Tuncay Sanli's Boro arrival brings Turkish delight

TUNCAY SANLI joined in his first training session with his new Middlesbrough team-mates in Austria yesterday, with manager Gareth Southgate shocked by the crowds in attendance to witness it.

Tuncay flew straight to Boro's training camp in Austria from his Turkish homeland on Tuesday, rather than travel from Teesside with the rest of the squad.

And, after scoring an excellent goal in front of his new colleagues in Bad Waltersdorf, the 25-year-old has spoken of the welcome he was given from the Middlesbrough players on his first official day.

"I want to be successful in Middlesbrough and I am sure I will be," said Tuncay, whose first session also resulted in him receiving a booking from assistant manager Malcolm Crosby.

"My new team-mates are great, they have all played a part in helping me settle in quickly. They have helped me even though I have a little bit of a problem with the language. The language of football is common throughout the whole of the squad. That helps."

Around 20 journalists were in Austria to witness Tuncay's first training session, with Southgate claiming it was akin to the day when Paul Gascoigne signed for Middlesbrough.

And on Saturday, when Boro play their first pre-season game against Schalke, there is expected to be a decent crowd at Bad Radkersburg.

Some fans from Teesside have made the trip to Austria, but there will be a heavy presence of Turks at the match.

Both Fenerbahce, the club Tuncay left on a free, and Besiktas are in Austria and supporters of both clubs are expected to make the trip to see their country's golden boy make his bow in a Boro shirt.

It is beyond pre-season that the striker is looking to, however. He is targeting more important European games with Middlesbrough in the future.

"When I first started training yesterday I was very excited but I am a professional player and I soon got used to it," said Tuncay.

"I am very happy and I wanted to come to this club so I'm really looking forward to the challenge.

"My aim was to play in Europe one day and I have done that in previous seasons. It is also very important for me to play in the Premier League, that too is going to happen. But I want to get Middlesbrough back into Europe."

Tuncay trained with Ayegbeni Yakubu yesterday, although they may not start the new season alongside one another, with Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp set to make another effort to land the multi-million pound striker.

Redknapp is hoping to land a forward, currently based in Spain, for less than Boro want for Yakubu, but he is likely to return for the Nigerian if he fails to land his man.

Redknapp has confirmed he is still looking to add one more striker to his ranks before the start of the season on August 11, despite concluding a deal for Preston's David Nugent.

Nugent, after taking too long to accept an offer to sign for Sunderland, completed a £6m switch from North End yesterday after passing a medical at Fratton Park.

Middlesbrough want £12m for Yakubu after being rebuffed in their attempts to secure Pompey midfielder Gary O'Neil as part of the deal, but could be willing to accept less.

Portsmouth face competition from Manchester City, where Sven Goran Eriksson views Yakubu as the ideal strike partner for Rolando Bianchi, on the verge of a move from Reggina.

If Yakubu does depart, Southgate will hope to have made inroads towards his replacement, having already been told that Alan Smith is reluctant to move to the Riverside.

Former Inter Milan striker Mohamed Kallon, 27, claims he is within Middlesbrough's radar, although Derby, Fulham and Wigan are all weighing up a £1.5m swoop for a player once suspended for six months after testing positive for the banned steroid nondrolone.

Source:wires

APPIAH IS MAD!..

According to British media , Appiah is angry! Fenerbahce's Ghana international midfielder Stephen Appiah claims,, Fenerbahce have wrecked his chances of a move to West Ham this summer.He told The Sun: "I am very angry about stories saying I want to stay at Fenerbahce indefinitely.
"West Ham have expressed strong interest in me and I think Fenerbahce will have to listen to their offer. It is my ambition to play in the Premier League.

Appiah demands West Ham talks

Ghana captain Stephen Appiah has asked his club Fenerbahce to talk to West Ham over a possible move to the English Premiership.

The Turkish champions are reluctant to release the midfielder, having turned down several offers for the 26-year-old.

With the imminent departure of Yossi Benayoun to Liverpool, West Ham are keen on using the money earned from the sale of Nigel Reo-Coker to enter the chase for the Ghana captain.

Appiah is reported to be frustrated at efforts being made to keep him at Fenerbahce and his absence on the first day of the team's training camp in Austria has prompted fears of a protest from the midfielder.

Appiah said: "If West Ham United have expressed strong interest in me and I think Fenerbahce will have to listen to their offer and other offers on the table for me.

"It is public knowledge that I want to move to England in the interest of the education of my kids, who still live in Italy because of their education.

"At the start of last season I turned down several offers from top clubs in Europe just to help Fenerbahce lift the title because of my love for the team and fans.

"Even while I was injured I continued to play to secure the title so they should also take my interest into consideration and listen to the offers.

"It is only fair that having served them with all my heart they should also take my interest into consideration even though I understand I have a contract with this great Turkish club.

"I want my future to be sorted out soon so that I can make my future plans now."

The midfielder could have joined for Scottish side Celtic for US$11m last month, according to the Times but his reported demands for £60,000-a-week were too much for Celtic to stomach.

However, Celtic could bring Appiah back to the negotiating table if Thomas Gravesen is offloaded to English Championship side Sheffield United.

German side Schalke are also reported to have upped their offer to secure Appiah ahead of their participation in the Uefa Champions League.

Valencia and Juventus have also been linked with a summer move for Appiah.
Source:Ghana Football Association

Schock ban for Besiktas's Tello

Besiktas Black Eagles new transfer Rodrigo Tello Chile has been banned after the incidents accured in the Copa America.

Apart from Tello ,five other iternational players have been banned from representing their country for 20 games after an incident at a hotel in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela.

The senior internationals were punished for getting drunk, trashing a hotel room and verbally abusing female staff members at the hotel.

Source:The New Anatolian

ATTENTION TO TURKISH SOCCER TEAMS IN CANADA AND UNITED STATES!......

2007 AUGUST 30, ANNUAL SOCCER TOURNAMENT will be held on Sunday, August 26, 2007 at MANALLAPAN RECREATION CENTER, MANALAPAN,NJ....

read more...

http://www.istanbulspor.net/

VOLKAN TURGUT IN VESTEL MANISA CAMP

HE PLAYED IN FRIENDLY MATCH AGAINST RASIM KARA'S TEAM KARABAG FROM AZERBEYCAN....
Vestel Manisaspor-Karabað: 1-2
Yeni sezon hazýrlýklarýný Kýzýlcahamam’da sürdüren Vestel Manisaspor’umuz ilk hazýrlýk maçýnda Azerbaycan 1.Ligi ekiplerinden Karabað takýmýna 2-1 maðlup oldu. Sahaya genç oyunculardan oluþan bir kadroyla çýkan takýmýmýzýn tek golünü Nizamettin atarken, Karabað’ý gollerini Arslan ve Vakýf kaydetti. Sahaya Egemen, Enes, Serkan Akýn, Ersan, Oðuz, Yunus, Tuncay, Nizamettin, Akif, Yiðit ve Sinan onbiriyle çýkan ekibimiz, özellikle ilk yarýda iyi bir oyun sergiledi. Teknik Direktör Giray Bulak maçýn ikinci yarýsýnda Erman, Hikmet ve Volkan gibi genç oyunculara da forma þansý verdi. Karabað 37.dakikada Arslan’ýn golüyle öne geçti. 44.dakikada Nziamettin’in frikikten attýðý golle skora denge geldi. Maçýn son
dakikalarýnda Vakýf’ýn golü Karabað’a galibiyeti getirdi

SOME LIKE IT SOME DON'T!

TFF has announced the number of foreign players as 6+1.The federation finaly decided!....it will be 6+1 !.....Fenerbahce and their fans don't like it!... Because they have

8 foreign players. They will end up sending one or two players from their roster.

On the other hand Besiktas and Galtasaray still has one player room on their roster.

That's why some like it and some don't like it!....