Leaderboard

I'd like to put in my 2 cents here: JVS failed to achieve his goal of qualifying for Quatar WC and that could very likely cost him his job. He made many mistakes and made many head-scratching decisions along the way but I think many here have forgotten what went down in regards to the Manolas-Papastathopoulos-Siovas clicka. JVS came out and told Manolas and Papastathopoulos that he would not be calling them up for the nations league so that he can try some new blood (not as some punishment for their ridiculous behavior against Ange which would have been warranted) but would be counting on them for the WC qualifiers. He called on them for the qualifiers and they refused....they refused....how can anyone say that that's on JVS? Siovas came out and crapped all over his CB partner and criticized JVS for not calling up Manolas and Papastathopoulos and he was forced to drop him....again how can anyone say that JVS mishandled that situation? What other action could he have taken and not lost control of the team? In both instances it was the actions and decisions of these particular players that left them off the team and not some grudge or evil plan of the coach to handicap the NT. I think that tactically JVS leaves much to be desired but you can't blame him when the players can't put the ball into the net....that's our skill level like it or not. There are always players coming up giving us hope for a better future (Douvikas, Tzolis, Alexandropoulos, etc) and at least with JVS they are getting their chances. Personally I never cared if a coach had an inexplicable favorite (Rehagel and Vryza or Santos and Katsouranis, etc) as long as they get the results. JVS has took over a team that had gotten used to losing to Armenia and the Faroes and other minnows. I don't think any coach could walk into the NT and turn the team around totally but JVS has brought it around part of the way. Does he deserve more time? It's not so clear as NT football is all about results....if you invest time in playing attractive football it comes at the expense of results, but the NT has played some of its most attractive football ever under JVS and at the same time we've dropped points in what would have been easy 1 nil wins in the Santos/Rehagel eras. I guess it all depends on what criteria you are judging him. I personally don't believe changing the coach is going to magically make the NT score more goals or prevent defensive mistakes like those against Sweden, but if the young players are given the chance to get better and are offered the opportunities to play it will be a lot more advantageous to the NT rather than arguing in favor of players who obviously don't want to be there.

It is tough for that reason that we want stability for the NT and changing coaches all the time is not beneficial. I miss the days when we had Otto & Santos two coaches in a 13 year period. Looking back I think EPO should have kept Skibbe for the 2020 Euro campaign as bringing in Ange was a total mess. He only lasted for 4 matches and all the trouble that started between him and Sokratis and with Manolas kept those players away for this campaign. I said at the start of this campaign that JVS had to at least get the Ethniki to a playoff spot. I thought we could take 4 out of 6 points from Sweden and that would give us the edge. I thought JVS had learned from his mistakes in NL and would have the NT come out and put away Georgia & Kosovo for max points but unfortunately I was wrong. Greece got 3pts but we were unlucky not to get something last game and the defensive blunders cost us. As many of us here have said Manolas and Siovas even Sokratis back there and we most likely do not eat those silly goals. JVS could have used them in the Kosovo match were the equalized again of a garbage goal. For these reasons I think I would go in a new direction as we cant afford to miss out on Euro 2024. Greece have to qualify!!