Busy month this, with 6 league games and the first leg of a cup quarter final.
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[TD]View attachment 80533[/TD]
[TD]Changes are made to the RB, a CM and AML positions due to a lack of fitness. Thomsen is without a goal or assist, but Koc comes in as the leading creative player in the squad. An outstanding performance as Altinordu couldn’t cope with the tempo and accuracy of the passing as Ceyhun and Berkay destroy the opposition. Thomsen gets his assist[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 80532 [/TD]
[TD]Ceyhun leads the line superbly with a goal and 2 assists but it’s Thomsen who gets the MoM award with his first goal for the club. That’s 10 goals in the last 3 games with none conceded, lots of clear cut chances and some good football to boot. Portugese CB Dufau has been outstanding as well but it looks as though his fee will be too much to take on a permanent basis. The CM balance has been improved over the last couple of games by assigning one a defend duty but it needs a midefielder or two with better defensive qualities, so the search starts now.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 80531 [/TD]
[TD]Smith gets another chance to lead the line in the first leg of the cup game against Konyaspor and makes the most of it with an early goal. Unfortunately, we can’t kick on after scoring the goal and good chances are missed, most notably from Eroglu who squandered a one-on-one opportunity. They nailed their 2 shots on target & a tough second leg awaits…[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 80530[/TD]
[TD]Guler and Ceyhun are restored to the starting line-up against the 14th placed team. Their late goal put a blemish on what was otherwise a dominant display and was pretty much the way I want these guys to play. Alcoran was the stand-out performer with 2 assists but the strength is in the core of Dufai, Ahmet, Berkan and Ceyhun[/TD]
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[/TABLE] Another £700k for the win to add to the account and I was wondering why we weren’t making more money…the 2 chairman’s loans and the staggering debt levels answer that question.
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[TD]View attachment 80528 [/TD]
[TD]One of the players’ whose position is under threat; Junior, comes in for the suspended Van De Beek and Yasar comes in to play RB. Alorcan follows up his two assists in the previous game with early and late contributions to make it 5 straight wins and drag us to within 3 points of the league leaders which, really, is where we should be.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 80526[/TD]
[TD]Alorcan’s good form won’t continue as he’s injured in training and Ceyhun, who hasn’t scored in 3, is dropped for Smith. Junior keeps his place & Kucuk comes in for Ahmet. A fully fit Gunter replaces Roseth at CB. Kucuk makes the most of a rare start spanking the ball in from 35 yards in the most one sided 1-0 I think I’ve ever participated in. [/TD]
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[/TABLE] We’ve hunted down the leaders and won 7 of the 8 league games I’ve been in charge of to reduce the gap to just one point. Besiktas and Fenerbahce in 6th and 9th seem to be well out of the running so hopefully the good form can continue.
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[TD]View attachment 80525[/TD]
[TD]The team is restored to full strength and it shows. Thomsen leads the line with a goal and a great assist for Guler as we record another convincing win. The team is playing well, creating lots of chances (not putting away as many as I’d like however) and they seem happy. A couple of key high profile signings and I think we could push on to the next level. [/TD]
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[/TABLE] …that debt though…
Teodoro is signed on a free contract. He hasn’t cost anything, his wages are relatively low and he looks as though he will be a good back up option with solid tackling stats in the middle of the park.
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[TD]View attachment 80377 [/TD]
[TD]A disappointing first leg means we head into the second already with a disadvantage. Absolutely nothing happens for an hour before I throw caution to the wind, taking off a DM, putting on a striker and going on the offensive. We get hit on the counter attack and the only positive is a a very late well worked goal from Ceyhun. Out of the cup, although putting an optimistic spin on things, it means we can concentrate on the league. [/TD]
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The full backs are both changed to allow some squad rotation, but other than that it’s the same team to make up for being knocked out of the cup. Berkay bangs in a goal early on as we dominate the first half but it takes a fine through ball from him for Ceyhun to make the scoreline more realistic. Van De Beek has to be substituted before he gets sent off and we see the game out.
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[TD]View attachment 80375 [/TD]
[TD]We’re playing leagpfrog with Basaksehir at the top of the table so a win is required, which looks likely as the usual suspects put us ahead in a comfortable first half performance. RB Sahin jeopardises the game being sent off at the end of the first half. Although I made moves to strengthen the team having gone down to 10 men, we seemed powerless to resist as they scored 3 quickfire goals in the second half. [/TD]
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Worse news is losing the top league goalscorer; Ceyhun for a month at a critical period of the season as a result of an injury picked up, so here’s hoping Smith can step up.
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[TD]View attachment 80374[/TD]
[TD]As well as the Smith change, suspended Gunter and Sahin are replaced by Ali Dere - making his first start after a long injury - and Yasar respectively. Roseth powers in from a Berkay corner and Berkay produces a worldy of a through ball for Smith to tap home for the second. [/TD]
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Those Berkay assists mean he has provided 17 goals and 10 assists in all competitions. The solid base of the two deep lying playmakers behind him has allowed Berkay to flourish in the Trequartista role and, being able to find pockets of space, he’s good enough to exploit them.
The injuries must be contagious as it’s AML Alcoran who’s next to suffer as he’s ruled out for 3 weeks. Thomsen, who is a pretty decent replacement, will come in to replace him.
No contracts expire at the end of this season, but there are a number due up for next season. Van De Beek’s contract is renewed and I need to have a look at the others.
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[TD]View attachment 80373 [/TD]
[TD]An early Smith goal sets the tone for the first half which we dominate although we lose the momentum in the second half, and they take full advantage. An unusually ineffective Berkay is replaced by Sittsam, which makes no difference and the failure to win hands the advantage to Basaksehir in the title race. [/TD]
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Only time will tell, but those results against Bursaspor and Sivasspor could prove vital come the end of the season. Besaksehir finished in 8th last season so to be fighting them at the top of the league is something of a surprise. They are one of the remaining teams we have to play so we may be able to recover something by then.
Dufai, currently with me on loan from Benfica, is one of my better defenders and there is no realistic proposition of purchasing him so the search is on for a CB for next season - ideally, either transfer listed or out of contract as we don’t have much in the pot in terms of a transfer budget. Just as I start looking, one of my scouts brings Kenneth Adeniyi to my attention - his contract is expiring, so is available on a free.
It looks as though he’s not quite been good enough to break into the Dortmund first team but I reckon he will do a job for us.
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[TD]View attachment 80349[/TD]
[TD]Both Ceyhun and Acoran are back to fitness, but short of match fitness so only make the subs bench. Dufau’s stupid yellow cards mean that changes are needed - Berkay is sacrificed to restore the back 4 and Ceyhun comes on for Smith who had a largely fruitless game. Not the most convincing result I’ve ever had, but Yasar provides the assist to give Ceyhun the easiest of finishes from 4 yards out. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 80347[/TD]
[TD]One of, if not the toughest games awaits. The first half, in which they were probably the better team, was a tale of 2 penalties - we missed, they scored. We were better in the second half, but got caught with a sucker punch as we pushed on for the equaliser. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 80345[/TD]
[TD]Another very tough game and another disappointing result which pretty much puts paid to any chance we have of winning the league this season after being in a promising position a few games ago.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 80344[/TD]
[TD]A third very tough game as we travel to the league leaders with a team that’s on a pretty poor run and weakened by suspensions and key players who aren’t fit. A wholly wretched performance even before the red card as we were barely able to put two passes together, let alone mount a coherent attack. [/TD]
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[/TABLE] A poor month and I’ve fallen short of the board expectations to win the title. Hopefully, with just the 2 home games remaining we can at least finish the season in style. At the risk of sounding bitter, and fully appreciating that we have to play all the teams twice, the fixture list didn't help us out this time round.
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[TD]View attachment 80330 [/TD]
[TD]I don’t know how it took 74 minutes to make the breakthrough as we missed a number of good chances with Guler being the main culprit. Another Yasar cross for another Ceyhun goal seals the victory, although we rode our luck at the end as they hit the post twice in quick succession. In the end, a good result, particularly as we were again missing key players - most notably first choice keeper; Suarez. [/TD]
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Remarkably Basaksehir, who were predicted a fifth place finish and had 30-1 odds to take the title, win the league with a game to spare.
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[TD]View attachment 80329[/TD]
[TD]Suarez returns to the first team. Ceyhun and Berkan both sit on 18 goals for the season so it’s a straight race to see who can finish top scorer. First Alcoran with a sumptuous through ball, then Guler with a lofted cross provide the assists for Ceyhun. Sittsam replaces the unusually quiet Berkay and powers in a header before Ceyhun completes his hat-trick. A convincing win that shows what can be done when we play to our best. [/TD]
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[/TABLE] View attachment 80328
That win means we finish in second and qualify for the Champions League next season and, finally, a decent transfer budget to play with. The squad is pretty decent at the moment, so I’m not desperately looking for anyone. I have a new CB and CM coming in, so it may be that I look for youth to boost the team prospects. Ceyhun finishes the season, not only as top goalscorer, but also with the goal of the season award and 4 others make the team of the year.
Unsurprisingly, Ceyhun and Berkay are well ahead in the goals scored and the only players in double figures. Koc in central midfield is the most creative force but the attacking midfield 3 all make valuable contributions. 12 separate goalscorers over the period of the season. Honourable mention also to Portugese CB Dufai whose stats haven’t appeared for some reason but was also solid.
The squad is pretty strong and the players needed have already been signed so this might be a summer break and transfer window to look for luxuries as there may be players at the European Championships who perform.
Reaching the group stage of the Champions League is doable and reaching the final of the Turkish Cup should be achievable as well although I failed last season. The league is undoubtedly the big one though and I would like to think we would be there or thereabouts this season.
View attachment 80248
Turkish international CB Utku Kanak joins for a fee of £12m from Bursaspor as Israeli CB Roseth leaves for Sheffield Wednesday.
Palacios, who spent the whole of last season in the reserves finally leaves for a less-than-he’s-worth fee of £2.8m, but more importantly, frees up £78,000 p/w for the wage budget and that extra money enables me to look for a replacement for my back-up AMC, Sittsam although no-one available is actually better than him.
Not the easiest draw, but hopefully a strong first leg can put is into a commanding position for the second. All of the teams in the playoff draw are similar so it’s much of a muchness but I am confident of progression.
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[TD]View attachment 80246 [/TD]
[TD]Dnipro look like they’ve set up to park the bus in a very defensive formation. All of my new signings are thrown into the starting line-up to try and deal with it. Unsurprisingly, given their reluctance to come out and play meant that it was a matter of time before we made the breakthrough and ended up comfortable winners in the end. Adeniyi powered in from a corner on his debut and Teodoro in CM was excellent - breaking up play and laying the ball off which is where the Guler goal came from. The only negative being a 3 week layoff for Ceyhun meaning he misses the opening of the season.
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[/TABLE] View attachment 80245
Another Turkish International - Muhammet joins, who looks as though he is to be a decent foil for Van De Beek or Teodoro in the middle of the park. I’ve had to pay a homegrown premium for being Turkish, but he is on a long contract with an extension due so in the longterm it looks like reasonable business.
That takes my transfer window spending to £21m and has drained the account - there will be no more!
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[TD]View attachment 80143[/TD]
[TD]The formation stays the same, but some key mentalities are changed to encourage a more defensive approach for the away leg. A 3-0 lead is comfortable, but I don’t want to be taking anything for granted. Dnipro play a much more aggressive formation than their first leg although it gives Berkay and Muhammet, who already look like they’ve struck up a pretty good partnership, the time to pick the defenders off. Guler reaps the benefits of their hard work and Gunter pretty much ends the game as a contest just after half-time. Dere (2), Muhammet and Smith with the assists[/TD]
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And having won that, the Champions League throws up a real horror match for the best placed playoff game as we face comfortably the highest seeded team in the draw who have reached the knockout stages in 6 of their last 7 years in the competition.
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[TD]View attachment 80142[/TD]
[TD]Despite the scoreline, I’m not sure we could have done much more and this was just one of those games you hold your hands up and say you were beaten by the better team. Mbappe was outstanding for them and dominated Yasar in the RB position. This, added to the clinical nature of Gurzakovic, meant we didn’t really have an answer. Guler got his fifth in just 3 games in the qualifying and Ceyhuns goal gives us a glimmer of hope in the second leg.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 80141[/TD]
[TD]I was considering a weakened starting line-up however, thought it would be better to try and get the job done then take off the more important players. Ceyhun misses a penalty and therefore his opportunity to get his hat-trick. Ceyhun, Berkun and Erkan are all taken off to keep them fresh-ish for the next Chelsea game.[/TD]
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[TD]The second leg of the Champions League best placed playoff and we press and press and make all the running, but can’t find either the final ball, or the finish. Ceyhun has a number of good chances and hits the post, but disappointingly can’t put any of them away. [/TD]
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[/TABLE] At least we have the consolation of the European Cup to look forward to: View attachment 80139 We put 7 past Dnipro in the previous Champions League round and Grasshoppers are the minnows of the group. Bilbao look like they have some serious quality so it could well be us and them for the top spot.
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[TD]View attachment 80138[/TD]
[TD]Alorcan takes just 2 minutes to open his season’s account and a Ceyhun goal follows shortly after - both assists from Yasar in the RB position. The opposition weren’t particularly good, but Alorcan and Ceyhun put their chances away giving us a win which takes us top on goal difference. [/TD]
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View attachment 79776
Monaco sweep in late during the window to bid for Alarcon during the International break with a pretty reasonable £8m. Unfortunately, I don’t see any of that amount and have to make do with a season long loan to cover the position and Brazilian winger Pereira is brought in from Lazio. I’m not used to, nor do I enjoy, scrabbling around on transfer deadline day trying to get players in but the Monaco bid was too good to turn down. The sales of Unal, Palacios and Roseth free up some much needed wage budget as well, not that I will see much (any…) of it due to the clubs ridiculous debt levels.
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[TD]A place on the bench will have to do for loan signing Pereira and Berkay, who’s not been at his best, is dropped for Sittsam. Yasar and Thomsen make it easy for Guler to get his 2 goals. Ceyhun makes it 5 in 3 league games for him and an Adeniyi header gives us a comfortable win meaning we stay top. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79774[/TD]
[TD]Morale should be good after 3 straight league wins, so this is as good a time as any to play Bilbao. All things considered, a draw was probably the right result as neither team really did enough to win it although I thought we had the better of the chances. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79773[/TD]
[TD]Periera makes his first start, but I’m hoping Ceyhun can continue his fine goalscoring form as we travel to the third placed team. He doesn’t, but Berkay provides our only real spark in a difficult game.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79772 [/TD]
[TD]Pereira was disappointing and is dropped for Thomsen. CB Ali comes in for Adeniyi for some game time. The sending off forced a tactical change which looked like it had paid off thanks to Gunter’s goal but they quickly pegged us back. A further change and some substitutions paid off as Koc, on for Muhammet, provided the assist for Thomsen’s first of the season. We held on a bit with 10 men, but got the 3 points in the end. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79771[/TD]
[TD]I take a bit of a gamble and make a change of formation to try and dominate the midfield as we travel to Switzerland for the second game of the group stage in the European Cup. We dominate the first half without success and it’s an unlikely scorer that gives us the lead shortly after the break. After their equaliser, we go back to what we know which pays dividends as substitute Berkay scores twice to give us what is a flattering scoreline considering the performance.[/TD]
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[/TABLE] View attachment 79770View attachment 79769
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[TD]View attachment 79538[/TD]
[TD]Ceyhun is lacking fitness and is replaced by Smith who is pushed to play on the left hand side to take advantage of his left-footedness. Both of my LBs are out of action as well, so CB Adeniyi is going to have to do a job there… Smith is no Ceyhun and despite a lot of work, fails to do anything of note. Just as they look like they’re going to get a point, Karabuskpor throw it away conceding a late penalty dispatched by the substitute Pereira for his first goal of his loan[/TD]
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The 6 week loss of Berkay with a broken collarbone in the previous game is a real problem as Sittsay is simply not on his level and won’t provide the same sort of threat.
Periera is the replacement for Berkay and Smith maintains his place. Neither Pereira or Smith are as effective in their roles as Ceyhun and Berkay and it takes a finely worked goal to seal the three points. Despite going down to 10 men, we were unable to make more of the numerical advantage.
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[TD]View attachment 79536[/TD]
[TD]Sittsam comes to me asking for a chance in the first team and since Pereira wasn’t particularly good in the AMC role, he starts. Smith retains his place as Ceyhun still regains full fitness. Playing Smith in the left hand slot on his stronger foot pays off as he tucks a couple of goals away after getting on the end of through balls from midfield. A good win which would have been even more comfortable had I checked my penalty takers were actually on the pitch ahead of the game. Finally, Smith impresses…[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79535[/TD]
[TD]A really tough game away to the league holders and the team currently sitting in second position. A number of changes are needed as this comes so quickly after the Dnipro game and despite giving it everything, we conceded a stupid freekick and then failed to mark to allow a simple headed goal. We dominated possession, chances and hit the woodwork on three occasions but couldn’t make the breakthrough - disappointing. [/TD]
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The Turkish cup groups are drawn, pitching me against Eskinhispor in the Superleague and 2 lower league teams.
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[TD]View attachment 79534[/TD]
[TD]We take the lead through a deflected effort on goal - Sittsam’s first of the season, but fail to be clinical at all. We’re very much stumbling through these games rather than looking convincing which I need to find a way to change. 3 points and we stay on the tail of Basaksehir, but a far from cohesive performance. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79479[/TD]
[TD]We’ve got 3 straight wins so far against Dnipro this season, so I’m optimistic for another one although they have set up in a very defensive manner. Valenzuela makes a return from a lengthy spell out. Sittsay is assigned the advanced playmaker role and Thomsen is encouraged to go forward which pays off as he scores. Once we play to defend the lead, we score twice more as Guler picks up the MoM award. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79478[/TD]
[TD]A number of changes have to be made as a result of a lack of fitness and the emphasis is on being compact away from home. We get our reward in the end from a Guler freekick and hold on to keep a clean sheet. Given the early red card for them, we should have gone on to score more but couldn’t add to the single goal. [/TD]
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Although Ceyhun has managed 5 goals in 7 league games so far, he’s failed to reach the heights of last season - I'm sure that not having the creative force that is Berkay behind him hasn’t helped.
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[TD]View attachment 79477[/TD]
[TD]An unchanged starting line-up and we restrict them to just one shot off target. Thomsen scores a blinder after a Van De Beek penalty. A good result and the win means we go 3 points clear at the top of the league and, whilst we’re perhaps not scoring as many as I’d like, that’s just 1 goal conceded in 8 games since going to a contain mentality in certain matches. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79476[/TD]
[TD]Away to Bilbao and we currently lead the group by 2 points. Berkay returns and Pereir replaces Guler who, despite being top scorer, needs a rest. An excellent dominant first half is followed up by a goal from a resurgent Thomsen. Berkay is poor on his return and replaced by Sittsam. Yasar creates a second goal for CB Ali and is awarded MoM in the process - he is the leading creator so far this season. Another excellent win.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79475[/TD]
[TD]The team at the bottom of the league are up next. I can’t seem to get either of my strikers scoring regularly, but Smith is given the chance although doesn’t do very much again…on the plus side, I’m delighted to see Berkay back with a goal and an assist. [/TD]
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A number of fringe players get their chance in the cup game. Smith puts away our only shot on target in the first half. Koc scores his first of the season with a clinical penalty and 18 year old Eroglu caps a fine performance with the cross that leads to the own goal. A nice win that kicks off the cup campaign.
Somehow we have to play a ridiculous 8 games this month, including the final European Cup group game. Thomsen extends his contract, mostly as a result of a sharp upturn in his performances and his 3 goals in the last 5 games. I wasn’t sure about Alorcan being sold at the end of the transfer window, but Thomsen is proving that he isn’t being missed too badly. Austrian AM Sittsam is the only other player whose contract expires this season, but I’m happy to let him go and look for a replacement.
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[TD]View attachment 79120 [/TD]
[TD]The month starts with a home league game to the team in 10th and a strong starting lineup is put in place. The first half is pretty much a textbook controlling performance - everything that Ceyhun did came off and he gets his rewards as he starts looking like the player of last season again. The second half is more disappointing but we’d done the hard work by then. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79119 [/TD]
[TD]The final European Cup group game and, having already qualified and guaranteed to finish top this is a good opportunity to play another game with the fringe players. Smith misses a great opportunity as he shoots instead of crossing it to an unmarked Sittsam on a counter-attack and it’s a bore draw as we can’t force a result, let alone a goal. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79118 [/TD]
[TD]A number of first teamers are restored to the starting line-up but it’s a disappointing draw as we miss the opportunity to put some distance between us and Basakhesir in second place. We had enough chances and hit the woodwork to win the game, but we were unable to get the goal to make the difference. [/TD]
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Euro Cup drawThe Euro Cup draw is tough and we could have got an easier team, although on the plus side we are at least away for the first leg so get the chance to come back to Turkey for the second. Spurs are the holders and Sevilla are the team who have the most wins with 5.
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[TD]View attachment 79117 [/TD]
[TD]19 year old keeper Omer makes his third consecutive start for the cup game. Smith and Sittsam deputise for Ceyhun and Berkaya t the top end of the pitch and exciting prospect Eroglu starts as well. It’s a good job we were gifted a penalty as that was a terrible performance [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79116 [/TD]
[TD]I move to a more defensive mentality for this one, but cometh the hour, cometh the man and Ceyhun navigates us through what was a potentially tough game with his second hat-trick of the month. Still just the one defeat so far this season and it’s all looking rather good on the domestic front. [/TD]
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The CSKA Moscow manager gets sacked and it’s one of the few jobs that I’d consider leaving Galatasary for, but it’s rather bad timing with the position I’m in at the moment so I’m staying put for the time being.
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[TD]View attachment 79115 [/TD]
[TD]Another home cup game and chance for Smith, Sittsam and Eroglu to impress. Smith’s role is changed to AF to try and push him further up the pitch and utilise his pace. Although he scores twice, I can’t take credit for it as one goal from a header from a corner and a second from a deflected free-kick, so not exactly making the most of his pace. Should have been more comfortable with the 2 missed penalties. [/TD]
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Although he hasn’t yet scored in the league so far this term, Smith has 5 goals which equals his tally for last season.
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[TD]View attachment 79114 [/TD]
[TD]Back to full strength for another tough league game as the usual front 4 are restored and it’s Guler who takes his tally into double figures for the season with a double, although they were made easy with the quality of the assists from Ali and Ceyhun. We’re now on an unbeaten run of 14 games in all competitions. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 79117 [/TD]
[TD]10 changes are made for the final game of a very busy month as we travel to the team currently sitting bottom of the cup group. Sittsam and Smith’s roles are changed to try and bring out the best of both of them. Smith forces the own goal in the first half and scores a fins finish from just inside the box at the end. Between these, Eroglu scores his first for the club as we end up with a comfortable win. [/TD]
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The transfer window opens, although with no budget I have no chance of bringing anyone in. However, I will be looking to sign replacements for Pereira; on loan, and Sittsam; not good enough, ideally on free transfers to come in in the summer. A goalkeeper would not go amiss either.
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[TD]View attachment 78542[/TD]
[TD]Having the first choice front 3 of Thomsen, Ceyhun and Guler makes such a difference to the chances being taken. A Ceyhun free-kick and fine drive from Thomsen means its a comfortable half time team talk. A comfortable win which sees us 10 points clear in the league at the halfway stage. [/TD]
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Winger Leon Jenkins is signed on a free, as his Tottenham contract expires in the summer, to take Pereira’s place next season.
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[TD]View attachment 78541[/TD]
[TD]Pereira makes his mark in exactly the sort of game I hoped he would when I brought him in on loan with a good hat-trick. Koc proves that there is someone on the pitch who can score a penalty and seals a convincing victory which leaves us topping the group and qualifying for the knockout stages with a game to spare. [/TD]
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A slow start, but after we got our act together and started playing we looked good. Thomsen was outstanding for Ceyhun’s first, running three quarters of the pitch with the ball. Ceyhun has now scored 14 in 14 starts this season and has 56 goals in 103 league games for Galatasaray.
Having already qualified from the group, another opportunity to play the second string with some role changes to hopefully get the best out of the players. Smith gets a good goal and Teodoro scores his first for the club from a free-kick to give us a comfortable win, despite the late goal, and ensures we top the group unbeaten.
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[TD]View attachment 78538[/TD]
[TD]Ceyhun’s on form again with a goal and assist as we stroll to a pretty comfortable win. 20 games in all competitions since losing and now 13 points clear at the top of the league.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78537[/TD]
[TD]Berkay is dropped for Sittsam to allow for some rotation and Van De Beek comes in for the suspended Teodoro, as they continue to rotate well in the more defensive of the two midfield roles. Berkay comes on and makes the difference with an outstanding assist for Guler to tap in from 2 yards to rescue a point late on[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78536[/TD]
[TD]The fourth round of the cup brings Kasimpasa to the Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleski as we seek to progress. We carry on our fine record against them with Yasar contributing from the WBR position although they don’t help themselves with the sending off. Smith also continues his fine cup goalscoring exploits with his sixth of the season in the competition. [/TD]
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The month starts badly as Ceyhun requests a transfer because the squad isn’t strong enough - despite winning 16 of 20 games in the league, sitting top by 11 points and still in participation for the cup competitions. He was expecting the squad to be strengthened over the transfer window, but the clubs ridiculous debt levels have meant the pot is empty. Oh well…
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[TD]View attachment 78183[/TD]
[TD]Bore-draw, nothing to see here. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78182[/TD]
[TD]The first leg eventually goes to plan as Periera blasts one in from 30 yards to give us a deserved equaliser and then scores a quality free-kick to give us the lead. It’s a good job Pereira showed up in the last 20 minutes because we just weren’t at the races for the first period of the game. Nice to see that Ak, who is on loan from us, is not only getting game time but scoring as well…even if it was against us! [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78181[/TD]
[TD]Smith leads the line as Ceyhun is still unhappy. Galatasaray old boy Enes tucks in a penalty after an Utku push in the box. Ceyhun comes on and we push forward, with Thomsen scoring after a scramble in the box although to no avail as they score as we try and get forward for teh winner. In hindsight, that was a bit naive from me as we far from our best and throwing caution to the wind to get the win was a mistake. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78179[/TD]
[TD]A rare change of formation to try and deal with Sevilla’s three central midfielders and the fullbacks are reigned in for the away leg. The more direct passing approach pays off in the first half as Ceyhun gives us a vital away work but Sevilla’s pressure pays off as they score two quickfire goals shortly after half time. An away goal though…[/TD]
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Worryingly, a number of Chinese teams are sniffing around Ceyhun although I’m not going to sell as it would be impossible, even if I saw the transfer money, to bring in a replacement with the transfer window closed.
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[TD]View attachment 78178[/TD]
[TD]Back to the familiar for the league game. Ceyhun is rested, and Smith comes in, but other than that it’s the usual suspects. Smith is outstanding and clinical in a dominant result that helps to boost the goal difference. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78177[/TD]
[TD]Whilst I was hoping the home advantage might help the team overcome the one goal deficit, the performance was beyond what I was expecting. Ceyhun virtually single handedly put Sevilla to the sword with a hat-trick and assist and the penalty save is the icing on the cake. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78176[/TD]
[TD]The second of three matches against Sivasspor and Eroglu is given a rare league start to see what he can do. Ceyhun is replaced after a poor hour and Guler comes in for Eroglu who was solid enough, but hardly inspiring. However, neither player can do enough to rescue any poitns after Teodoro’s foul in the box as we lose our third game of the season.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78175[/TD]
[TD]CB Adeniyi makes a long awaited return from injury and the usual other changes are made for the cup tie. Another frustrating, stuttering performance and another goal from Pereira means Sivasspor seem to have the better of us at the moment athough we did enough in the away leg to progress on away goals to face Konyaspor in the two-legged semi final. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78073 [/TD]
[TD]A top of the division clash as first face second. Having lost a little bit of ground last month, a win is vital and the team duly delivers with a performance that deserved more than just the 2 goals. A fine win which makes the losses last month even more frustrating but putting that aside, 11 points clear at this stage of the season is a pretty good place to be.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78072[/TD]
[TD]Napoli dealt with everything we through at them right up until I brought Smith on as an extra striker to play alongside Ceyhun which paid instant dividends. Their away goal means a tough second leg is in store.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78071[/TD]
[TD]I take a gamble and keep a number of first team players fresh to give us the best possible chance of progressing in the European Cup. Thompsen, Eroglu, Smith and Sittsam come in and it’s Thompsen and Smith who combine to provide the winner. Suarez takes the plaudit for the fine penalty stop in first half injury time. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78070[/TD]
[TD]Back to the strongest first 11 in a game we have to at least score in, which Ceyhun does early on with a fantastic solo effort. After the sending off, Napoli played without an AML position and Yasar was pretty much given free reign on that flank but despite concentrating the attacking down that side, we couldn’t break through. Extra time came and Napoli went into a defensive narrow 4-1-3-1 formation which just couldn’t break down resulting in the lottery of penalties…which it turns out we’re not very good at. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 78069 [/TD]
[TD]An outstanding Adeniyi header from a corner gives us a valuable win in a surprisingly close encounter which we didn’t create as many chances as the respective league positions suggest we should have done. [/TD]
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The international break means its a relatively short month. A couple of possible new signings have come to my attention:
View attachment 78068 - this guy seems like the natural replacement to Sittsam who is leaving at the end of the season on a free contract but it’s proving difficult to pry him away from Bursaspor.
View attachment 78067 - available on a free, but doesn’t want to sign until he’s had more offers…
View attachment 78066 - 19 year old at Wolfsburg II who looks like an outstanding prospect…
View attachment 78065 - 20 yearold wonderkid at Genclebiglici who I’ve made efforts to get, but to no avail
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[TD]View attachment 77902[/TD]
[TD]Eroglu scores his first league goal of the season with a fine strike from just inside the box. The 18 year old is rapidly looking comfortable and doesn’t look out of place at this level. An own goal and horribly short backpass which gives Ceyhun the easiest of finishes rounds off the game. A fairly routine win in what could have been a tricky tie. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 77901[/TD]
[TD]The first leg of the semi-final of the cup and Marcao opens the scoring for them with a fluked cross-shot that flies over the keepers head in a ‘he most certainly did not mean that’ fashion and the rest of the game is a bit of a disappointing non-event from our point of view in which we were probably lucky just to concede one goal. Work to do in the second leg.[/TD]
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View attachment 77900 Two of the clubs academy prospects who have come through the ranks are currently on loan and getting plenty of playing time. Ak & Gulmaz are both good prospects who can come into the team and replace Smith and Van De Beek respectively. My bigger challenge looks like persuading Ceyhun to stay as he remains unhappy.
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[TD]View attachment 77899[/TD]
[TD]The bottom team come to town in what should be a comfortable win and it’s a win that, if achieved, guarantees the title. Thomsen and Yasar create a number of chances but it takes 33 minutes for Ceyhun to take one, which is followed up by a deserved penalty to give me a the opportunity for a routine half time team talk. Guler completes the victory with a composed finish from just inside the box to guarantee the league.
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And with it, the board adjust the budgets for next season, giving me £21m to spend, with the priority being an AMC as Sittsam’s contract expires in 2 months time.
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[TD]View attachment 77897[/TD]
[TD]Hopefully the boys are professional enough not to switch off now the title is won and, despite conceding early, Berkay and Ceyhun complete the job. Ceyhun’s goal means he now takes Galatasaray’s record for mosts goals in a season and needs 3 more to beat Derdoyik’s league goalscoring record of 2017/2018. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 77896[/TD]
[TD]A bit of a dire first half is quickly forgotten as Thomsen lights up the second with a 30 yard wonderstrike and gets a second with another fine strike from just inside the box. Although they clawed one back, we held on to record the win. Thomsen’s recent upturn in form and good performances has brought him to the attention of a number of teams who seem to be tracking his progress. [/TD]
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Ceyhun requests to be removed from the transfer list which eases some of my concerns considerably and is immediately given a massive new contract tying him to the club for another 3 years.
It’s not the strongest team, but it is consistently the team that has got us to the semi finals of the cup so they deserve to play, win or lose. They do have a goal deficit to recover first, although they cant do that. I think my sentimentality got the better of me and it was raised by the media after the game who questioned why I didn’t play a stronger line-up.
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[TD]View attachment 77894[/TD]
[TD]At home, this is the one the fans have been waiting for…although I feel they would have been disappointed by the goal-less draw. A lot of huff, puff and work for no reward, even after some offensive changes at half time to try and force at least a goal. [/TD]
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34 year old CB Gunter confirms he will retire at the end of the season along with on-loan Pereira. I already have Barbadian winger, Leon Jenkins coming into vacate the space left by Pereira but some thought will have to go in to Gunters replacement as we have no natural obvious choice at the club. Turkish international goalkeeper Meric is unhappy at Leverkusen and an improvement on Suarez. I meet his minimum fee release clause of £10.5m and he will join in the summer.
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[TD]View attachment 77343[/TD]
[TD]A dull first half is followed up by an equally dull, but at least contained goals, second half. Goncalves scored a bit of a lucky goal before Gunter scores a tap in from a corner and gets his tenth and surely last, with his impending retirement, goal for the club.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 77342[/TD]
[TD]The final game of the season and, whilst something of a dead rubber, it would be good to put down a marker to prove why we won the league. Another non eventful first half before Adeniyi is sent off for 2 bookable offences. Ceyhun steps up and spanks in a free-kick from 25 yards then finishes off a very well worked move. He should have got his hat-trick but hit both the post and the bar during the remainder of the game, but even with 10 men, that was a pretty good result. [/TD]
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A final points total of 81 and a massive 21 ahead of the closest competitors shows how dominant we have been. A goal difference of 46, mainly as a result of having conceded just 16 with 18 clean sheets, is phenomenal.
View attachment 77339 Lots of very good performances this season with RB Yasar the standout performer but it’s Ceyhun who pretty much led this team to the title.Five players get into double figures for goals which is a great return and 16 different players scored over the course of the season, although despite Smith’s contribution his ratings were awful. Unsurprisingly, Berkan leads the assists with strong contributions from a number of others. 19 year old Eroglu has a promising first full season at the club and Pereira was a justified loan signing in the end.
View attachment 77338Pereira’s loan spell is up and leaves the club to be replaced with ex Spurs winger Jenkins on a free transfer.
View attachment 77337Turkish international keeper Meric is signed for £10.5m from Leverkusen and will come in as first choice.
View attachment 7733620 year old striker Ak is promoted to the first team to replace Smith, who is transfer listed and subsequently leaves to join Maccabi Tel Aviv.
View attachment 7733520 year old midfielder Gulmez is also promoted to the first team to replace Van De Beek who joins Lazio.
View attachment 77334Gunter retires and is replaced by Norwegian international Balchen, again on a free transfer and an outstanding piece of business as he is a quality player and there were bigger teams in for him.
Overall, those transfers improve the squad or bring some youth prospects through, but I’m still chasing a replacement for Sittsam.
View attachment 77333 The first lot of pre-season friendlies, including a tour round England go pretty well with Jenkins in particular hitting the ground running.
Despite numerous attempts, I’m unable to bring in the AMC that I wanted and Bursaspor are playing hardball with regards to letting him go. I’ve dipped into the loan market again this season and found Dizdarevic to come in for the season - hopefully I can return for Altiparmark at a later date.
The final 2 friendlies go to plan against lower league teams and will hopefully act as a good warm up to the season opener, which is the Turkish super cup against last seasons cup winners; Trabzonspor. We seem to have encountered a ridiculous number of injuries in pre-season but we can still put out a strong team. Jenkins, Dizdarevic, Balchen and Gulmez all make their debuts for the club.
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[TD]View attachment 77299 [/TD]
[TD]All of the debutants have fine performances but it’s one of the old guard Ahmet who scores from the penalty spot. A tight game but we were dominant without really putting away as many chances as we should have done. [/TD]
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A fourth seed draw for the Champions League means that whatever group we’re in, it’s going to be a tough call to get out. The defeat to Napoli in the European Cup last season on penalties was disappointing, but this is the competition we deserve to be in.
View attachment 77298 Considering who we could have ended up facing, that’s a pretty reasonable draw.
View attachment 76584
Good transfer business done, although the budget didn’t allow for anything other than improvements/replacements to the first team squad. Baker and Ekobo are top quality goalkeepers and I signed them with the intention of selling on quickly for a profit - it hasn’t worked that way. Bah was signed as a replacement for Adeniyi although his much vaunted transfer didn’t actually come about so Bah will have to make do with a back-up role for the time being.
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[TD]View attachment 76583[/TD]
[TD]Ceyhun hasn’t quite recovered from the cup game so Ak comes in to lead the line. Other than that, it’s pretty much the same. Ak shows a composure that was missing from Smith’s game last season and scores his first goal for the club. A couple of beautifully worked goals in the second half seal a comfortable win in the first league game of the season. Guler deserved his MoM award with all 3 assists. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 76582[/TD]
[TD]Ceyhun starts and he and Guler have the fullbacks to thank for their first half goals. Another two in the second half and we record a comfortable victory with a pretty dominant performance. Meric, my £10.5m signing makes his debut in goal, although has a pretty comfortable evening which, although obviously still early in the season, takes us top of the league. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 76430[/TD]
[TD]A tough Champions League opener and the decision to go toe-to-toe with Lyon rather backfires in the first half as they score twice in the first half. Ceyhun tucks one away in the second half before we get hit on the counter attack as we try and push for an equalizer towards the end.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 76645[/TD]
[TD]Berkay starts the recovery process after his long injury lay-off, although he’s not fit enough to start so loan signing Dizdarevic maintains his place. Guler, with 2 goals and 3 assists in the first games is undroppable at the moment although he fails to make his mark in a pretty horrible performance. Galatasaray oldboy Unal scores a hat-trick of freekicks, Adeniyi and Valenzuela concede virtually identical own goals - deflecting in right wing crosses. Yasar, Muhammet and Dizdarevice at least made it reasonably respectable. A very odd result, did not see that one coming. [/TD]
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Berkay makes his first start and both Adeniyi and Meric pay the price for the heavy defeat in the last game but it’s another disappointing result and performance as we concede as a result of not being able to deal properly with a corner and then can’t make the most of good chances as we chase the game with Dizdarevic being the main culprit. The fans will not be happy with that loss to huge rivals.
As I can see my friend you cannot post screenshots as well. Last night I tried too and while after I saved my post the icons seemed to be appeared today I am facing the same issue again.
Jenkins has yet to properly hit his straps in a Galatasaray shirt, but has the ideal opportunity here. Adeniyi comes in as he looks to get over his horror show against Akhisi and Berkay still can’t manage 90 minutes so Dizdarevic, a very able deputy, comes in. Yasar is injured in the first half and without a suitable replacement, DM Gulmex has to do a job at WBR. A calm finish from Jenkins seals the win, but they had the better and more plentiful chances to win the game and probably should have done.
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Yasar suffers a broken foot in the game and is ruled out for 4 months which is a blow.
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[TD]View attachment 76347[/TD]
[TD]Having lost the last two league games, we need to get back to form and a game against the newly promoted team is as good an opportunity as any. Berkay and Erkan are restored to the starting line-up and it looked as through it was going to be a walkover with 2 goals in as many minutes, but they rallied and the game was only killed off when Ceyhun finished a fine flowing move[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 76346[/TD]
[TD]An injury to Serkan over the international break means I am left without a RB so rather than change the formation, which would leave the flanks exposed, LB Mustafa will have to do a job in the RWB position which he does and plays well. Berkay puts away an early penalty at which point I thought we’d kick on, but the rest of the game was disappointing as both Ceyhun and Guler fail to impress. Not the most convincing of wins, but 3 points gained in a potentially difficult tie.[/TD]
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My contract expires in 9 months and I’m quite enjoying things here, so I go to the board… View attachment 76345 …which is disappointing considering the title win last season.
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[TD]View attachment 76344 [/TD]
[TD]I’d quite like to give Ceyhun and Guler a rest as they’ve not been in the best form recently. Unofrtunately, they are also my most likely source of a goal. The scoreline didn’t really reflect the fact that we got battered and should have lost by a far greater margin as we just couldn’t deal with their winger, despite making changes to try and counter the threat they posed.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 76338 [/TD]
[TD]A Guler goal and a Dizdarevic shot which was deflected twice before making its way into the back of the net give us a comfortable lead. Jenkins completes the comfortable win with a fine header and his first league goal of the season. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 76087[/TD]
[TD]With a huge Champions League game on the horizon, Ceyhun, Berkay, Jenkins and Guler are left out of the starting 11 resulting in a tight hard fought contest settled by a solitary Ak goal just before half time. Ahmet should have made it more comfortable. [/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 76086[/TD]
[TD]We welcome the group leaders in the 4th game of the competition. I take a bit of a gamble and put in Ekobo but it’s not the defences for either team that cover themeselves in glory as we share 8 goals. Ceyhun was outstanding for us but we struggled defensively for some reason and they seemed to put away every half chance they had. Not a good result which puts or chances of progressing into serious doubt. Having scored in the 89th minute, to concede after that is a kick in the teeth.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 76085[/TD]
[TD]A late, very late goal from the summer signing Jenkins gives us a deserved but hard fought victory in the end. It looks as though the consistent dominant performances that were a feature of last season are starting to evaporate.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 76084[/TD]
[TD]The number of quality goalkeepers in the squad is starting to cause problems as 2; Meric & Eboko come to me in the week saying they’ve not had enough playing time. A RB is finally fit enough to play in their natural position and Erkan comes in. 2 lots of clumsy defending gift Ahmet the chance to get his brace and Ceyhun caps off a fine win. [/TD]
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The decision to let Van De Beek go and promote Gulmez from the reserves is paying off as he puts in another good performance.
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[TD]View attachment 76083[/TD]
[TD]Something of a crunch game as we play the team above us in the table - a win would take us level on points with one to play. We absolutely dominate the first half with a contain mentality that simply doesn’t let them out of the half, other than one foray forward when Mustafa inexplicably brings down their striker when he had nowhere to go. Berkay ensures we make the most of the dominance. Unfortunately, we lose Ceyhun just before half-time and 21 yr old Ak comes in with a chance to make a name for himself. Guler seals the win at the death.[/TD]
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