Bananas

Great victory by PAO over Qabala. Very well deserved as PAO were the superior team over both legs and it was nice to see a Greek team get one over Qabala. Unfortunately I don't think PAO can do it over Bilbao who are a class (or maybe two) above. Nevertheless, miracles happen and if anyone can do it Ouzonidis can. He really is a great manager. Good luck to PAO.

I don't believe Olympiacos are as concerned as what you make out. Sure the days of automatic qualification are gone, but realistically given their budget and the opposition they'll be playing against, they'll still qualify most years. Being in the "strong" group of teams make a massive difference.

Nai, nai kai oxi. I think the Vieirinha stories are just media "reports". The guy is on 2.5 million in wages. How much is he willing to drop his wages to come to PAOK ? Even if he cut over 50% and let's say was happy with 1 million, is he worth it ? If he was 27 or 28 years old and fit I'd be more interested, but at 31, and with his body being injury prone (you can virtually guarantee he'll have spells where he's out for 3-4 weeks at a time) I don't like the idea. Then there is the question of where you play him ? At Wolfsburg, he lost the kilos and played right back. At PAOK I don't think he'll be so accommodating. I'd expect him to pack the kilos back on and whinge about not playing where he wants.

Considering what some of the other squad members are paid, it's reasonable for Pelkas to try and increase his contract. I just hope he doesn't do a "Klaus" and become lazy afterwards. As to what Pelkas deserves, I'm sure everyone has their opinion but I would've thought 300K to 350K would be about right. That of course is on the proviso they get rid of that ridiculously low 1.5 million contract release clause or increase to at least 5 million.

With such pitiful amounts being offered by NOVA you'd think the bigger teams could get to together and make their own channel/service. It's not like they couldn't afford it financially. Food for thought ...

Haven't seen the game but it sounds like we were outplayed by the Ukrainians at times. This is very disappointing considering the core of the team is the same as last season. New manager or not, the team should at the very least have some chemistry by now. Hopefully, it's just a fitness issue. I have no idea what Stajonevic brings to the team. To be fair I don't expect him to have turned the team into something formidable in the space of a month, but it's as if the team has made zero improvement and he is unsure of what system to play from week to week. Not sure why he played 3 midfielders against weak opposition. It makes sense against strong opposition or if you're being smashed in the middle but against these guys ? You're just giving up space for no good reason. Anyway, let's hope we get a win in Toumba and see some fluidity in our play because right now it's as if you've assembled 11 random players that have never played together.

I think Boston Thanatos has been abducted and we have an imposter on hour our hands. The Boston I know never had anything nice to say about Campos.

Good to see you teke. One day I'll work out what that avatar is.

Would make sense. He'll be behind Canas, Cimirot, Shakhov and presumably whatever midfielder we buy soon. It's a bit of a shame as he's a decent squad player but maybe just not good enough to be the "difference" maker.

Kace not even in the squad. With the potential signing of another midfielder I can see him getting very limited game time. As for Pelkas being preferred over Biseswar, I don't think it's that simple. Biseswar doesn't have the physique to play every game. If anything, it's great having the option of Biseswar off the bench, or Pelkas for that matter.

Good lord, what a monumental f--k up by Galatasaray. I'm going to have a spring in my step for the rest of the day, ha ha.

Konstantinidis ? What's happening with him. If he's not being considered, why loan out Kitsiou ?

Great start by Lamprou. It'll be interesting to see how he progresses this season.

+1 for the black jersey with the logo. Very cool.

Yes, he's a long lost relative of mine ...

Ha ha, that kefala of his always made me think he looks like a peponi.

Next time I read these forums I'll make sure not to he chewing food. I read this and the food I was chewing ended up on my monitor.

The way we are playing, we better be careful we don't qualify for the group stage of the EL. If we fail to qualify, Stajonevic will be gone and the manager band wagon will begin yet again.

Unusual that they wouldn't allow for it to be televised or at the very least on radio given it's just a friendly match.

What are you talking about ?! I thought PAOK controls EPO ? I mean, I've read on many reputable ... ahem ... forums ... ahem ... that EPO is basically an instrument that Savvidis controls like a puppet master. Oh no, the world doesn't make sense anymore.

We'll still lose to you guys in Athens. You can bank on that one, ha ha.

I think that this season is the first time during the "reign" of Savvidis that we are entitled to ... maybe (and I mean maybe) even think about the possibility of challenging for the title. All the previous seasons any talk of winning the title was just that, talk. There are too many variables at this stage. Will the home games with no fans have an affect ? You'd think there'd have to be something. So I'll take -3 points off just there. Will Olympiakos be as poor as they were in the second half of last season ? I don't think it's a coincidence that once Milivojevic left their performances dropped. Milivojevic was a gun. Will the players adapt to Stanojevic's tactics ? Or will he become a Tudor version 2 ? Will our new goalkeeper be any good ? Will Prijovic stay fit ? If he plays a full season it'll make all the difference. We don't really have a backup striker (no offence Klaus). Depth wise we're looking ... all right. Plenty of options up front as long as Prijovic stays fit. The other 3 attacking roles will be split up between Mak, Djalma, Henrique, Jairo, Pelkas, Mystakidis, Klaus, Biseswar. In the middle we have Canas, Shakhov, Cimirot and Kace. Good enough I suppose. In the back line, I still think we're lacking depth. An injury to Matos or Crespo and all of a sudden the defence looks a lot weaker. Not sold on Leveque, time will tell. In the right back position we loaned out Kitsiou, no idea why. Apparently Konstantinidis is going to be the backup to Matos but now the manager isn't so sure. I think we need to sort out that right back position to keep Matos as fresh as possible this season. The CB position is a bit flaky also. There is talk of Malezas leaving, then he's staying, who the hell knows. His performances last season were good overall but at times he got exposed. I'd like another CB Crespo quality to feel good about the back line.

Ha ha, some "hard core" Republicans are voting against it because it's not harsh enough. How are human beings (can you even call them that ?) like this even made ?

Final score Gent 2 - PAOK 0.