paokarag4

Wow, I'm shocked. The last thing I expected find out waking up this morning. First of all thank you to Razvan, he came and proved many of us (myself included) wrong. He got to us to the top of Greek football again something we had only dreamed of for so many years. Because of the season he just had, he'll forever be a PAOK legend, so thank you Razvan for that you've been fantastic. As for the timing of this, he really has F***ed us here. 2 days out from leaving for Holland the whole pre-season has been planned around him and his assistants now they're gone. Whoever takes over is going to be up against it from day one, taking over a preseason he's had no control of organizing. Trying to get a squad onside who, may or may not be sh1tty about their championship winning coach walking out. What had helped us be successful over the past 2 seasons was continuity, the core of the squad was the same for 3 seasons and the coach for 2, we saw the results. Hopefully this doesn't take us back to the days of a coaching merry-go-round. PAE are in a tough spot now, Lucescu really has left us with sh1te in our lap

Mihaj and Meliopoulos have officially been announced by the club, both on 4 year contracts. Interesting to see whether they are part of the squad for the upcoming season or if they are loaned out. Can see Mihaj being the 4th choice center back now that Malezas, Chatziisais and Mihojevic are on their way out. Meliopoulos will probably depend on how many players we sign for central midfield.

Yep, apparently Standard Liege tried to re-negotiate his wage at the last minute and the transfer, for now at least has hit the skids. There's a good chance he'll be reporting for the first day of pre-season on Wednesday

Football has changed. You can no longer just sit deep and counter those days are gone. Teams like Armenia press high up the pitch and make it hard for you to move the ball from the back. How many turnovers did we see in the first 20 mins of the game? We move the ball slowly anyway, so the Armenian press made it near impossible for us to get out of our own half at times. It's like the Greek players had never seen a press before. Greece had done something similar to the Italians at times before we went 1-0 down and then it all feel apart (ironically we were left so open because we had pressed so high and won the ball back in a dangerous spot) I will agree it is strange we look so openly defensively, teams just cut through us. Probably a little tactical, midfield not shielding the defense adequately and perhaps the players trying to get a certain manager fired.

It feels like this Silva saga has gone on forever. I believe the sticking point was between him and PAOK over the personal terms of his contract ($$) as apparently we had agreed to a fee with Akhmat Grozny for a while. Also perhaps, unsurprisingly Olivieria is staying put at Porto and won't be part of our squad for the next season. Maybe that was also holding up the Silva deal, they were waiting for official word on Olivieria

I read it's going to be a free transfer.

EPO took a risk on a journey man of a coach who tactically wasn't up to the level 4-5 years ago when he was at the helm at PAOK. He has a history of clashing with personalities and it's happened again. He has to go, even if EPO back him in and leave Sokratis and Manolas out he's lost the dressing room now. Those players are huge in the dressing rooms, they have all their teammates ears. Sacking him won't help us qualify though, it's just about done. Need a minor miracle from here. Who ever comes in must be someone who is respected by the players and won't lose them at the first hurdle (easier said than done) Not like there's going to be a cue of quality coaches waiting to take over this job.

@Alphonse It's very frustrating. Multiple people were calling out for weeks here about Zeca staying in the middle. It's simple best players stay in their strongest positions. I'm not gonna play Manolas as a striker and Sokratis as a winger.

Many good points stated. I'll add one thing, all you fifa warriors who scream and cry for 5 at the back, we've seen the result across two games. We don't have wing backs and midfielders to play this system, just because we have 3 good center backs doesn't mean we should shoe horn them all into the same 11. The system and tactics were clearly wrong. I'll just clarify too, those saying we need a big win against Armenia are wrong. UEFA competitions has always used head to head record as their main tie-breaker. So we could have lost 10-0 to Italy and it wouldn't really matter unless we end up tied for points with them. Beat Armenia with half a goal who cares, just win. I live in constant fear of a player mutiny especially after a result like that and if that's the case they roll over in the game against Armenia and bye-bye Euro 2020

No projected line-ups at this stage, like in the first 2 qualifiers Anastasiadis keeps his cards close to his chest and what ends up being projected is a guess. I heard on radio today it will be a 3-5-2 with Zeca at wing back (I've already expressed my thoughts on that) But it's all a guessing game at this stage. Donis has to train today to be a chance to start, I'm sure Anastasiadis will be asked about it in his press conference later on as well. Donis out will be a huge blow, goes without saying. EDIT: Donis confirmed out of BOTH qualifiers with an injury, massive out, Fortounis is going to need to have a huge game if we're going to threaten grabbing a goal on the counter https://www.sport24.gr/football/ellada/ethniki_elladas/ethnikh-elladas-thlash-o-dwnhs-oristika-nok-aoyt-me-italia-kai-armenia.5531640.html

34? You've aged him 4 years , maybe 3 he turns 31 in a few days. 5 at the back in theory isn't bad considering our personal but it's a massive risk when players aren't used to playing the system. We saw that first hand against Bosnia we couldn't get out of our half of the pitch, we looked extremely open despite having a back line of 5. IMO to big a risk in such a game. Sokratis at right back is defs a risk, but our alternatives don't inspire confidence. I don't know what the correct way is, one thing I'll keep saying until I'm blue in the face is Zeca MUST play in the middle.

He was injured, he hadn't played for around a month. Might be fit now but as Alphonse says he's in no form having had minimal playing time. All season really, wasn't a starter at Marseille and only played sporadically off the bench at Galatasaray, when he wasn't injured

Hopefully he stays in Germany. He's far too young and talented to move to Russia seeking a pay-day. Not that the Russian league is awful, but it's no Germany.

Berg is a very good signing for you guys, proven goal scorer who knows the league very well. England will be a great move for Fortounis career, but I think the physicality will be too much for him. IMO he needs to become mentally tougher as well, he can (not always) go missing in big games when the pressure is on. It's one thing doing it in Greece but that won't cut it in England. If he does move I really hope it works out for him, lord knows he has the talent to make it there. But it's a big step up, at least a class or 2 above.

pash have you taken your medication today? Are you sure it's not Facundo Ferreryra who plays at Benfica?

Can say I've waited years for us to play the Italians in an official match. Growing up in Melbourne I have many Italian friends, it'll be good to watch an Ethniki match with a big group and mixed support for both countries. UEFA will need to send one of their better refs who takes no s****, any decision he makes he'll be swarmed by players kicking and screaming. We are very similar, both teams like to carry on and get in the ref's face. Una faccia Una razza, right?

I wonder if Siopis performance might have given Angelo the confidence to shift Zeca to right back and start Siopis with Samaris/Kourbelis. Samaris has been poor when playing for the ethniki of late, but I feel he will start by default. Will be interesting to see what Angelo goes with, he seems to be a fan of Kourbelis as well. Kourbelis-Samaris would be a disaster IMO against the Italians. Zeca must start in the middle, that's my biggest concern. We mustn't discount the possibility of lining up in a 5-3-2, although I think the first 15-20 mins of the Bosnia match probably has put that formation on the back-burner at least for the time being.

Tsitsipas up 2-0 sets and locked at 5-5 in the third before play was suspended due to bad light. He rallied from 2-5 down in the third (2 breaks) to level it up. Hopefully he can see it out the match tomorrow and make it through to the 4th round

@Rockafeller Skank No way that's so cool! Did you speak to him or get a photo? The boys have been given the weekend off and will get together again on Monday and kick into full preparations for the upcoming qualifiers. Sorkatis, Zeca, Manolas and Donis all expected to link up with the rest of the squad on Monday. http://www.novasports.gr/podosfairo/europi/european-championship-qualification/article/458866/apo-deutera-xana-douleia-i-ethniki/

Exactly, our three first choice center backs weren't playing. As well as our best midfielder (Zeca). 4-5 starters out was always going to be a long shot. Don't know what Angelo will do at right back, didn't watch the match so can't comment on Mavrias/Kotsiras performance. I hope he doesn't pull Zeca out of midfield and put him there. I'd rather Sokratis gets shifted to right back with Siovas and Manolas at CB.

It didn't take long, but there has apparently been a falling out between Anastasiadis and Torosidis. Hence the latter not being called up for these qualifiers. It dates back to the final nations league match, where we were beaten by Estonia 1-0 (toro didn't start, subbed on at the half) If this report is true I guess it means Torosidis wouldn't have been called up in March even if he was fit. Angelo is looking for an apology before he calls him up again. This is exactly the type of thing that can upset a squad, it comes down to how much pull Toro has over the playing group. Hopefully it doesn't affect the boys too much and they stay focused on the crucial matches coming up. https://www.sport24.gr/football/ellada/ethniki_elladas/ethnikh-omada-giati-o-aggelos-ekopse-ton-torosidh.5525187.html

The NT played an unofficial friendly over night, against football academy GFA. Everyone played in the match except Stafylidis who arrived the day before the friendly took place. The Ethniki won 2-0 with Masouras and Kolouris scoring their "first" goals for the ethniki. You can read a report on the match below and see some highlights too. Report Highlights

First leg of the relegation play-off for Stuttgart v Union Berlin. 2-2 draw, so advantage Berlin. Stuttgart lead twice but were unable to hold onto their lead. Donis assisted the 1-0 once again showing his blistering pace and how dangerous he can be on the counter when he has space to work. https://streamable.com/f7ry3

Probably not a bad thing, without Pjanic there was no way Bosnia was taking points off Italy. Even with him it's unlikely but it gives them a fighting chance

Warda is off to the Africa cup of nations with Egypt, hopefully he has a decent showing and we can net some good $ for him