Oz Kanka, Friend of Fenerbahce Worldwide, Quoted in Turkish Daily News
Oz Kanka, Friend of Fenerbahce Worldwide, Quoted in Turkish Daily NewsBy Nathan L. Redd
My good friend Oz Kanka, a Genclerbirligi supporter, is quoted in Monday's edition of the Turkish Daily News following the weird series of events surrounding their manager over the weekend. For those that do not know, newly-hired Genclerbirligi Manager Ersun Yanal resigned from the club on Saturday, only two days after accepting the position. This has caused a serious backlash against Genclerbirligi Chairman Ilhan Cavcav from their fans.
Oz Kanka and his team are regular visitors to Fenerbahce Worldwide and quite supportive of me, despite not exactly being the biggest Fenerbahce fans. They are also contributors in our "comments" section. In addition, they have a blog that is in English and fantastic. I have a great deal of admiration for them and their passion for Genclerbirligi. Most of you know that I feel one of the best ways for Fenerbahce to succeed is for the other Turkish clubs to achieve success as well.
Please take a moment and visit "The Round Ball in Ankara" - www.ankarafootball.blogspot.com. You can also read the article quoting Oz Kanka by visiting http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=75496
Tebrikler, Oz Bey. Now go find a new coach!
posted by Nathan L. Redd at Monday, June 11, 2007
13 Comments:
But who the hell is going to want to coach at Genclerbirligi now? I'm depressed.
But thanks for the "congrats" Nathan. Just wish they can quote me again some time in the future when I actually have something positive to say. The way we are going though it may be a long, long time.
If you guys have money, someone will want to coach at Genclerbirligi.
Keep up the good work. I know the only reason I have received so much attention is because I'm American and not Turkish, which you sort of have going for you too (I didn't mean you are American - I didn't mean to insult you like that). We're Turkish novelties!
By the way Nathan, the link on the right hand side of your blog to the sporsitesi article on you doesn't seem to work.
Yeah, I think they took it down now. I'll do a search again and see if I can find it.
Nathan said: "I know the only reason I have received so much attention is because I'm American and not Turkish"
Don't be too harsh on yourself. But you forgot the other reason you are getting attention. You are a Fener blog!
The press here is totally Istanbul centric. If it rains in Istanbul and traffic is slightly delayed the news channels go into a mode normally only seen for the beginning of a war. If it floods in the rest of the country it will normally take at least five drownings before the press will even bother to report it.
The TDN today had the long article concerning Gencler but guess how much there was in Hurriyet... One whole paragraph on Sunday. No follow ups yet, not even in the Ankara pullout which normally has a few articles on Gencler or Ankaragucu.
Do you detect a note of jealousy from us Ankara people. You bet.
As for your last line: "We're Turkish novelties!". You aren't wrong there!
I understand your frustration, Oz. Being an American, I've been an American sports fan for most of my life and supported the "Genclerbirligi's" of American sports. I know what you mean about a lack of respect and press coverage. In fact, I never chose Fener because they were big - when I first started watching them, I didn't know if they were the biggest club in Turkiye or the smallest, to be honest.
Hang in there. One day I will work in Turkiye, and I have plans not only to further Fenerbahce, but Turkish futbol in general. It sounds funny to say now and I get lots of laughs, but trust me on this one.
By the way, Oz, I just sent you an e-mail.
Nathan, im just wondering. Which teams did u support in NFL, NBA or MLB? :)
Sari, I'm not an NFL fan and as you may know, university sports in America are very big. I am a big supporter of my University - the University of Louisville. I follow their sports very closely and cheer for them. I grew up as a fan of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, and I watch the NBA and NHL but don't have one particular team that I watch. I was a big fan of the Washington Bullets/Wizards in the 1990's when Chris Webber and Juwan Howard were there, but since then I am just a fan of the league - not one particular team.
Don't leave out the fact that your articles are very well written, exciting and absorbing too :)) The other day, my bf was talking about Fenerbahce and I actually got involved in the conversation; for which he was very surprised and asked me where I got the information from...
Guess where... from Nathan's blog :))
Thanks, sn. I'll give you the $20 I paid you to say those nice things later. :)
I thought your bf was a fan of that "other" Istanbul team.
Good morning from Ankara. I have to agree with the other contributors Nathan, your Blog is very well written and informative. Long may it continue.
As you know, I have been an ANKARAGUCU fanatik for 18 years but that doesn't stop me from supporting Genclerbirligi with Oz Kanka from time to time. So, the Ersun Yanal fiasco affected me too.
Oz Kanka and I have met Ersun Yanal and I can honestly say that he is an up-front guy and his coaching credentials speak for themselves.
He brought UEFA Cup success to ANKARAGUCU and Gencler in the past, and seemed to be doing a good job at newly promoted Manisa.
So, it was with sadness that I read about the way he was treated by Mr Cavcav who should be hanging his head in shame.
We have certainly not heard the end of this, and I'm sure that Gencler's support base will dwindle still further in protest next season.
I understand that Mr Cavcav is a successful businessman, and for that I congratulate him. However, if you take on the responsibility of running a footie team then you must also take on the responsibility for the supporters and bringing them success. After all, they are the life-blood of a footie team !
We also have a similar problem in ANKARAGUCU with Cemal Aydin, and I for one have mentioned many times on The Round Ball in Ankara that, as the capital city of Turkey, we must have teams with ambition. Sadly, I am still waiting in frustration along with many others for this to materialise.
In summary, I take this opportunity of wishing Ersun Yanal all the best for the future and hope he finds a footie club who will appreciate his talents.
In the meantime, let's keep on blogging and hope that someone out there is listening to us footie punters - we may be wiser than some people give us credit for !!!
yes he is, indeed. But the Roberto Carlos transfer is making his mouth drop open too :))
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