paokarag4

Lovren is sign, sealed and delivered. A 2 year contract for him. He will the number 6 which he wore at Liverpool.

Agree 100%. Kids coming up through the youth team is different and that has clearly been our best avenue over the last 5 years to getting quality Greeks into the team. They will continue to invest in the academy and if players are good enough they will be given a chance, like Kottas seems he will be given this season. I was more referring to Greeks like Tsiftsis, or Tsingaras, who yes played a role coming up through the academy and had a part to play in the team's successes. But hanging onto these guys for the sake of it because they are Greek was the point I was making. Just to be clear, I am happy with Tsiftsis as our no.2. I was just using him as an example to make my point.

No doubt pash, Tsiftsis was signed as a Z.Zivkovic replacement never a Kotarski one. If and when Kotarski is sold we will definitely be in the market for a new keeper. It would be amazing if Kotarski decides this is where he wants to be long term, but unfortunately I think that is a pipe dream. He is good enough to play in one of Europe's 5 big leagues and based on what his agent was peddling this summer, it seems he has a desire to play in Italy. I agree with you about Greek players in the team, I think it is a big plus if you have quality Greek footballers part of your starting XI. Quality being the key though, give us guys like Koulierakis, Konstantelias, Chatzidiakos if we had been able to sign him. Guys like Tsiftsis, Tsingaras, will always just be depth at a big club and don't really move the needle. I would argue Lyratzis is also in that category, although I hold out a little speckle of hope for him compared to the others. IMO he is more talented, but has spent the last few seasons getting minimal game-time which has no doubt impacted his development. History is full of these types of players, not just for us but for the other big clubs in Greece too. Players who break into the team through circumstance (injury or poor form of someone in their position) and they end up playing regularly for half a season or even a whole season. But ultimately their limitations shine through and they aren't up to the level required of a big 4 club. It is a big year for Michalidis, make or break for him in terms of being a starter or becoming one of the aforementioned depth players.

As a Liverpool fan I can tell you at his best Lovren was a solid Premier League footballer. Never world class IMO, but part of the Champions League and Premier League winning teams in 2019 and 2020. He was also part of the Croatia squad which made the World Cup final in 2018. Since moving on he played at Zenit and spent the last 2 seasons at Lyon. Only 10 league appearances last season for him, so it will take him some time to get up to speed. He was never the best physical defender, despite his size he would often struggle against the more physical strikers in the PL. Obviously we are talking another level of attacker playing in England compared to what he'll face here, but still worth noting. He was capable of playing a nice long ball, which is always handy. I think it is an okay signing as he will provide depth for Kedziora and should be able to do a job in Greece against smaller-mid table sides. Remember he can't play in Europe, so expect to see him playing before or after a big European game to give Kedziora a rest. I am sure at worst his experience will be beneficial, hopefully he can find some good form and a player a role over the next few seasons.

I missed the game against Finland, so this was my first proper look at the Ethniki under Jovanovic. The 1st half felt like I was watching Greece circa 2010-13 in qualifying under Santos, being dictated to by a lesser team in terms of possession without really being threatened. And sure enough the breakthrough came and we were able to see out the game with relative ease, minus the deflected shot which thankfully sailed just wide. It is still early, so the style may change but it is clear Poyet was more willing to press and wanted to win the ball back as quick as possible against these type of opponents. Jovanovic was happy to let them have larger spells on the ball, back his defence and wait for them to make mistakes. It was a moment of quality from Ioannidis which gave us the lead, the guy is a star and really should have moved on from PAO this summer just passed. Between him Tzolis, Konstantelias we have some real quality in attack, hopefully Jovanovic plays them all together at some stage and gives the team licence to play quicker than we saw today. Regardless, it is a perfect start and that is all you can ask before. England away will be tough but they are not setting the world alight recently, despite making the Euro final. England's athletic and physical style has traditionally troubled us, which will probably be where the game is decided in a months time.

I could be wrong but I assume tickets for the Greek section will be sold by EPO? Keep your eye on the EPO site, but you will probably have more luck contacting the English FA and they will be able to provide you with more clarity.

As long as we keep winning trophies, we can stay at Toumba forever as I am concerned. A new stadium would be nice, but you love to focus on what Savvidis hasn't done instead of looking at what he has done. Talk to me about the fact that in his 12 years at the club, we have won the same number of trophies in that time compared to our previous 86 years of existence. 6 trophies in 12 years compared to 6 in 86 years. Not to mention doubling our League title tally, which have always been notoriously difficult to win in Greece. There is a small minority of fans who will never be happy, no matter the success of the club. The fact is PAOK has had it's most successful era with Savvidis at the helm. Has he been perfect? Of course not, but no owner in world football is. I know I just wasted my time typing all that, but it is always worth reflecting on what he has helped the club achieve. I feel many of us (myself included) lose sight of how far off it the club was before Ivan came onto the scene.

Further to that, we went hard for Chatzidiakos who unfortunately for us, has chosen to go to Copenhagen. So it is clear we are not done with transfers and we are looking to add another center back. The fair criticism IMO is that we once again leave plenty of business until the last minute. This year was actually better than other seasons, Tissoudali, Chalov and of course Camara were all done pretty quick and have been with the team for over a month (Camara since the start of pre-season). Obviously the issue there is when we have to start playing European qualifiers so early, even players arriving in late July are behind the 8-ball. I don't doubt it is tough for the club to negotiate with players so early in the transfer window, but regardless after dealing with it for so many years you would think they would have found a way to navigate those situations. We will sign one more center back and I think that maybe it. Some reports say we still need a central midfielder but when you consider we have 4 players(Schwab, Camara, Ozdoev and Bakayoko) battling it out for 2 positions, if we don't add another CM we are fine, at least numerically in that position. AND of course they may very well end up playing Thymianis as a center mid, giving us another option. Even though as pash points out he played most of last season as a CB.

Shhhhhh! Don't let @PaokCT hear you say that about his boy!

He has officially been called up for these matches. We need a good CM so fingers crossed Zafeiris can help us in that regard. He scored midweek against Lille in the UCL qualifiers and hit the woodwork twice! Ο Χρήστος Ζαφείρης θα βρίσκεται κανονικά στη διάθεση του Ιβάν Γιοβάνοβιτς για τα παιχνίδια της Εθνικής Ελλάδας απέναντι σε Φινλανδία (7/9) και Ιρλανδία (10/9). https://www.sport24.gr/football/ethniki-mesa-gia-ta-paichnidia-me-finlandia-kai-irlandia-o-christos-zafeiris.10371748.html

No easy teams, in there. Except for maybe 1-2 teams in pot 3-4, the rest are big names and will be tough. Dream draw: Rangers and Slavia (Pot 1), Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ferencvaros (Pot 2), Malmo and Bodo/Glimt (Pot 3), Riga and Elfsborg (Pot 4). Even that isn't easy, just probably the most winnable game on paper at least. UEFA got their wish to increase the level of the Europa League by creating the Conference League and that is certainly the case. In the League Phase, 1st-8th will qualify directly for the round of 16. While 9th-24th will battle it out in play-offs to join the top 8 in the round of 16. 25th-36th will be knocked out as there is no dropping down to the Conference League with this new format.

Jovanovic's first squad has been announced for this match and the game vs Ireland a few days later. I like the call-ups, our attack looks exciting. As ever, our central midfield options leave something to be desired.

He has been a adequate stop gap when we have been short of central mids, but ultimately he doesn't have enough weapons to be a consistent starter at a big club. He isn't a great passer, or driver/dribbler of the ball, he isn't a goal scorer from midfield, he isn't a beast defensively. He works hard but that only gets you so far, unfortunately. His level is probably a team that is 5th-8th in Greece pushing for that final European spot. I for one am happy he is getting a move, kid has wanted to be a starter coming up to 2 seasons now and a move has been mooted for all that time but Lucescu has wanted to hold onto him for cover. I hope he goes well and makes a good fist of it.

I have to agree, both penalties are on the softer end. I can live with the Kedizora one, because the shirt was being held for a considerable amount of time (there is a difference between some tugging and clinging onto someone's shirt who has a step on you, so you hold on for 4-5 steps). The Chalov one, I don't know, VAR sees the stamp and gives a penalty. But IMO it is soft and was a passage of play reminiscent of under 10's with 30 players around the ball and the ball pinging around everywhere. Some contact was inevitable. Regardless we need to improve, it seems we start almost every season very sluggish. International break is only 2 weeks away, take care of Shamrock and have 9 points in the league and it is a good starting point. Can't believe I am saying this, this early in the season but the 2 weeks off will do us good and will allow Chalov and Tissoudali (and hopefully whichever CB and midfielder we sign) more time to gel with the team.

Koulierakis form has been great and what he has been able to do in the terms of goals and assists is quite remarkable. 3 goals and an assist in these qualifiers from a center back is insane. Not even considering his stats from last season. We are holding firm that we will hang onto him until the end of the Europa League qualifiers. Clearly he will go and it will be a blow for us but that money is incredible. I just hope the club, who has known probably for at least 6 months that he was to be sold this summer, has an adequate and quality replacement lined up.

Come on re, how many stars do you want the youth team to produce? Konstantelias, Koulierakis, Tzimas, Michailidis (2 starters and 2 rotation players part of the championship winning team last season) let's add Tzolis and Koutsias both of whom have been sold for a handsome fee in recent years. That is a good strike by world football standards, excluding maybe Barcelona. Look at all the top teams in Europe, how many of them have youth academy products part of their senior squad, let alone getting regular minutes? I would say a similar number or less than what we have. Our academy is good, it's just how it goes with youth footballers. Most end up fizzling out at lower levels. Some end up being solid professionals and if you're lucky you might get a handful of good-very good players who net you a nice profit or become key parts of the first team. I didn't add Tsigaras to the above list, but I should've. He played in 24 games across last season and was a contributor.

I can also confirm this. Although it was the first place I saw a police officer on a horse attempt to crowd control a bunch of Greeks after Heidelberg qualified for a final way back in 2005. So that was nice.

Pash my boy, let me put your mind at ease. Jonny Otto has played large chunucks of his career at left-back. I am sure he even played a few games there for us last season. So if anything goes down with Baba (touch wood) I dare say Otto will be the first point of call to cover at left-back, with Sastre coming into to play at right-back.

Probably the trickiest of all possible match-ups. I think Sparta Prague will get through, but I am only guessing. They have some good European Pedigree, making the round of 16 in the Europa League last season. Anyway, no point worrying about them or Steaua until we take care of Malmo.

Yeah I doubt we see Meite's best football until the end of September or early October at the earliest. He effectively won't be a starter until the season is well and truly rolling. I don't know I feel about him coming after all. I think long term, it will be beneficial, he is a good player and is a nailed on starter when fit and firing. Short-term, he can't and won't help us with arguably our biggest goal of the season, qualifying for the Champions League. I expect the reception from fans to be mixed too, at least initially. If he has a poor few games first up I am sure he will receive plenty of feedback. If the team is rolling along and winning then most probably won't notice his inclusion.

He has been the one rumoured since January to move on at some stage this summer. Koulierakis leaving would mean we would be in the market for a starting level CB. Kedizora, Ekong(?)/Thymianis as the right sided CBs and Michalidis as the left sided one. I don't think Lucescu trusts Michalidis to be the undisputed starter so I think we would be looking to sign someone. I think we all can agree that even if Nasberg remains this season, they don't want him an active part of the rotation. He would be 5th choice and only playing in the case of an injury crisis and or off the bench some cup games.

Last chance saloon for the Men's basketball team tonight against a strong Australia team. The Ethniki must win to have any hope of qualifying to the quarter finals. Apart from Gianni and Toliopoulos (in the 2nd half against Spain), we have struggled to score. A win by 10+ (however unlikely) coupled with a Canadian win over Spain would guarantee we qualify in 2nd. Otherwise we have to win by at least 3 points, and wait to see if we qualify as one of the best placed 3rd placed teams. Going to be a tough game, not sure if we win but I have a feeling we will push them and go close at the very least.

After flying to Konstantinoupoli, Chalov arrived in Thessaloniki via car! Apparently at his own request for some reason but a quick google gives the driving time as over 6 hours. Maybe he just likes road trips 🤷‍♂️ Anyway here he is hanging out with Shoretire and Tissoudali, except him to do the medical and sign the contract when the sun rises in Greece in the next few hours.

Ingason is about to join Panathinaikos according to reports! 1 year after leaving us, to move to Denmark to be "closer to home" at least that's what I recall the media pedalling as the reason he left. He won the league title in Denmark with Midtjylland, and after one season is poised to join PAO on a 3-year 1.2 million Euro a season deal. I am completely blindsided by this move and it just makes me wonder what the real motivation was for his departure 12 months ago. Circumstances can obviously change, but it is a shock to see him returning to Greece. https://www.sport24.gr/football/panathinaikos-metagrafes-kleinei-ton-ingkason-gia-tria-chronia.10350899.html