Following the international âÂÂbreakâÂÂ, the Super Lig was back in full throttle this weekend and it was a sense of the same old for many teams.
Fenerbahce fans will be wishing it had never come back after enduring a week of turmoil and disappointment.
Their sideâÂÂs 2-0 defeat at Kayserispor came amid claims that club chairman Aziz Yildirim is to be questioned regarding his failure to complete the obligatory Turkish military service.
The claims, reported by Haberturk (who have since been banned from FenerâÂÂs training ground), suggest that Yildirim may have acquired suspect papers in order to avoid military service â due to health reasons.
It was a photo of Yildirim in his youth, stood next to the rest of his team-mates for a pre season photos that has, understandably, led to speculation as to what exactly these âÂÂhealthâ problems were.
Their worries were not eased when manager Aykut Kocaman withdrew Captain Alex De Souza at half time for the second time this season. Failing to even win a single corner Fener lacked any sort of creativity.
New signing Joseph Yobo limped off after an hour into his debut and â having failed to take any defenders to Kayseri â Kocaman was forced to put midfielder Selcuk Sahin in at centre back. Two goals followed in the space of five minutes and Kocaman was left looking rather silly.
A red face will be the least of his worries should Fener fail to beat Besiktas in this seasonâÂÂs first derby. Besiktas are in red-hot form and again managed to put four goals past their opponents.
All without the help of Ricardo Quaresma might I add. Striker Bobo signalled a return to form with two goals while ex Fenerbahce striker Mert Nobre and Ibrahim Toraman completed the rout against Ankaragucu.
Guti Watch â The calm before the storm. Did exactly what was expected, nothing less, nothing more whilst looking very pretty in the process.
While form rarely plays a part on derby day, Besiktas fans will be travelling to the Sukru Saracoglu with a whole lot more confidence than their hosts. What the weekend will bring is anyoneâÂÂs guess!
TDâÂÂs guess â A lot of goals with a point each...3-3?!
The kafuffle around the national basketball teamâÂÂs appearance in the World Cup Final meant the rest of the weekend fixtures were to be played on Monday evening. Galatasaray and Trabzonspor were both in action, the latter more so as it turned out.
Three goals in the space of seven first half minutes set Trabzon on the way to a 6-1 win over Sivasspor. Teofilo Gutierrez grabbed a brace as he doubled his tally for the season and added to an already growing reputation.
However, his limelight was partly stolen by Sivasspor defender Sedat Bayrak, who can expect a hefty ban â presumably from both his club a the Turkish FA - after throwing his shirt at referee Bulent Yildirim upon receiving his marching orders.
Bayrak was shown a straight red for his comments towards the linesman. Sadly for the wannabe lip readers out there, the cameras failed to catch his words. Not along the lines of âÂÂgood decisionâ one would imagine.
Galatasaray hosted Gaziantepspor in the final game of the week. New signings Emiliano Insua and Zvjezdan Misimovic were both given starts by Frank Rijkaard, with Cimbom showing very little sign of any improvement.
The thought of relying on Harry Kewell would send shudders down spines at Anfield, however the Aussie grabbed the only goal to move his side up to seventh.
The unconvincing teamâÂÂs performance drew a lot of criticism from the national press, with Ahmet Cakar of Zaman stating âÂÂCimbom donâÂÂt have football, they have luckâÂÂ.
Unfortenetly for Cimbom, luck does not win league titles.
Results round up:
Galatasaray 1-0 Gaziantepspor
Genclerbirligi 2-1 Istanbul BB
Kasimpasa 1-2 Karabukspor
Trabzonspor 6-1 Sivasspor
Besiktas 4-0 Ankaragucu
Kayserispor 2-0 Fenerbahce
Konyaspor 1-1 Bucaspor
Manisaspor 1-2 Antalyaspor
Bursaspor 2-1 Eskisehirspor
More from Turkish Delights ⢠TD on Twitter
FourFourTwo.com: More to read...
Turkey: News ⢠Stats
FFT.com: Features ⢠News ⢠Interviews ⢠Home
Interact: Twitter ⢠Facebook ⢠Forums
