From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Sontje Hansen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market22 Feb 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Myenty Abena has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Gaziantep.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Gaziantep
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Burak Bozan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Baris Ozil chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Nihad Mujakić
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Match20 Feb 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Sivasspor came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Arda Kızıldağ knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gaziantep, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Gaziantep may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gaziantep this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match13 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Élan Ricardo. 1‑0 against Umraniyespor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Christopher Lungoyi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Élan Ricardo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gaziantep told Trivante Stewart something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Baris Ozil, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Feb 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gaziantep have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Sontje Hansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match6 Feb 2027
3 matches without a goal for Gaziantep
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Luis Pérez
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match6 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Christopher Lungoyi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Baris Ozil after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gaziantep, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market1 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Gaziantep, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Window shuts: 3 in, 2 out at Gaziantep
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Sontje Hansen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Gaziantep asked and Fatih Karagumruk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market1 Feb 2027
Add another name to the list: Hatayspor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Halil Bağcı. The answer from Gaziantep has not changed — yet.
Match30 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Halil Bağcı and Gaziantep agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Baris Ozil left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Jan 2027
Chastening afternoon for Gaziantep
A 0‑3 beating by Fenerbahce was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gaziantep can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kasimpasa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gaziantep is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The deal with Kasimpasa died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Emirhan Topçu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Istanbulspor have kept their man, and Gaziantep go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Christopher Lungoyi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zafer Görgen, and the manager let it.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jan 2027
Gaziantep say no — this time
The offer from Fenerbahce for Abakar Sylla was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The deal with Kasimpasa is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Emirhan Topçu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Gaziantep asked and Istanbulspor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Alexandru Maxim
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match16 Jan 2027
Istanbulspor made Gaziantep work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Gaziantep
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christopher Lungoyi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces11 Jan 2027
Kacper Kozłowski has gone, the accounts have $5.4M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Market11 Jan 2027
Basaksehir paid $5.4M and Gaziantep took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Match9 Jan 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Gaziantep say no — this time
The offer from Hatayspor for Halil Bağcı was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The deal with Independiente is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Emirhan Topçu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market11 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Gaziantep have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match9 Jan 2027
Trabzonspor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gaziantep can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match2 Jan 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Gaziantep did not have in the autumn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Gaziantep have had the benefit of it.
Match2 Jan 2027
The run at home goes on for Gaziantep
11 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Sontje Hansen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Gaziantep training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Drissa Camara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sivasspor have kept their man, and Gaziantep go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 Dec 2026
Still nobody has beaten Gaziantep
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Sontje Hansen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Gaziantep
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Drissa Camara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match28 Dec 2026
Gaziantep at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 6, 38 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandru Maxim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Baris Ozil after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A defender's afternoon for Drissa Camara
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Dec 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Giresunspor, and it could have been more.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play Gaziantep right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Match19 Dec 2026
Gaziantep make home a hard place to visit
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Élan Ricardo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gaziantep this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.59, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.25 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match12 Dec 2026
Whatever happens, Gaziantep do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Sontje Hansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Gaziantep
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Drissa Camara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Élan Ricardo. 2‑0 against Adana Demirspor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mahmut Ucar has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.47, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gaziantep this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Dec 2026
Still nobody has beaten Gaziantep
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Gaziantep training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Drissa Camara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match5 Dec 2026
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Mohamed Bayo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Emirhan Topçu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gaziantep told Emirhan Topçu something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Myenty Abena gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Gaziantep training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Burak Bozan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market30 Nov 2026
The name of Abakar Sylla keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Gaziantep say nothing, which says plenty.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
Fatih Karagumruk next, and one man in the Gaziantep dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Emirhan Topçu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match21 Nov 2026
The run at home goes on for Gaziantep
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad23 Nov 2026
19 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Nobody on the pitch touched Emirhan Topçu
7.48, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Gaziantep had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Baris Ozil chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Market23 Nov 2026
Halil Bağcı is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gaziantep has been clear about where Halil Bağcı stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Ogün Özçiçek
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match11 Nov 2026
Gaziantep bow out of the cup
Basaksehir go through and Gaziantep go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad16 Nov 2026
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A one-man rearguard from Zafer Görgen
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Gaziantep may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Sontje Hansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Drissa Camara falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Alexandru Maxim
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match14 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kacper Kozłowski. 1‑0 against Galatasaray, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Sontje Hansen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Gaziantep training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Drissa Camara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Élan Ricardo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Mohamed Bayo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Gaziantep.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Nov 2026
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nihad Mujakić, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Baris Ozil on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 56. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Élan Ricardo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Abakar Sylla has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Pérez, and the manager let it.
Match31 Oct 2026
Three points for Gaziantep, 2‑0 the final word against Ankaragucu in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.25 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Luis Pérez is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Abakar Sylla
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Abakar Sylla has come out of that comparison in the side, and Gaziantep have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Emirhan Topçu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Drissa Camara falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match24 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Gaziantep
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Gaziantep can tell you which week it ends in.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Oct 2026
50 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arda Kızıldağ, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Gaziantep
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 41. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Emirhan Topçu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Emre Demir is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Drissa Camara falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad19 Oct 2026
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.38 on the card, and the Gaziantep support went home talking about one name.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Myenty Abena, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Half-satisfied: Baris Ozil on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The plan did not have a place for Alexandru Maxim
Nobody at Gaziantep is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gaziantep this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The step up is real for Halil Bağcı
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandru Maxim, and the manager let it.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Recep Unal is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Emre Demir reaches 100 appearances
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.16, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Baris Ozil after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Gaziantep man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Mohamed Bayo was the best thing in any of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
4 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match3 Oct 2026
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Emirhan Topçu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 9.99 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Élan Ricardo beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match3 Oct 2026
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Mohamed Bayo in the middle of it, and Umraniyespor unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market5 Oct 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gaziantep this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Drissa Camara falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Gaziantep are still strangers to each other
13 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Baris Ozil after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Burak Bozan gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match26 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Alanyaspor came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Umraniyespor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Abakar Sylla and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Drissa Camara falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Antalyaspor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Market21 Sep 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Gaziantep has been clear about where Christopher Lungoyi stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Arda Kızıldağ
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.98 on the card, and the Gaziantep support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Baris Ozil: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Élan Ricardo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Alexandru Maxim
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match12 Sep 2026
Fenerbahce left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Halil Demiral is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Merih Ozan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Gaziantep
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Burak Bozan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Sep 2026
3‑0, and Sontje Hansen took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Gaziantep tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 18 in, 0 out at Gaziantep
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clock did what Antalyaspor would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Emirhan Topçu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Gaziantep training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Drissa Camara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Sontje Hansen was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.25. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Kacper Kozłowski at his very best
Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Gaziantep.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nihad Mujakić slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Nihad Mujakić is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match29 Aug 2026
1‑5 to Trabzonspor, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The offer went to Antalyaspor this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Match29 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Gaziantep and Trabzonspor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Gaziantep asked and Basaksehir said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Drissa Camara falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Mohamed Bayo
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Emirhan Topçu and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
In brief
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Gaziantep
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Player ratings
Sontje Hansen runs at them all day
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match22 Aug 2026
Gaziantep win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Hatayspor will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Empoli is saying, and nobody at Gaziantep is enjoying the guessing.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sontje Hansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kacper Kozłowski has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match22 Aug 2026
Hatayspor made Gaziantep work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Kacper Kozłowski at his very best
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Gaziantep.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oguzhan Aktorkoglu and Gaziantep agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.23, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market17 Aug 2026
The chase for Emirhan Topçu ended with $6.8M changing hands and Besiktas out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Market17 Aug 2026
Kasimpasa come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Gaziantep did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
No thanks: Paolo Rizzi rejects the move
Gaziantep had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mattersburg, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Gaziantep
Sontje Hansen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match15 Aug 2026
Konyaspor made Gaziantep work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AZ have kept their man, and Gaziantep go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Trivante Stewart at his very best
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Gaziantep.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Besiktas; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Gaziantep asked and Fenerbahce said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Monza is saying, and nobody at Gaziantep is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Abakar Sylla and Gaziantep agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gaziantep this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Oguzhan Aktorkoglu has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Caner Ozil has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Merih Aktorkoglu is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kerem Inan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Gaziantep say no — this time
The offer from Hatayspor for Christopher Lungoyi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandru Maxim and Gaziantep agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Abakar Sylla in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gaziantep this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Gaziantep, another week without a signature from Alexandru Maxim.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Luis Pérez's contract
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Gaziantep are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.