Euro2004

Rumours are that the match-fixing scandals could lead to Volos being disqualified from Europe though

Papastathopoulos continues to be linked with Werder Bremen and they are rumoured to have asked for Otto Rehhagel's opinion and he gave them the go-ahead. Lazio's director of football has also admitted Lazio's interest saying "Lazio want Papastathopoulos. Now we want to have discussions with the player, who feels shocked at what has transpired at Milan and he needs time." http://www.sportdog.gr/article/34246/padou...parhei-enas-oto http://www.sportdog.gr/article/34384/thelo...papastathopoulo I hope he goes to Lazio.

Of all the Greek players with a bad attitude, this guy probably has the worst. Clubbing til the break of dawn every night practically. Not getting into Grosseto's first team is inexcusable considering his talent. I'll be shocked if Genoa keep him

Genome apparently Olympiakos are really keen on signing Papastathopoulos (and Tzavellas too). Although I don't think Genoa would be an ideal move for Sokrati, Olympiakos would be the dumbest move he could make! He needs to stay in one of Europe's big 5 leagues

;)

Apparently Papastathopoulos agrees with me. He isn't keen on taking a step backwards in his career and he's meeting Galiani tomorrow for talks:

no its just that what you're saying doesn't make sense. Leaving a club to get into a starting 11 is not always a good move. If he'd left to go to Ionikos he'd get in the starting line up but that wouldn't be a good move would it? If you have to leave a big club then it's only a good move if you go to another big club or at least to a club that accurately reflects your ability as a player. Sokratis is better than Genoa, that is to say he's better than a mid-table Italian team, hence it's not a great move. So no we are not saying the same thing. Had he moved to Napoli, Roma, Juventus, Leverkusen, etc, then it would have been a good move.

No I don't but some of the comments you make just baffle me. He left Genoa, a Europa league team, to go to a world class club. After just one season he has returned to Genoa who are now a mid-table club. How can anyone possibly describe that as a "good move". The mind boggles, seriously! PAO are being linked with Douglao, if he comes to us but sits on the bench and then is sold back to Kavala, is that a "good move" for him? :blink: It would be 2 steps forward in his career followed by 2 steps back! The other teams Sokratis was linked with though, Napoli for instance, could have been described as a good move because at least he'd be getting first team football at a CL club. So that would have been the equivalent of 2 steps forward from Genoa to Milan, followed by one step back to Napoli. Over the 2 years he'd have progressed. As things are he hasn't really progressed (career wise) over the last 2 years. It's disappointing, particularly because in my opinion he's good enough to have had a future at Milan

Well i dont think that leaving Milan to go to Genoa can ever be considered a good move to be honest. But it is what it s and he needs to make the best of it. I really rate him but his pace has dropped away a little so i'd think he needs to work a bit harder of aerobic, explosive workouts to become faster again. He also need to work on defending when square on because he gives away too many fouls. Overall Milan are dumb for letting him go, but hopefully he uses this as an opportunity to improve and move to a bigger club soon.

pao123 i've never said he hasn't got ability, i know he does, that's precisely the reason i can't stand him. He has much more natural talent than Salpi for instance and physical advantages, yet Salpi is better than him because while Salpi dies for the cause on the pitch Samaras strolls around as if he's playing in the garden with his 3 year old kid. He's a professional footballer that is paid tens of thousands of pounds every week and he strolls around lazily, it's unacceptable. Some players do that and can get away with it because their natural talent shines through. Matt Le Tissier for instance, David Ginola, and closer to home, Tsartas. Samaras simply does not have their class or influence though. If Samaras was on a rolling monthly contract where he always has to be on form or risk getting the boot he'd get at least 20 goals a season for Celtic, yet you guys are defending him when he gets 3? As for your example of Vintra being hated by the fans, many still believe that Vintra isn't good enough, me included. You can't be a last 16 CL team with Vintra in your starting 11. However that's not a great example because at least Vintra tries, hence the reason i don't have a go at him every week. A much better example would be Mantzios. Mantzios is arguably the most skillful striker Greece has, yet he's failed pretty much everywhere for exactly the same reasons as Samaras. Mantzios would tear Werder apart in the CL on a Wednesday, then on the Sunday against Ionikos he'd run a total of 50 meters in the whole game and not get a touch of the ball. Unacceptable. By the way, isn't it interesting that in today's Greek and Scottish press are reporting that Lokomotiv Moscow have shown an interest in Samaras and Celtic are willing to listen to offers? They offered him the contract when he was in good form because he was working hard, then he fell back into old habits and now they are willing to let him go again. Why am i not surprised. Let's take bets as to how long he lasts in Russia too if you like? On top of that Celtic are looking to a Championship player in Jay Bothroyd as a new striker, not some world beater, but Jay Bothroyd, a man that has been released by a Championship side for free, is now considered an upgrade too!

Yes I remember that he played well in 2 games this season, one happened to be the quarter final. Perhaps he deserves a statue in his name.He is sometimes played out wide because he's been inept as a central striker. Regular for Celtic? :blink: So when it suits you he comes off the bench, when it doesn't he's a regular?

Yeah there are some decent players there. Portouridis looks decent and Valverde is supposed to be a big fan. Mavrias is very good and Vellios has already showed promise in the premier league. Fortunis is probably the best of the lot, he's even been linked with moves to Serie A. Karelis is a weird one, he either plays very well or is so anonymous that you might as well be playing with 10 men. So not sure what to make of him yet, but he has talent. Katidis is decent too. Lagos is another that's really highly rated but i haven't seen much of him. Let's hope they work hard and contribute to the NT soon

:LOL: :LOL: You guys seriously make me laugh. He deserves to get slated because he's poor as a result of his laziness. It has nothing to do with a fragile mentality. He's arrogant and lazy and deserves all the stick he gets. He's been dropped by every single manager he has ever played for. Otto, Pearce, Erikssen, Strachan, Lennon. Have I missed anyone out? The fans of the clubs he's played for also hate him. Go onto any Celtic fans' message boards and see. Man City fans, well let's not even get started about them, they mock the guy to this day. When he was linked with a move to Sunderland in January the Sunderland message boards were flooded with panic! If he was simply rubbish i'd never mock him like this, but when you have that level of talent and players like Daryl Murphy :LOL: can get picked ahead of you because you're lazy you don't deserve to be a professional footballer. Samaras' achievements: - Voted in the top 10 worst transfers in Premier League history after scoring a total of 8 goals in 55 appearances for Man City. - Scoring 10 goals in 32 apperances in the Scottish league when playing for Celtic! :LOL: AND pao123 trying to portray it as a good season. There were 5 players that scored more goals than he did in the league AND he was playing for Celtic! - 3 goals this season but let's all bow down before him because he played 68 min in the cup final against Motherwell but was so ineffective he was hauled off! Samaras has had one good season in his entire career. 08/09 where he got 15 goals (even then his counter-part Boyd got 27... Bare in mind Boyd went on to get 6 goals in 27 games in the English 2nd division (the championship) so he's hardly a world-beater). Samaras is a disgrace and there's no way i'd congratulate him for winning a cup that's about as competitive as the Fijian cup, particularly when his contribution to winning that cup was about as great as mine! :LOL: Papadopoulos is a completely different case pao123, he deserves praise

Kyrgiakos Papadopoulos played in Schalke's German Cup final win over Duisberg, the game finished 5-0!

:blink: He again failed to score and was subbed off on 68 mins! :D You give this guy way too much credit. He's had yet another poor season

http://www.sportdog.gr/article/31578/stous...roterous-o-papa Papastathopoulos was listed as the 8th worst transfer in Serie A by Eurosport Italia

He's being linked with a loan move to German 2nd division team, Duisburg, they finish 8th this season. That injury seems to have ruined the kid's career. A real shame.

Samaras played and scored in the last game of the season as Celtic beat Motherwell 4-0. Rangers won the league though. He ended up with 3 goals in 22 appearances, his worst return since he's been in Scotland. I actually can't believe they offered him a new contract. I bet they are kicking themselves for believing he'd maintain that short run of good form. Sorry, but he's a disgrace. With his talent he should be scoring at least 20 foals a season there, not averaging a little worse than 1 in 7!

Any idea on how he performed?

Well i hate to say it but i'm starting to be even more convinced that i was right. Samaras started to work hard and play well when his contract was up for renewel, since then he's stopped trying again and he has been dropped. In the last game at ICT they lost 3-1 away and Lennon didn't even have the trust in him to throw him on when they were chasing a goal, and today they are winning 0-2 at Kilmarnock and he's not even on the bench

I think everyone is exaggerating again :) Casillas is a million times better than anyone in the Greek league. He's in the top 5 keepers in the world today but certainly not the best ever. js1000 surely you don't rate him above Schmeichel, Buffon and Seaman? And that's just in the last 10-15 years! Back to Papadopoulos, i like him but think he's a bit top heavy and immobile. He also seems to lack grit and that's not something that can be taught. I want to see some of that psychotic-Gattuso-fire-in-the-belly type passion. Kyrgiakos had that too. The sort of attitude where he'll go on the field tomorrow, look at Rooney in the eyes and think "who do you think you are? You're not better than me mate! You're going in my back pocket. I'm stopping you at all costs!". He's a great talent though and i'd love to see him here in England. Hopefully he puts in a great performance tomorrow and attracts some interest

FULL TIME: Schalke 0-2 Man Utd Schalke should have lost 0-6 but Neuer once more proved that there isn't a better keeper in world football. Papadopoulos played 90 mins but he really struggled, as did the rest of the team. His ball distribution was terrible, when he went up for set pieces he was dominated aerially, he didn't show much passion, but worst of all he looked slow and unfit. He wasn't pressing effectively at all and for much of the time he was just walking around aimlessly. Poor performance from the kid. Hopefully he analyses his mistakes and learns from them. It's an experience

HALF TIME: 0-0. Papadopoulos made one good defensive header but overall he isn't having a good game at all. His ball distribution hasn't been great and he has struggled with their tempo. Rooney is dropping deep but Papadopoulos hasn't pressed at all. If it wasn't for Schalke's keeper, Neuer, they'd be getting killed. He is without doubt the best keeper in the world.

Papadopoulos starts in Schalke's Champions League semi final match against Man Utd. If he's booked he'll miss the 2nd leg. COME ON SCHALKE!

Samaras' goal drought continues as he missed an 81st minute penalty as Rangers drew 0-0 with Celtic. http://www.sportdog.gr/emvideo/modal/26187...ube/nYGZzdQt7ss