paokarag4

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.

No. Do you see a team dripping with quality in CB's and CM's? Or do you see a squad with glaring holes in it that hasn't replaced some quality players who departed? I see the latter. You've been trying to get the "I told ya so" moment on Lucescu for years now. It is not his fault that the club didn't adequately replace Koulierakis despite knowing for months he was on his way out or that they didn't replace Meite at all. Are you so desperate to be proven right about our all time best manager that you choose to overlook the key issues that the team faces? Have a whiskey and go have a lie down! Lucescu is far from our biggest problem. Being left with an incomplete squad has left him working with one hand tied behind his back.

I am more concerned that something will happen off the field leading to a points deduction like the good old days. Tensions are super high between both teams and while Toumba has been on its best behaviour the last 5-6 years, I don't think a team has come to visit so soon after an event filled match. As to the game itself, I just hope football is played and if we are to lose it is on the pitch during the 90 minutes. At the same time, there is a bit of pressure on the team. 2 straight losses, both in derbies. If there is a third to follow the natives will definitely begin to become restless. Baba out is a blow, it means we will see Otto at left-back and Sastre at right-back. I don't know who starts next to Kedziora as our 2nd CB, none of the other 3 fill me with confidence for one reason or another. Konstantelias returning (hopefully he gets over this flu) will be helpful.

It is exhausting for sure mate. This is just a part of Greek football but it is easy to become disenchanted with the whole thing when incidents like this occur semi-regularly. Here is the video. If you can be bothered there are shorter clips on YouTube taken from the POV of the 3 AEK malakes and you can see and hear what is said in the first few seconds as the bus door opens. The three clearly s%$#! themselves, and hopefully they think twice about yapping away and taunting in future. Regardless of their stupidness it does not excuse our squads reaction, unfortunately.

That is a wild ban, especially when you consider Iliopoulos essientally got a warning. Lucescu has clearly rubbed EPO and Athens the wrong way for years, and he isn't completely innocent in all of it. He does like to provoke and stir things, it is his style. I have previously compared him to Jose Mourinho in regards to his touchline antics and press conferences. The issue I have is that there appears to be a double standard when it comes to punishing teams and managers. An opposition president just should not be allowed to enter the other team's dressing room, unless invited. Clearly that didn't happen here. A reprimand is a joke. Plenty of other coaches (Almeyda amongst them) have made obscene gestures in Greece and have not received anywhere near the same amount of media scrutiny/punishment. Our whole squad F***ed up by getting off the bus, it was stupid and childish to respond to the bate being thrown out by 3 AEK fans. They weren't in physical danger, there is no excuse for a team full of professionals to pour off the bus to physically retaliate to verbal abuse. The footage makes for tough viewing. Now practically what it means for us on the pitch this season, it is hard to see us winning the league considering Lucescu will be in the stands until the end of April. We saw the poor run of form we had when he was banned for 20 or so days a couple of months back. Our record was as follows: Τα παιχνίδια που έδωσε ο ΠΑΟΚ χωρίς τον Λουτσέσκου στην προηγούμενη ποινή ΠΑΟΚ - ΟΦΗ 1-2 Αιγάλεω - ΠΑΟΚ 0-3 Λαμία - ΠΑΟΚ 1-2 ΠΑΟΚ - Ολυμπιακός 2-3

Agree we need someone who can come in and impact right away. Tahirovic (if he is signed) doesn't solve this problem, he has only played 125 minutes this season. Lucescu isn't a manager who allows new signings near the starting 11 at the best of times, let alone when they have had limited minutes. We probably need 2 CMs, so given Tahirovic is young and highly rated there is no problem with him being one of the 2 potentially signed. But there is no doubt we need a CM that is ready to come in and be a starter immediately.

Apparently the newest President on the block and man of the people Illopoulos made his way into our dressing room to verbally abuse Lucescu. This stuff never gets old in Greece. Illopoulos has been acting like a clown all season though trying to win the AEK fans over and this is just another part of that. There is no other country in Europe where the owner of the club is as visible as they are in Greece, it is honestly cringeworthy.

I have heard that rumour too on sports radio. Apparently the issue is it was the night before a game (at least in Lovren's case per the radio). This seems to happen an awful lot with PAOK players, I remember the rumours about Jaba being found passed out on a park bench after a night-out and similar stories with Stoch, Z.Zivkovic amongst others. Is the Thessaloniki nightlife that intoxicating that no one can resist? Or are these just rumours created to justify why a players form has dipped/why he is being sacked from the team. Because you obviously hear similar stories from other countries, but it just seems that every year there is at least one PAOK player who is out all hours. So either other teams are sweeping it under the rug (I am sure this happens worldwide) or I have to doubt the validity of these rumours.

Agree. After his error against Steaua it was clear he wasn't up to the level. Lucescu keeps playing him because he is the best CB with the ball at his feet. Colley and Lovren he doesn't trust with the ball, even if they are better defensively. This issue is compounded by never replacing Meite, our midfield is paper thing and it is slim pickings beyond Camara and Ozdoev. Regardless Michailidis isn't the answer. Really it highlights the poor organisation from PAE, there was rumours from last January that Koulierakis was on his way out in the summer. They had so much time to line up a replacement. Instead we left it late and signed Colley in late August and Lovren as a free agent in September. WE NEED to bring in a starting level CB next month, along with at least one central midfielder. Good win despite the average showing. Panetolikos is having a good season and has been a hard nut to crack for plenty of teams. We stay in touch with the top of the table and are one game closer to hopefully signing a new quality CB.

Preach @pash!!! Although, I got motion sickness watching that video. Man is acting like he'll die if he stands still.

12 minutes in and we lead a 1-0, thanks to an own goal. Plenty of PAOK fans in the stands!

Aris apparently about to sack Mantzios (again). John Van't Schip, former Ethniki manager is being lined up to replace him. https://www.sport24.gr/football/aris-teleionei-o-mantzios-pro-ton-pylon-o-fan-sip.10425079.html

I wonder who starts next to Kedziora at CB. Michailidis is super error prone and Colley is not good with the ball at his feet. Pick your poison I guess, both haven't been convincing for different reasons. I have a feeling it will be Michailidis and Colley may get the nod midweek in the do or die clash against Ferencvaros.