Bananas

I get what you're saying but man oh man whenever this guy is on the pitch it's like he's just snorted some cocaine! Maybe he's not suited to playing 90 minutes. Maybe you can get the best out of him as a substitute which seems to be his forte.

I find it inexplicable that Giannotas doesn't play more for the NT. At least the guy can attack and get into dangerous positions.

Don't get me wrong. I love Torosidis. He always gives everything for the NT. But his time is up. In today's game we should have gone with 3 at the back Socrates, Manolas, Retsos. Young Retsos is much better than Paps. I used to watch Paps when he was playing for Schalke as a DM 4 or 5 years ago and I though here we go, we've got a DM who can dominate the middle and bash the opposition into submission. But the injuries have killed him and I don't think he'll ever be the same player. In the RB position I would've played Kitsiou (remember him?) because although overall he's not as complete as Torosidis (and may very well never be) he's actually very good as an attacking RB. Where he lacks is in the defensive part of his game but if you're playing with 3 at the back and Zeca with Koutroubis that's enough cover to give him licence to attack. On the LB position it's hard to say who to play. Staff is the logical choice if you're going to give your full backs license to attack (as you should if you're trying to overturn 3 goals). Maybe Lykogiannis ? Or what about Giannoulis (from Atromitos). They are in 1st position on the ladder. Is he not good enough because he doesn't wear an Olympiakos, AEK, Panathinaikos or PAOK jersey ? Has Skibbe even heard of him ? In the middle I wouldn't have bothered with Fortounis. If you don't have a number 10 then don't just slot someone in there for the sake of it. Either Androutos or even Charisis can play box to box. And up front play two. Obviously Mitroglou and for the second slot take your pick of Pelkas, Lazaros whoever. I'd go with Lazaros since he can really pressure a defence if he's given confidence. A line up like the above would've been unpredicted by the Croatians and could've really put them off their game. If a goal goes in then its game on all of a sudden. I can't understand why Skibbe was so conservative. Roll the dice my man, you had absolutely nothing to lose. If you're down 4-1 at half time in a game for promotion don't you roll the dice and go all out attack ? But no not Skibbe.

Karnezis and Torosidis will be too old by the next tournament in 2020. A lot of other players in this list are not deserving enough to be starters. Paps has become sloppy. Samaris bad. Taxi as usual all promise no delivery. Bakasetas not sure why he's in the squad. Fortounis you can't rely on him. Time for bit of a clean out, but I can't see Skibbe doing this. Hopefully we get a new manager with more imagination who doesn't just select players based on what jersey they wear.

Interesting idea. It could even be commercialized as a pay per view event. I bet the ratings would be through the roof.

Moledo is better than any CB we have. Realistically Malezas is going to retire at the end of this season so you'd be rotating him with Crespo and Varela. Solid player all round. Cimirot is a funny player. I really think he's suited to a system where a team plays 3 in the middle. He's not quite a number 6 and he's not quite a number 8. He's kind of been getting pegged into a role that he can't quite do. If you play him as the 6 he's fine against weak opposition but against strong teams he can't do it. As an 8 you expect half a dozen assists and goals but he can't do that either. And yet, we can all see how much work he does on the pitch. Stats don't always tell the full story.

Massively. But if you keep getting selected maybe you think everything is all right.

I think he's the real deal and can definitely get a lot more out of the squad. I'd actually like to see his squad selections because I'm sure half of them would be gone. He ain't the sort of guy to take s%$#! either. Our current crop of players fall into one of two camps. One bunch get selected no matter what and the other bunch will never get selected. How on earth is that a way to run a team ? Tziolis the Untouchable ... indeed. That goes fro Samaris too. Go play like that in front of Ouzounidis if they dare.

You know what. I agree. This bunch of players did over achieve when you consider the fact half of the players in the starting 11 of most games should not even be starting or in the NT at all. Time for a clean out. A lot of players need to GTFO.

I'd take Ouzounidis as NT coach a MILLION times over Skibbe. At least he can set up a team on the pitch. Ouzounidis should be our next NT coach. Time to start a petition.

Skibbe is incompetent and worse than that inflexible (or possibly lazy). Tziolis in the middle of the park ? Are you serious ?!?! Against a Croatia who you know will force you to run all day. Tziolis who can't run or tackle is meant to do what exactly ? And we have Basaketas, who is the rotation/backup for Lazaros at AEK, but here at the Ethniki it's the other way around ?!?! Has Skibbe even watched any AEK games this year ?

Pelkas is having the best season of his life, but he's still far from the complete player. Can he mark ? Not really. Can he run a game ? Not really. At least not at high level. If anyone thinks he could've run the midfield against Croatia they are kidding themselves. Having said that he should definitely be a part of our next campaign and needs to start getting some game time. He's at least ready for that step and anything more than that only time will tell.

@pash the club should not sell Biseswar or Campos. You don't find players like Biseswar every day. He's basically what we wish Pelkas could but probably won't become. We all know his fitness issues but that's where the club has to manage him better. I'm hoping that he gets more game time at the expense of El Khaddouri who needs a spell on the side line. Campos lacks in many ways, but he can hold the ball up as well as any of our players and can take a beating too. Tough player that wins fouls. Our other wingers are nancy boys. We could've used a fit Campos against AEK.

@SouroTi welcome to the forums. Always nice to see another PAOK filathlo! I dig your avatar. Do you have a collection of staplers ? Regarding the squad it could do with some work. I definitely agree about loaning out some of the young Greek boys if they can't get some game time. Brkic I think unfortunately we are stuck with him. There is no way in hell he'll find another club willing to pay the wages he's getting now. I think when he came to the club he expected (as did we all) he would be the number one keeper. In the end Glykos cemented the position (he had a great season and really seems to have matured) and I think Brkic lost his motivation. Now with the addition of Rey who so far looks very solid, any ambition he had of becoming the first team keeper is over. Regarding the left back position, it ought to a priority for the club to lock this position down. Leovac is all right but that's about it. He'll have a few ok games and then some very average ones. Just not consistent and reliable enough. I believe Leveque is better if he's fit but I believe we've signed a dud. Too injury prone and I don't see it changing. It's ironic that the team that is currently first in the GSL, Atromitos, their left back Giannoulis is on loan from us. Currently I don't think we can sell Leovac until we bring in someone better. Definitely I would bring back Henrique. I can't even fathom why we loaned him out. One of the few players that takes on and dribbles. Pelkas and Vieirinha aren't doing that and seem content to just lay the ball off. No wonder we are lacking up front. Then again it's the managers job to instruct them to take their man on. I miss the mayhem Rodrigues would cause opposition defenders. @pash I have heard whispers that Moledo from PAO could be a target of ours given their current financial situation. He would be an excellent signing.

It's not that it's a conspiracy. My point is that women now do care about having a career and then you have politicians and leaders trying to encourage them to have more children "for the good of the country". A bit rich. And then you have people not wanting immigrants but want their economic prosperity to stay the same. A bit rich also. Everyone wants their cake and to eat it too, instead of looking at an issue holistically.

Don't understand Skibbe. Then again maybe I'm wrong but I don't understand the concept of selecting players that aren't playing regularly. The only guy that probably gets a pass is Mitroglou since the other strikers behind him are just pathetic. Karnezis : Failed to control a back pass like he's a junior. But it is his fault ? He hasn't played a competitive match since joining Watford. He went from playing 90 minutes every week in the Serie A to just training. And we wonder why he failed to control a basic pass. His pay packet is rocking it though. Retsos : Should have played at RB. Maniatis : Can't play at this level anymore. Stafylidis : Has played 10 minutes of competitive football with Augsburg. Love the kid. I think he's a gun. Should've been told to find a team and get regular playing time. Then we wonder why he tries to do a back pass to Karnezis with his stomach. Tzavellas : Can't play at this level anymore. Tziolis : Can't play at this level anymore. Hasn't been at the level required for years. Samaris : Should not be starting in this game. Estonia level at best. Hasn't played good football in over 12 months. No idea why Kourbelis isn't getting a look in. I would've started him alongside Zeca and K. Paps in the middle. Instruct all 3 I want god dam f**king bone crunching tackles or I'll sub them off. Tachs to come in the second half when the tempo settles. Up front, throw on Lazaros and play with Fortounis and Mitroglou. What more does this guy have to do to get a run. At least he can run with the ball and possibly create something. No idea why half of the squad are even in there. Diamantakos, Bakasetas, Lykogiannis. Where is Siovas ? The guy should be in the squad at the very least. The squad needs a clean out. I want Ouzounidis to be the next NT manager.

This performance reminds me of Greece in the 80's when we'd cop 4 from the Yugoslavs and with ease as well. Time to stop with the vlakies. Maniatis, Tziolis, Tzavellas, bye bye. Have a team meeting with the rest. If you're not playing regular football, you won't be selected in the NT anymore. If you want to chase a big pay day, cool, go do that. Enjoy. Seriously.

Nice videos Emperor. The atmosphere looks electric! Ante, get promoted so we can see a PAOK vs Aris derby again.

No I agree with you about the fines. You need to be careful. It should only be used for particularly egregious actions. Issuing fines indiscriminately will just cause bad blood in the squad. Having said that let's see what eventuates.

The powers that be have create a world such that having children is detrimental for a woman's career. Not always but it's fair to say as a rule. But then they complain that women and families aren't having enough children. As always, you can't have your cake and eat it.

Great show! Ed Harris is a great actor. The scene at the end of season when he gets shot and then smiles is gold.

Yes and no. This is the first time that I can ever remember where Olympiakos and AEK played ultra (and I mean ultra) defensive against us and that is in their home ground. That to me says they genuinely are wary of the ... potential of our players. Did they play us of the park and create chance after chance ? Hardly. For our part, our team is for the most part 11 individuals that are not playing as a team. Not enough passion, at least not in the right way. We still have a lot of work to do.

I don't think it's a facade. If anything, it's a good thing in principle. Even if Lucescu turns out to be a bad manager, the principle of backing the manager is a good thing going forward. It means that in the future if we try to hire a new manager they would look at this as a positive i.e. the club supports the manager.

The question of population is multi faceted. From an environment perspective what is happening with birth rates in the developed world is a good thing. From a self preservation perspective as well as leaving a world that isn't half destroyed for future generations, a slow and gradual decline in population should be encouraged. But from an economic perspective a declining population is definitely not good. Our current economic mode almost requires a growing population because its success is predicated on continual growth. Countries like Germany are "cheating" right now and kicking the can down the road by accepting higher and higher rates of immigrants to sustain their economy. And to be fair all the first world countries will probably be able to keep doing this for many decades to come. But if that must be the case, they can't then complain about the immigrants being undesirable. Beggars can't be choosers. As for why the rates have been declining for decades, it's hard to say. I don't think it's just a question of economics. I mean it plays a role but if that's the case why do countries like Japan and Germany have an issue with birth rates.

Low and below replacement birth rates are unrelated to the economic crisis. They were low decades before hand and not just in Greece but through out Europe. As to why they are what they are, I'm sure there are many and varied theories.