as usual and lots of the fringe players coming and going but nothing else major on the horizon.
The squad is already back in training as the season starts already on July 16th with the 3rd Qualifiying round match for the Ueropa League against Tobol from Kazakhstan and the second leg on July 23rd. Lets hope Rijkaard does his research as these kind of teams are a banana skin waiting to happen sop early into the season.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Rudi Voeller should duck.....
Rijkaard takes Galatasaray post
 Rijkaard is set for a new challenge in a new country |
Frank Rijkaard has been appointed technical director of Turkish side Galatasaray, replacing Bulent Korkmaz.
The 46-year-old had been out of football since leaving his post as Barcelona coach at the end of the 2007/2008 season.
Rijkaard, a former Dutch international, took over at Barcelona in 2003 and won La Liga in 2005 and 2006, as well as the Champions League in 2006.
He also had a two-year spell as Holland coach from 1998-2000.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Anyone need a job?
So the worst kept secret in Turkish football happened today. Bulent Korkmaz resigned as head coach of GS despite being just 4 months or so into a 2.5 year contract.
Lets just hope that whoever the Board picks next stays around a bit longer tahn the last three coaches.
Lets just hope that whoever the Board picks next stays around a bit longer tahn the last three coaches.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Galatasaray in Europe
I was wrong CimBom will be representing Turkey in the new Europa League next season. Having finished fifth we will have to start in the Second Qualifying round playing one of the following teams.
Personally I think it will be hilarious if we draw Crusaders.......you can just imagine the headlines.....
"Crusaders invading Istanbul.......again"
Bring it on....
Personally I think it will be hilarious if we draw Crusaders.......you can just imagine the headlines.....
"Crusaders invading Istanbul.......again"
Bring it on....
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