Bananas

Reaper, I agree with you about the number of "leftists". I also agree with you that their reasoning (in this day and age) is juvenile at best, down right stupid at worst. But I just don't buy the idea that they have run the country into the ground. I put most of the blame on governments of the past who didn't have the guts to make appropriate reforms. The reforms never had to super radical. No government really does that. It's just a series of usually small incremental changes and tweaks year after year. In Greece's case, there has been very little or none, which has gotten us to this point. Fixing the taxation system alone is 10 year project I believe. Maybe the kids who start University today will have graduated in 10 years from now to help with the mammoth project of reforming Greece. :)

I don't think Koulouris is ready yet. If he was, well, it would've shown last year. He probably needs to go on loan and get some game time under his belt. Then again, he might be better off training under Tudor.

Kitsiou and Skondras are different sort of players. Kitsiou is definitely a better attacker than Skondras, and Skondras is definitely a better defender. Skondras can only really player anywhere in the back line, and is versatile along there. He can play as a CB or LB if required. He's more rugged and aggressive. Kitsiou can play almost as a right mid, albeit not a superb one. I would say his natural position is a wing back, and the 3-5-2 suits him perfectly, as he then has cover behind him. Kitsiou can also play in the middle if required. Konstantinidis, I'm not so sure about ...

I don't mind that the games are all together. The only part that is a worry is that we play the "big 3" all at Toumba in the 1st round. Hopefully they don't get carried away at Round 8 if we happen to near the top of the ladder with "we're going to win the title" vlakies. After you play the big 3 in the 2nd round, and if near the top, then you can start talking. Until then, pexte bala!

And I will be very unhappy if we answer the door. :)

Lots of talk within this thread as well as in the world press about "reforms, reforms". But this takes time. This doesn't excuse the pathetic state of affairs in Greece, but to get Greece to Germany's level in terms of taxation collection, regulation etc, you realistically need probably 10 years. This will take a long time ...

Very true. A lot of bewilderment around the world at what has happened in the last few weeks. Yeah there is lots of the usual "why can't they just pay back the debt" coming even from Greeks themselves, but a lot of economists, politicians etc, people with "clout" are amazed and not impressed at what is happening.

So true. Especially the part about the bad governments. Unfortunately, Greece has never really had someone that went into government just to try and help the country, apart from a select few. I can't think of anyone in recent times. Having said that, the EU is now trying to control Greece. We are this ping pong ball that's now stuck between Germany and France. The Germans believe they can cut us loose (please do!), and the EU will be all right. Based on their past predictions from the 1st bail out onwards, I wouldn't put too much stock in their predictions. The French and Italians are deathly afraid of us being booted from the Euro, hence why they were so against Schauble's 5 year Grexit plan. And to top it off, Hollande is saying the Greeks weren't humiliated at all. In the meantime, the Greeks have eaten well, danced, sung, partied and are passing on the bill to their children. Shameful behaviour all round from everyone. As for the "European Project", well, we all know who is the boss now!

Reaper you go on and on about the leftists. If you were to remove all the leftists from the country, what would the population of Greece be ?

You should have asked me instead of pash. I would have done it for half the price.

I hope so. The "kid" is 24 years of age and has spent his professional career coming off the bench.

You can't get more Greek blooded than Daniel Batista Lima. Always loved seeing the Ethniki photos with him In the squad.

He's a bit of a risk to be fair. He's been very injury prone and hasn't played consistently. He did have a decent run of games last season but his injuries coupled with the fact that he'll want a hefty wage, means I don't really want him. If we had money to burn, sure, take the chance, but for the wages he'll want, I'd prefer someone more reliable. Enough of these has beens using PAOK as a recovery hospital. Yes, I'm looking at you Maduro and Maartens.

I am amazed this wasn't the first thing discussed the minute Syriza (or whoever won the election) got into government. The best thing Greece could have done is have a fall back plan. The only possible problem to this could be the narrow time frame of 6 months or so from getting into government until the bailout ran out. Either way, the day I realised how terrible the EU is, was the day they replaced Papandreou for "daring" to even mention a referendum. The way that episode played out, was an eye opener. The world is realising now, but the EU showed its colors then. That was when all the major parties in Greece should have got together and started planning for a Grexit. Not to necessarily do it, but to be prepared as possible if need be.

I just don't see any pros in sticking with the Euro. Even if Greece had zero debt, it's economy would be better off without an overvalued currency that affects your competitiveness. The sticking point is the changeover, which would be harsh at best, chaotic at worst. But as you say, the serious money has already been shuffled safely away. There isn't all that much to devalue is there ? Now that Greece went to a gun fight with a water pistol, it's all moot. I'm not a trained economist but isn't it obvious that our exports would grow dramatically as a result ? As for imports, we import too much anyway so having a weaker currency would just mean less "frivolous" spending and only buying essentials. The common consensus (how this was arrived at who knows, maybe throwing darts at a board), seems to be that a dpx would settle at about a 40% less than the Euro. Is this the end of the world ? What Greece should have done is said we want to leave the Euro, but need to stage and manage it over say a 3 year period or something like that. As far as the media is concerned, you could make it palatable to Merkel to make it seems like it's Greece's fault, which is all she cares about. In fact it would be an early Xmas present for her since a lot of her voters would love a Grexit.

Well aek66, if it's that cut and dried ie. we are too afraid to leave the Euro, at what point do we begin to think that maybe going to the dpx was the better alternative ? After 10 years of 25% unemployment, 15 years, 20 years ? Never ? Is there a cut off ?

You would have been better off deleting the entire post. It looks like I cursed with all the ********** in there now, but in fact I didn't. And there was no threat in there! Having said that the comment was 100% out of line.

I've often wondered if threats of "turning a blind eye to Turkish aggression" have been casually offered. But, it's only speculation. Who can say really. Maybe that's why Tsipras pushed Varoufakis to the side. Varoufakis is not the type to take threats lightly and is more than happy to tell the media some of what is told behind closed doors.

I think its been shown that the 4-2-3-1 doesn't suit us. At least not with our combination of CB's and DM. Just too weak and we concede so easily. Let's see how Tudor lines them up ...

I was all for giving Lucas another chance, but if he keeps this up he'll have to go. This is where Savvidis really needs to have a talk with him behind closed doors. Tudor can only do so much. If I was Savvidis I would tell Lucas, I expect you while you are at the club to give it 100%. If a fair offer comes in you can leave, but until then you need to respect the club, fans and your contract. If you are doing this to cut a cheaper deal with Depor, I will sell you on purpose to any club except them, even if it's for less money.

Right now, I'd love to see all their *************. I'll cool down soon ... I think. Moderator: I know you don't mean it literally but it in these times we shouldn't make statements that can be misconstrued as threats.

I don't think so Akritis, but I'm only speculating. I can only go by what I'm thinking, and right now, I feel betrayed by Tsipras. If I was a voter in Greece, I would have voted for Syriza, as an alternative to the duds of yesteryear of course. But right now, I wouldn't vote for him. After today, he's done nothing different to what ND or PASOK would have done. Having said that, who the hell knows. Maybe in 2, 3 or 5 years from now we might turn around and say that having the EU control the Greek economy helped fix it. Or Greece may be worse off. I really don't know. I'm pretty sure the IMF and EU don't know since their 1st bail out turned into a 2nd, and now a 3rd. Will there be a 4th ? F*** PASOK. F*** Papandreou. F*** the Junta. F*** ND. F*** Karamanlides. F*** Tsipras. F*** them all. Can you tell I'm a little angry ? :) P.S. F*** Schauble and Merkel too.

I can see XA getting a larger share of the vote, if things don't improve. It's too early to say, but if in 2 or 3 years from now, Greece is now 500 billion in debt and on the verge of requiring a 4th bail out, then yes, XA could very well become a contender. Syriza had a chance to do something historic. All they had to do was have the guts to issue IOU's on the day the ECB cut off liquidity. But, it's a gamble. I get it. It could have failed and the consequences could have been dire. But if you're not willing to roll the dice, don't play the game and sign the document put in front of you a few weeks back. You F***wits. Schauble and Merkel must be laughing at our incompetence.

As pexoun bala, kai den me niazei an foresoun mono sovraka.

Bravo Tsipras. I never had you on a pedastal, but neither did I have you in the special club of Greek politicians I hold in contempt. However today, you have completed the requirement for joining the special club. No balls. No brains. To be fair, balls without brains doesn't get you far, but if you're going to try scare the EU, at least have an ace up your sleeve. Stooge. Going to be interesting how Syriza do at the next election. Welcome to Greece, Germania Minor, jewel of the Aegean.