Bananas

Well this has to be the biggest blunder in a while. I mean we generally do two or three major blunders per season but this one is up there. As to where this puts us, we simply can't afford to lose any more points. It puts the pressure on in derbies where previously we could get away with a draw (or even a loss) now draw is minimum and more likely a win is required. As to Rasvan, I'm with @paokarag4 on this. The players that left weren't adequately replaced. You put in a fit and in form Koulierakis (who is a winner), Meite and a CF of the quality the 3 Athens teams have and we win easily not only today, but we also I believe win the last couple of derbies. Of the transfers this season only Camara has worked out (and very well mind you - it's scary to think how many more points we would have dropped without him). All of the rest, meh.

Oh crap. I didn't realise the extent of what happened. I haven't checked the footage or followed the story. Based on what you're saying it sounds like Lucescu got baited and messed up big time. I'll have to check the footage ... if I can be bothered. This is tiresome.

Ok so what the f**k just happened? Can someone elaborate. Were punches thrown? Did someone drop their dacks and flash their dick? I can't see how a 4 month suspension can be handed out in Greece of all places. One other thing. Isn't Gagatsis part of EPO or some such and he's meant to be "our man"? I'm obviously missing a lot and don't really keep up with the political side of things. The bad part about this is I can see Lucescu accepting an offer from another club and that'll be that. AEX win again.

So I've never really understood what's happening with the stadium. Sporadic articles here and there over the last 5 years or so but nothing of substance. Do we actually need the government to assist financially to get a new stadium built? Do we just need them to sign off on a bunch of red tape? What progress has actually been made and what are the hurdles that need to be overcome? I recall we wanted to use Iraklis's stadium but there was issues around it. Is that the only hold up? Surely that can't be it. Back to the finances, I don't know if Savvidis can fully fund it himself (or even if he wants to) but if we're expecting the government to help this will never happen.

If you sign Meite now he might be ready for the playoffs. And that's not guaranteed. If you consider him a write off for this season but intend on him being ready for next season that's another story. The other problem is his salary. We were willing to make him the best paid player in the squad and he rejected the offer. Fair enough that's his call but you can't exactly pay that amount anymore. It would have to be considerably lower. The only thing I can see working is an 18 month loan where a big chunk of his salary is paid for by Porto.

Pali kala we escaped with only a 1:0 loss and still have a fighting chance. I don't understand how we can play some games like this where we are so poor. Ok lose, but put in a decent performance. We seem to be especially allergic to playing well at AEK's new stadium. As for the new AEK president, yeah only in Greece. It's the people that run the game though that are at fault. If they made it clear at the beginning of the season if this is done then your team will be fined a million euros and you will get a 10 point deduction, I reckon that would do the trick.

It's looking to be similar to last season where multiple teams are in contention. Much more interesting than those seasons where Olympiacos would be +10 points in front half way through the season.

Guys, we'll never find another coach like Lucescu. He's a one off. Take that note and put it in your back pocket. There are better coaches out there, but you have to be realistic and ask what are the chances we could land them. If they're already proven they are going to better leagues. If they do come, it's because they're old and have lost the spark and are just looking for an easy pay day. They'll be used to having better players and bigger budgets and after dealing with the politics in Greece may just think it's not worth it. Do we really want to go through what Olympiacos and Panathinaikos have gone through in the last couple of years where they have fired and hired multiple coaches. The ridiculous thing is, we are only 1 point from the top. All of the teams are suffering from lack of consistency, not just us. Koulierakis leaving has left a big hole at the back. Let alone he had an eye for goal. A lot of people on here were cheering when he was sold. I honestly don't know why. I definitely wasn't. The only coaches I can think of we could possibly get as replacements is Ivic or Garcia but they are maybes. Who knows if they'll be interested and would they really do a better job? Other than that, it'd be a role of the die. Having said all that we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. And it could be Lucescu just wants to move on. Who the hell knows.

In the end a good point. Agree with pash, every point counts. More importantly, it'll hopefully lift the spirit of the players for the rest of the competition. Stating the obvious but the quality of teams in the EL is a step up from the Conference League. We were hoping to have 6 or at least 4 points by now.

I know right! I was hoping this would be the game we'd stop the rot vs Aris but not to be. The players can only blame themselves this time - they had enough chances. I was hoping we'd win this game and PAO would beat AEX (who have a lot of players still not ready) and open up an early gap at the top of the table. Not to be.

Crespo was a rock solid reliable CB for the club. I wish him well.

@paokarag4 I didn't realise Osimhen was at Galatasaray. He was an animal two seasons ago when Napoli won the title. Wow, I don't know what happened for Osimhen to end up at Galatasaray but that's bad news for us. On a serious note, on paper comparing players, salaries and budgets Galatasaray are very heavy favourites. I won't be disappointed with a loss so long we play at a decent level. I'd be very happy with a draw. Either way, we'll be under the pump and we've achieved some great results against "better" teams in the past. Good luck to the boys.

Back to back baby!

If your trying to convince PAOKSYD, truly your wasted your time ha ha. To give you an idea of the pre Savvidis days, I didn't even used to bother looking at the league table because winning the title was impossible - we just didn't have the budget. It was as likely (with no disrespect intended) as Aris winning the title with their budget. Even if say Olympiacos had a bad year, what were the odds of PAO and AEK also having a bad year. So yeah basically almost impossible. So from my perspective, I'll forever be grateful that Savvidis came to the team and gave us a budget where we can at least fight for the title. As for new Toumba, I'm with you, if it happens it happens. I think it will ... eventually.

Nice. I'm hoping from a financial perspective we can get at least 3 wins in the group stage. Every dollar helps.