js1000

this was the case 2 or 3 years ago but not anymore, the standard in scotland has slipped, if you go back further, to the days of larsson then i'd of said the scottish league was far better, there was more money in scotland in those days and scottish teams attracted top players, thats no longer the case though i wasn't questioning his ability but his attitude, like i said he had the look of a man that didn't care, i watch a lot of la liga i've seen basinas at the bernebau a couple of times and i followed his career closely from his mallorca days onwards, he looked like he didn't want the ball, as though he wanted to get through the game doing as little as possible and didn't have the orexi to track back, the sad thing is that when he did get involved he was actually quite decent but he simply didn't put the effort in. Referring to Basinas, Hadzibegic(manager of arles) stated "I do not want such stars. I want players sacrificing themselves for the team, fighting from the very first minute." if he had the desire he'd still be playing(karagounis, dellas and lybe, less ability but more effective) he skived his way through the latter part of his career. samaras has ability, his vision and passing are excellent, i don't know if you saw our friendly with bosnia but ninis had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half when he was miles onside, the long diagonal pass samaras played was simply stunning better than the ones in istanbul and ukraine, i like players that have that vision. samaras simply doesn't score enough but i think he and gekas/mitroglou would work well together for greece. to say he's shite or lacks ability is simply wrong. the comparison to basinas is a valid one, both appear lethargic and both are effective when they actually get involved.

basinas was lazy, he had the appearance of a man that didn't care if his side had won or lost, the games i saw him at mallorca he looked lethargic as though he didn't want the ball, for AEK he couldn't care less, at portsmouth he only had a couple of decent games against lower league sides in the cup and at arles he was pretty much sacked, i never really saw much of him at PAO so i can't comment on the early stages of his career. so like samaras he was also dropped by every manager he played for. if sammy is so shite why is he always picked for greece?? after all we have salpi vellios gekas mitroglou athanasiadis kapetanos lyberopoulos and even haristeas.

he's been linked with french, spanish and italian teams recently so the italian and french teams concerned must think he's good enough for that level. if he's so bad one wonders how he's managed to get 48 caps for greece basinas was a lazy cumbersome sort of player but never got this level of criticism

3 starts and 1 sub appearance in hellas verona's opening 5 games

tzavellas hasn't played this season, but i heard he's been given a late call up into the greece squad for our upcoming matches as spyropoulos has dropped out injured. not sure how fit he is. its a shame frankfurt went down as i feel tzavellas is far too good for second division football.

he got rave reviews because he's a top player, who wasn't given a chance at milan. i think he was used at right back last week?

moras has been offered a contract by cesena worth 400k per year but has yet to make a decision. i don't think he'll get a better offer and will probably end up taking this one

schalke won the german super cup 4-3 on penalties after the game finished 0-0 papadopoulos played the whole game at centre half. more silverware :tup: :gr: :nw: :gr: :tup:

papadopoulos has signed a new contract with schalke until 30 june 2015 http://www.sport.gr/default.asp?pid=4&aid=100053 seems he's had quite a year, big move to germany, broke into the first 11, european cup semi final appearance, won the german cup, made his debut for greece, scored his first international goal, has been rewarded with a contract extension and he's still only 19. i bet he wishes he stayed at olympiakos :P

tachtsidis made only 8 appearances (7 starts) for grosseto during his loan spell, not sure what genoa are planning to do with him.

not a statue, just a winners medal - which he got :tup: whether he starts or comes off the bench he usually features in every game, that's what i meant by regular

i thought he was excellent in the quarter final against rangers, maybe if it was soto or basinas you would of remembered. some of those appearances were from the bench others were playing wide left, not brilliant but not bad either regular for greece, regular for celtic new contract on decent money and silverware in the bag. not bad for a disgrace.

he's just picked up some silverware, you should be happy for him instead of slating him constantly. i wish more of our players would go abroad, and win things.

:gr: :nw: :nw: :tup: :nw: :nw: :gr: silverware in his first season, very impressive start to his career abroad.

samaras has just won the scottish cup 2011 :gr: :nw: :nw: :tup: :nw: :nw: :gr:

decent loan spell with kaiserslautern made 16 league starts, 20 appearances in total.

back after injury tziolis played 90 minutes in racing's 3-2 win at hercules :tup:

i disagree, when you're at real the pressure to succeed is immense, they have unlimited funds and can replace you in an instant, the fact he has consistently been real's keeper for the last 10 years shows his class, also spain have a lot of top keepers to choose from and have always gone with casillas. any journeyman can play at kerkyra or iraklis. as for papadopoulos he played 90 minutes against munich so i expect a better performance from him on wednesday at old trafford, will be a big test for him.

he missed schalke's last league game through injury so he may not have been fully fit, also its his first season in germany and he's still only 19. on a side note neuer is class but casillas is the best keeper i've ever seen. funny how man utd get the most favourable draw in europe every season :angry:

lets hope you're right but i heard it was closer to 8 weeks, some sort of knee damage.

out for the rest of the season with injury. had a great first season in germany has really impressed me this season his passing and crossing is excellent

he's off in the summer according to this report and won't be staying in italy http://www.sportdog.gr/article/23289/pheug...apastathopoulos

got his first taste of premier league action yesterday, came on for the last 10 minutes of everton's 2-2 draw with aston villa :tup:

he was never told that he was 'surplas to requirements' because since you posted that he featured in every game, you made him sound like a mercenary who would rather not play than take a pay cut, which is not the case. regarding the stats the fact is alot of those appearances were out on the left - not up front - and alot of them were off the bench and he got himself injured straight after his brace vs rangers which set him back another couple of weeks. although having said all that i think waiting til the summer may have been a better option for him before signing his extention.