Bananas

I'm keen to Cimirot play. I'd like to see him pared with Kace or Charisis, or even have all 3 in the middle.

The thing is, those PAOK fans are entitled to their view on life. But they aren't entitled to push the club in the direction they want. They don't own the club. They think they do, but they don't. They don't or rather shouldn't think they speak for and represent all PAOK fans. In summary, they are a bunch of tossers and I would like nothing more than if they stopped supporting PAOK, as unrealistic as that is. If they want to, they could always make a new club based on the principles they value.

Every manager he's had in the last few years with the exception of Huub, considers him a decent player. So maybe, just maybe, he's not so bad as what everyone else thinks.

I'll be amazed if offers don't come in for Mak. He's been prolific this season. If he could actually finish, he'd have 40 goals by now.

What exactly is their problem ?

Time to wake up. Nearly half the squad is over-rated. If you're waiting for Taxi or Samaris to save us, we'll be waiting forever. The midfield is woeful. They can't defend or attack. Pick one at least. If I was an opposition manager, and I saw Samaris and Taxi in the middle, it wouldn't worry me in the slightest. Sure, they have the occasional good game ... once in a while. There are problems in the midfield and up front, but we need to fix the middle first. Play one of Taxi or Samaris (whoever you think can defend better) as the DM and Pelkas and Fortounis as attacking CM's. That's it. That simple. All the rest is fluff. We lack depth as well. Outside of this combo I can't think of another decent one. Up front, that's a whole different problem.

Is it just me or does our team seem to suffer from lots of injuries ? Almost every game someone is injured. Are we doing something wrong ?

How many goals are we conceding this week ? Any takers ? ;)

Isn't that enough to condemn the guy ? So much bias in these threads based on team allegiance, it's nauseating.

It's not really that hard. You pull him aside, and tell him one on one, if I see you doing this or that, I'll drag you. Keep doing it, I'll drop you. Not rocket science.

If we sign Pletikosa I'll cry. I've had it with signing pensioners ... Berbatov excepted.

We definitely need a CB or even two. I think Arnesen knew this but didn't have the time in the transfer period to get the player he wanted. I suppose he thought he'd rather stick with what he has. After all how bad could the current defense be ? ;) When Arnesen started, the number one priority was qualifying for the EL Group Stages. We had just come off an abysmal end of the year where we got smashed in the play-offs, confidence was ludicrously low, and there was serious concerns we wouldn't be able to get through the 3 qualifying rounds. I think this led to the whole transfer period being a bit random. All things considered, it was a decent transfer period, but it's still too early to judge some players. Some worked (Rodrigues), others didn't (Olsen, Sabo) and others are yet to be determined (Leovac, Cimirot, Jairo). Charisis is looking good. Where is Mystakidis ? And I think Golasa should be replaced. He's ok, but just ok.

Well, this is a case of life being stranger than fiction. Who would have thunk it. What exactly does the General Team Manager do ? I wonder what Savvidis motivation for signing him was ?

The pattern was set from the Xanthi game last season onwards. Since then our defense has been shaky. I can't remember the last time we had a good run of clean sheets. So, it's simple to blame it on tactics or Arnesen or Tudor or Savvidis or the tooth fairy. I think the simple truth is, we need better quality defenders. And to make it worse, if you want to play with very attacking full backs or wing backs, your CB's and at least one of the DM's has to be able to cover, which means they have to be "above average" so to speak. Tudor is saying he's mystified and that we're defending with 10 behind the ball. There is no mystery. The current personnel aren't suited to this sort of game. If you want to play (at least in the GSL) an attacking game, the current CB's especially will continue to struggle. *N.B. For all those Tziolis lovers out there, I forgot to blame him also.

I had a bad dream last night, that we conceded 3 goals from the team on the bottom of the ladder, that up until then had only scored 2 goals in 9 games.

Very true about the Russian big spending Sheriff. Agree with your list above of countries we can't expect to surpass, with the exception of Holland. They can be inconsistent and have some years where they don't accumulate many points. They could possibly be caught assuming our sides got their shizen together.

Good to see Charisis had a good game, even though he gave away the penalty. Hoping this kid develops rapidly, similar to how Kace went from being a "kid" one season then the following season he was almost always a starter.

As bad as it is, maybe we deserve to be 13th. The points don't lie. Back when Greece was ranked 6th, you had Olympiakos, PAO and AEK all at a high and similar level. PAOK a bit further back. But between these 4 it was enough to accumulate points consistently. Until PAO and AEK improve, we won't be moving up the rankings.

I think his prospects would improve if he had a shave.

Are you trolling again ? Can Savvidis do anything right ?

Disappointing but hardly surprising. I can see what Tudor was trying to do with the different formation ie. surprise the Ruskis by strengthening the defense and have pace up front. It's one of those things, damned if you, damned if you don't. The truth is right now Krasnodar are a better team than PAOK.

Thanks for the comic relief. I needed that.

Would be a first for beating Russian opposition.

Greek Government that cares about the environment ? I don't think so. Greece is probably the most polluted country in the EU. It's rivers and lakes are a national disgrace. They can't even handle basic rubbish collection because ... I have no idea why. Apparently it's hard. More likely the correct bribes didn't take place or the government used this as a stunt to try and get votes. But one thing I am 100% sure of, is that they do not care about the environment.

It's interesting to note that Asteras manager in the post game interview, said that he considers PAOK to be much better this season compared to last season.