thanks to internet connection problems, changing internet lines etc. etc. and a general air of "meh", i didn't get around to reporting on last week's 1-1 away draw against elazigspor. don't worry though because this week's commentary could easily deal with both matches.
genclerbirligi 2 - 2 gaziantepspor
the weather is fantastic in ankara. it is lovely and warm and bright and all things nice. an early sunday afternoon in the sun at the beer bus... what more can you want from life?
yes, what you need is flying dutchman kanka carlo, the oxford dictionary definition of a fair weather fan.
and there he was, carlo in all of his beardy wonderfulness. good ole' @spinesideburn joined us and despite the fact that it was barely sunday we got a few beers in.
at the stadium and the general ineptness that is the genclerbirligi organisation (and quite frankly football organisation in turkey generally) meant that we didn't get in before the kick-off.
not the best seats in the world but it didn't take long before we were up and screaming in delight.
hursut took a freekick on the far side (all television coverage may be from the protocol side but for me, true football is from the maraton perspective!!!). it was perfectly weighted and jimmy came through, headed, and in...... goal.
one-nil up after only six minutes or so.
it was a load of shite after that.
this is where the replay from last week kicks in. we go one up and then we do.... nothing! we were still in total control but yet our players couldn't be bothered to do anything. for ages this was the most annoying football ever. bloody well run you lazy buggers! 1-0 is never going to be enough.
half time and i wasn't feeling confident. we can take the lead but we have no idea of what to do afterwards. we were still dominating possession but we were so bloody slow. no one was coming forward at any speed. it was absolute crap and fuat capa really needs to take a long look in the mirror.
no surprise then when antep got an equaliser. 1-1.
magically genclerbirligi then started playing some proper football. why couldn't they have played like this after our first goal!
so we get the lead back after azo had a shot, saved by the keeper, but then the scraps were cleaned up by bjorn. 2-1.
and then gencler went back to bloody sitting on their collective arse like some demented, but delighted, clown... or something.... i can't think properly i've had a few drinks. but the difference is that i'm trying to think up something, and that is ten times more than what gencler were doing today!
this was truly embarrassing for us fans as it was as it was obvious antep were going to come back... not through much skill of their own but due to our absolute refusal to put the game beyond doubt.
and... er... they got it. 2-2
oh look! genclerbirligi started playing again. with 15 minutes left on the clock we started attacking again. our midfielders started moving forward a bit. we had chances. admittedly there was, for some unknown reason, a reluctance to send the ball right to serkan, but the fact was that we were attacking. we were looking good! didn't make it in the end but the following questions must be asked:
why the fuck weren't we doing this after our first goal?
why the fuck weren't we doing this after our second goal?
