js1000

i've lost interest in the national team, claudio the clown has completely deflated me, this latest squad is appalling. O Karnezis(Udinese) P Glykos(PAOK) S Kapino(FSV Mainz) why the need for 3 keepers to play the faroe's and a friendly v serbia???????? V Torosidis K Manolas(both Roma) L Vyntra N Karabelas(both Levante) A Papadopoulos(Trabzonspor) V Moras(Verona) M Bakakis(AEK) C Tasoulis(Panionios) holebas is out injured stafylidis is dropped not deemed good enough by our wonderful coach who's gone for an uncapped 30 year old left back instead (karabelas) A Tziolis(PAOK) G Maniatis(Olympiakos) L Christodoulopoulos(Verona) P Kone(Udinese) A Samaris(Benfica) C Mavrias(Sunderland) P Mantalos(AEK) T Dinas(Panathinaikos) D Kolovos(Panionios) no tachtsidis who's been outstanding so far this season dropped by our pathetic manager. T Gekas(Akhisar Beleyedispor) N Karelis(Panathinaikos) S Athanasiadis(PAOK) no mitroglou no samaras and no salpingidis, should really beat the faroe's at home with any group of players but this is ridiculous, no continuity when you keep chopping and changing, and why is mavrias playing?? its embarrassing that he doesn't get a single minute for sunderland but is a regular for greece. ranieri has ruined us and is earning a small fortune in the process.

well what can i say, we're managed by a clown so results like this are to be expected, karelis and athanasiadis are not good enough and gekas is dropped for being 34 years old, stafylidis only gets a chance when vyntra goes off injured despite holebas tzavellas and karabelas all being injured, when we're behind ranieri takes off a creative player in samaras for salpi who has no business in this team. i felt sorry for papastathopoulos the only player with drive and passion he took the game by the scruff of the neck with some marauding runs forward. Karnezis - doesn't make mistakes but doesn't seem to save anything either, maybe could of done better with lafferty's goal. Vyntra - plays central defence for levante but ranieri played him at right back, scored an own goal and went off injured shortly after. Manolas - having a good season with roma but he couldn't cope with lafferty. Papastathopoulos - by far our best player, felt sorry for him, he seems to be the only one that cares. Torosidis - started at left back and switched to his preferred right when vyntra went off. Karelis - forward for panathinaikos (when not on the bench) ranieri played him right midfield, not good enough at this level. Tachtsidis - some dodgy passing but at least he tested carroll with our only shot of the night. Maniatis - still don't know why this fella gets called up, i know we got injuries but i'd rather samaris or tziolis. Samaras - did ok considering he was asked to play on the left side of midfield. Mitroglou - did he touch the ball?? Athanasiadis - where's gekas ?? athanasiadis can't play at this level subbed off at half time. subs Stafylidis - saw a lot of the ball and some decent crosses, maybe should have fouled lafferty on the goal. Samaris - played the second half, average but still better than maniatis. Salpindigis - dear oh dear every touch went off for a throw to northern ireland. well his goals got us to the world cup, athanasiadis will also be 26 in a couple of months and he's done nothing, never scored an international goal. meanwhile gekas is proven at this level has banged in 6 goals in 5 games in turkey(a league ranked slightly higher than ours according to UEFA coefficients) and has around 1 in 3 at international level. as long as claudio the clown is in charge we can forget qualification despite being in a very weak group.

alexandros tzorvas made his debut yesterday for north east united in the indian super league, he kept a clean sheet in his sides 1-0 win over kerala blasters. bravo alexandro :D :D :D :D later today kostas katsouranis is set to make his debut for pune city in their indian super league match against delhi dynamos. :D :D :D nice to see greek representation in india. :gr: :nw:

jarvis you can only give youngsters a chance if they are good enough not just because they're young, mavrias hasn't played a single minute for sunderland this season and karelis isn't good enough at this level, why should gekas who's still got a lot to offer make way for these 2 just because he's 34?? also there's a case for mitroglou who also missed out, if you want to try youngsters who don't play for their clubs then arrange a friendly, we got a tournament to qualify for. ranieri even played mantalos in the first game for heavens sake. the youngster who should of had a game in the absence of holebas was stafylidis who's played every game for fulham and was perfect for the left back position instead ranieri went for torosidis at left back and vyntra (33years old and plays central defence for levante) at right back, stafylidis is young, playing regularly and IS a left back why not give him a try????

he started with karilis mavrias and athanasiadis up front, surprised we even got a draw, gekas is omitted purely because he's 34. i know we have injuries but why didn't samaras and mitroglou start and if he wants to give youth a chance well why not play stafylidis instead of switching toro to left back and playing vyntra on the right. claudio the clown.

the squad is as follows: O Karnezis(Udinese), P Glykos(PAOK), S Kapino(Mainz), S Dioudis(Club Brugge) V Torosidis, K Manolas(both Roma), S Papastathopoulos(Borussia Dortmund), L Vyntra(Levante) V Moras(Verona), K Stafylidis(Fulham), K Giannoulis, G Maniatis(both Olympiakos), G Skondras(PAOK). P Tachtsidis(Verona), A Samaris(Benfica), K Fortounis(Olympiakos), P Mandalos(AEK), C Mavrias(Sunderland) A Tziolis(PAOK). G Samaras(WBA), K Mitroglou,(Olympiakos), D Salpingidis, S Athanasiadis(both PAOK), N Karelis(Panathinaikos). lots of injuries, players like laz kone and holebas are out, but a disappointing squad picked by the clueless ranieri, Gekas not included despite banging in 6 goals in 5 games for his club, Karelis is in the squad despite not being good enough to start for PAO, Mavrias has got a call up even though he hasn't played a single minute for sunderland, fortounis is included with only 12 minutes of football under his belt this season and quite why you need 4 keepers is beyond me when 2 should be enough, and another call up for Mandalos, we're down to calling up greek 2nd division players. also there is a doubt over torosidis. on the plus side Finland are not as good as Romania and players like samaras mitroglou tachtsidis and samaris have some game time and are now match fit which wasn't the case against romania, as we got claudio the clown managing us i can see this one being a draw.

katsouranis doesn't have a club and is also finished as an international player in my view, there was no way he could have been called up but nonetheless how do you replace 114 caps having already lost karagounis, the current midfielders are not that young but are very inexperienced they need an experienced player alongside them. the next game we'll have strikers with matches under their belts and will be match fit, and samaris and tachtsidis would have gained more match fitness, if fetfatzidis can get over his groin strain in time and if fortounis ever gets a game for olympiakos then we should be in better shape next month, although that midfield is threadbare. salpingidis has been great for greece over the years but he's finished, and ranieri made him captain?????? maybe kone could play centre midfield alongside samaris if tachtsidis continues to labour. also a new left back is required holebas is a liability not sure if stafylidis is ready, karabelas has looked solid playing regularly in spain but he's nearly 30 and has no international caps, maybe tzavellas even.

we lost too many experienced players all at the same time kara/kats, and the coach chose to omit the only striker that had a full pre-season and has loads of experience(gekas) and we had too many rookies, particularly in midfield, holebas proved once again what a liability he is with a needless foul for the penalty which he is prone to, salpi who's started the season abysmally was captain and played 90 mins this player is finished in my view, tachtsidis is talented but careless and plays like he's not bothered if the side loses and is forever giving the ball away, samaris was the only positive in midfield, mitroglou clearly not match fit was given 90 minutes (where's gekas?????) and diamantakos proved he's not ready for this level. maybe in a month when mitroglou and samaras have some nminutes under their belts and fetfatzidis returns from injury we'll start creating chances again but i think its gonna be back to the dark ages for a few years.

well thats just a matter of opinion but the strikers in the squad are either not match fit (mitroglou/samaras) or just not very good (athanasiadis/salpingidis) really looking forward to seeing diamantakos though. in a few weeks when mitroglou & samaras are match sharp then you could omit gekas.

up front in this squad we have mitroglou who hasn't played since the world cup and is clearly not fit, we have salpingidis who has been abysmal for PAOK this season and for greece has usually played wide right, we have samaras who has had no pre-season and hasn't played since the world cup, we have athanasiadis who's started the season brightly but at 26 has only 6 international caps and 0 goals, so yes i'm gutted by gekas' omission, he's had a full pre-season and we need experience. Diamantakos excites me though, it would be a bold move to start him though. EPO should have organised a friendly before this game. ranieri has picked mantalos, but omitted lagos of Panathinaikos who really has potential and is younger than mantalos and playing at a higher level too. tachtsidis although talented seems far too casual. midfield is a real problem samaris hasn't played since the world cup i suspect ranieri is gonna go with 3 central defenders hence the amount of defenders in the squad. i think ranieri is pondering a 5-3-2 with holebas and torosidis as wing backs, if fetfa was fit, ninis had a club and fortounis had some football under his belt then maybe he'd play a different system.

Avraam Papadopoulos has joined Trabzonspor and will continue in Turkey, great move for him as he was being frozen out at Olympiakos, he's only been given a one year contract, hopefully he'll earn himself an extension. Jose Holebas got himself a 2 year deal with Roma where he'll provide cover for ashley cole and left back.

fet is injured, ninis is without a club since he had his contract ripped up by parma despite having 3 years left on it. its gonna be a tough game in an empty stadium. i'd take a draw. here's the squad O Karnezis (Udinese) P Glykos(PAOK) S Kapino(Mainz) V Torosidis J Holebas K Manolas (All Roma) A Papadopoulos(Trabzonspor) K Papadopoulos(Bayer Leverkusen) L Vyntra(Levante) V Moras(Verona) G Tzavellas(PAOK) S Papastathopoulos(Borussia Dortmund) A Samaris(Benfica) P Tachtsidis L Christodoulopoulos (Both Verona) P Kone(Udinese) K Fortounis(Olympiakos) P Mantalos(AEK) D Salpingidis(PAOK) G Samaras(WBA) K Mitroglou D Diamantakos (Both Olympiakos) S Athanasiadis(PAOK) a bit gutted there's no Gekas but at the same time i'm excited to see what Diamantakos can do, i hope he starts, 3 goalkeepers are unnecessary and way too many defenders, Mantalos is a surprise, he's been playing well but thats in the second tier of the greek league and at 23 he should be playing at a higher level. Fortounis hasn't played for ages, we look a bit weak in midfield the rest of the squad looks decent.

samaras has joined west brom on a 2 year contract, he's back in the english premier league, risky move though as it wouldn't be a surprise if west brom go down.

kone has joined Udinese, he's signed a 5 year contract, great move after bologna's relegation.

sokratis has won himself another german super cup winners medal playing 90mins in his sides 2-0 win over bayern munich. :gr: :tup: :gr: :nw: :gr:

karagounis has just won the dutch super cup in his sides 1-0 over Ajax coming on after 62 minutes. :gr: :tup: :nw: :tup: :gr:

great result, but zero greeks/cyrpiots in their line up.

after a short spell in Ukraine pliatsikas has joined romanian side Astra Giurgiu, he made his debut in his sides 2-0 win at concordia chiajna last night.

AEK legend giannis arabatzis has joined romanian side astra guirgui on a 1 year contract he joins compatriot vasilis pliatsikas.

Aris goalkeeper Sokratis Dioudis signed a 2 year contract with club brugge, Aris will get 200,000 euros + 50,000 after 20 appearances(won't happen) + 15% sell on fee. I suspect he'll spend the season on the bench behind Australia keeper matt ryan.

olympiakos have signed kostas fortounis, i think this is a really good move for both player and club. fortounis has a 5 year contract, a step up for him from the german second division. lets hope he plays regularly and features in the champions league.

vellios has signed a 2 year contract with Lierse and will continue in belgium. needs to get some first team football under his belt, he should get that opportunity from lierse.

tachtsidis has joined hellas verona on loan for the season, we got 3 greeks there now, no wonder its called 'hellas' verona :D

joins vangelis moras at hellas verona, he's earned himself a 3 year contract having left the relegated bologna.

stafylidis has joined fulham for a year on loan. tough league that championship in england, its a 46 game season so he should get loads of minutes under his belt.