Bananas

Well at least we made 23 million (or whatever the number is) from selling Delias. Hold on, need to subtract the 15 or so million we lost from not qualifying for Europe. And I guess now less attendance at games, less shirt sales. Now does the sale seem so good and exciting? I think we maybe come out ahead 5 million? Cheap skates. I guess we could've told Dortmund to wait a couple of weeks as we have 2 vitally important games, but that would take balls and wisdom. This is going to be a dull year.

Delias wasn't "made" by our academy. You can't make players like that. He's in the mould of Hatzipanayis, Karapialis, those style of players. The things he's done, we may not see again for a long time, if ever. If the kid left of his own accord I'm ok with it, but still sad. If he was pushed out, I don't know what to say. As for our academy, it has only really produced 2 top class players that actually made a difference in the first team, Delias and Koulierakis. All the rest left early and didn't have time to make an impact. If we're happy to be an Ajax (020?) and produce players and then sell them off, so be it, but I'd have liked a few more seasons with them all in the first team. And as for the timing, it's terrible. The club should have a policy of no sales before the qualifying matches of Europe are completed. If we lose to Brann, we're done probably 13-15 million in revenue. That won't make the sale look too good. Why take the risk? Interesting times ahead.

@paokarag4 I completely agree with you. I think it's crazy the club sold Delias. When you sell a player you should always be thinking how can I replace him and how much will it cost? If it's for say a player like Camara, there are lots of players of this type. You'll find one. But Delias is as you say a once in a generation. You won't find a player like him. And even if by some miracle we do, we probably can't afford him. Further to that, we currently rely on him heavily in attack. I would say almost exclusively. Maybe the manager will change things up to compensate - I don't know. I don't see where our goals are going to come from now. If we had a solid defence and were happy to win a bunch of games 1:0 I wouldn't be that concerned, but we concede goals easily. I can't understand why our American friends are so excited by the sale. 30 million! Not much these days. Olympiacos just sold Tzolakis for 24 million - a good keeper, but very very replaceable. Have a look at Panathinakos in the last few years. They have bought a few players in the 6 to 10 million range and for what? They are still not much improved. I think for now the club has to in addition to finding a number 10, but a midfielder who can solidify the middle and protect the defence. The ease with which we concede goals is the biggest problem. The ball gets into our box with ease. Anderlecht ... a fair result. If we played them again, we'd lose again. Conference League is our level at the moment.

As yes, you're right. Damn it, not happy he was sold. He was quite good.

Holy crap I didn't even realise our first game of the season was on. Good result ... I guess. Scoring goals, not a problem. Seems like the same defensive fragility we had last season has carried over. Hopefully we can fix it, otherwise I see this season going the same as last season. Depth seems to be an issue. Only quality on the bench was Camara and Taison. Will need more to see out a long season. What's with Gomez - I thought he was sold? Or am I going crazy. I guess both could be true. He had a decent world cup.

Let's see if he can break the record that was set by the last Italian manager we had.

Stats can be misleading when you don't have enough data, but over a season stats don't lie. We haven't had a problem scoring goals. We have a problem conceding. If I can see it, that should be obvious to the team (you'd think). Hopefully we strengthen the backline and DM positions. A lot of of our early season success was on the back of solid games by Meite but you can't rely on one player being fit and in form all the time. Work also needs to be done up front. Zivkovic being out has been a problem. His usual replacement Despotov hasn't worked out (injuries and form). Now there is the question of Giakoumakis. Keep? Look for someone else? Again the same question of relying on one player to be fit and in form all season. Jeremejeff is not a striker to rely on - he's a throw him off the bench if you need a goal kind of player.

Congratulations to OFI. It is refreshing to see a team other than the big 4 win the cup (even though I say it with a sad heart). And good luck to them in Europe. As for us, it's all gone off the rails since our EL campaign ended. Injuries, lack of form. The team just isn't clicking and has dropped multiple gears. It's a shame not only because of the 100 years but also because a couple of months ago when the team was doing well, I really believed we were the best team in the league when at our best. I really thought after our EL campaign ended that the players would have time to refresh and would be firing for the play offs. Alas, not to be. The club has to now sit back and work out what's gone wrong.

Massive rotation, good to see the boys win easily. Hopefully Konstantelias is all right for the cup game this week. If we get a fine for the pyro show I will be surprised. Let's see if common sense prevails.

Obviously Lucescu has his reasons, but not sure why you wouldn't throw Pelkas in for the last 20 or so minutes. He's got that ability to nab a goal with his running and energy. Our defense has been and will continue to be our weak spot. If we can sort it out, it will help immensely as in general our offense deliver and do their job.

Also good for us (PAOK) in the league as it means PAO and AEK will be playing just as many games as us through the year. No rest for them by not having European commitments.

That's how you do it!

Big win to secure european football (plus $$$$). Yes we played badly but isn't it this way every year with these qualifying games. These games are about one thing and that is the result and we got it. If they had a half decent striker we could've lost by 3 goals on aggregate. Then again we could argue we don't have a decent striker also. Shout out to Pavlenka who surprised in a very good way. Agree with pash's comment re Kotarski and Pavlenka.

I do hope Konstantelias stays. Firstly agree with Blackhawk that we could get more for him. Second and more important, he isn't easily replaceable. I think if he left and we get some whatever transfer we'd lack up front. We're already down a proper striker for 3 seasons now and rely on the front 3 behind the strikers to create. Losing him would be too much. I don't want a repeat of Koulierakis where once he left we didn't replace him with an adequate player and it showed last season.

I'm happy there aren't even stronger teams. These are all winnable match ups assuming we show up. Too many players last season regressed so let's see what pre-season brings. Hopefully some freshness. We can't rely on Camara to save us all the time. So if we win this round, I think we're guaranteed Conference League group stage. Am I right? P.S. I have a feeling (call it a hunch) Dutch Eagle is really kassiesa in disguise.

So it's 12 million per season with Nova Sports which isn't bad. I'm guessing the bonus is for making the playoffs. I forget, how much were the other mob offering?

We got to where we deserve and even that is a stretch (in other words pali kala). We have been mediocre all season occasionally having decent spells. At this level it won't cut it. Time to regroup and think about next season. Very few players in the squad are playing to their level.

Disappointing result but it sounds like the better team won. Overall I would say we achieved our goal i.e. to qualify to the next round since we are not a top 8 team. Anything from here on is a bonus. Still, our poor form in the last couple of months is a worry.

Man, what a saga with Meite. Overall I'm pleased we got him with the caveat he can be the same player he was by the time the play offs begin and with a second caveat that we are hopefully not too far from the top. If it doesn't work out for whatever reason, it's only a loan spell.

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.