Bananas

The situation seems bizarre. Hopefully we get some sort of clarification. Ironically, Tzavellas was actually MVP not long ago. I see one of two possibilites. Ivic is bang on and has knows for a while now that Tzavellas is more trouble than he's worth, but couldn't find the right time to give him the boot. To be fair, overall, Tzavellas has been playing quite well the last 12 months or so. The other possibility is that Ivic has just lost the plot entirely and is grasping at straws. We shall see. The other thing of note is that Ivic mentioned that they were multiple players, not just one, so again, it makes the situation confusing from our perspective.

Firstly, these games just happen sometimes, at least in normal leagues. Having said that PAOK are definitely specialists in self implosion. Blackhawk said it right when he said when is the team going to learn to play hard for 90 minutes. This is a sign of professionalism and a good work ethic. This has been a problem since, oh, probably 1986. This is where the manager and back-office need to step up. You can't rely just on the players to do it. Having a different manager and a different core of players each season doesn't allow for this. Simple as that. Being able to motivate the players for the "easy" games is how you give yourself a chance of even winning a title. Ivic was a little unlucky with the timing of the red card. It was straight after his 3rd substitution so he couldn't do a tactical substitution. If Ivic is talking straight about the "sabotage" then he needs to clarify this and get it sorted out. The idea that a dressing room is going to be harmonious is nice in theory but I believe rare in practise. Again to reiterate, it's up to Ivic and back-office to let the players know who is in charge. Based on PAOK's recent history, I wouldn't be afraid if I was a player, because I've seen plenty of managers go to the guillotine while the fans bay for blood.

A player like Babacar would never come to the GSL. Even a lifetime supply of bougatsa wouldn't do it.

Another Matos on the left, Natcho in the middle, a fit and fast Biseswar and Babacar up front. A man can dream.

Where are these immigrants that Merkel wants to deport from ? Where exactly does Germany drop these immigrants off ?

We have Leovac for LB. And Crespo, Tzavellas, Korovesis for backup. I don't see a reason to get another LB unless it's a clear upgrade on Leovac which is unlikely. Leovac hasn't been anything special this season, unlike say Matos, but he hasn't been bad either. Just average I would say. Although, the media love to rip into Leovac, because apparently, they know what they're talking about.

Even if the PAO fans all unanimously wanted him back, would Tzigger even be interested in coming back ? Does he care anymore ?

1) Not going to happen. Such a player is already playing in the CL. We have to try and do what we did with Lucas, Mak, Rodrigues and "discover" them. I wish it wasn't so, but that's how it is. 2) Europa League top 32, let alone top 16 is very underrated. There's a reason why no Greek team can get past the round of 32. 3) Would be excellent, but again not so simple. Other teams have more extensive scouting networks than us.

Finally got to watch the game in full. Overall, I think we played very "correct". There is no way we were ever going to go to Italy and play Fiorentina off the park. Fiorentina are a stronger side, and when you know this, you have to play accordingly. Try and limit your opponents opportunities, apply pressure as much as possible, be clinical with your counter attacks ... and hope for the best. Fiorentina are quite a physical team, and there were times when they bumped our boys off the ball like they were kids. At the same time, they were cynical with their fouls quite a few times and with another referee they could have had more yellow cards. We created multiple opportunities. 5 or 6 very good ones. The 1st goal by Shakhov to be fair his finish was kind of weak, but the team did the "right things". Campos had the ball outside the box and Fiorentina didn't apply pressure. Sin 101 in football allowing the opposition to shoot freely outside your box. Campos as he should hit the shot. Keeper parried and Shakhov, as he should, was already in the box. If you do the right things, goals can happen. Same again with the post by Rodrigues when it was 1-0. This was due to 3 players pressing high and forcing the turn over. Rodrigues had a sitter as well from 6 yards out which he really should have scored. The 2nd goal again was good work. Good cross by Rodrigues and Djalma did the right thing by reading the play and running hard to get into position to give an option in the box. If you do the right things. The 3rd goal was just Rodrigues being a one man army. Kind of similar to the one he missed in Thessaloniki at the end of that game. Ultimately, Rodrigues was awesome and I'm afraid to think how much weaker we'll be without him. Regarding Fiorentina they had their chances too. The shot outside the box that hit the cross bar and post. The shot that crashed off the cross bar. Their 1st goal was good play and they definitely deserved a goal by that stage. What about that Babacar! I'd give my left nut to have a player like that at PAOK. He's a monster. Fiorentina were just bombing the ball to him and he'd control it, layoff, like Crespo weighed 10 kilos. His goal was a real striker's goal. The 1st goal came from his work as well. Fiorentina had lots of other "half" chances and were definitely threatening with Chiesa on the right flank but that's soccer for you. In general we played very deep and compact. Once we lost possession we'd become very compact at the back and even Matos and Leovac would tuck in towards the middle. Ivic had obviously instructed the team to defend this way and I guess he didn't want the Fiorentina wingers getting in behind the defence. My only disappointment was that we couldn't retain the ball a bit better. When you're 2-0 up that's when you should be able to start playing a bit of keepings off with the opposition but it just goes to show the class difference between the GSL and Serie A. We definitely don't have the midfield to do this. It's odd that Brkic was selected for this match (was Glykos injured ?) but he did well. Can't really fault him for the goals. Matos and Leovac did all right. Both played very defensively. Varela and Crespo did well. Crespo struggled with Babacar but to be fair Babacar is an animal physically. Crespo overall has been an excellent signing for us. Canas and Cimirot ran a lot in the middle and did good work applying pressure. Shakhov did all right. Up front Djalma made himself available and took some pressure off, did all right. Rodrigues was man of the match. Koulouris actually did quite well. Ran a lot and tried to apply pressure when possible.

Even better. Let's lose to Slovan. At least we broke our hoodoo in Italy. And got some sorely needed points for Greece although we need more. Last year I said I'd be amazed if no one made an offer for Mak. Same applies now for Rodrigues.

An apt analogy.

Samaris actually had a killer game in the second friendly match against Australia. The commentators who are normally loathe to praise any Greek couldn't stop praising him. He played as a straight number 8 and he was (to my surprise) superb. Maybe he had some cocaine just before the game because he certainly had kefia. To be fair though, this is a very poor Australian NT we are talking about and he showed his class relative to them. He seems to whittle against better opposition. Lacks the "mongrel" to ware down the opposition. All the PAOK "kids" have been lack lustre this season. Pelkas has played in 3 matches. All off the bench. 108 minutes of football. Charisis had played in 7 matches. Played 2 full games. 467 minutes of football. Mystakidis has played in 9 matches. Played 1 full game. 368 minutes of football. Of the 3 Pelkas needs to step up or accept he's not good enough for the level because he's 23 years of age. I personally don't think he has it. He's got the skill but he just seems to drift off when the going gets tough. Charisis and Mystakidis, both 21, definitely better "battlers" but need to work a LOT on their technique. Can be very sloppy with their passing.

There is a huge gap also in other countries. Spain 9 out of 10 titles will go to Barca, Real. In England it will be Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea. In Germany Bayern, Dortmund. But regardless, fans still support the smaller teams. The problem is more than just money, although it's definitely a factor. But I think even if you gave Atromitos for example, 100 million euros each season, would they get 10,000+ supporters to games ? There just aren't enough clubs in Greece with a decent fan base. In an alternate reality, the EPO should be helping teams outside of Athens/Thessaloniki to become "bigger".

I'd be curious to hear.

Does Turkey have good relations with anyone these days ? Go, go Erdogan. Keep up the good work.

Well, Shakhov played in the first game but not really as a dekari. Ivic played with 3 in the middle. I wouldn't be surprised if he does the same thing. Also, I'd expect Ivic to throw Thiam in early in the second half to try to exploit his pace and hope for ... something.

Klaus not playing due to yellow cards, and now Pereyra is apparently injured and won't travel to Italy. That leaves Koulouris or Thiam.

Horrible idea. Defeats the entire purpose of having a league, which is to see who is the best team over an extended period of time.

When is the next greek election ? Counting down the days until Tsipras is out.

Yes, it's automated between financial institutions and the ATO. I've heard some people say "just wire $9,999 instead" but I don't think that would work. I'm sure they have direct reporting like in this instance, as well as probably monthly/yearly reporting where if the total amount exceeds "x" the ATO will also get a notification.

This was in Australia. The ATO (Australian Taxation Office) has been vigorously closing loop holes and chasing offenders from about the year 2000 onwards, due in large part to computing power becoming cheaper and data cross checking more attainable. These days the ATO generally target a sector or number of sectors each year to "fine tune" their data as well as keep people on their toes. They have certain criteria that need to be within a margin e.g. someone who is computer programmer claims $10,000 in deductions but the average deduction for computer programmers is between $1000-$2000. You will be flagged and investigated. This is all automated now and it's not like the in the past where cross checking had to be done manually. So, it wasn't as the man power wasn't there. And the ATO doesn't just go after workers. There was a case about 10 years of some businessman who owned a vast quantity of farmland in Western Australia as well as having stakes in many smaller operations. The ATO did some digging, took him to the Supreme Court and lost, appealed to the Federal Court and lost, appealed to the Full Bench of the Federal Court (which I believe is 3 judges but not sure) and lost. Then, after petitioned the Australian Government to amend/modify the law (and make it retrospective) that the businessman's lawyers were using to to avoid paying the tax. The ATO got a retrial after the law was changed and got him for 75 million. Another instance from about a year ago is where they did some digging only for people with net worth of approximately 25 million (can't remember the exact number) or more in assets. The compiled a list of a few thousand people and basically the majority of them had made their money in the 50's and 60's and moved the money off shore years ago. The ATO basically said based on our estimates of what you own, you should have paid "x", give us half and we won't probe you into oblivion and make your life a living hell. Approximately 85% of people paid. There will always be the very rich who can play the game and win, but overall the ATO is not someone you want hounding you these days. Regarding the place I used to work at in the early 90's, there is no way you could do that these days. You can always hide a portion (maybe 10% or 20%) but not like what they were doing which was virtually 100%. Oh I forgot to mention the time immigration came in a van. 6 men in trench coats, closed the front gate to the carpark, put a chain around it, closed the chain with a big pad lock. Every one in the place hiding in boxes, out the back behind pallets or in the tall grass, conveyor belts overloading ha ha, because they thought it was the ATO instead.

Not sure where to ask, so just asking in this thread. What ever happened to that "list" of 1000 or so names of people with Swiss Bank Accounts etc. ?

Not specifically economic news but it does have flow on effects. http://www.ekathimerini.com/213843/article/ekathimerini/community/greek-doctors-continue-to-emigrate-in-large-numbers

Same here. Worked at a factory in the 90's for about a year and the place was owned by 2 Greeks, with ~30 employees. The whole place, I mean the WHOLE place was on black money, lol.