Bananas

Will the game be streamed on laola ?

Great deal indeed. Same old, kicking the can down the road. Or was that kicking some pensioners down the road to an early grave ? And it was a marathon session! Wow, I could've concluded it in 15 seconds. EU to Greece "Cut pensions and f**k off with your whining. Tell your people whatever will placate them. I don't f**king care". That's the layman's explanation anyway. The amazing thing would have been if Greece actually reached a deal that didn't involve bending over and taking it up the koulo ... again. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, or is that my vision deteriorating ? Or maybe just my critical thinking.

The Costil transfer was never going to happen. Great in theory though. And yes, Glykos much to my amusement, keeps winning the GK position. Having said that Glykos seems to have improved in the "howlers" department this season. By that I mean he hasn't done many howlers whereas in previous seasons it was a matter of if not when. He's still got the Cup Final though to absolutely destroy that statistic just like in the last final with PAO!

It's a tricky choice as to whether to go with another DM (4-3-3) or play Biseswar (4-2-3-1). In our last game with AEK they really exposed our defense when we had two in the middle. I guess it comes down to whether Ivic believes last time was just a one off or whether he thinks they can do it again. Either way (especially in Greece) if you win they call you a master tactician and if you lose they'll say you never learn from your mistakes. Sometimes, the team just has to play a good game and that's all there is to it. At least we have depth on the bench.

If you want "fair", it either always has to be at a neutral ground, or if you're feeling crazy you could do like the UEFA Cup (or was it Cup Winners Cup) years ago where even the final was a two leg home and away round.

Me too. Last season out of the young greek boys he was the best of the bunch. Guaranteed starter in the 11 together with Cimirot unless he was being rotated. But this season he's really fallen behind. I hope Ivic is just getting him up the level he wants and he's not another wasted talent. Time as always will tell.

Yeah it's one of those situations where in context it makes sense but in and of itself it was technically was soft. Playing with fire ... and all that.

@pash Charisis ? I thought he'd retired and become a pool cleaner.

This is where ποδόσφαιρο is a funny game. PAO actually played a very good game. They did all the right things to kill off the game. On another day they could have scored 3 or 4. On another day they might have had a penalty as they were 50/50 calls. The second yellow to Hult was an injustice. Ridiculously soft yellow. Just a stupid call from the referee.

Oh yeah, oh yeah. I'm a happy boy today.

Statistically I agree. It's likely PAO will score. But the ball is round and anything can happen. A silly deflection, a slight off side that isn't called and all of a sudden it changes the game. The key is to get the first goal and from then it's game on.

Why the hatred ? Did a PAOKtzi steal his bougatsa when he wasn't looking ?

Let's not start getting carried away comparing PAO to Schalke. We can whinge about the heavy losses to PAO and AEK in Athens as we didn't perform to our ability and are capable of better. But Schalke came into Toumba and gave us a football lesson. If we played them 10 times, we'd lose 10 times, at least over 2 legs. PAO on the other hand, how we managed to only have one attempt on goal in 90 minutes is inexcusable. It's a concern that Ivic is getting out coached so easily on some games. Regardless, I think Ivic is the right man for the job going forward for a number of reasons, which I can't be bothered going into right now.

It's amazing how our gladiators turn into mice when we play in Athens. It's one thing to lose 2-0 and play decent and another to be completely outplayed. Not sure why Cimirot didn't play. I can only assume he needed rest ? The line up I think was too attacking, should have gone with 3 in the middle. But it's easy to say in hindsight. Let's see what happens in Toumba. If we pop the first goal in it's game on, but the lack of an away goal is always a killer. If they get one we'll need four. Maybe that's why Ivic opted for an attacking lineup ? Kudos to Ouzounidis, who I've always thought is a decent coach. He's given it Olympiakos, AEK and now us in Athens, and made a decent side at Panionios. Anyway, very disappointing.

Happy birthday champ. You're only as old as you feel. At least, that's what older people say to feel better about themselves.

Ha ha penalty! Penalty! You know what, when I put my green glasses on, it did look like one. The really worrying thing is not that Leto won the penalty, that was actually quite clever and it goes to show what an intelligent footballer he is. The worrying thing is that after watching a replay people still think it's a penalty. Good lord. Just call it what is is. Maybe on the PAO forum someone spotted it ....

Really, this game means nothing. It's the Cup game that matters. At the same time, you don't want to lose in your home ground from a morale point of view. Tricky, either way.

What exactly is the injury ?

Just get rid of them all. They aren't good enough anyway.

Ha ha, nice one. Seriously, it won't feel right to win a title if you haven't finished in 1st place at the end of the normal season. So dodgy. Now Olympiakos only have to pay the referees for a handful of games during the play-offs.

You're going back a ways there! Vierchowod, just brutal. Back when the job of the defender was to hack the opponent into submission. From wikipedia. I especially liked Maradona's description, ha ha. Nicknamed lo Zar, Vierchowod was a tenacious and physical centre-back, who possessed great pace; he was considered one of the toughest Serie A defenders of the 1980s and the 1990s, due to his immense strength, tight marking of opponents, and hard tackling style of play. His speed, anticipation, and ability to read the game enabled him to break down opposing plays, win back possession, and intercept loose balls; these attributes also allowed him to excel in the zonal marking defensive system during his later career. Despite his aggressive playing style, he was also regarded as a fair player both on and off the pitch.[1][2][5][6][7] In an interview with Argentine magazine El Gráfico, Argentine footballer Diego Maradona, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, dubbed Vierchowod his toughest opponent,[8] stating that "[Vierchowod] was an animal, he had muscles to the eyelashes. It was easy to pass by him, but then when I raised my head, he was in front of me again. I would have to pass him two or three more times and then I would pass the ball because I couldn't stand him anymore". Throughout his career, Maradona gave Vierchowod the nickname Hulk.[1] Gary Lineker also revealed in an interview with FourFourTwo that Vierchowod was "the hardest defender he ever faced" adding "he was absolutely brutal and lightning quick. He gave me one or two digs."[9]

How can you not notice that kefala of his ? Peponi head.

It will/would require different approaches for different situations. In extremely poor countries, where finding food and water is a day to day uncertainty (I'm thinking Africa here), only food and medical security would help. When you know that some of your children will die to disease and malnutrition before the age of 5 it changes the equation. But yeah I agree once you can get past that hurdle, the next one is education and the status of women.

Let's see. This season :- Olympiakos - players bought 12.40 million, players sold 49.75 million. Panathinaikos - players bought 2.08 million, players sold 580 thousand. AEK - players bought 1.15 million, players sold 473 thousand. PAOK - players bought 5.55 million, players sold 7.70 million. Based on the above, I don't think Marinakis is shaking in his boots.

If we got 11 players who were all significantly better than what we have, sure, I'm all for getting 11 new players, and keep our current best 11 for rotation! But seriously, if Ivic stays, I can see us getting 3 or 4 players. In order of importance :- - another striker who can complement Prijovic. Loan out Koulouris and let Klaus see out his days on the bench. Or keep Koulouris as an understudy. Either way, I don't want both Klaus and Koulouris in the squad. Only one. - another DM to help provide rotation/backup for Canas. Cimirot and Shakhov can do it against weaker teams but not against the stronger teams. Against Schalke we needed to 2 x Canas. Canas, Cimirot, Shakhov are strong players overall but more depth would be even better. I'd trade my left testicle for Natcho to be in the squad. Kace and especially Charisis either need to step up or be replaced, sorry to say. - another winger, but only if he is CLEARLY MUCH better than Campos. Otherwise, don't bother. - a Goalkeeper, but only if he is CLEARLY MUCH better than Glykos. Otherwise, don't bother. I don't see this happening. - a RB as cover for Matos. I'm a bit torn on this one as Kitsiou has played quite well recently. Not sure. The important thing is that our best 11 is actually quite decent. It's the next 11 after them that are not so great.