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^^^ I don't think Messi is overrated, obviously he is a great player. The difference is Maradona literally carried average teams to greatness, Messi has superstars around him and really hasn't dominated any tournaments like Maradona did. I don't even think the ballon or whatever it's called was awarded back in his day? If it was, he would've won it every year he played. Ask any Argentine who is the greatest player ever, I bet they won't say Messi... As for the defenders back then, put it this way.......some of the tackling and fouling back then would've seen those players sent off in the first 5 minutes of a game today. If Maradona was protected like Messi and co. are today, nobody would be able to get near him......

We have not won in the last 5 games at home. Four of which we didn't even score. Typical (unfortunately) of dropping points and not advancing. I don't think there's an urgency for this team right now. They're happy with 3rd place, and hope for the playoffs. At this point, all of my hopes since the end of last season have been crushed, and in the worse possible way.... :xxx: My only concern right now is that we go to Karaiskaki and not lose badly. But, again, when the expectations are very low for this team it might surprise us. They can't handle the pressure or the label of "favorite to win"....

epitelous phrame ena kalo apotelesma ektos edras :)

we should just start our games with 10 men and sub on an extra guy later.

kairo eixame na doume anatroph !

i have 20/20 vision file, you sound like a miserable old papou at a cafenio just complaining about everyone and everything. If you have nothing good to say dont post anything in the game thread

jvc are you gonna say every one of our players suck today? you're getting very annoying So far Pranjic and Lagos..

So as long as I pay the bills at home, it's OK to neglect my kids and beat my wife? Let's not give him too much credit for doing WHAT HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DOING! "At least the players are paid!" The Players are supposed to be paid! "At least he's paying the bills!" He's SUPPOSED to pay the bills. How low is the bar of expectation? He's hiring people, and not allowing them to do s%$#!. He needs to stop listening to the fans, and do what's right for the team. Getting Arnesen was a HUGE step in the right direction. We had to unload a disgusting amount of dead weight in players, and had to pay out another disgusting amount in money for all those shitty contracts. This upcoming summer, Arnesen would have had the entire budget to work with We just pulled a Greek p*****a....if Arnesen stayed another month, he was guaranteed another $2M Euros in pay...

@PAOKSYD The criticism of Savvidis is his impatience ... Can you name ONE club in Europe - that plays UCL or UEL football year in and year out - that turns over it's management and/or front office annually? We have not had a manager last beyond April in 4 consecutive seasons. That's a joke. Arnesen said he had a three year plan, yet he was only given 8 months to complete it. That's a joke. Tudor has used 19 different lineups in ~30 games because of injuries and suspensions, yet we blame him for lack of chemistry. That's a joke. It's the owners job to pay the bills and the debts. I'm eternally grateful to Savvidis for preventing an AEK-Aris type humiliation. But football clubs are not - and cannot - be run like businesses. 90% of clubs in Europe not in the BPL lose money every year. It is an inexact science to begin with. Give people the power to make decisions and give them meaningful opportunities to succeed. Otherwise, you are hurting not helping the product.

we can keep Klaus but we also need a real and quality CF. what a pitty that Berbatov had an unlucky season with us this year.

I think next season Klaus needs to go. We need to sign a tried and true CF and bring Koulouri back to play backup. The Chinese are throwing cash all around lately...

Lucas didn't want to be here. 2 years ago, or now. His leaving had nothing to do with Arnesen. Like Pash mentioned, Costa was on the top of the drop list, but there were complications with his contract, etc. I think Savvidis meddling in game he has no idea about is a big issue. Also, let's be clear about something. Just because PAOK wants to sign a quality 10ari or CB or whatever, doesn't mean they HAVE to come here. There have been more than a few situations where the players straight up just didn't want to come here, and I don't blame them.

Arnesen reportedly tried to get rid of Costa (and his wage bill) early on, and you can't tell me that anyone would have been able to keep Lucas.

^^ As much as I don't like him, Maniati getting minutes in Belgium could be crucial. I feel he is better suited to playing as the "kofti" than Samari who could play next to him or slighly higher up with Fortouni as the dekari. Then that just leaves the wings which is anyones guess, do we give Fetfa a shot? not really playing in the middle east is he injured? Karelis has been good since his move but it seems he is being played as an out and out striker rather than wide. Can Kone recapture his WC 14 form? he looks better centrally though.... Lazaro is used rarely off the bench at Sampdoria. We have midfielders, the thing for us is finding the right combo which we couldn't do after 10 qualifiers and a handful of friendlies. Our biggest issue is plugging those wide postions, and it has been for years.

Read an article (not sure how reliable it is) that a Chinese team has offered 2.5mil for Klaus and we arent interested in anything under 7mil. IF its true than we really are stupid, what a chance to offload a player that isn't starting XI quality and make some decent money off him. I have nothing against Klaus but I just feel realistically he isn't at the level we need to move forward. Add to that, he's captain and there is pressure on Tudor (or whoever else) to play him. I don't think we can take the next step with Klaus penciled in as our starting striker.

Yeah.... I'd rather have had a more experienced coach, but I think that if we didn't start European matches in July, had all these injuries, and had Olsen in net, he would have come out to a much better start. Along with that we've dropped 12 points in the last 4 minutes or less of matches this hear. I don't like to make excuses, but I also like to judge people when they're at their best, not their worst. It's like I tie your hands behind your back, throw you in the river and say "Wow...that guy really sucks at swimming!"

Reporters are banned from Nea Mesimvria if it isn't media day, which is wasn't today. In other words, someone is leaking to the press and Tudor will maybe have to change the line-up for tomorrow

If Messi or CR7 played back in the 80s they wouldn't have lasted, Maradona got the s%$#! kicked out of him all the time, these days players are protected and defenders aren't as tough as they used to be. As for who's better, we have always judged players on how good they are and what they have achieved so until Messi wins the WC he shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Maradona, Messi hasn't even won the Copa Libe with Argentina, how people can say he is better than Maradona makes me laugh....

PAOK women's handball team won the Greek Cup today beating Nea Ionia 32:31. Now they are ready for the double.

Zeman plays a 4-3-3. He broke down some of his decisions and tactics to Italian press and revealed his middle 3 are composed of two box to box midfielders and a slightly deeper midfielder who delivers long diagonal balls to either wing, (deep lying playmaker). Zeman thought Tachtsidis was his ideal player to sit slightly deeper, he's big and strong enough to win the ball but is also an exceptional long pass and capable of making an offensive run into the area. When he left Verona and got the job at Roma, he requested they sign Tachtsidis. Zeman thought Tachtsidis ticking more of those boxes than De Rossi and would often play him ahead of a fan favourite. It didn't help that the team weren't getting results either. Here's a video of him playing the role under Zeman, showcasing the good and bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO7VYmpzmJg

Quite a few PAOKtzides on the away match against Oldenburg in the Eurocup (basketball) https://www.facebook.com/PAOKBasketballClub/videos/1031902253533685/?theater