paokarag4

I guess it depends which "knowledgeable" PAOK reporters you listen to. Usually they are quite consistent with their news, like atm the word is Konstantelias wants to stay. Last season I distinctly recall all the news being about Konstantelias halfway out the door, until Savvidis stepped in and changed his mind. Within that conversation was a promise of a new, more lucrative deal. I honestly never heard that PAOK was keen to sell him last season (doesn't make it not true of course). PAOK in the offseason after winning the title, was stingy. Players didn't come over the haggling over a couple of hundred thousand Euros. Meite, Pelkas, Chatzidiakos/Wieteska, plus signing free agents Lovren and Colley to cover arguably our most important player from last season in Koulierakis. I therefore think it is more likely they promised him a new deal but since they had him locked in anyway, didn't do it to save $. Whether they are trying to rewrite history now to save face is another matter.

Something that they promised to do last season. He rejected Salzburg on the condition that they were going to give him a new deal, with bigger $. It never happened, I consider it a minor miracle he wants to stay another season. PAE made plenty of mistakes last summer but somehow not renewing Konstantelias hasn't bitten us (yet). Give the kid a big contract, and fire him up for a big season.

Have you guys heard the famous quote from a famous former president of yours? "Don't believe everything you read on the internet"- Abraham Lincoln If I could figure out how to consistently post images in here, it would've been much funnier but my point still stands!

Disappointing to miss out on 2nd, but probably about what we deserve this season. Hopefully we can take care of the winless in the playoffs AEK and secure 3rd. From there we are hoping for Olympiacos to win the Cup so we can play in the Europa League and have a start date of early August.

Awful by Wieteska

Hattrick for him overnight in the derby against Porto. After a slow start and some criticism from the media and fans, he has really grown into the season and is having a great year. Here are his goals from the big win, it sends Benfica top 3 points clear of Sporting Lisbon who have a game in hand.

No squad announced for this one (yet again) but it seems everyone is fit and available except Lovren. Hopefully the other game ends in a draw and we can pick up a win here and continue to close in on the Champions League spot. Won't be easy, Olympiakos have been consistent this year and are on the verge of winning the title. Lucescu has only beaten Mendilibar once and we only have 1 win in our last 7 against them at Toumba.

After years of lacking a quality striker, all of sudden the Ethniki has 3 playing at a high level + Tzimas about to join a Premier League side. And you can throw in Kostoulas to that mix, although I am not sure that he actually has a natural position and I don't think he is an out and out striker. As a general rule, I don't think Greek footballers should be moving at such a young age to England. It didn't work out for Tzolis, Tsimikas really had to bide his time and was almost unsighted for a whole season until becoming a trusted depth player. Mavropanos went to Arsenal super young and eventually had to move to Germany for 2-3 years before moving back to EPL. I just don't think it suits our young players, especially so early in their professional careers. Different to go back as a more seasoned professional who has spent a few years playing abroad. Which is why I think moving to Germany should always be the priority. Beyond that, Portugal, Belgium and even Holland are a good smaller step-up before making a bigger leap. These countries and leagues have a reputation for developing talent and being patient. Unlike your England's, Spain's and Italy's which are a lot more cut throat. I hope Tzimas is the exception, Brighton has become known for signing talents and on selling them for a big profit. There is always added pressure and expectation when you come with a decently sized price tag. Good luck to the kid and I am sure he will get his shot with the Ethniki in the near-ish future.

I think it will be Kedziora, you can't start Vieirinha away at AEK. Maybe off the bench if we are chasing an equaliser. Wieteska and Michailidis at CB. Either way we are disrupting our back 4.

The issue with Kotarski is next season he is entering the final year of his contract. That takes some negotiating power out of our hands. I think ultimately he will be sold for 6-10 million, his form slump this season probably has also impacted his potential price. I am more interested in who will become the no.1 next season. Will Pavlenka be renewed and given first go (as has been mentioned in media), did they sign Gugeshashvili with the intention of him being the no.1 and signing a new 2nd keeper? Or is Pavlenka also on his way out and Gugeshashvili is the no.2 and we are looking to spend $(haha) on a good level goalkeeper.

Interesting to see what Jovanovic does with the goalkeeper. Vlachodimos is 3rd-4th choice at Newcastle and rarely makes the bench, let alone get any minutes. His last competitive hit out was in November for the Ethniki. Mandas plays more frequently, but is still 2nd choice at Lazio. He has 10 appearances for them this season. His most recent games being about a month ago when he played a league and cup game back-to-back. That leaves Tzolakis as the keeper with the most minutes and rhythm. Jovanovic has been loyal to Vlachodimos but maybe 4 months with no competitive football will sway him to one of the other two options.

I believe his Mother is Greek. As you said Soprano, doesn't really matter. George Baldock had one grandparent who was Greek, and we can see how tight he had become with the squad and how much he is missed. If he is good enough to ever get a call-up to the senior time, he will be embraced by the other lads no doubt. And if he plays well, then the fans will love him no matter what.

Kafeino time, 100% it was Despodov! He is sick of riding the bench while he watches Zivkovic start every game. He is trying to maximise his minutes.

2nd season running we have been knocked out of Europe without showing any fight. Brugge last year and now Steaua. Clearly outplayed across 2 matches and we are sent packing with our tail between our legs. Losing happens it is part of sport, but there is a way to lose and to barely provide a yelp is what stings the most. In saying that, in the first leg the moments weren't with us. Who knows if Samatta holds his run and makes it 2-0 maybe Taison isn't as frustrated and doesn't get himself sent off. Maybe he still would've anyway. Maybe Steaua would've found a way back into the game regardless of any red card. The truth is what Dutch and Blackhawk said on the previous page. Across 3 games against them we were awful, they outplayed us comfortably.

He trained today and is available again. But I would say his chances of starting regardless are almost zero. Taison, Pelkas and even shifting Konstantelias to the left would be prefered as starting options over Shoretire. This match is massive, realistically we don't have any chance at winning the title. Numbers wise if we somehow find a way to beat this well drilled and organised Olympiacos team, we will only be 5 points from the top with the playoffs to come. Again I don't think we are consistent enough to contend this season whatever the points difference, but a 5-6 point gap is chasable. A loss and the knives will be out. Knocked out in Europe and -11 from the top of the table within 3 days? Yikes it will be a rough week.

No doubt he does. In other countries (mainly Australia and the US) around the world concussion is an automatic stand down from playing and training anywhere between 10-14 days. In Greece it is take the weekend off levendi and we'll see you on Monday! Just on a sidenote, it is an area in which football does lag behind in other sports. Concussion is a huge issue in sports and while not as prevalent in football, it is something that isn't really taken as serious. I know a few years ago the EPL that had introduced an extra sub for a concussed player but I am not sure that is a thing anymore.

Great win, fantastic to see the boys let loose and bang 5 in! I feel some of this is down to the suspension of our 5 players a day or so before the game. Seems the lads rallied and really wanted to put on a performance. The moments went our way for sure, when it rains it pours. Samatta's goals are great for him and the team. By all reports he is a good teammate and a professional, nice to see him on the scoresheet. He may yet have a role to play, especially against Steaua considering our striker situation. Who knows what this season could've been if Lucescu had got his wish and we had signed Pelkas and Meite in July instead of January..... We wouldn't be 10 points (7 currently with Olympiacos to play tomorrow) from the top of the league that is for sure.

Unbelievable, we've avoided Ajax. Great result for the team! Even though they beat us earlier in this campaign they are beatable. Games will be an arm wrestle, they are a well drilled team who play a disciplined style of football. I'm sure Lucescu will also enjoy the homecoming, will be a fair bit of Romanian media all over him when we travel there.

Jurasek has had back to back 90 minutes for Hoffenheim (Europa and Bundesliga) since word came out we were interested in him. Not sure what is going on there, did Benfica tell Hoffenheim they were going to recall him from the loan and send him to us and that has jump-started the Germans into playing him again? I don't know but it looks like it'll be a tough signing to complete. As for the game, thank god for Camara! The man has been our saviour time and time again this season. Also good to hear the Wieteska stood up and had a good game, he looked pacey from the highlights I saw which is always handy. The Olympiacos-PAO draw means we make up ground today, but our performances are still lacking. Another big week coming up, with Sociedad and AEK. Beat AEK and I'll start to believe that we can give the top 2 a shake for the rest of the season.

I am too young to have seen him play live but heard lots of stories about how talented and how good a footballer he was. One of the all-time Greek football legends no doubt. O Θεος να τον αναπαύσει.

The Meite fiasco really has gone on far too long. I said this in the summer and I'll say it again now, considering how long it all dragged on for, if he starts poorly I think the fans and media will get on his back pretty quickly. Especially if the team isn't winning. Any goodwill he built up last season has well and truly gone. The players arriving today and tomorrow were literally three players we were linked to all during the summer transfer window. PAE is now trying to cover their mistakes in the summer by signing these guys now, but it is 6 months too late. We are 9 points behind in the league, out of the Cup and Europe is a must to keep this season alive. Unfortunately none of three incoming can help us on Thursday or at Sociedad next week. The way our summer transfer window was handled really did put us behind the 8-ball. Giorgos Savvidis (or whoever is in charge of signings) are trying to rectify that now, but only after Ivan stepped in and essentially said to Lucescu "Give us a list of players and we will get them for you." These are the same guys who he wanted 6 months ago, the only thing that has changed is that our form has dipped. So IMO there is no excuse for not bringing the players in then. We don't have to wait until disaster strikes to take action. I hope we can salvage the season. Progressing in the Europa League is a must and while 9 points is a big gap it isn't insurmountable, especially with the playoffs. We would have to be perfect for the rest of the regular season, which would clearly take a big improvement in form/performances. If we do that we probably head into the playoffs around 3-5 points behind. Whether we can then win out in the playoffs is extremely tough, but it would keep us in touch going late into the season. We have left ourselves no room for error but there is a way back, albeit a difficult one.

Finally some reliable English/Liverpool media coming out and denying the links of the Reds to Tzimas. Obviously that can change, but it did seem like a strange buy from a Liverpool point of view. Remains to be seen if we cash in with Nurnberg or bring him back next season to really give him a go at locking down the striker position. https://x.com/JamesPearceLFC/status/1879480251979563289

The scene of our great triumph last season.

Just on the bolded part. Of course he has a say but the board doesn't always follow through. We know he wanted Meite, they wouldn't stump up the extra 200-300k needed to give him the salary he wanted. You know Lucescu wanted Chatzidiakos in the summer right? Deal was all but done, player was on his way to sign. Then at the last minute PAOK tried to change his wage by knocking off 100-200k and he said see ya later I am going to Denmark. None of these instances are Lucescu's fault. It is the club letting him down and leaving us with players who are worse (Lovern/Colley) or no one at all in the case of Meite. I don't disagree with your next point, but you're all too keen to tear something down that has literally won us a third of our trophies in our history. I have said it before and I'll say it again. We are talking about Greek football, Jurgen Klopp isn't banging down the door to take over when Lucescu leaves. The next in line is probably a Portuguese or Spanish manager who we've never heard of, who has never coached at a big club or if he has had an unsuccessful stint there. The alternative isn't a world class coach. Lucescu isn't perfect and I agree with you guys that some of his player selections and behaviour (this particularly annoys me) leaves a lot to be desired. His time will come but I don't think that it is now. Just my opinion of course. He is being under resourced so I refuse to COMPLETELY blame him for what has been up until now a poor season. He can't rotate the squad, because there is no quality there. Ozdoev and Camara have been run into the ground. We have one CB who is trustworthy, the other 3 either are error prone or can't pass a ball to save themselves. So yes that allows any team, even Volos and Kallithea to take advantage and get results. We are clinging on in the title race by a thread and as if the Slavia game already wasn't big it is now huge in the context of our season.

The Tsitsipas slide continues, he is bundled out in 4 sets to the unseeded American Michelsen. His form over the last 12 months suddenly and quickly dropped off at an alarming rate. He is already ranked outside the top 10, with this form he will easily find himself out of the top 20-25 in the coming months. I hope he can get it together again and become relevant in terms of potentially winning a Grand Slam, but right now that seems a world away. He needs to arrest this form-slide and start by beating the guys he should be taking care of.