Soprano76

AEK are looking to repeat as Basketball Champions League winners. They also won an international club competition as well.. didn't know AEK had such a strong basketball club..

It's amazing to me that the EPO has not really invested any of the money from the major tournaments Greece played in from 2004-2014. Weren't there rumors of a national academy building built?

Apparently they are certain to be relegated due to match fixing. Will be on -6 points at the start of next year too.

I'm gonna pass on Durmisaj and even Vrousai

Oraia bala apo ton Ari simera...

Was that a goal?!

thank you!

link?

agree, team has been turning over too much in recent years... some consistency would be nice

Should be interesting. Do you think the quality of the Cypriot league has gotten better or worse these last few years?

Good result from Aris. Still in contention for a European spot, which IMO is great given that this is their first season back.

Superleague campaign has been great this season. Champions League qualifications went well. Europa League was a disaster.

I suppose that's fair. Although PAOK is my favorite Greek team, I'm not the die hard that most people on this forum would consider themselves. I'm the type that places the health of Greek football overall above all else. Say what you will for past ills, but Olympiakos are one of the few teams in Greece that can be somewhat competitive in Europe. Besides, it helps out PAOK at the end of the day; a better country co-efficient eases the road to the CL group stages.

@Nilaul PAOthegreat linked it in his edited comment. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. From the perspective of someone who wants to see Greek football clubs succeed in Europe, it is probably best that OLY gets the 2nd CL spot given that they will probably do more with that opportunity.

That is a good point, but I suppose to provide a simple answer to the question we could ask ourselves this: how many owners of Greek clubs will leave the organizations in a better situation than when they found it? I can really only think of like two or three owners where this is the case.

kind of random, but who do you guys think some of the best and worse owners in the Supa League are? I've been watching these documentaries put out a few years of all the teams in the top flight and Panaitolikos' owner Foti Kostoulas stood out to me as someone who's done a lot for the team and city of Agrinio, almost like a mini-Savvidis in a way. I'd have to say the world right now is Kougias given what he is doing to AEL Larissa at the moment.

Neat little documentary I found on PAS Gianena that was made a few years back:

Any word on the Thai? I'm assuming the deal fell thru.

Disappointed in the result. Let's hope the gavroi pull thru in the next leg.

Interesting. Too bad Smyrna is no longer a Greek city. Imagine having powerhouse clubs Panionio and Apollon across the sea!!

Having a playoff is absolutely rubbish. Are there any European leagues that have an odd number of teams? I think 10 is way too little but would be okay with anywhere from 12-14 teams.

Greece is a country of 10-11 million people where only a handful of teams (PAOK, Aris, AEK, PAO, Oly, maybe OFH/Pan/Iraklis) have any real fanbase. I think 14 teams with 26 games and no play off system is the sweet spot. I wouldnt be opposed to something like 15-16 teams either though. I think the Greek league is better domestically today than it was 4-5 years ago because it is just much more competitive. But one could also make the argument that this is largely because Oly has severely weakened in recent years. Hopefully Greek football is going in the right direction though. New stadia, unbiased referring, and the big teams not being in financial trouble (other than PAO but they are improving on that end) are all positives

Actually, Bashibozuk, you make the fatal mistake of assuming the modern definition of Philhellene is the only context in which it was always used. The term Philhellene was also used in antiquity to describe patriotic Greeks (source: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23110917&redirect=true). So, king Alexander I of Makedonia being described as Philhellene does not exclude him from having Greek ancestry. Herodotus presents conflicting views in his Histories. On the one hand, the Olympic participation story seems to indicate that the southern Greeks didnt consider the commonfolk Macedonians to be Greek. On the other, Herodotus clearly established a genealogical link between the Dorians of southern Greece to the Macedonians of northern Greece when he recounts the historical migration of the Dorian tribes. The latter view has been borne out in the archaeological record as well. The Pella curse tablet and Hesychius' glossary point to the Macedonian dialect being NW Doric Greek with Illyrian/Thracian influence. I think the academic consensus is pretty clear. The ancient Macedonians as we know them were a combination of predominantly Doric Greeks and Hellenized Illyrians/Thracians who displayed a predominantly Greek culture.

Bashibozuk, I'm well aware of the stories surrounding Alexander I. Herodotus recounts a few things about the ancient Macedonians and their kings: - Herodotue gives us the origin story of the Macedonian royal house and how/where they founded their capital of Aegae. - King Alexander I was deemed a Hellene by lineage thru Argive descent by the Olympic committee in Elis. - King Alexander I refers to himself as a Greek by descent to the allied Greek coalition gathered at the Vale of Tempe to fight off the Persians - Before their descent into the Peloponnese, the Dorians were referred to as Macedonians. This indicates some type of common lineage that was present in classical Greek folklore.

He's been a perennial disappointment. Wasted away in Saudi Arabia the past few seasons before coming to Oly this past summer and rode the bench mostly.