dyslexic nam Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I am far more fickle than most I guess. I don’t have any natural allegiance to a team based on history, geography or religion so I cheer for the teams that field Canadians. That means I cheered for Fulham when Radz was there, I cheered for Werder when Stalteri was there, and I now cheer for Rangers, Besiktas, Lille and Bayern. I have no reason not to - and I want the Canadian boys at each of those clubs to succeed as much as possible. Things might be different if I had a strong affiliation with a team in one of those leagues - but it would have to be damn strong to override the Canuck factor. costarg, Craig11rm, Alex and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 I really only support 2 football teams, not including the local, amateur club where I play and serve on the committee. I was born in Vancouver at a time when soccer was actually the biggest sport locally. It's natural, then, that the Whitecaps are my first club. After the demise of the original NASL, I became a fan of Liverpool, largely because they were always featured on Soccer Saturday and Grobbelaar and Beardsley were there, having previously been amongst my Whitecaps favourites. Over 35 years later, my passions for those two clubs remain very strong. Beyond them, I have mild affinity for the 2 Osaka J League teams from when I lived there, and will follow any club with a Canadian player. That being said, Istanbul is probably my favourite world city, excluding Vancouver and Melbourne, and Besiktas is the most-likeable of the 4-5 teams based there. They have a beautiful, new stadium just a short walk from Taksim Square, play in sharp, simple kits, and their supporters love Atiba as much as any of us do. I'm likely to continue seeing them as my favoured Turkish team even after Hutch and Larin move on. nolando, N1ckbr0wn, Unnamed Trialist and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 15 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said: Definitely. Now I don't know the ins and outs of Turkish football, but Besiktas also seems to be a team that is not overly tied to the country's political structure, they seem to have a bit more progressive fan base. With some socially radical components. Maybe I am wrong, but I understand they are more working and middle class Istanbul, and less tied to Islamic identities as well, more in line with Turkey's traditional laicity. I spent over a week in the Besiktas area of Istanbul a little over a year ago and got the chance to speak to some Besiktas supporters during and after a match. You are correct in that the supporters tend to be more progressive and generally middle class; just like most of the neighbourhood (although it borders on the posh part of the city). It is the only side that is allowed to use the Turkish flag in their crest. nolando, Obinna and Unnamed Trialist 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, SthMelbRed said: I really only support 2 football teams, not including the local, amateur club where I play and serve on the committee. I was born in Vancouver at a time when soccer was actually the biggest sport locally. It's natural, then, that the Whitecaps are my first club. After the demise of the original NASL, I became a fan of Liverpool, largely because they were always featured on Soccer Saturday and Grobbelaar and Beardsley were there, having previously been amongst my Whitecaps favourites. Over 35 years later, my passions for those two clubs remain very strong. Beyond them, I have mild affinity for the 2 Osaka J League teams from when I lived there, and will follow any club with a Canadian player. That being said, Istanbul is probably my favourite world city, excluding Vancouver and Melbourne, and Besiktas is the most-likeable of the 4-5 teams based there. They have a beautiful, new stadium just a short walk from Taksim Square, play in sharp, simple kits, and their supporters love Atiba as much as any of us do. I'm likely to continue seeing them as my favoured Turkish team even after Hutch and Larin move on. That's pretty cool to hear. My wife is from Osaka (the Miyakojima district, specifically). Her parents once took me to see Gamba Osaka in a cup game, and the opponent so happened to be Shimizu S-pulse, ironically. Jakovic was not in the line up though, sadly. I think he was away on National team duty because Canada was playing Korea. Just my luck... I have yet to watch Cerezo Osaka play, but maybe one day. My wife actually went to elementary school with Kakitani, who is a former Japanese international that still plays for the club. He must be somewhat of a club legend by now because he's played like 300 games for them. Anyway, cool to hear I am not the only fairweather Osaka fan here. I find myself checking the table in Japan from time-to-time to see how they are doing. Edited January 23, 2021 by Obinna costarg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestHamCanadianinOxford Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 11 hours ago, dyslexic nam said: I am far more fickle than most I guess. I don’t have any natural allegiance to a team based on history, geography or religion so I cheer for the teams that field Canadians. That means I cheered for Fulham when Radz was there, I cheered for Werder when Stalteri was there, and I now cheer for Rangers, Besiktas, Lille and Bayern. I have no reason not to - and I want the Canadian boys at each of those clubs to succeed as much as possible. Things might be different if I had a strong affiliation with a team in one of those leagues - but it would have to be damn strong to override the Canuck factor. Interesting discussion/experiences generally. I myself am squarely in both camps. I am a bit envious sometimes of being able pick the team I support, I would probably have picked one that won something, anything, in the lifetime of my memory. But it is also great having a team that is in your families/ancestors' blood and I will always have ties/memories connected to them. As kid, I did my best to follow West Ham when it was almost impossible to do so in rural Alberta. I later picked up some Italian sympathies (Juve even) because of the Edmonton soccer scene and more Serie A games shown over a weekend than the, relatively new, Premier League. But the internet helped change all that and then I moved to the country of West Ham if not the locale for school. In short, there will always be one team. But I have loved (now I have a bit more time) watching Gent, Besiktas, Bayern, Rangers (being of English decent makes you slightly disposed to go that way, for all the wrong reasons), lower league stuff for some of the younger, fringe players and MLS if it ever comes on at a decent hour. Lille has been a struggle, I must confess (it is the French league after all.) Never really had a second team but Canadian loyalties have given me a bunch. Those loyalties have come in conflict rarely thankfully. Stalteri at Spurs was the worst. But the biggest dagger in the heart (his injury time winner in the 3-4 in '07) actually spurred us on to the Great Escape (Tevezgate notwithstanding). So I will always think he knew what he was doing. Currently there is a slight conflict with Wolves because if West Ham can compete like they should, Wolves would be a rival for a European spot, but I want them to do really well so Corbeanu gets a run out. West Ham and Canada together with Forrest was great when I was young. Though I am almost worried it would happen again because of how hard West Ham supporters are on their players sometimes. Obinna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
costarg Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 On 1/22/2021 at 7:50 PM, SthMelbRed said: I really only support 2 football teams, not including the local, amateur club where I play and serve on the committee. I was born in Vancouver at a time when soccer was actually the biggest sport locally. It's natural, then, that the Whitecaps are my first club. After the demise of the original NASL, I became a fan of Liverpool, largely because they were always featured on Soccer Saturday and Grobbelaar and Beardsley were there, having previously been amongst my Whitecaps favourites. Over 35 years later, my passions for those two clubs remain very strong. Beyond them, I have mild affinity for the 2 Osaka J League teams from when I lived there, and will follow any club with a Canadian player. That being said, Istanbul is probably my favourite world city, excluding Vancouver and Melbourne, and Besiktas is the most-likeable of the 4-5 teams based there. They have a beautiful, new stadium just a short walk from Taksim Square, play in sharp, simple kits, and their supporters love Atiba as much as any of us do. I'm likely to continue seeing them as my favoured Turkish team even after Hutch and Larin move on. I connected and got flashbacks with soo much of this, i had similar experiences and feelings with Istanbul, Osaka and Melbourne. Fun to read. Obinna and SthMelbRed 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiedPilko Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 He had another goal called offside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jan/28/besiktas-and-cska-moscow-keen-on-loan-move-for-evertons-cenk-tosun Dick move on Besiktas' part if they bring Tosun back despite what Cyle has been doing for them this season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowcrash Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 7 hours ago, SthMelbRed said: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jan/28/besiktas-and-cska-moscow-keen-on-loan-move-for-evertons-cenk-tosun Dick move on Besiktas' part if they bring Tosun back despite what Cyle has been doing for them this season? I don't quite see it like that. Strictly from an asset management prospective, Besiktas knows they can cash in on Larin down the road and they're not going to do anything to impair what they can get for him. Obinna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 The Turkish season is ridiculous long (42 games I think). Makes sense to have a deep squad if you can afford it. CanadaFan123 and Obinna 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiedPilko Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 It's weird that they're so obsessed with with getting a fourth striker, though. Everything I've seen from Besiktas fans suggests their CB situation is a lot worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longlugan Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Apparently St.Etienne is interested in him now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baulderdash77 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2021/st-etienne-look-to-cyle-larin-besiktas-after-mostafa-mohamed-deal-collapses/ more on the St Etienne interest in Larin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frmr Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Would be a good move for him provided they stay up. He should be taking advantage of his current form to move to a better league. Besiktas is a big club but in a poor league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertuzzi44 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Bottom of the table teams usually don't score too many goals. I like the idea of moving to Ligue 1, but this could hurt his numbers/perceived productivity too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordan Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Tosun would likely compete with Aboubakr and not Larin Unnamed Trialist and Ruffian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frmr Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 4 minutes ago, Bertuzzi44 said: Bottom of the table teams usually don't score too many goals. I like the idea of moving to Ligue 1, but this could hurt his numbers/perceived productivity too. They came in fourth two years ago. Seventeenth last year. The would be mid-table if they hadn't taken two points of the last possible fifteen. I haven't been following them at all but maybe they just need a finisher. Unnamed Trialist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaFan123 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 50 minutes ago, frmr said: Would be a good move for him provided they stay up. He should be taking advantage of his current form to move to a better league. Besiktas is a big club but in a poor league. I think the Turkish league, while not a top 5 league, is criminally underrated to the average fan. It’s objectively the 3rd best league that we have a Canadian in at the moment and arguably better than any league outside Europe. Red and White, Corazon, JamboAl and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narduch Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 St. Etienne are usually a perennial European qualifier in France. Remember just a season ago David scored against them in Europa League. They seem to be in a 2 year funk now. I don't follow Ligue 1 enough to know why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frmr Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 10 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said: I think the Turkish league, while not a top 5 league, is criminally underrated to the average fan. It’s objectively the 3rd best league that we have a Canadian in at the moment and arguably better than any league outside Europe. Historically yes, currently it's 13th in coefficient ranking though which puts it below Belgium, Scotland and Ukraine. Not exactly powerhouse leagues. Maybe not that's the be all end all metric to judge a league but the Turkish league has fallen far from the past decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate3322 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 23 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said: I think the Turkish league, while not a top 5 league, is criminally underrated to the average fan. It’s objectively the 3rd best league that we have a Canadian in at the moment I'd argue it's the 4th best imo behind Bundesliga, Ligue un and the Portuguese league. But I agree that the Turkish league is underrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate3322 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) double post Edited January 30, 2021 by Nate3322 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadaFan123 Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 6 minutes ago, frmr said: Historically yes, currently it's 13th in coefficient ranking though which puts it below Belgium, Scotland and Ukraine. Not exactly powerhouse leagues. Maybe not that's the be all end all metric to judge a league but the Turkish league has fallen far from the past decade. I find it puzzling that Scotland could be above Turkey there. There has been a Turkish teams in the UCL group stages at least for the past 25 years and Besiktas made the knockout stages just 2 years ago. I’m a fan of Scottish football but they really aren’t in the same league in terms of parity, budget or support. I also can’t remember Rangers or Celtic in the UCL knockouts for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordan Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 2 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said: I find it puzzling that Scotland could be above Turkey there. There has been a Turkish teams in the UCL group stages at least for the past 25 years and Besiktas made the knockout stages just 2 years ago. I’m a fan of Scottish football but they really aren’t in the same league in terms of parity, budget or support. I also can’t remember Rangers or Celtic in the UCL knockouts for some time. Rangers undefeated streak in europa helps and knocking Galatasaray out certainly helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frmr Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 16 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said: I find it puzzling that Scotland could be above Turkey there. There has been a Turkish teams in the UCL group stages at least for the past 25 years and Besiktas made the knockout stages just 2 years ago. I’m a fan of Scottish football but they really aren’t in the same league in terms of parity, budget or support. I also can’t remember Rangers or Celtic in the UCL knockouts for some time. Coefficient takes into account last five years, Turkey has been on a steady decline. I would have thought Turkey would be above all three of those leagues. https://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/#/yr/2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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