paokarag4

Santamaria looks like a done deal, will come as a free agent. We are probably still a central midfielder short, Santamaria will join Zaferis and Camara. Meite is an unknown quality with his fitness and availability. Remains to be seen if Lisci rates and uses Thymianis at all.

I doubt he would bother making an announcement if it was just for the September matches? He did say for the "upcoming" matches but wasn't specific. He maybe back at some stage, he also didn't say this was permanent but I would be surprised if he is suddenly available again in November.

I doubt it, there are and always have been rumours that he is extremely religious and a bit of a different character to other footballers. Doesn't strike me as someone who is overly driven to be a major success or push himself to play abroad. I think he is comfortable playing for us and the more the years go on, the more I believe he will never leave PAOK or Greece. While that is great for us as PAOK fans, it will probably stunt his growth as a footballer and he will probably never reach his true potential. What we have now is still a brilliant player who is a barometer for our team and someone who can turn a match in a matter of moments. Quality player, not overly motivated. Still an interesting decision to pull the pin on the Ethniki, especially at only 23 with opportunities there to qualify for major tournaments and be an integral part of those teams.

Well said pash, agree with just about all of it! Those 3 key points will make or break whether Lisci is a success or not. Just on Pusic, I am with you I wasn't thrilled at that potential appointment either. I think it just speaks to how disorganised the team is and how poorly Lucescu's exit has been handled. There is no reason he couldn't have been moved on a week after the season concluded. The club handcuffed themselves by how slow they were to make the decision. I hope Lisci is a success and has a great career with us. It is always hard to be the guy that follows a club's most successful manager.

Doesn't fill me with a whole lot of confidence, as of yet he hasn't really achieved anything outstanding. Feels like we have scrambled to get someone in as preseason starts in 2 days. These are the sort of managers though that are willing to come to Greece, unless you really break the bank to sign a manager with European pedigree. I hope he goes well and is a success, but the fact that he is seemingly a 2nd choice (all the noise around Pusic clearly we were interested) means once we have a poor run of results and the fans start getting restless, I don't know how long management will be willing to back him in for. I am a fan of hiring a younger manager though. I just hope he is ready, because Greek football is a world away from Spanish football.

Kedziora officially been announced by Dynamo Kyiv. Michailidis the only senior center back left in the squad as things stand. The center of our defence is going to look very different in 26-27. Lots of work to do for Vieirinha and Matos

Sanchez starting in Mexico's 2nd group stage match against South Korea. Kick off is in 10 minutes!

Dynamo Kyiv finished 4th last season, 15 points off the pace in the Ukrainian League. Cluj finished 3rd in Romania. Both teams have decent European pedigree, Dynamo on paper at least would be the tougher match-up (without knowing much about either squad). In terms of a "name" in European football though, Dynamo Kyiv definitely trumps Cluj.

It's worth noting that Lucescu is the only manager under Savvidis to see out a complete 2nd season. There are only 2 other managers who survived the sack in their first season, those 2 being Abel Ferreira and Ivic. Ivic left in the off-season after his first full season in charge and Ferreira lasted until October of his 2nd season. The point I'm making is that Lucescu has been the only one to be able to navigate a seemingly volatile Savvidis and his management (sons etc.) I will continue to bemoan the fact that the club was so slow in making this decision, we have lost so much time. It remains to be seen if the club has a replacement lined up and ready to go. If they don't, and my feeling is that they don't then we can just add it to the list of incompetencies that management has provided us over the last 2 years since the title winning season. Again I am not anti this decision, I am anti how long it has taken to arrive at this decision.

Looks like Lucescu's time with us is coming to an end, has been mooted for almost a month now. I think the writing has been on the wall for awhile. The Cup final loss was hard to stomach and the implosion against Panathinaikos which cost us place in Champions League qualifying no doubt sealed his fate. Although it's ending, he still leaves as PAOK's most successful coach ever and no doubt our most decorated. I have little doubt that he will return one day down the road, to steady the ship! Thanks for everything Razvan, you made us champions and returned us to the summit of Greek football! https://www.sport24.gr/football/paok-xekatharizei-oristika-to-thema-loutseskou-ola-deixnoun-diazigio-me-ton-roumano-texniko/

The Socceroos played brilliantly! Defended with numbers, compact and frustrated the Turks. The first goal was quality.

Once again we move at an astrnomically slow speed. These are key decisions that need to be made quickly, not a week and a half before pre-season is due to commence. There has been ample time for the club to move on Lucescu and have brought in a new manager and have been focusing on transfers and what type of player the new coach wants/needs. Instead we are here with the club seemingly scrambling late in the piece trying to figure out what the coaching staff will look like for 26-27. Poor managment and such slow decision making always sets us behind the 8 ball and it's only June. It sets us up to chase our tail for the rest of the season.

I've always thought a technical director is in charge of transfers, signings and selling. According to google a sporting director seems to have similar responsibilities, whatever they do specifically, they are going to be working closely.

I've heard varying reports about what they are asking. I've heard they are asking for 3 million and we are offering 2. I've also heard they are asking for 5 Million and we are offering 1. Clearly you prefer the difference to be the former, because a 4 million difference is a lot of ground to cover to reach an agreement. In regard to the interest from Olympiacos and AEK, it seems Giannoulis has made it clear at this stage he only wants to return to Greece to play for PAOK. Olympiacos and AEK have understood this and seem to have moved on, while probably waiting in the corner incase he changes his tune. For Giannoulis it seems it will either be us or he will remain at Augsburg and continue playing in the Bundesliga.

Nothing surer than despite us being seeded, we will cop Besiktas. From memory the early qualifying rounds of the Europa League can throw up some tough match-ups. I feel like by the 3rd round and certainly the playoffs, those tougher teams have become seeded by virtue of eliminating their "seeded" opponents, so it gets easier.