paokarag4

he looks like an idiot everytime*

for me the only one that is boarder line is the last one, Sokratis handball. i think the reason its not given is because Greece is in possession and is clearing the ball, he hasn't stopped a goalscoring chance for the Bosnians, infact he's created one by keeping the ball in our defensive box. In saying all that, always risky having your hands away from your body, you open yourself up to having a ref give a decision against you, even though he had them up to say he hadn't touced Dzeko. I think it was the right call, but I was sure the ref would succumb to the Bosnians howling and eventually give a penalty.

Lost in terms of its out of our hands, and after watching Bosnia twice now I have little confidence they can take anything from Belgium. Then again you never know, this is football.

First real game where we can say Karnezi got us points. He's always been solid, without being spectacular and has always lacked, in NT games at least, making the big save. Last night he pulled off 2 very good saves and was solid, except for one moment when he had a classic Greek keeper moment where he charged out to fist a corner away, got nowhere near it and lucky for us the Bosnian player wasn't able to control the ball and the ball bounced towards the sideline. Still deserves props for probably his best game for the ethniki As others have mentioned, Stafylidi and Zeca were really good. I was pleasantly surprised by Zeca, chased hard pressured and was good on the ball. If he keeps up that form he is a lock to start. Someone else mentioned Mitro's desire and to me it was also obvious. He chased hard, pressed defenders and Begovic and played like a man who wanted to win, i can't ever remember seeing that sort hunger from mitro, bravo! Also need to give some credit to Skibbe, putting on Donis for the injured Bakasetas. Handing a 20 year old kid his debut in Bosnia early in the 2nd half takes some balls, and its something I feel wouldn't have happened in the past. Donis showed he defs has something, needs work but there is defs something there and he has a role to play with the Ethniki given our lack of strikers/wingers. Next season is crucial for his development. As for the result, before the game I would have taken it. After once again seeing how beatable Bosnia is it was a little disappointing not to come away with the 3 points. better chances were ours, no need to mention the mantalos one again. It basically rules out top spot, which for me after the Belgium draw was something we should have chased hard for. We were a little too content to take the draw at times, playoffs, assuming we make it will be tough to come through. But never the less its a good result, need to take care of Estonia now who are tricky; before a big showdown with the Belgians in Athens.

Cyprus at some juicey odds at $1.22 with William Hill for the win

If pjanic is indeed out, its a huge plus for us.... still not gonna be easy, it will be very hostile and of course who can forget Dzeko saying "we are waiting for you in Zenica" when referring to how the Bosnians were treated in Greece. It will be a scrappy, spiteful game, with plenty of fouls. Whoever keeps their cool, wins. A win for us would be huge, would put us 4 points clear of BIH with 4 games to go. It would allow us the luxury of defeat v Belgium later in the campaign without giving up 2nd spot, assuming of course we beat the teams we really should beat. And of course it would keep us in touch with Belgium for 1st place, potentially setting up a showdown in Athens down the line for top spot. But that is looking too far ahead. Lets avoid defeat in Bosnia and if we manage to pinch all 3 points, it will be a HUGE bonus. EDIT: Just looking at ESPN3 tv guide, apparently they won't be streaming the game for us in Australia on Saturday morning, which really sucks... not sure if anyone has anymore info on the game being shown for us here? I know if its not on ESPN it won't be anywhere for us, I'm hoping they've just made a mistake on their listing. @Blackhawk do you have any more info? always mr.reliable when it comes to coverage of matches

Will be really disappointing to see him go. Anyone thinking we will win the league with a new coach in place is mistaken. The merry go round will continue and we will once again fail to move forward. To be fair to the club, reports are saying that Ivic is the one who wants to leave rather than us sacking him, which at least shows half a step in the right direction. Never the less if this does happen it will severely damage this groups chances of achieving anything significant, if they even remain together because as mentioned earlier a new coach will have players that he'll want to bring in

no one worthy of a call up. Glykos injured, you could mount a case for pelka but even then...

There is obvious risk for both of them, Zeca played 10 mins in Belgium can't exactly call him a seasoned player at NT level. Yes he has more experience at club level, but Siopis has really impressed me this season. Admittedly I have only closely watched him against PAOK but he was very good in those games. Realistically I don't think siopi will start, I have thought for a while that barring injury maniati and zeca will be the 2 holding mids and i wouldn't be shocked to see tzioli start as we play with flat 3 in the middle, and push Fortouni out onto the wing and mantalos on the other flank.

it makes me feel a little better knowing that even if we'd won yesterday we would still not have made the champions league. But we deserve this punishment after all. We brought it upon ourselves, we had friends and decided to try and become the new olympiakos. we deserve what is coming to us :)

Will be interesting to see if Skibbe hands some debuts here. Is siopis really any more of a risk than Zeca?

wow how unlucky for him and us, an acl 2 games before the end of the season. Guess we'll be in the market for a new goalkeeper in the offseason. For the last 2 games I don't know how how much I trust brkic, he hasn't looked amazing when he's played. Fingers crossed I guess and we'll see what happens.

I would try to keep the both. Continuity has been one of the biggest issues for us over the last 4-5 seasons. We now have a core of 6-7 players that are starting material so I wouldn't go shopping players around. Cimirot is a little different to Leovac in the sense he's younger and will be eyeing a move to a bigger league, that's fine, as other have said as long as we get a good price for him (4-5 mil would be awesome) and then use the money wisely to bring in a good replacement. If we are selling Leovac to bring in another left back who has fitness concerns, it's just an unnecessary risk imo. Leovac is fine, he gets it done, he's not perfect but he has improved. a good crosser, with good pace and he's constantly overlapping and supporting the attack. Our defence being solid has been a big feature for us this seasons (for the most part) try keep them together and see where it takes us.

Any possible point deductions to be handed out for the playoffs Blackhawk? To us or pana?

IMO pelka is not a winger, against good teams with good defences he gets lost out wide. Same goes for Mysta. Bieswar is the one out of the 3 you mentioned @Bananas that is maybe more suited to the wing with his pace and ability to blow past players but, even he is far more suited to a central role. Campos and Henrique have their flaws and Warda as of yet, to me at least is still unproven. I think signing a starting XI quality player for the wing is one of the signings we need to make. It would give us a little depth, with the other wing being interchanged between campos and henrique depending on the opposition. With the other guys mentioned pinch hitting out wide for rotation. Whether Leonardo is the man to take us to the next level I don't know. But his stats do look good. Let's see how it all plays out

Back in 06 I believe it was, he trialled with Liverpool and the reds wanted to sign him (not sure if it was for the first team or 2nd team) PAOK refused to let him go and so he cracked it and said he would never play for PAOK again. I'm pretty sure he didn't play for the rest of the season and then he moved to PAO that summer. I was only young then though so i might have some facts crossed.

prijovic to the rescue again

anyone have any streams? aklaouti isn't working for me

I'm assuming you aren't counting klaus in that front 4? I joke, I actually have a feeling he'll score tonight. Agree with you, the cb pairing will be key, panionios has been in good form and they have given us problems this season. I'd love to see Pelka score again and grab his bottom this time

Started and got himself a brace on the final matchday of the season in a 3-3 draw away with Lyon Gonna be interesting summer for him and where he ends up http://www.contra.gr/Soccer/France/Ligue1/nice/to-mellon-ths-nis-einai-o-tasos-dwnhs.4682468.html

Crespo's ban reduced to one game on appeal, Shakhov's remains at 3 http://www.contra.gr/Soccer/Hellas/Superleague/playoff/akyro-se-mpergk-kai-sakxof-dekth-h-efesh-gia-krespo.4681538.html

i would be quiet shocked if siopis got a start. I think its nearly a lock (barring injury) that zeca and maniati will be starting as dm's in Bosnia.

I don't think the playoffs are over for us, but the loss is a big blow. IMO a draw against PAO will still be a good result, it would put us 3 points behind AEK (im assuming they beat panionios) They would then have a double header against Pana and i can't see AEK beating them twice. It is absolutely paramount we take 6 points off panionios in those double games. For me if we come out our next 3 with 7 points (easier said than done but no reason we can't achieve it) then it will be game on well and truly for top spot. It's gonna be tough, and we can't afford another loss, but we are very much still in the hunt.

PAO playing with 10 men from the 12th min have just gone 1-0 up with a goal from Berg. Zeca will be suspended when we travel to Athens midweek

Brilliant post @Bananas I agree with almost everything you said!