Bananas

Don't remind me of the game in Toumba. We had them. It was there for the taking, especially once they went down to 10 men. Only our mentality let us down. Nice goal by Klaus that day as well.

Toumba will be insane against Dortmund.

I didn't want Boakye anyway. I'm done with these loan deals. I know in theory you get the option to buy them afterwards, but when has that ever worked out for us. I'm scarred from our loans of the last couple of years. Only Natcho was quality, and well, we were never going to hang onto him. Damn he was a good player. Better to give game time to Koulouris and let him show what he can do. If he can't do it, then at least we know we gave him the chance. Or, if Arnesen and Tudor feel we really need another striker that bad, go out and buy one. Stop this loan crap.

Pelkas looks to be the "real deal". At only 21, he has plenty of time for the Ethniki and if he keeps improving, I'm sure he'll be selected.

If not him, who then ? What is the structure/ownership of the club ?

For GSL, most certainly. For Europe, not so sure. I expect them to strengthen their squad again at the end of this season.

This actually made me laugh.

Forgive my cynicism, but when I read "we" I assumed he meant Olympiakos. Regardless, until PAO and AEK get their house in order, Greece's co-efficient rating will stay where it is, or keep going down. Even PAOK is an unknown quantity this year. Lots of young players brought in. How will they handle playing better quality opponents in the EL Group Stage ? Hopefully AEK will be ready for Europe next season. As for PAO, I'm not sure what the go is with them. Everything seemed to be clicking into place for them towards the end of last season, but now ... what can you say. It's easy to say they have poor ownership. How do you fix it though ?

Do you have rocks in your head ? Are you expecting PAO with 1/6 the budget of Olympiakos to be dominating Europe ? Open your eyes and have a look at the state of Greek football teams :- 1/ PAO - 2nd biggest club in Greece. Finances are what, say 1/3 or 1/4 of what they used to be. Unable to compete at the level they are used to. 2/ AEK - 3rd biggest club in Greece. Relegated to Division 3 due to serious financial issues. 3/ PAOK - 4th biggest club in Greece. Able to pay wages on time for 3 years running. Thank god for Savvidis. 4/ Aris - 5th biggest club in Greece. Where do you start ? 5/ Iraklis - ... 6/ OFI - .... you get the idea. What exactly are you expecting from these "super powers" ? PAOK would probably have been relegated to Division 3 as well if Savvidis hadn't come in when he did. The team was bleeding financially and letting players go left and right because they couldn't even afford wages. Having said that, PAO should have gotten to the Group Stages, but with the state of Greek football at the moment, nothing is a given. The "trend" for Greece's co-efficient score is pointing down and probably will continue to do so for a while yet. "We" needed your points indeed ....

Jairo! Well, well, we have a front runner. I'm expecting or rather hoping for Leovac to be a good signing. That left flank is still a work in progress and we can't keep putting Kitsiou there indefinitely. If Leovac can begin dominating on that side the way Konstantinidis/Kitsiou are on the right, it will also balance out the team a little more. pash, agree with you on Cimirot as well. I'm expecting big things from him in the DM role. Getting injured in the first game ... so unlucky.

Wow! Dortmund! Klaus is gonna rip Sokratis a new one ... just kidding. Having a look at the teams in pot 1, they were all quality, so I'm not that fussed by this draw. I don't really know anything about the Russian team, and realistically they won't be easy. As for Gabala, they showed PAO that if you sleep in defense, they can punish you. We should be all right though because our defense is so rock solid ... Dortmund have, in my opinion, the best home ground in Europe ... after Toumba of course. Their home ground is always packed and the atmosphere awesome. When are the fixtures decided ?

Great news. The kid is only 21. Hopefully he gets a chance to show his ability.

Fair call Akritis. It's the way of the world. If and when he leaves, the team has a solid base and a better mentality, I'll be pleased for him to go.

Let's see what everyone thinks about our new signings this transfer season.

What happened with Schildenfeld ? Talking to a PAO friend of mine he's adamant that he's a big loss to the center of defense.

Realistically, Olympiakos should be aiming for 3rd spot in their CL Group. Anything better would be a huge bonus. Coming last vs Dinamo should be considered a failure. 3rd and into the EL knock out rounds would be a decent result ... in terms of co-efficient rating.

We [Olympiakos/Marinakis] needed your points. Too bad so sad. Poor Marinakis must be hyperventilating at the prospect of a play off game to get what used to be his guaranteed money.

What about TV rights/revenue ? Or is that part of the market pool ?

Blackhawk, those Dutch teams always manage to beat us. I would love to get some revenge on them, but I'm not sure we're ready yet.

In terms of finances, Turkish clubs are one if not two levels above Greek clubs, with the possible exception of Olympiakos. I mean Fenerbahce alone signed Van Persie and Nani. That's a pretty big deal, even if you do consider the players past it.

I think unfortunately, that is the case.

All teams in Pot 1 are quality and you'd expect them to top their groups. Pot 3 just want to avoid Monaco. The "trello" in me wouldn't mind getting Fenerbahce.

Agree paokarag4, there's some tricky teams in pot 3. Overall, I'm ecstatic we even got to the Group Stages. A few months ago, we were a shambles and the team's morale was as low as I had seen it in many years. I had serious doubts we wouldn't make it the Group Stages. It's been an ordeal, but we made it.

Is it true they are really trying to renegotiate Costa's contract ? Amateur hour. Just let it be, or get rid of the player. I've never heard of something like this, except if a club (and PAOK were specialists at it) is in financial trouble. Is Costa worth it ? Probably not. But that's the deal that was made and you shouldn't just try and renege on it. What sort of a precedent does this set ? If you try and sign an expensive player one day, will he look at this and wonder if it's worth the trouble. As far as priorities go, PAOK should be concentrating on giving Kace a new contract with a higher release clause. I'm still god damn amazed we haven't extended his contract.

Interesting comment by Brondby's coach. Asked which players stood out for PAOK, he said Mak and Tziolis.