Bananas

In theory this is the last of the "easy" games. No offence to @Lamiara ole of course. Need to make sure we get the 3 points because after this there is a run of tough matches :- Round 23 : Olympiakos (home). Round 24 : Asteras Tripolis (away, we saw what they did to Olympiakos this week). Round 25 : AEK (home). Round 26 : Atromitos (away). Round 27 : Panionios (home). Round 28 : Xanthi (home). Round 29 : Panathinaikos (away). All games where points could be dropped. Going to be an interesting couple of months. Ideally, we would have the title already won by the last match day (in Toumba vs the bottom team Platanias) and the party atmosphere in Toumba will be, I don't know, just insane. A man can dream.

Some nice goals in the highlights. Vieirinha looks like he's just ripping it up in the LB position. And here I was saying I was apprehensive about signing him. Go on Vieirinha, keep throwing egg on my face. I'm happy to oblige. Shakhov has his deficiencies, but I've said it before, he at least makes up for it by getting into goal scoring positions. Nice unselfish assist by Prijovic also for that first goal. That third goal, I could watch it all day. Love those through balls that just split a defense and the finish by Prijovic was great.

Agreed. It drives me crazy when players get unnecessary yellow cards. Just hurts the team for no reason. In previous season we couldn't finish a game without getting at least 3 or 4 yellow cards. It's been better this season. Or at least it seems that way. I'll have to check.

Damn. I would’ve preferred AEK. Anyway ... now we have a final at OAKA to look forward to. I’ve always thought a home and away 2 leg final is the fairest way to do it. Like in the old days of the UEFA Cup. Or was it the Cup Winners Cup ? Assuming we progress to the final along with a AEK, I don’t even want to think about the violence in Athens. Their ultras will be out for revenge and our ultras well they aren’t exactly the brightest sparks. Ultra m*****es.

A bit surprised Glykos has been included over Rey. If Paschalakis were to get injured or red carded I’m not sure I’d prefer him over Rey. Oh well I guess we have to trust in Lucescu. I hope this doesn’t affect Rey’s confidence too much. I think he’s a good GK overall that didn’t really do too much wrong this season.

Yeah man bring it on. I’ve always wanted my own Republic. What’s happening in Q3 that’s significant ?

I’m with Blackhawk, I’d prefer AEK in the semi final. If they sit back which I expect them to do, we are more likely to wear them down over 180 minutes. Also, if we play them in the final it’ll be at a neutral ground or in Athens which is a home game for them. I’d rather they come and enjoy 90 minutes in Toumba instead.

I was disappointed with the prospect Leovac leaving. Even though he has never been great, I really didn't think we had anyone better to play that position. But having seen how exceptionally well Vieirinha has played in the LB position, Leovac can gtfo. My only concern with Vieirinha playing as LB is how he'll cope against an attacking team. So far to be fair we have played teams that mostly sit back.

The name ... what's in a name ? My take, I wouldn't even give them a compound name. Not after the way they've behaved since 1992. The only name I would give is "Makedonski" spelt and pronounced exactly like that. That is their name and they can have it. You know, I think the problem has always been the attempt to rewrite their history that is the essence of the problem. The name dispute is just a manifestation of this. If the ... Makedonski had no historical claims to Macedonia or Greece, they probably would've got the name "Macedonia" back in 1992. I don't think anyone in Greece would've minded. But once they began laying claim to Greek History they crossed a line and now it's too far gone. I don't even know how this can be resolved. The bizarre thing is this obsession with rewriting history. I mean, it's actually embarrassing. Making claims on things that existed 1000 years before you did ? A ... Makedonski, if asked the question "Are you a descendant of the Ancient Greek Macedonians ?" should laugh and say "Of course not you idiot". But instead, they either believe it, or push for it regardless. It's actually quite bizarre. And why is there this sudden push to resolve the name all of a sudden ? Is Greece being pressured in some way ? Or is this just a pet project of Tsipras or Syriza ?

If this isn't a cut and dried case for points deductions I don't know what is. If this isn't such a case, how do we define such a case ? When there are "x" number of fans on the pitch ? When there are "x" number of punches thrown ? When there is "x" dollars of property damage done to the stadium ? End of the day, it has to pass the common sense test, and that is, do we want this sort of thing discouraged or not ? If your answer is no i.e. you are all right with this sort of thing happening any time, then sure, there should be no points deductions. But then those who complain of the poor state of football in Greece in general can stop their complaining or their calls for improvement. Greeks being Greeks, with cynicism in our blood, will say "Of course Olympiakos had points deducted, Savvidis owns EPO and he wants to win the league". And you know what, they may be right, but of what relevance is this ? Should Olympiakos feel aggrieved if there is a points deduction because in the past they would have gotten away with it ? Is the implication that if Marinakis controls EPL then there would not be a points deduction ?! The implication is that no one in Greece believes in a fair and just system. They believe that the only way to get justice is to control EPO. You either control it and have ... a better brand of justice ... or you don't and you have no justice. Either way, it reflects poorly on Greeks and Greece as a nation. It's actually embarrassing. Olympiakos should cop it. And cop it sweet, and the same should happen to any other team that has a similar incident where there is a violent (violent being the operative word) pitch invasion. You can't let incidents like this go unpunished and anything short of points deductions is a slap on the wrist.

Yes. Once you said it, I agree. Much better to take the pressure of now. If it was still there by the time we play Olympiakos the media would have been in a frenzy.

Solid result away from home. Here's hoping Olympiakos vs AEK is a draw.

Now is the time to get Biseswar on to steady the game.

Well I suppose sometime before the heat death of the universe Paschalakis was going to concede a goal. Nice header by the Giannina player.

Now I'm getting worried ha ha.

I'm not sold on the fact that he plays better as a winger. Happy as always to be proven very very wrong.

Nice shot there by Vieirinha. I wasn't sure about him playing left back but he's been doing really well there. At least in terms of his attacking play.

I thought aklautoi was reliable ? On a side note I'd have to say this is probably our strongest 11 on the pitch.

Yeah, I wish I found in earlier. Missed the entire first half pretty much.

I'd put Biseswar on. He needs minutes and he could come in handy next week.

http://cdn.livetvcdn.net/webplayer.php?t=ifr&c=864604&lang=en&eid=618213&lid=864604&ci=26&si=1 Just found this. Just one add in the middle. I was able to click it off.

He he, me too. i've been battling it this whole time. It's pathetic.

I keep meaning to get an aklautoi account but never get around to it. Which reminds me, I need to also register with PAOKTV.

Good lord he's already squealing like a pig each week.

Thanks man. I haven't checked out bianconero in the longest time.