Bananas

As long as Greeks believe in this left right crap, the country will get nowhere. Maybe that meant something during the civil war, maybe then meant something in the 60's and during the Junta days, but now it should all be forgotten. It's just not productive. It's vindictive and just another way to scam the system and by inference the nation and the people. People in Greece will know for example that a mayor is corrupt, and instead of seeking to have him brought to justice, will think of ways to benefit from his corruption! I realise this is a generalization, but as a general rule, it's truer in Greece than in other nations. Every country has it, that when a certain party gets elected, they pick their favourites as judges, diplomats, cushy jobs etc, but it can and should only go so far. In Greece, it's always been extreme. And hence the hate continues. In Australia if you're hard core political, people look at you like you're a fruit loop. Which isn't a bad thing. Q) What's the greek word for meritocracy ? A) Fakelo.

I suppose what we need to ask is why did the generals feel the need to form the dictatorship ? Was Greece really under threat of becoming communist or did the generals just do it because they could ? Could they have achieved what they wanted through democratic means ? Who backed them ? And why ? Maybe their intentions were honorable initially, but having good intentions and keeping them once in power are two very very different beasts. Either way, it was a black period for Greece.

Ha, it wasn't all bad. I'm sure there were thousands in a similar position and his day to day life was just fine. It was not being able to plan ahead and being scared of what tomorrow would bring that did his head in. All he wanted was a "fair go", and he wasn't getting that. That was one of the problems in Greece. I don't know if it's better now, but back then being "left" or "right" just meant it was an opportunity for one group of people to benefit at the expense of others. What's the greek word for meritocracy ?

As long as Greece complies with what the EU wants, which they have been doing, the EU couldn't care less. I realize Greece is dragging its feet on reforms that the EU wants, but that is all fluff. It's a distraction. Ultimately, what does any creditor wants ? They want their money back, preferably on their terms. End of story. ND was doing that, again dragging their feet but still eventually doing what the EU wanted for the most part. Applause all round and pats on the back to those ND fellas, bravo. Syriza, having made the promise to the people to "end the austerity" (m*****es) is now stuck in the middle. The EU will not negotiate easily. They hold all the cards, or at least they think they do. They want their money back, and are not interested in growing the Greek economy or any other option put on the table. Syriza need to work out what they stand for. Because their idea of asking the EU politely for better terms is farcical. Realpolitik doesn't work that way. They have two options :- - give the EU what they want. In which case it's like we voted for PASOK or ND. Not much difference. - play the game of chicken to the end. Take the default to the last minute and see if the EU gives in or not. If they do give in, they'll get what they want ie. better terms. If not, well we're out of the Euro and all hell breaks loose .... It's a risky game.

Great perspectives so far everyone. Were there still communist guerrillas in the mountains in the 60's ? From my fathers perspective, his family background was communist. Specifically, his father (my grandfather) was a communist. Most of his uncles and other extended family not so sure, but if they were, they weren't militant. My grandfather, for his participation (and this is the risk you take) paid with his life. I don't know the exact details of why he was a communist and why/how he was killed. It happened when my father was 7 years old and he doesn't like to talk about it, which is fair enough. For his part, my father was harassed around this time (1967). He would be working somewhere for a while, and then someone would come over and say "you're a communist". He'd correct them and say "My father was a communist. I'm not, and don't care for politics". Not that it helped much. He would be out the door. Seeing as this wasn't working out, his last venture was to work for himself. He had a business in Thessaloniki making coffees. One day a police officer came over and commented how it was busy and doing well. He visited again and offered to buy the business. My father declined. A few weeks after that he visited again, and sat in the corner for a while. My father came over and the officer said "we need to have a chat". Basically he said, sell me the business at such a price, or I'll make your life a living hell you communist scum. And so, that's how my father came to be in Australia. He'd had enough.

That's just a nice way of saying we haven't found a replacement yet. There was in article on sport24.gr where it said Savvidis would prefer someone that can speak Russian. Kind of comical ....

I think our top priority should be finding a replacement for Vryzas. Then maybe try and get a manager who can last longer than half a season.

That's odd. I thought he was doing all right based on the fact that he's started a lot of games this season.

What's the issue with Papagiannopoulos ? Is he good enough or is he not ?

What are the statistics on the number of immigrants currently in Greede ?

We just want to go in with good form. Even though we're still shaky since our loss at PAO we're 3-1-1. PAO is 1-1-3.

On the on going "negotiations", at least Varoufakis is putting up a good fight. He speaks with dignity and is pushing hard for the best solution for Greece. He probably won't win, he doesn't have much to negotiate ate with, but at least he's trying his damn best and you know he gives a s%$#!. ND and PASOK would have sold us all for some silver. Correction, they already did. They are a bunch of sell outs and pussies and people have the audacity to slag off Varoufakis. spare me.

Is it illegal to protest in Greece ?

+1 for Vikings.

I don't want Maartens or Maduro. They had their time and their chance. Time to just call it a day.

We'll never know if we don't try. Sometimes you just need to try. Bring him in, yes he'll be a sook at the start but he may come around. I'm sure if he was part of the team this season when we were flying, he would've changed his attitude.

Welcome. Yeah, I had similar issues on the old forum (and this one). Took a couple of attempts. Good to have more PAOK posters on here. :tup:

What are people's thoughts on Lucas coming back from his loan ? Aside from the fact that he'd rather stay at Depor, do you think he can help us next season ? After his bad run of injuries in the first half of the year, he's had a good run of games recently, and he's been in the starting 11. I've watched him in a few games and they basically play him as a number 10. Overall, I'd say he's been playing quite well.

He's going to play with the Ecuadorian NT in the Copa America. He's only going to be available for the 1st game of the play offs. Will miss the remaining 5 games.

Just need to get into some winning form for the play-offs. Hopefully Klaus, Pereyra and Mak can find that form that they showed early in the season. It's a shame Noboa will miss most of the play-offs. Overall, he's been very good in the midfield.

Great to see you back Ziaka !!! :tup: :tup: :tup:

It's morphed into a hybrid of the old Orthodox Brotherhood and Greek Economy threads ;)

Serious question. Why don't we have industries ? In terms of wages we would have a massive edge.

Nearly all of the historically "big" teams in Greece have been run like a kafenio. Worse actually. AEK, PAOK, OFI, Aris, Iraklis are all examples of how not to run a club. They all failed to live within their means. AEK racked up how much in debt ? I can't remember. Luckily for PAOK Savvidis came along and bills are actually being paid on time for the first time in decades. Even so PAOK still spends more than what it earns. And PAO is learning to live with out the backing of Vardinogiannis although I believe PAO didn't accrue massive debts and for the most part lived within their means. If it's one thing EPO could do, and should've done years ago is to insist on some sort of auditing to ensure that clubs are at least doing the right thing.

It all depends what you're trying to achieve. The gap between what we have now and pushing for the title is significant. If we make a signing here or there we'll end up where we always end up. If they want to push for the title, then yes they need some serious players. I was hoping to see a bit more from Koulouris this year. They also need to work out why the team is conceding so many goals. Midfield not providing enough cover ? Or are the backs just not up to the job ?