Bananas

A low voter turn out was to be expected. I was surprised by Golden Dawn. I thought they would do better. If they can't get votes while the country is being run by Germans and invaded by Muslims, when will they get votes. If the situation in Greece was replicated in Germany, their population would be going nuts. Their extreme right wing parties would do much better than what Golden Dawn have done. I suppose we Greeks just aren't fascists at heart. ;)

Nice post Che.

This fascination with left and right is part of the reason why Greece is such a broken country now. All it does is cause division and hatred. It is never productive ... not that I have seen. It is purely, at least in my eyes, a reason for one section of the population to persecute or steal from another section of the population. Or to feel better about themselves. Or to enrich or improve their position somehow. Labeling someone "left" or "right" makes it easier to f--k them over ... without feeling guilty that you've done the wrong thing. We Greeks are specialists at it. Grand Masters. The second I hear this left that right I almost just tune out. As for Tsipras, ideology when youthful is one thing, and practise in the real world is another. He's about as left as my left nut ... in practise. There is no left or right anymore. There is only "Ms. Merkel, is it all right if I can do this or that". Greece is now bearing the fruit of decades of incompetence.

I'd throw in Mystakidis for Pelkas. Deflate that little ego nice and early. Besides the game will be hectic in the first half. Second half, throw in Pelkas, Berbatov. Still got Jairo and Rodrigues as well.

Pana97, it is really hard to judge. And yes, it's generational. But statistics only give you part of the picture. I tell you this much with certainty. The 40 and 50 goals that Christiano and Messi bang in La Liga, no way that would happen in the old Serie A. Not even close. They would probably get half that, which is still crazy. Back then, you'd be lucky to have one or two players get more than 20 goals for the season. The defenders back then were defenders.

I'm pleased about Golasa. I thought it was odd that Tudor didn't want him in the team. He fit for the most part the Arnesen criteria of young and relatively cheap. I concluded he wasn't "hungry" enough. He was so so last year but I thought he should be given a second season to see how it played out. At least this way we'll know. Then again, maybe once Cimirot and Antonis get fit, that could be it for him. Might explain his attitude.

Ha! So what do you do with Pelkas now ? We have a big game against AEK coming up. Do you drop him to the bench to let him know "don't muck around" ?

He's definitely got much better vision and attacking instinct than Tziolis. He also gets into forward positions "naturally". The only thing that might work against him is his defensive game.

Antonis is no Kace. He's technical and quite composed. Good vision. I actually don't think he'll suit PAOK for games where you expect to be on the back foot against better opposition. If you want a player to run all day and "hack" the opposition, it's not him. We'll find out soon enough how he copes with the step up. Australia does not exist lol.

Pash, hopefully two things happen this season. 1) We extend Kace's contract. Do it already! 2) One of Chimirot, Sabo, Charisis, Antonis manages to take Tziolis spot in the 11. Sabo is playing fairly average at the moment, but he might just be trying to find his feet. Too early to judge him just yet. On a side note, is that now 2 games in a row that Olsen hasn't had a clanger ? Oh damn, I just jinxed him.

Agree about Brazilian Ronaldo. Before the Serie A defenders kicked him to death, he was truly scary. Just think Christiano x 2. I've never seen a striker cause defenders so much fear. Look at these tackles! Today nearly all reds, and they weren't even a yellow in this game. Or not even a free kick. People forget how bad the tackling used to be. ~1:23. ~3:53, love this one. The defender looks like he's doing Karate or something. ~5:48, another beauty. And he was given this treatment week in week out. Christiano or Messi ? Cannon fodder. I can't remember who it was, but a Juve defender back in day was being interviewed and he said something like "In Italy, the man can get past the defender, or the ball, but not both".

I only wish the Greek NT had a player like him. Best striker in the GSL by a margin.

Maybe we should be thankful that they only want to use Greece as a stopping point on their journey to Germany. I know it's a mess in Greece at the moment, but it could be worse. My fear is that at some point, all the countries bordering Greece will put up borders like Hungary. And then at that point, what happens ? If these refugees are given a choice of Greece or Turkey only, which would they select ?

I just hope he doesn't embarrass himself on the field.

Maradona was the best hands down. I'm not one of these people that says "Maradona vs Pele, Maradona was better ..." but what he did will never happen again. He went to a mid table club, in the best league in the world by a country mile, and won them the league. That can't happen today. Would Messi or Ronaldo sign for say Everton or Newcastle ? Different times now so you just can't compare. Then again, Maradona had the assistance of cocaine. ;)

Both Ronaldo and Messi are freaks. Agree on that. Both will go down amongst the greats of the game. But in terms of looking just at stats, they are both lucky they are playing at a time when players are protected by referees. If they were playing in the Serie A of the 90's, they would've been on their 2nd knee reconstruction by now.

And you can have this avatar if PAOK wins ? :)

lol :)

I don't think Pelkas is ready yet. Close yeah, but let's see how he does over the season. Our "sample size" of 9 games isn't quite big enough. The only thing I can see stopping him is ego. I'm sure Tudor won't accept him slacking off though.

Maybe I should've kept my trap shut. I do like your avatar though. Always loved Demi. One of a kind. Here's to a good game :: raises scotch :: N.B. Xanthi is very decent team. Good practical manager. I'm looking at you PAO fans. ;)

Amorgos, you guys are sounding very confident over there in the AEK forum. Should PAOK fans be worried ? Any recommendation on a sports bet ? ;)

Fetfa is exactly the sort of player I would hate to play with. You don't ever know what you're going to get from him. He is the definition of unreliable. Give him more chances ? How about you take the ones you're given. Sure, he's 3 times more skillful than say a Karagounis, but he's also 3 times less the player. Don't be fooled by fancy tricks alone. There is a lot more to the game than just flair. This is not 1980. The fact that he was even selected for the NT shows how desperate and demoralised the NT is. The "kid" hasn't even played a full season of football and he'll be 25 years of age in December. Give his spot to Pelkas. There, I said it.

Really hard to predict this one. Both teams playing well, if anything AEK slightly better. AEK are on a high, but the game is in Toumba. Buonnanote and Berbatov "X" factor. It's all happening! As much as I'd like a win, what I want to see more is our team play "correctly". Hold possession. Don't panic. No blunders from Olsen. Create chances. Mark your man, etc. If we do everything correctly and AEK win due to a freak game or play, well so be it. But above all, play the game as a team. This is probably our biggest test so far this season, including European games.

Never say no to Panda.

You sure ? We have Gabala away, and Atromotis away. Also, AEK, Dortmund and Olympiakos at home.