paokarag4

Postecoglou would be interesting. His footballing philosophy is to put the ball down and play, dominate possession.From his time coaching in Australia he is quite stubborn and won't alter his style regardless of opponent. (see WC 14, WC 18 qualifiers) Now 2 questions need to be asked, do we truly believe that Greece has the players to play a possession based game? I think if time has taught us anything it's we are a defence first nation. We thrive in the role of the underdog, we want to sit back and hit on the counter. I'm happy for a manager like him to come and try pass their philosophy but managers like that need time. At National team level, you don't have time. You need results, otherwise you miss out on another tournament and pressure grows. Something the powers at be (EPO) need to weigh up if they are indeed considering someone like Ange. The other thing to consider is that like it or not players have a big say. In Greece they have more of a say than in most top nations. If the likes of Toro, Tziolis, Tzavellas, (players that seem immortal at NT level so either they or their agents have a lot of pull) and to a lesser extent Sokratis and Manolas decide they don't like the manager or his philosophy we'll see an implosion. Similar to what happened in the Euro 16 qualifiers. We've seen these egos and cliques have too much control over teams in Greece in the past, the ethniki is no exception. Not to mention if he refuses to call up some of the mentioned golden boys of ethniki he'll have EPO/agents booting down his door. My second point applies to any new coach brought in not just Ange. But I feel someone like Ange who has strong views is more likely to "rock the boat" and upset some of the wrong people and be gone before the ink on his contract has even dried. Maybe I'm too cynical, but that's just how I see it

Fortounis given a one match ban for his celebration against AEK. At least there's some consistency

Aris always seems to trouble us especially at the Xarilaou. They tend to be very physical but with a foreign ref I can't see too much going unpunished which is a good thing for us. Assuming Pelkas is out I think Lucescu will go with ---------Pasxalakis Matos----Varela----Crespo------Vieirinha--- ---------------Canas-------Wernbloom/Shakhov Limnios------Biseswar--------------El Kaddouri --------------------Prijovic----------- He seems to default to Limnios when it comes to derbies due to his work rate and tracking back; otherwise I would personally probably start Jaba instead. El Kaddouri and Biseswar interchangeable obviously. Hearing that Wernbloom is nearly at 100% fitness, will be interesting to see if he takes a "risk" and starts him or plays it safe and goes with Shakhov

Was a very important player for the Ethniki for many years. As you say ellada, he had a hand in many historic moments for the ethniki. Also the equaliser v Germany in Euro 2012 which sent us into delirium for 5-6 minutes. My favourite player for a long time, it's a shame his career went downhill post World Cup '14. I'll always have fond memories of him though, bravo re Sam and congratulations on your career.

A loss and top spot is basically out of reach. A draw isn't the worst result but will put pressure on us to beat them in Greece, a role which the Ethniki doesn't thrive on. Interesting to see how we set up for this game considering all of that.

It's a possibility no doubt, given Lucescu likes to play it safe with these sort of things. Over the course of the month Wernbloom will get a run, according to what I've read about Pontus he has played all over the midfield (and pitch) throughout his career. So we could yet see a Canas-Wernbloom combo in central midfield with Wernbloom given a license to roam.

We'll finally get a good look at Wernbloom and see what he can do

According to this, Skibbe is going to go with --------------------------Barkas Bakakis----Sokratis----Manolas---Giannouli/Tsimikas -----------------------Zeca-----Kourbelis Bakasetas-------Fortounis---------Pelkas ------------------------Mitro Everything considered i think it's the best line up he can put out. With Mantalos, Lazaro and Donis all out Bakasetas was always going to start, no matter how bad some of you wanted Fetfa

Emperor just throwing shade, derby time is near.

Good news, foreign refs in for this one as well https://www.sport24.gr/football/omades/Aris/arhs-paok-me-ksenoys-diaithtes-kai-ta-duo-ntermpi-ths-thessalonikhs.5332498.html

@PAOTHEGREAT The foreign officials have already made a mistake. In this game, the linesman flagged Prijovic offside when he was clearly on, he was through one on one. The reason there hasn't been a huge fuss about it is because 1. It was PAOK. If it happened to Olympiakos or AEK bet your bottom dollar Theodorids, Karapappas and whoever AEK wheel out, would be all over it having a field day. 2. It didn't affect the result, thankfully so naturally people forget about it. I never remember watching such calm derbies over the last 10 years, foreign refs have been brilliant and for the most part they get the calls right. They don't give into the crowd yelling for a pen or the bench running onto the pitch demanding a card. The players treat each other with respect and don't kick the s%$#! out of each other and look to start a push and shove every chance they get. Why? Because they know it won't fly, they'll be carded and sent off. You can get away with mangies with a Greek ref. This in turn keeps the benches and the crowd come and reduces the chance of something happening off the pitch.

I thought that was Vieirinha not a child? My god pash, I know he's short but come on man

Take the 3 points and rest up, team looks very tired. Great effort to come through this stretch with just the one loss vs Chelsea. Bravo paokara, now time for bed

Been a pretty poor showing so far, I think Akpom would give us something different and could maybe grab the second goal. It'll probably be Limnios who comes on though

Here's a link not great quality but watchable and hasn't lagged at all so far http://live.harleyquinnwidget.com/freelivematch/6189772627437030.html

I wonder what Wernbloom has to do to get a start. He hasn't been amazing when he's played but surely this sort of game is ideal to give him his first start? I know lucescu is anti-rotation and doesn't like risk but still

Mantalos and Torosidis out of the AEK v Olympiako derby tonight, they could be in doubt for the Ethniki as well

These games still get me nervous. Should be a routine win I just worry about the team having played so many tough games over the last month. Hopefully a comfortable win and we stand alone at top of the table heading into the international break.

Looking forward to seeing 10,000 people crammed into a 70,000 seat stadium

Yes pash! Finally !! We'll get a 5th now

was coming, we've been poor since the 25th min. Let's stay focused and see it out

we are taking the piss Jaba 0-3!!!!

GOAAAAL!! JABA!!

Vlachodimos could be on the cusp of a call-up next time around.... According to this article he has never declared who he wants to play for NT wise, and has kept his options open but wants a guarantee that'll he'll be in the top 2 choices and in the mix for a potential start. Article here

Wouldn't be surprised to see Limnios start instead of Biseswar