DUDE

File 1 of the goals was a huge deflection and the both were in friendlies against weak opposition. As for the real reason he gets more playing time its a combination of reasons. (1) He was called up at a time when Greece were in a mini-crisis and once you establish your place with Otto its very difficult to be dropped. (2) Otto always looks abroad! He values other leagues alot more and the moment he went to City he was called up, whereas if you're looking at form he should have been called up when at Heerenveen! ;) Also, if your looking at form there isnt even a discussion in the Samaras vs Salpi debate at the moment, yet Samaras is guaranteed the spot! We all know Otto has his favourites. Re file he wasn't THAT good against Norway. Go to the Greece/Norway topic, I gave him a 6 but you said I was being harsh on him, BUT even then, Aek66 who fancies Samaras only gave him a 7!! He worked hard but offered little else. As for the AMAZING run you speak of, it was a horizontal run across the defence with no pressure from the midfield. He evaded the defenders as oppose to taking them on. Then his cross was excellently turned but Amantidis who shifted his balance brilliantly. Dont get me wrong it was a great move by Samaras but what else did he do? Another striker who NEVER gave the ball away was Vryzas, even when he was well past it he never gave the ball away yet he wasnt a goal threat and we knew he had to be replaced. PLUS that was one game, usually Samaras is constantly losing the ball! As the phrase goes, "Stats: Lies, Damned Lies!". He hardly got an assist to write home about!! Stelios played a great cross field ball which should have put Samaras through but he pushed the ball too far forward so couldnt get a shot away. He passed a 7 yard ball on the floor which Patsa finished excellently. His goal was a strikers goal, after a great ball from Patsa he tapped it in but his movement was good. His overall contribution to Greece's general play has been pathetic so yes I can say he doesnt produce at the ethniki. Salpi was great against Aus, and he was very good against England AND in both games he played out of position on the right wing!!! Yes and Samaras has been dropped from Man City's team and he is WAY below average in the Prem. I see Samaras every weak, EVERY weak, and he is s%$#! in the Prem. Simple. Not average, not ok, s%$#!! The Man City fans want him out & the media have crucified Pearce for spending

File mou I understand why you like him having seen him in a few ethniki games. But ALL the Man City forwards are more effective and they have the same service, PLUS the midfield really isnt that bad with Ball, Barton and Dabo. The strikeforce is considered the weak link. And stats don't tell the full story. If he had many goal you could say that he is the archetypal striker but doesnt. Today's cup game against Preston Samaras scored, he took a weak shot from 4 yards that took 2 deflections and went in. <_< Whereas Corradi caused problems all day so who had the better performance? Corradi! I dont think he was particularly good vs Norway... he wasnt as good as Salpi was against England & Aus where Samaras was terrible. Not to mention Korea. As for the money paid for him, thats irrelevant because its widely considered that he isnt worth the

The title of 'good player' has to be earned. It is arguable that the worst strike force in the Prem belongs to City and Samaras still cant get in the team! He offers nothing! He's got talent but he's lazy, weak on the ball, a poor finisher, his movement is poor and his positioning is ridiculous. He doesnt get goals or assists and offers nothing to general play. If he'd matured his career in Greece no one would think anything of him. I support every Greek player abroad and I hope Samaras becomes an excellent player but I doubt it. If you were to look at all the Greek strikers PLUS the strikers that play in Greece where would Samaras rank? Imo opinion he'd be below (in no particular order): Salpi, Papa, Konstantinou, Okkas, Castillo, Miecel, Lybe, And possibly: Gekas, Amanatidis, Julio Cesar, Mantzios, Haristeas, Are all better then him!

This is hilarious!!!!!!! :LOL: :gr: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgTFWnQhYR0#

Because he's done F*** all since he's been there!

Lemonis has just signed a two and half year deal. I'm all for giving him a chance but this is a ridiculous move.

I saw the match, Marco was really good. After the Aussie Open he said it was the "kick in the head" he needed and that he'd come back stronger as a result. I certainly saw that. He played a world class player in Ljubicic (world number 8) who is the worlds second biggest server (after Roddick). Marco was going to the net which he hasnt been doing, etc. He also out-aced Ljubicic (getting 16) which is no mean feat. He looked really good and he did it all in front of Ljubicic's home crowd. Hopefully he gives a strong showing at the French and wins many more titles! BRAVO PAIHTARA MOU!!! :nw: :gr: :nw: :gr: :nw: :gr:

It's goof that the paihtara is in form ahead of the Turkey game!

Yes I still like him. A manager can only do so much, Olympiakos can play ANY formation and you'd expect them to beat PAS over 2 legs so the players have to take some responsibility. Toro stupidly lost the ball then Zewlakow and Cesar commited suicide and Nikopolidi was in no mans land to stop the striker scoring! How can Lemonis cater for that? I see that Lemoni has identified our problems and is trying to build for the future, there will be hard times as well as good and I'm standing by him.

I know he's not popular among many of you but I like Lemoni and if given supprt i think he can do well. It's great to see that he is addressing our main problem! This has plagued Olympiakos for years in Europe, hopefully he finds a solution.

In case anyone wants to hear the match between Marco and Monfils. http://www.eurosport.com/allsports/mc_vid20993.shtml

Baghdati has qualified from the first round by beating his German opponent Schuettler 3-1 in sets. He will now play the talented young Frenchman Monfils who overcame Bracciali in 4 sets. Should be good. At one point (about a year ago) Baghdatis, Monfils, and Andy Murray were considered to be the best young players around but Baghdatis has developed most drastically but this kid Monfils can play so it should be a cracker! :gr:

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! BAGHDATIS IN THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN!! This time he's seeded 11th and starts against the German Schuettler (who is also a former Aussie Open finalist!). Marco shouldnt have any problems here and if he makes it he'll play the winner of Minfils (Fra) and Bracciali (Ita) both very skilled and dangerous. SIKOSE TO, TO g*****ENO, DEN MPORO, DEN MPORO NA PERIMENO!!!!!!!!!!! :gr:

:tup: Glowing reference! Let's hope he keeps it up! Man City drew 0-0 away at Bolton today. Samaras didnt play (not sure why) and Stelio only came on as a sub. :(

Thats not strictly accurate file. He's made 13 starts but has also made 9 appearances off the bench, and Stuart Pearce makes subs early so when he comes on he gets at least 30 mins. So 4 goals and 6 assists in 22 games is not impressive at all, in fact its poor for a striker.

Its because he actually made an effort. He was fighting for balls and wasnt his usual lazy self.

Stelio was injured in training otherwise he would have been on the bench. Its time for him to move.

File mou, eho di ton Samara kala fetos kai ehoun dikio oi filathli to Man City. Fisika den perimenoun Ronaldinho alla toulahisto ligo pathos to perimenoun. O Samaras den prospathai tipota! An den allaxi, oute gia tin ethniki mas den kanei!!!

I guess PAO rejection fueled a fire under his ass to play well and stay out of Greece.Yiasou re Tzigger megale! You can motivate players away from the team and not those on your own pitch ;) :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

You're right re file. I dont see why not... I mean he can obviously get goals in the Bundesliga so why not?

Because he can't! Take out the top 2 or Dutch teams and the Dutch league is of a lower standard than the Greek.

He was dropped because he's been crap all season! He's too lazy and unless everyone else is doing the work around him he's pretty useless. He only has 2 goals this season and they came in the same game!!! I don't blame Stuart Pearce for rotating the front line because Samaras has 1 good game every 7-8 games. Vassell, Coraddi, & Dikov are the other forwards and they are all crap, i suppose Vassell is average. If City had 4 decent strikers Samaras would never play.

Man City got their 1st away win of the season against in form Aston Villa winning 3-1. Man City were superb and Samaras got 2 assists. The first assist was a carbon copy of the goal Patsa got against Bosnia, the second he played a neat 1-2 with Distin who outpaced the defender and scored.

jh

Where is he in the scoring charts in Germany now?