CHAOS GOES ON WHILE TURKISH SUPER LEAGUE IS UNDER BIG SCRUTINY

There are all kinds of chaos almost every day ,on Turkish TV's and Turkish News Papers, about Turkish football match-fixing scandal while Turkish Super League is going on.....

Jam packed fixture in the Turkish Super League, is very disturbing too...

There are games almost every day, in the league......

During the last week,the Union of Turkish Clubs met and after the meeting, Antalyaspor president and Union of Clubs Vice President Hasan Akıncıoglu said "federation plans to propose an amendment to Article 58 that would mean a point reduction instead of relegation for match fixers."

After this announcement, Fenerbahce vice president Nihat Ozdemir came out and lashed out Hasan Akincioglu for telling the meeting notes to Media!

And he also said,Fenerbahce does not want to make any changes to Article 58 of the disciplinary code and wants the article as it currently is to be applied in the case of Fenerbahce, which is accused of involvement in match-fixing.

BIG DAY IN TURKISH FOOTBALL... JANUARY 26,2012.....

TFF(TURKISH FOOTBALL FEDERATION) ,will hold a special meeting in Ankara on January 26th,2012!

The subject will be, the penalty for clubs involved in match-fixing activity.

Over 300 members who belong to Turkish Football Parliament in Turkey, will decide the future of Turkish football!

While this is going on, Turkish Super League matches are playing but we don't know what they are playing for?

That is why during last week Galatasaray president Unal Aysal send warning letter to TFF saying they do not want the article 58 to changed and they don't want to see Turkey getting banned by UEFA and FIFA in the European competitions....

So, what we will see after January 26,in the Turkish Football.....

More chaos or bright beginning ?

WE will find out.....

I know one thing, during this meeting there will be a lot of clashes and harsh words in this meeting !


While these things happening, Turkish Super matches taken place, almost everyday!

There are matches almost every day until February 5th,2012.......

Week 22th will take a start on Tuesday and end on Wendsday and and on the weekend, week 23, matches will be played.....

They are playing, but no body knows what will happen tomorrow, while this chaos is going on,in Turkey!

Whether article 58, changes or remains same, the chaos will go on in the Turkish Football!

If they change the Article 58, there will be point reduction before the playoffs start...

That means,the teams involved in this scandal, will lose a lot of points that they have earned!

Looking to Turkish Super League standings, out of the first eight teams, there are only two teams are not mention in this match-fixing scandal!..

First place Galatasaray and fourth place Genclerbirligi........

Fenerbahce, Besiktas,Sivasspor,Trabzonspor,Eskisehirspor and Mersin Idman Yurdu are the teams will find them self, in point reduction, if they agree to change the article 58 on January,26th!

So, that is why, what we see is not real, now!

Turkish Super League teams are playing but they don't know what they are playing for !

With this chaos going on, it is not pleasure to write and watch Turkish football....


STANDINGS.....

1 Galatasaray 21 14 5 2 40-15 47
2 Fenerbahce 21 13 6 2 34-17 45
3 Besiktas 21 12 6 3 32-19 42
4 Genclerbirligi 21 10 5 6 30-24 35
5 Sivasspor 21 9 7 5 35-31 34
6 Trabzonspor 21 9 6 6 33-24 33
7 Eskisehirspor 21 9 5 7 21-20 32
8 Mersin 21 7 6 8 21-22 27
9 Antalyaspor 21 7 6 8 17-19 27
10 Buyuksehir 21 7 6 8 25-29 27
11 Kayserispor 21 8 2 11 22-25 26
12 Bursaspor 21 6 7 8 23-23 25
13 Manisaspor 21 6 7 8 20-23 25
14 Gaziantepspor 21 5 8 8 18-22 23
15 Orduspor 21 5 7 9 16-24 22
16 Karabukspor 21 5 3 13 23-37 18
17 Samsunspor 21 3 7 11 17-31 16
18 Ankaragucu 21 2 5 14 17-39 11

WEEK 22....

24 Jan 2012
17:00 CET Manisaspor ? : ? Samsunspor
17:00 CET Sivasspor ? : ? Antalyaspor
19:30 CET Besiktas ? : ? Gaziantepspor
19:30 CET Mersin ? : ? Kayserispor

25 Jan 2012
17:00 CET Buyuksehir ? : ? Fenerbahce
17:00 CET Orduspor ? : ? Karabukspor
17:00 CET Trabzonspor ? : ? Eskisehirspor
19:30 CET Galatasaray ? : ? Ankaragucu
19:30 CET Genclerbirligi ? : ? Bursaspor


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WEEK 23...

28 Jan 2012
15:00 CET Antalyaspor ? : ? Genclerbirligi
18:00 CET Bursaspor ? : ? Galatasaray

29 Jan 2012
12:00 CET Eskisehirspor ? : ? Orduspor
12:00 CET Karabukspor ? : ? Manisaspor
12:00 CET Samsunspor ? : ? Buyuksehir
15:00 CET Ankaragucu ? : ? Trabzonspor
15:00 CET Gaziantepspor ? : ? Sivasspor
18:00 CET Fenerbahce ? : ? Mersin

30 Jan 2012
19:00 CET Kayserispor ? : ? Besiktas

THOUSANDS SAID GOOD BYE TO LEGENDARY LEFTER

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Teyyip Erdogan and "Turkey's Chief EU Negotiator Egemen Bagis seen amongst the crowd." PHOTO BY (AA)

Thousands of Fenerbahce fans and fans from several Turkish clubs, bid farewell on Sunday to Lefter Kucukandonyadis, one of Turkey's top football players, who has died at 86.

Thousands of football fans bid farewell to legendary Turkish footballer Lefter Kucukandonyadis, on Sunday, filling the stadium

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egemen Bagis, Turkey's EU minister, atended the funeral ceremony at Fenerbahce's Sukru Saracoglu Stadium. Kucukandonyadis died of pneumonia Friday in Istanbul.

Küçükandonyadis was the captain of Turkey's national team, making 46 appearances for his country. His club career included Fenerbahçe, where he scored 423 goals in 615 games.

Born in 1925 in Istanbul to a fisherman father from Turkey's minority Greek community, Küçükandonyadis was the first player from Turkey to play abroad. He transferred to Italy's Fiorentina in 1951 followed by a spell with Nice in France.


LEFTER'S GOAL AGAINST KOREA IN 1954 WORLD CUP MATCH......

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BUT NOT SO HAPPY TURKISH FOOTBALL

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BUT NOT SO HAPPY TURKISH FOOTBALL


First,over the years, people who has follow me here,I would like to wish all of you Happy New Year and thank you, for following my blog...

The year 2011, was UGLY for Turkish Football!

The scandals,allegations,TFF's backtracks and uncertainty in Turkish Football, carried over to 2012!


With all this negative news about Turkish football, Turkish Super League is rolling some how!

The decision on January 26th by the TFF's "football general assembly" could well decide future of Turkish football!

WE all know, every member club, wants to change the bylaw (article) 58.....

Except, Galatasaray, Trabzonspor, Bursaspor and Orduspor.......

Fenerbahce fans does not want article 58 to be change, either....

Article 58 calls, for relegation....

They are about to change that on January 26th,2012!

WE will see what happens?

Anyway, with all this turmoil rocking Turkish football, the second half of the season starts on this Tuesday....

This week and this weekend will be jam packed with football matches....

The 18th week, will start on Tuesday and will finish on Wendsday ...

The 19th week matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday.....

There will be five matches on this Tuesday and four matches on Wendsday...

On Saturday there are three matches and five matches on Sunday in the league...

Follow me on Twitter, for up to minute news and gossip about Turkish football or other stuff @Turkishsoccer




WEEK 18.....

03 Jan 2012
17:00 CET Kayserispor ? : ? Bursaspor
17:00 CET Sivasspor ? : ? Karabukspor
17:00 CET Trabzonspor ? : ? Manisaspor
19:30 CET Galatasaray ? : ? Buyuksehir
19:30 CET Mersin ? : ? Ankaragucu
04 Jan 2012
17:00 CET Genclerbirligi ? : ? Samsunspor
17:00 CET Orduspor ? : ? Fenerbahce
19:30 CET Besiktas ? : ? Eskisehirspor
19:30 CET Gaziantepspor ? : ? Antalyaspo


WEEK 19........

18:00 CET Ankaragucu ? : ? Besiktas
18:00 CET Antalyaspor ? : ? Kayserispor
18:00 CET Bursaspor ? : ? Mersin
18:00 CET Buyuksehir ? : ? Trabzonspor
18:00 CET Eskisehirspor ? : ? Sivasspor
18:00 CET Fenerbahce ? : ? Gaziantepspor
18:00 CET Karabukspor ? : ? Genclerbirligi
18:00 CET Manisaspor ? : ? Orduspor
18:00 CET Samsunspor ? : ? Galatasaray

TURKISH CUP THIRD ROUND DRAW

The Third round in Ziraat Turkish Cup matches announced today in Istanbul....

14 winner teams from second round will join 15 teams from Turkish Super League and three teams from the Banka Asya league that was promoted to Turkish Super League,,,..

The third round matches will be only match....

Losers will be eliminated from Turkish Cup...

Winners will go on....

The third round matches will be played on January 10th, 11th and 12th of 2012....

Here is the full draw...

FIRST TEAMS ARE HOME TEAM........

MKE ANKARAGÜCÜ vs KASIMPAŞA

ÇAYKUR RİZESPOR A.Ş vs GAZİANTEPSPOR

BURSASPOR vs Ş.URFASPOR

BUGSAŞ SPOR vs MANİSASPOR

TRABZONSPOR A.Ş. vs İST.GÜNGÖRENSPOR

GAZİOSMANPAŞA vs M.P. ANTALYASPOR

BEŞİKTAŞ A.Ş. vs GAZİANTEP B.Ş. BLD.SPOR

ADANASPOR A.Ş. vs BÜYÜKŞEHİR BLD.SPOR

FENERBAHÇE A.Ş. vs KONYA TORKU ŞEKERSPOR

EYÜPSPOR vs ESKİŞEHİRSPOR

K.D.Ç. KARABÜKSPOR vs ÜNYESPOR

AKHİSAR BELEDİYE G. vs KAYSERİSPOR

GALATASARAY A.Ş. vs ADANA DEMİRSPOR

BOLUSPOR vs GENÇLERBİRLİĞİ

SAMSUNSPOR vs ORDUSPOR

MERSİN İDMAN YURDU vs SİVASSPOR

Galatasaray finishes on top at end of the half, In Turkey

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...

*****************************
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 "

**************************************

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

TURKISH SUPER LEAGUE WRAP: GALATASARAY AND FENERBAHCE KEEPS WINNING!

16 down, one week to go, before the short winter brake in the Turkish Super League...

Yes, it was fast and jam packed 16 rounds in the Turkish Super League...

After playing matches on the weekend and weekdays, Turkish Super League's first half will be over after this Wendsday and Thursday...

Yes,the last weekend matches in the first half will take place on Wendsday and Thursday!

Weekend,(week 16),started with Orduspor vs Galatasaray match and Galatasaray had no problem beating Orduspor!

Orduspor, who has no coach at helm, is still shopping for a big name coach in Europe!

They are talking about bringing, Hector Cuper!

Under Turkish coach, in the first seven weeks they earned 14 points in the league and once they reached to third place!

After a couple of weeks with bad score , they sacked their coach Metin Diyadin!

Why?

When are we going to see a team will go full season with their coaches, wheather they are doing good or bad?


Same thing happened at Karabuk too....

And now they are talking and wanting Ertugrul Saglam heads in Bursa too!

How absurd is that?

Any way, looking back to week 16th and recapping in short , Galatasaray and Fenerbahce kept winning and Besiktas loss blood in Samsun with a draw and Trabzonspor still big disappointed!

Like I said in my early blog articles, I see Eskisehir is the fourth play off, team in the Turkish Super League!

There is if,coach Sikibbe, and player DEDE does not leave,Eskisehir!

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In the match if the week, Fenerbahce beat Trabzonspor with only one goal!

Trabzonspor defense caught of guard on Alex's corner where goal came by Mehmet Topuz on a header!



Referee Cuneyt Cakir made a huge mistake on a red card to Trabzonspor player Aykut!

That left Trabzonspor with ten man in the match...

This loss kept Trabzonspor on tenth place with 21 points...

Karabuk vs Mersin match was the most goal score match in the week 16...

Mersin Idman Yurdu, scored five goal while Karabuk scored three goals...

I think, this was the most goal score match in the first half of the season!

Like, I said,last week,Karabuk,Bursaspor and Gaziantep are the biggest disappointments,in the league!

The point differences on top and bottom is not that huge in the Turkish Super League..

So every match for every team is very important the league.....
*******************


Looking at last weekend in the league, the most important match will be played in Antalya!

Where Antalya will host Fenerbahce on Wendsday ...


Galatasaray and Besiktas will be at home...

Galatasaray host Manisa and Besiktas will face Karabuk....

Galatasaray might have problem against Manisa!

Genclerbirligi vs Buyuksehir and Eskisehirspor vs Mersin matches will be very interesting too!

If Mersin wins they could surpass Eskisehir and Gencler vs Buiyuksehir match will be fight for sixth place.....


Overall, there will be a lot of good matches in the last weekend of the Turkish Super League!

I think, Galatasaray will close the the year 2011 , on top of the Turkish Super League...

Galatasaray under Fatih Terim, has been the best team of the first half....

The third time for Fatih Terim, could be charming!


Follow me on Twitter for daily updates and latest news from Turkish football or Turkish soccer...

WEEK16; RESULTS......
16 Dec 2011
FT Orduspor 0 : 2 Galatasaray
17 Dec 2011
FT Ankaragucu 0 : 0 Gaziantepspor
FT Bursaspor 0 : 0 Antalyaspor
FT Eskisehirspor 1 : 0 Kayserispor
FT Karabukspor 3 : 5 Mersin
18 Dec 2011
FT Buyuksehir 1 : 1 Sivasspor
FT Fenerbahce 1 : 0 Trabzonspor
FT Manisaspor 0 : 1 Genclerbirligi
FT Samsunspor 1 : 1 Besiktas



WEEK 17 MATCHES.......

21 Dec 2011
17:00 CET Antalyaspor ? : ? Fenerbahce
17:00 CET Kayserispor ? : ? Ankaragucu
17:00 CET Mersin ? : ? Eskisehirspor
19:30 CET Galatasaray ? : ? Manisaspor
19:30 CET Sivasspor ? : ? Samsunspor
22 Dec 2011
17:00 CET Genclerbirligi ? : ? Buyuksehir
17:00 CET Trabzonspor ? : ? Orduspor
19:30 CET Besiktas ? : ? Karabukspor
19:30 CET Gaziantepspor ? : ? Bursaspor


STANDINGS....

1 Galatasaray 16 10 4 2 26-11 34
2 Fenerbahce 16 10 4 2 24-14 34
3 Besiktas 16 8 5 3 24-17 29
4 Eskisehirspor 16 9 2 5 19-15 29
5 Mersin 16 7 5 4 20-16 26
6 Genclerbirligi 16 7 4 5 21-20 25
7 Buyuksehir 16 6 6 4 21-16 24
8 Manisaspor 16 6 6 4 16-15 24
9 Kayserispor 16 7 1 8 18-17 22
10 Trabzonspor 16 5 6 5 20-20 21
11 Sivasspor 16 5 6 5 23-27 21
12 Antalyaspor 16 5 5 6 13-16 20
13 Bursaspor 16 4 6 6 16-16 18
14 Orduspor 16 4 5 7 13-17 17
15 Gaziantepspor 16 3 6 7 12-16 15
16 Karabukspor 16 3 3 10 18-26 12
17 Samsunspor 16 2 6 8 10-19 12
18 Ankaragucu 16 1 4 11 15-31 7

Besiktas beat Stoke and win Group E

I said, it could be done and Besiktas did it!

Besiktas beat, unbeaten Stoke City 3-1 and claim the top spot in the group E and earned a spot in the round 32 of Europa league..

They,prett much did the damege to Stoke in the second half, after going down in the first half....

Ricardo Fuller score for Stoke City, in the 29th minute.

In the second half ,Besiktas put the pressure and in the 59th minute,

Matthew Upson was shown a red card for bringing down Hugo Almeida in the box and Manuel Fernandes scored the PK for Besiktas....


With a man down and Besiktas with the help of rowdy Besiktas fans Besiktas put the clutch on and help of the subs in the second half started to click!

The second goal came in the 74th minute from Mustafa Pektemek who came in to the match for Holosko in the begining of second half and another substitute Edu added some gloss to the scoreline eight minutes later.

With this win,Besiktas finish on top of the Stoke in the group E..

This was first in Besiktas's history to advance as group leader in the Europa League,,,,


After the match Stokek city coach Tony Polis said "We won't be complaining to anyone. We're Stoke and we don't complain,"

During the match, Ricardo Fuller and Jermaine Pennant, as he prepared to take a corner, had items directed at them inside the Inonu Stadium.

Despite the defeat, Stoke progressed to the round 32 of the competition.

After the match Besiktas coach Carvahal said, "As I said in my previous press conference, we wanted a victory tonight, and no other result would be acceptable. We played an attacking football and took some risks at the back, but everything came out the way we planned in the end.

I believe the victory was well deserved, and I thank my players for their amazing fighting spirit and total commitment. Now, we are looking forward to the next round."


TEAMS QUALIFYING FOR EUROPA LEAGUE ROUND OF 32

Ajax, Anderlecht, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Besiktas,
Bruges, FC Twente, Hannover, Lazio, Legia Warsaw, Lokomotiv
Moscow, Manchester City*, Manchester United*, Metalist Kharkiv,
Olympiacos*, PAOK, Porto*, PSV Eindhoven, Red Bull Salzburg,
Schalke, Sporting Lisbon, Standard Liege, Steaua Bucharest,
Stoke, Trabzonspor*, Valencia*, Viktoria Plzen, Wisla Krakow.