Summer Transfers 2008

[drakos13]

Let's see now what these 10 points seem to entail.

1) I would reluctantly keep Postiga for the bench - all the rest had to go.

2) Romero is not PAO material - would have been 6 years ago but not any more. Pap and Morris would be decent backups but they have created enough controversy with their acts and performance on the pitch. Mantzios is a huge talent but i) too soft to be a striker and ii) too slow to be anything else. He doesn't have a position - too bad for the lad but what can you do?

3) Vyntra is a very useful player and I do hope he stays. If he does, he will add depth to the squad.

4) This is the best news I 've heard in a long time. Mattos is an excellent DM and Iv gives us this extra flair on the pitch.

5) Not big on these guys, I do think that they were overpriced and still believe that they will not be starting regularly.

6) Rukavina sounds like a very good player. However, I know nothing about the guy and I can only hope that this good feeling I have about him is somehow justified. All I can say is that it's not easy to find a 1.87 tall forward who is fast and skillful at the same time.

7) I like both these guys and I do hope they stay.

8) My connoisseur friends say he is one of those guys that make people wonder how come he is still in Brazil at 27. And he has one cap with the NT. Not very reliable in defence though.

9) Thanks for taking my word Cyber. The same friends insist that this is no ordinary case and that he is NT material.

10) No comment - both guys are magnificent players. I would kill for Pizarro and maybe injure a few for Gilberto.

So, overall I think we need the following:

1) Pellerano (or someone like him) and one more DC - unless Siontis and Simao are soooo good and/or Vyntra moves to the DC position.

2) With Gabriel/Nilsson and Spyro/Darlas plus Vyntra I 'm hapy with our SBs.

3) One top class DM.

4) One top class striker. With Rukavina, Salpi, N 'Doye, Petropoulos and perhaps Mantzios we 're going to be fine. Of course, we were not fine with Manucho and Postiga last year but let's be optimistic for once. I think that Ten Cate is dreaming of starting SL games (at least at home) with Ruk, Salpi and the new striker at front. Not bad, I say.

5) I would very much like to have Tzorvas back. I think he is definitely better than Malarz and perhaps Gali as well.

So, here's the dream-team in 4-3-3:

Gali - Gabriel, Pellerano, Sarriegi, Spyro - Mattos, Gilberto, Iv - Ruk, Salpi, Pizarro. Though I think that the bench will be even more fascinating: Malartz, Nilsson, Kara, Tziolis, Simao, Ninis, Clayton, Lazaros, Goumas, Leontiou, Petro, N 'Doye, Vyntra, Darlas, Siontis, Dimoutsos. Pick 7 of those if you can...

1 - Postiga was garbage man. Good riddens. He was a selfish player on the pitch and the guy clearly thought the world of himself, and being owned by the masterful Panionios defense is no accomplishment. He was also a loan - Not only do I doubt hed want to stay, but PAO would have to shell out at minimum 2,5 million - for a crappy bench player. Absolutley not worth it.

5) Tzorvas I do not want back. As a Greece fan. I do not want him to come at PAO and sit the bench, I want him playing, and being the saviour of a crappy OFI defense making 5 saves a game and getting real challenges will make him much more ready to contest Xalkias for the #1 in the ethniki. I will be quite pissed if PAO recalls Tzorvas, because then Greece takes a major blow.

Tzorvas is definiltey not ready to take Galinovic's spot. Galinovic is actually a great keeper. He has bad games very rarely, and does bail us out quite often. Hes very reliable, and I would absolutley rather have him in the Ethniki than Nikopolidis. PAO may have lost last year, but from a goalkeeping standpoint, Galinovic was easily the top keeper in the league. He had one of the best records, and PAO "definsiveley" was one of had the best records - this was largley thanks to Galinovic, Mattos and Gkoumas.....the rest were useless in the back. I also like that Galinovic has gotten to become a MUCH better keeper over the years, instead of worse like some players. Galinovic now vs when he came to PAO is way better. Hes the right man for the job. Malarz however should be replaced by Karnezis for #2 IMO.

[NikosVazelas]

Malarz had the best goal per game average in the leaue the last two seasons. look it up. He is a bit weaker then Galinovic in the air but is way better then galino on chances in the box. At 27 im not ready to give up on him yet. Besides, Galinovic allowed 10 goals in his last 3 starts against oly so we will need someone else to start those games.

If galino allows 3 bad goals in the first month of the season, we will be callin for his head.

[drakos13]

Malarz barely played for PAO he cant be compared to Galinovic, esp when he was on a different team... Goals/game average are not something that shows a keepers stregth except in Ice Hockey.

Galinovic is a much better shot stopper, and in the air.....Malarz looks lost.

As for his last 3 starts vs OSFP....man 2 of those were years ago, and PAO defense totally broke down.

He has been SOLID keeper and im talking game in game out. Galinovic RARELY makes big mistakes, and OFTEN plays very coolly in the box (something you really need to watch Nikopolidis more often to appreciate), and is a fantastic shot stopper. I would not trade Galinovic for any keeper in the league, and he deserves and has earned the #1 spot.

Hes at least good as any keeper PAO could get at the moment anyways. I really dont see him being called for his head, because Galinovic has so rarely let us down. A keeper cannot stop everything...Galinovic stops everything that a good keeper should stop does not spill the ball around the area hardly ever and distributes well. That is the most you can ask from a PAO keeper, he works hard and he does it. Malarz is not a quality keeper IMO. Hes not very good positioning, not good with crosses, hes got great reflexes but sometimes overdramatizes things.

[NikosVazelas]

lets agree to disagree. I believe that malarz is a very strong keeper. the stats dont lie. MAlarz was at xanthi and allowed 14 goals in 24 games. he played oly aek and pao 6 times. he faced more shots then any keeper in the league except sifakis and the keepr from Ionikos that season.

As for gali never lettin us down. Last season, with Ebede as his back up, Gali allowed two laughers in OAKA against ionikos which gave them one of only 3 wins that season. a horrible goal against Ofi in oak, 2 bad goals in a loss at kerkyra and was disgustingly shamefull against PSG in the uefa cup. Not to mention that he was directly responsible for two of the 3 goals against Lens in the 3-1 loss in france. the only goal he cant be blamed for is the penalty. and the second goal he gave up against lens was was a mirror spitting image of the goal Malarz copped against oly in Karaiskaki this season and got so criticized for.he ended up losing the starting job to ebede. Malarz may not be as good as galino in the air but in no way is galino Miles ahead of him. With some work malarz can be an exceptional keeper. not to mention he is 5 years younger then galinovic.

im not sayin replace galino with malarz. but to call him way better isnt true at all.

[PAO_OR_DEATH]

get crespo imeadiatly offer him anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anything!!!!!!!!!!

[cyberfish]

Personally, I don't feel comfortable with Malartz under goal. I was excited when we got him from Xanthi, but after watching him with PAO I feel he can't handle the pressure. He is very sloppy with the ball high and low, I grinch every time a defender returns the ball to him, and when a cross comes in I close my eyes.

I was never a Galinovic fan, but like Drakos said, he has earned my respect - especially this last season when he eliminated the silly mistakes that was making before. He is not the best keeper in the world, but we would be hard pressed to find better at the moment. I would not mind getting another keeper if we could get a world class one, but I would not trade Galinovic for any SL keeper.

Tzorvas is good, but from what I have seen he still needs a lot of work, especially in the way he handles high balls. He can develop to be a Nikopolidis-type player in a few years. Until then he needs to keep playing somewhere instead of sitting on a bench. (BTW, all three NT keepers are an Oikonomopoulos product - maybe they could get him back to the team).

As for the stats, everyone here knows I am a PAO stats junkie and I keep detailed stats for my own self:

2007-08 GALINOVIC / MALARTZ

-- All competitions:

Minutes: 2521 / 1440

Appearances: 28 / 16

Goals total: -13 / -7

Games scored against: 11 /6

Scorning frequency: 38% / 38%

Avg. goals per game: 0.4 / 0.4

-- Superleague:

Minutes: 2160 / 1080

Appearances: 24 / 12

Goals total: -12 / -4

Games scored against: 11 / 4

Scorning frequency: 46% / 33%

Avg. goals per game: 0.5 / 0.3

-- UEFA Cup:

Minutes: 361 / 360

Appearances: 5 / 4

Goals total: -1 / -3

Games scored against: 1 / 2

Scorning frequency: 20% / 50%

Avg. goals per game: 0.2 / 0.5

Also, here are the officiaOfficial Superleague stats for the goalkeepers

According to these stats Malartz lead the league last season with fewer goals per shot on target, and on goals per total shots :o

So maybe this is not a bad debate for us. We have two good goalkeepers and may the best one play :D

[drakos13]

Ivanschitz:

"

[athinaios]

This is what I know, from experience in playing, and from watching the sport for decades: When the team plays well, most players can be their best. When the team is in a downturn, you see silly mistakes by everyone, and you wonder how is this possible. I know it is, and I've experienced it personally.

So, when PAO defense is crap, then the goalie, for example, can make a stupid mistake even an amature wouldn't.

Likewise, see that most great players perform best when the team is playing well, not when it sucks.

So, it's important to build a good team through which the talent can shine. And, I think, this is the job of a coach... to at least bring the best out of every player.

[cyberfish]

OK, guys, let's try to look at things calmly, shall we? Here's what we know so far:

1) Manucho, Postiga, Equi, Seric and Fyssas are gone.

2) Pap, Morris, Romero and probably Mantzios are on the way out.

3) Vyntra might be sold but it doesn't look very likely so far.

4) Mattos and Iv are 100% PAO players.

5) Same with Clayton and Lazaros.

6) Rukavina has practically signed.

7) Petropoulos and Siontis are back from loan.

8) Gabriel looks certain to be the next first-team RB.

9) Pellerano is at the top of the list for the starting DC position.

10) Gilberto and Pizarro are the material of Ten Cate's dreams.

...

Just to add to the nice post and to update the transfers status:

SIGEND EXISTING PLAYERS: Goumas (2 years), Galinovic (3 years), Ivanschitz (4 years), Nilsson (1 year)

SIGNED NEW PLAYERS: Rukavina, Clayton, Christodoulopoulos

GONE (released/let go/expired loans): Gonzales, Postiga, Seric, Manoucho,

RESTRUCTURED CONTRACTS: Mattos, Dimoutsos, Simao

TOLD TO BRING OFFERS (to go): Papadopoulos, Morris

PAO LOANED PLAYERS RETURNED: Petropoulos, Mantzios, Sikalias, Vellidis, Kravaritis, A. Konstantinidis, Zaradoukas, Siontis, Gansef

PAO LOANED PLAYERS TO OTHER TEAMS: Tsigas (free transfer to Larissa - part of Clayton deal), Katranas (to Panetolikos), Stathis (to Illisiakos), Pagalis (to Fostiras), Sarakatsanos (free transfer or sold to Iraklis)

This is what the squad looks like at the moment:

[NYPAO13]

looking at this our midfield is clogged up

able bodies needed in the backline & 1 more capable player up front

[GreenTitus]

Another nice post Cyber. Thanks for the interactive what-ever-you call-that. I think that:

1) We should count Siontis as one of the CBs. All reports claim that Ten Cate is impressed and will give him a chance to prove his quality.

2) Romero is also on the way out. He is most probably going to Gimnasia.

3) Simao will also serve as a CB.

Keeping all that in mind, I kind of like our squad. I think that one of Ten Cate's most difficult tasks will be to evaluate the existing players - esp the young. It is no coincidence that Simao, for example, already attracted offers from Primera (they must have seen him in that Atletico game in which he was awesome to say the least). I trust him to meet the expectations because i) they say he is good with youngsters and, well, he is Dutch and ii) he knows nothing about Greece, which means that he hasn't read the rubbish on the papers about how average Sariegi is or how Simao is no better than Mendrinos. I think that PAO have a fortune in their hands with all that young talent. All w need now is 2-3 players of Gilberto/Pizarro calibre to give us that extra quality and we are set. On the other hand, if we do get these 2-3 quality players, Ten Cate will have no excuse for failing with this squad - unless, of course, the sick war starts again with Prasini and the like bitching after every defeat.

PS: I know Sariegi is not young - don't start with that!

[cyberfish]

I get the feeling most of the younger guys might not make the roster this year. Ten Cate and Antoniou said they will work with a smaller roster of 26 players.

I did not like what I saw of Siontis or Simao at CB from the little I have seen them. As fourth or fifth player in the depth I am ok with, but going into the season thinking they can fill in on a regular basis would be a mistake. Sariegi and Goumas are decent players but I feel we need one more player at this caliper (A. Papadopoulos was going to be it, but it didn't work out) *plus* a solid starter at CB.

Ten Cate said he wants another starting DM that would play on the LEFT of Mattos. His style of game is going to be a bit different than we most think. From his chat with reporters and from what I heard on the radio, he wants his fullbacks to play very high. As a consequence he will keep both DMs deep to cover. I am sure we'll read all the complaining why our DM's don't attack more, but if this is the plan, I don't mind seeing Spyropoulos and this new guy on the right spend most of the game around the opponent's box.

I think Leontiou would benefit from this style of play since he is a left-footed DM, and he has covered the LB position well in the past too. Spyropoulos will love it too, and this kind of game seems to suit him best. He might have a breakthrough year.

Looking at the roster it looks like we are stocked at AM so it might make sense to play a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3.

It's still early, so we'll see. So far, all the fans' wishes have been answered (more investors, more money, new management structure, better coach, good domestic transfers), and so far I like the direction our foreign transfer endeavors have taken.

A little patiece goes a long way. I am pretty sure we'll see a couple of names that will make us happy before the transfer window closes. Until then, I see it as a dull roller-coaster.

[adonis]

[drakos13]

i dont know...our biases for brazilians are a bit ridiculous.

Latin American defenders are not what we are looking for. Argetnines have no worth ethic, Brazilians are very careless, make a lot of fouls and are are better going forward anyways. I am happy with signings weve made so far, but if they cant realize we have been completley wasting our time in latin america then...

We want EUROPEAN based latin players if anything. Bringing them over fresh is only for the really talented ones worth doing... Gabriel, Luis Alberto...not really it.

Why cant we go after an Italian league players? or Bundesliga? there are definitley good players we can get that would make the move for the money + CL + athens climate.....or even seriously, raid the Romanian/Russian/Ukranian leagues...they have some great talents too.

Gilberto is supposedly close, but I do not beleive it till hes holding a PAO jersey.

[NYPAO13]

is there any truth that we are close to signing Kyriakos???

Gilberto has an offer from Bremen too

[adonis]

i really hope we sign kyriagkos

that would be the best signing we could do all summer imo!!!!!!!

[cyberfish]

There is no mention of Kyriakos anywhere in the media. He said he doesn't want to come back to Greece to play.

I think the inexperience of our front office shows. Antoniou said in an interview that he is having a hard time because he doesn't have any connections with the players market. It could take years to develop them, and it does not help that we are in a hurry. That's why Velic is still working in an undisclosed position. They are probably trying to get the business organized as they try to close the deals. I am sure the don't get much sleep. I think they are stumbling into every football agent and their uncle who wants a cut from a juicy deal.

[NYPAO13]

i just read that there is no connection between PAO & Kyriakos at the moment

[drakos13]

there never was...

[bides]

I heard Lymberopoulos might come back !!!!!!!

[adonis]

[XXX-18T]

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?Conte...tenutoId=770144

[Clover22]

We still need a couple of defenders...we're fine in midfield now, do we need to get clogged up there?

[NikosVazelas]

I just heard on Novasport FM that Arsenal has sent the fax confirming the transfer and all that is needed is Gilberto Silva`s signature on the contract and it is a done deal. i still wont believe it til its done but im pretty sure that its less bs than most other names out there. I wil wait til i see him with the pao scarf around his neck at the airport.

I think it is potentially a great signing. All the things he has done in his career and the trophies hes won adds a different kind of experience to our squad. he is a general in the field and he is one of the best `koftes` in the past quarter century.

an absolute MEGA signing for Pao. AN absolute Incredible signing. GREAT JOB.

as for the fans, seems that so far, PAOS seasont ickets have reached almost 19000, including the 6000 episima. which means we could reach a record int he superleague of 35000 ... all this without the big name transfer.. yet. i mean, imagine Silva wearing a poa shirt in a press conference and how many fans will rush to ticketrons to buyu season tickets. i smell a change in the air.

[trifilli]

Arsenal's fax was received, indicating they are selling the player for 1.25 mil Euro.

His agency, Base management, has agreed with Pateras on a 1 mil Euro fee.

According to various sources, Gilberto will get 2.5-3 mil for 3 years (2+1)? plus bonuses.

Main spoiler may be Ajax, which over the weekend may offer the Gunners much more than 1.25 mil for his transfer!!

He will be 32, Oct 7. Which makes him 34.5 at the end of his PAO contract.

He and Matos will be the two def mids in Ten Kate's 4-2-3-1

He will make Matos better, like Henriksen did with Kyrgiakos.

I was hoping for the signatures today.

With a weekend ahead anything could happen.

If anything, this story has sold papers and tickets... ;)

PEACE