Bananas

It's just the truth according to people that believe in his ability. Some believe in him as a player and others don't. I personally don't. The only consistent thing about him (and he's 25 years of age now) is that he's not consistent. So why would you use a player that you know doesn't perform consistently ? I can't understand this reasoning. For me, the absolute only time I'd even consider him is against weak opposition where you're chasing a goal with say 20 minutes to go. This "but he can do wonders sometimes", I just don't buy it. It's not good enough to sometimes play well 1 in 4 games.

The draw for AEK will be tough for the foreseeable future, since they haven't accumulated many points in Europe in the past 5 seasons. It's like a nasty feed back loop. AEK will be in the non-seeded half of the draw so playing teams like Saint Etienne will be the new normal for a couple of seasons. This is where you just need some luck. One good run in the EL Group phase and you guys will be on your way.

You made me giggle.

You do get +4 bonus points for qualifying for CL group stage. But yeah, I agree, I think it's probably best for now to be in the EL. That is the standard that our teams are at, to be fair.

Once Ajax made it 1:1, the game changed because Ajax weren't forced to press for a goal. From the beginning of the game until they scored, we broke their lines 4 or 5 times. Afterwards, I don't think we did at all, because they didn't have to get a goal as such. They could afford to be a bit more patient and not play such a high defensive line. We should have scored at least a 2nd goal during that 1st half spell.

When you put it that way, it does sound pretty bad!

So true. It kills me.

Next time I'm just going to stay in bed.

The part that pisses me off is that Ajax made hardly any solid chances. Maybe just the 2nd goal. That's it!! And we still couldn't put them to the sword.

Once again, we let a big fish off the hook. F-u-c-k-i-n-g s-h-i-t-s me no end.

This guy might be.

So true. We've let them off the hook just like Schalke 3 years ago.

Technically it was a foul, and because it was in the box, it's a penalty. So in terms of following the rules the referee did the "right" thing. Having said that, if every referee paid these sorts of fouls every game would have 15 penalties. It was a joke of a decision. There was no reason for Leovac to even give the referee the ammunition. It wasn't a dangerous situation. F-u-c-k-i-n-g m-a-l-a-k-i-e-s.

True. The space we exploited (and the resulting opportunities we didn't finish) was because they had to chase the game. They had to score. Now not so, and it'll be interesting to see how the 2nd half plays out. I'm really annoyed we gave them such a cheap goal.

Ajax have been having trouble creating real opportunities, so the referee thought he would give them a helping hand.

Yeah. For about a minute, then a couple of ads. Annoying.

I think they're just trying to make sure there is no space for a through ball. Ajax's passing game is very good.

If I had access to a time machine, I swear I'd go back in time and make my parents move to the U.S. instead of Australia, just so I didn't have to put up with these 4 o'clock kick offs.

To be fair, that was an AWESOME Ajax team. I remember them going into the Bernebeu and dismantling Real Madrid. But getting back on topic, until PAOK, PAO and AEK raise their standard, there is little chance of cracking the 12th spot. There is still a lot of work to do.

Well I finally got to watch the full 1st game yesterday. From what I saw, I can't see us playing with a #10 in Toumba. Ajax's passing game is too fluid and crisp. Hence why Ivic played with 3 in the middle (Cimirot, Charisis, Shakhov) and I don't see him changing this. I believe if we played with only 2 in the middle in say a 4-2-3-1 they will carve us up. Without Shakhov there who played quite deep and covered lots of ground and space, they would've cut through the middle too easily. The thing is, even with 3 in the middle we were still leaving that space open from where Ajax were taking those pot shots on goals. This will definitely need to be minimized in Toumba. So, I can't see us coming out playing too attacking and potentially leaves holes for Ajax to exploit. I think the game will be similar to the 1st leg with Ajax having the majority of possession. Hopefully they struggle to find space and don't get an early goal. The good thing about the 1st game was that even thought Ajax passed the ball around with ease, they didn't really create too many solid chances. Maybe 4 or so chances but that was to be expected I suppose. Regarding Ajax's passing game. Really, that's what PAOK should be aiming for. I'm not saying we should aspire to play like Ajax (I don't necessarily want that) but when our players can't even pass 4 crisp passes at a semi high tempo without the ball bobbling all over the place, it's not a good thing. Either way, this game is too close to call. It really could go either way.

+1 on cool looking intro, Dikefale11. Much better than just a bit of text.

That is definitely the safe bet at this point in time.

+ 1 million

Wow, Facundo. What is going on with this guy ? And I thought he started off his pre season really well. Hard to tell with certainty what is going on here, only time will tell.

Red Sheriff, You sound like you're surprised that posters don't like your comments, which is surprising. You don't offer any real constructive views or information. Your posts can essentially be summarised as "your team is crap, I don't rate any of your players, and you don't have much chance of progressing vs Ajax". Then you say you're unimpressed by the clubs signings, which again is surprising. Do you expect PAOK to sign the same kind of players as Olympiakos who has earned ~300 million (or more ?) over the past 15 years from CL monies ? I suspect you don't really expect that. But still you reserve the right to be unimpressed. When we bought Mak 2 years you probably could have thought "who is this nobody from the German 2nd division" and yet he proved to be a good signing. I went and saw my clairvoyant (who goes by the name of Mitso) and he said *much to my amazement* that some of our signings this year will prove to be ok, and some won't. Who would have thunk it ?!?!?!?!