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Bananas

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Posts posted by Bananas

  1. Bodo or Slavia Prague obviously.  The Dutch we are 80% eliminated or maybe 100% actually.  The others, yeah we'll just be there for the ride.  But hey we made it this far and anything more is a bonus.

    Speaking of bonuses, keep that sweet prize money rolling in.

    Found this really good website with a detailed breakup of prize money for each of the UEFA competitions and it also includes total prize money per club.

    https://www.football-coefficient.eu/money/

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  2. Hmm I haven’t checked that thread out in ages but I’m not surprised.  A common theme I’ve seen over the years is for this need to have a scapegoat.  Be it Katsouranis, Tziolis or whoever.  Not that these guys were great, they had their flaws but somehow there was this belief if we replaced them everything else would fall into place.  Now it seems to be Bakasetas and Mantalos.

    Most people can watch soccer all their lives but can’t read a game let alone understand how team management, psychology and cohesion works.  Skill is but one factor in selecting a player.  There are many other factors considered.  If it was all about skill, just go and pick one of those guys you see in a park that can juggle the ball like a champion.

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  3. I hope you’re right regarding modern medicine.  He might get away with it to an extent being a CB.  With a forward losing just a fraction of your acceleration it can make all the difference.  Anyway I hope he recovers.  I like the idea of having some players from our youth that aren’t just there to make up the numbers.

    Lyratzis, Michailidis, Tsingaras.  I dream of Giannoulis and Tzolis coming back even though I know that’s silly.  Having said that they are getting zero game time recently at Norwich.

    Lyratzis … what has his yiayia been feeding him ?  I always figured him as 3rd choice RB and he was just there to make up the numbers.  In a year or two he’d be loaned out and then off to obscurity.  And now all of a sudden the kid is locking down RB and making it his own.  Good to see and hopefully it’s not just a momentary bit of form.

  4. Yeah I remember reading about his son signing for Benfica but didn’t think anything of it.   I mean who wouldn’t take that opportunity.  So I didn’t read anything into it.  If there any truth to the club being “offended” by it … well they should get over it.

    If anything his form had dropped considerably and we were leaking goals like a sieve.  So I just figured he was dropped to give him a kick in the pants ego wise and he either couldn’t be bothered or just can’t play at the level anymore.  A quite precipitous drop really.

    So I guess that’s that then.  Crazy when you think about it.  I can remember comments on this forum when we won the title like “Varela is king” (that made me laugh).  A shame he couldn’t go out in a more dignified manner.

  5. The thing that worries me with these injuries is not so much the time which is bad in itself, it's the question of will the player ever fully recover.  Some do, but some don't and they're never the same.

  6. On 3/7/2022 at 4:50 AM, Dutch Eagle said:

    Paschalakis yellow for wasting time 

    I think we need a trainer just to cut down on the number of yellow cards we get.  It's ridiculous.  If the league was decided on yellow cards surely we would have to be favourites to win the title each season. 😀

  7. Depends on the quality of the transfers we bring in.  If we don't get a better CB or LB than Crespo or Vieirinha I would be happy to offer them a 1 year contract.  I still think they have something to offer as rotation or mainly off the bench players. 

    Biseswar is still required as he is the only player in our team with any creativity at all.  I'd be happy to get a younger replacement but I'm not hopeful that is going to happen.  Again, if used well, he has something to offer.

    You need to remember in the GSL the standard is quite low and all of the 3 above players can still cut it.  It's not until we play decent European teams that their age is a negative.

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  8. 4 hours ago, Athens4 said:

    MLS is a strange one. In fact North American sports in general are rather foreign to me. No relegation - what?!

    The part that gets me is how teams up and move to another city.  Like wtf ha ha.  Try that in Europe and cities would be rioting.  But the bizarre thing is it seems to work.  Sure we're gonna move PAOK from Salonika to Athens and fans will come.  And yet, they do.  Talk about strange.  I suppose that's what happens in a nation that refuses to go convert to the metric system.

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  9. It would be ideal if the stadium could be ready for the 2026 season (100 years) but I think Ziaka is probably right.  It's been how many years and still no meaningful movement.  I don't even think about it anymore.  If I see an article about this topic it's 50/50 if I even bother to read it.  I don't expect anything to happen other than "talk".  We'll probably be in the same position in a few years.  In the meantime, Panathinaikos look like they'll be getting a new stadium and by Greek bureaucratic standards that was fast tracked.

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  10. 6 million from UEFA plus market pool still to come (no idea what that amounts to but you’d think it’d be another million at least).  Add to that the 21 million we’ve made in the transfer market and that’s a decent war chest to make some signings in the summer.

  11. Vre boys, now things are just getting weird.  What the heck is going on ?  The team had the international break and since then everyone has tuned out.  I didn't expect to win the title this year but I thought we'd be closer than this.  And now we are in danger of actually losing to the Imps ... good lord.

  12. On 11/5/2021 at 9:02 AM, pash said:

    I think some of these decisions are getting kind of easy, huh?

     

    Ones I want:

    • Ingason - must-keep
    • Sidclay - I'd try to keep him, but we need a second pure LB as well

     

    Once I don't:

    • Lyratzis - if he hasn't clicked with any coaches so far, then he won't. Release him, unfortunately
    • Paschalakis
    • Crespo
    • Varela
    • Biseswar
    • Kagawa
    • Vieirinha
       
    • Akpom - I like him but there will probably not be room after Oliveira returns. If we get an offer for Swiderski, then I'd keep him

     

    Average age of the team is set to drop a lot on July 1st, at least!

    I'd actually keep one of Varela or Crespo to have them as a backup - on the condition they understand they are not automatic first team picks and only for one year and on reduced salary.  So in other words, not gonna happen, ha ha.  I guess it all depends on if we re-sign Ingason and if we get another CB also.  If we can get another Ingason quality CB then yeah I'd be happy to let Varela and Crespo go.  They have done what they had to do.  They have both been very good players overall and very successful signings.  But it's obvious they are ageing.  The other wildcard is how Mihaj and Michailidis develop.  I can see Michailidis especially develop into a very decent player.

    Lyratzis, this kid should be knocking on the door of first team football by now.  He needs to be loaned out and if by some miracle he develops into the next Giannoulis, great (however unlikely) but it seems he isn't to the level required at this stage.  Sidclay, fully agree, would be great to sign him permanently.

    Our whole back line is not up to par.  We need a better GK, RB, new CB to complement Ingason and then maybe we're good to go.

    In the midfield, I know it sounds crazy but I'd try and re-sign Biseswar.  He's still got it.  If used wisely you can another season out of him no problem and he will repay you with points.

    Vieirinha it kills me but I think this season is it for him.  Time to think about becoming an assistant coach maybe.  His body just won't do what he wants anymore.

    Paschalakis we need to replace.  We need a good solid GK which really we have *never* had.

    Kagawa ha ha.  There's the door buddy.  Overall a terrible signing even if there were good intentions.

    Akpom we'll see.  Agree if Swiderski and Oliveira are both available there isn't much room for him.

  13. It's pretty clear by now we have to get the defence sorted.  Any team other than Super League minnows scores against us.  Other than Ingason and Sidcley all our other defenders are deficient in some way, be it age, experience or defensive frailties.  I don't think this can be fixed with the current squad.  I'm sure Lucescu knows this now - I guess he worked with the squad to see what they can deliver but it's become obvious there is only so much you can do.  The big question as always is what players can we pick up in the winter transfer that (a) are better and (b) will actually come to play in Greece.

    P.S. Great news regarding the re-signing of Zivkovic.

  14. Not sure if it's been mentioned but I was watching the highlights of Panathinaikos vs Ionikos and I'm like "that looks like Canas" and sure enough after checking the squad for Ionikos it is he.  Looking as passionate as ever when they scored ha ha.  He was a good player for us.

  15. Prouder ?  Maybe psefto pride.  I can tell you what we were back then - we were poorer, unorganised and lacking trophies.  We were the bitches of Athens with no owner who could stand up for the club (because that’s how it works in Greece unfortunately).  All we had were our european nights (and they were good) the occasional derby win against POK (but we knew deep down we would not win the title) and the fans/Toumba ( but the fans even shat on that by getting us banned for 5 years).  We would pay our players peanuts and even then fail to pay them and have to release them or sell our talented players.  Shameful and worse, embarrassing.

    I’ll take what we have now over that.  I’ll take having a respectable budget, 4 Cups, 1 League title thanks.  I do agree with you the signings have been fairly disappointing this summer - I expected better - but compared to the old days, man, you needed Xanax to get through those days - they were rough.

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  16. Yep the group isn’t tough and we can finish first but we also might not qualify.  Copenhagen and Slovan are nothing special but the truth is the same goes for us.  I don’t think they’re quaking in their boots and they certainly haven’t penned us down as guaranteed first place.

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