From being bad to good..........
Galatasaray and Fatih Terim's boys, earned that, at the end of the Turkish Super League 2011-2012 season first half of the season!
"Third time charm" really working for Fatih Terim, this time, so far....
If you remember after very successful first time with Galatasaray, his second coming was a bust, at Galatasaray!
But, mature Fatih Terim, with the help of bunch of good players are without doubt, are the best team in Turkey, at the end of the first half....
As of matter fact, first time in 10 years ,Galatasaray finished on top at the end of first half!
Galatasaray team finished the 2011, on top with 37 points in Turkey....
On the other hand, the team who has been talked about, off the pitch, with Turkish match-fixing scandal, Fenerbahce, finished first half, in second place with 35 points only two points behind Galatasaray, after not winning their last match in Antalya...
The delayed of starting league, which caused to have very busy fixture in the league was another huge reason why the league is congested this season!
That is why the winter brake in the league won't be one month long!
The second half of the season will start on January 3,2012.....
The teams and players are getting only five days with their families this time!
But, focused Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim said he will not take time of and he said he will still be at Galatasaray's "FULYA" headquarters and work during the brake,,,,,,,
The third place finisher Besiktas made a big stride and captured the third place at the very end of the first half of the season...
Perhaps,Besiktas could be the another best team,in the first half,while they finished third in Turkey, Besiktas finished on top in their group in the Europa League, ahead of Stoke city after they beat Stoke in Istanbul...
Besiktas with care taker coach Carlos Carvalhal,has done well, despite the criticizes by Turkish media!
On the other hand, the team who beat Inter twice in the Champions League, this year, Trabzonspor is doing very poorly in the Turkish Super League!
After finishing second in the last season, they are in eighth place with 24 points and 13 points behind Galatasaray at the half!
It will be very hard for them to make it on top four, for the play off at the end of the regular season, if they don't shape up..
There last match against Orduspor at home, was morale boost for them!
Not only they won it with big score their top score and top scorer in the Turkish Super League Burak Yilmaz had hat trick and one of their player better player Halil Altiontop scored too!
Halil Altintop should play in that position by Senol Gunes, all the time....
First time in a long time I saw Halil Altintop played in that position!
I hope Senol Gunes saw that after Orduspor match,,,,,,,
Any way, after playing weekdays and weekends, the 17 rounds of football,ended this past Thursday..
The second half of the season will start soon and the matches will be played in snow, rain and cold!
Plus, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor will lose their African players to African cup matches in January!
Galatasaray will have a problems when Emmanuel Eboue leaves for African cup!
If Sabri Sarioglu does not get better,Fatih Terim might have a problem on the right side....
On the other hand Trabzonspor and Fenerbahce will miss their important players too...
For Fenerbahce defender Joseph Yobo and Issiar Dia ,striker Henri Bienvenu , for Trabzonspor Didier Zokora will be missed...
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Finally, around the league news,,,,,,,,
* German coach Skibbe left Eskisehir and Ersun Yanal took over the job just yesterday ....
On the other hand, Ankaragucu hired Hakan Kutlu as their new coach and Orduspor went all out and got world famous coach Hector Cuper....
One of the best coaches in Turkey who has not coached in over a year, Miusfa Denizli surprised everyone including his current place of work LIG TV, and took the coaching job in Iran!
Mustafa Denizli will be coaching Persepolis team in Iran for the second time...
My biggest question is why Mustafa Denizli, decide to go Iran to coach!
I know Eskisehir team offered him a job and I know other clubs did too...
I just got a bad feeling, even Denizli, was fed up with all the negative things were happening in the Turkish football!
Mustafa Denizli at the press conference in Iran said "I believe this team can succeed more. I am so happy to be here with these people. My economic condition in Turkey was better,but Persepolis supporters’ wishes for me were more important. I am offered the same money as I was taking from my TV program in Turkey "
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MY "DARK HORSE" OF THE FIRST HALF...ESKISEHIRSPOR AND GENCLERBIRLIGI
MY "BIGGEST FLOP TEAMS" OF THE FIRST HALF.....BURSASPOR....KARABUKSPOR,,,,GAZIANTEPSPOR....
MY "BEST TEAM" OF THE FIRST HALF,,,,,,,,,GALATASARAY AND BESIKTAS.....
MY "BEST COACH" OF THE FIRST HALF........FATIH TERIM
Now, for all the teams on top, goal is to finish in first four for the play offs!
And who will be the fourth team to join Istanbul big three ?
Or, Could big three finish in top three at the end of the regular season?
And most important one, what will happened to the team who is under match-fixing scandal?
Will the number 56 by law will be changed by Turkish football FA ?
Those are the biggest questions, that we don't have the answers yet!
We shall see......
Follow me on Twitter...@Turkishsoccer
STANDINGS AT THE HALF ......
1 Galatasaray 17 11 4 2 27-11 37
2 Fenerbahce 17 10 5 2 24-14 35
3 Besiktas 17 9 5 3 25-17 32
4 Eskisehirspor 17 9 3 5 19-15 30
5 Genclerbirligi 17 8 4 5 25-20 28
6 Mersin 17 7 6 4 20-16 27
7 Kayserispor 17 8 1 8 21-17 25
8 Trabzonspor 17 6 6 5 24-21 24
9 Buyuksehir 17 6 6 5 21-20 24
10 Manisaspor 17 6 6 5 16-16 24
11 Sivasspor 17 6 6 5 26-29 24
12 Antalyaspor 17 5 6 6 13-16 21
13 Bursaspor 17 4 7 6 18-18 19
14 Orduspor 17 4 5 8 14-21 17
15 Gaziantepspor 17 3 7 7 14-18 16
16 Karabukspor 17 3 3 11 18-27 12
17 Samsunspor 17 2 6 9 12-22 12
18 Ankaragucu 17 1 4 12 15-34 7
WEEK 17, RESULTS....
21 Dec 2011
FT Antalyaspor 0 : 0 Fenerbahce
FT Galatasaray 1 : 0 Manisaspor
FT Kayserispor 3 : 0 Ankaragucu
FT Mersin 0 : 0 Eskisehirspor
FT Sivasspor 3 : 2 Samsunspor
22 Dec 2011
FT Besiktas 1 : 0 Karabukspor
FT Gaziantepspor 2 : 2 Bursaspor
FT Genclerbirligi 4 : 0 Buyuksehir
FT Trabzonspor 4 : 1 Orduspo
