Anastasiadis

[Batigol]

Before I begin, I just want people to know that I haven't hit the "panic" button yet. I know it's early in the year and many things can change over time. I've just wanted to get some things off my chest and get a measure of what everyone else thought of the present situation PAOK have found themselves in.

I've been thinking about the position of Anastasiadis as manager of PAOK ever since the first game of the Champions League debacle and recent events have made me question things even more.

The slow build up in the pre-season, the lack of careful play during that pre-season, the losses in the Champions League and the recent loss in UEFA has shown me that there is something wrong with this club. Now I have no problem with the club losing. It's a fact in sporting life that teams have to lose. And let's be honest, PAOK are not a powerhouse. The fact that they finished 3rd last year is a credit to, what I believe, are two main factors: the coach, Anastasiadis. And the players. He held the team together, he had a very pragmatic philosophy, and they bought into it bigtime. Hence, their 3rd place finish.

Like I said, I don't have problem with the team losing. I'd rather they won a lot then lose a lot...that's for sure. But what's been bothering me is not that they're losing. It's the WAY they're losing. That recent game against Alkmaar of Holland was a whitewash. The scoreline of 3-2 for the Dutch team was more flattering to PAOK than anything else. They were out run, out played, out hussled, out...EVERYTHING. They could have easily lost that game 6-2 or 7-2. There was no drive from the club. They was a brutal lack of organization. They seem to be a mishmash of players who, surprisingly, aren't on the same page anymore as they were last year. Why?

I know there are internal troubles in the PAOK front offices. I know that can lead to problems on the pitch as well. But as far as I know, players are getting paid. Some of the veteran players have renegotiated contracts. And some have received new contracts which showed me some measure of stability in the organization.

Which brings me to Anastasiadis.

He is a very good coach. I'm not here to question that. I really believe that if it wasn't for him, PAOK would have definately been in at the bottom of the tables last year. But, there have been questionable decisions on his part which have baffled me.

1) The most obvious one being the first game of the CL campaign where he used a player who he shouldn't have. Now I don't care who the player is or if the incident happened 10 years ago. As a manager of a top flight football club that is going to compete in the Champions League, it's is your job to know every single detail of every single player on your team. I don't think there can be any ifs,ands, or buts about this. If the manager isn't going to know, who will? Who's responsibility is it to know. He makes the decisions insofar as who PAOK are going to pick up. He made this one and he screwed up royally.

2) The lack of player signings this past summer has also baffled me. I never expected them to go out and sign big name players nor did I expect them to sign 15 no-namers just to say to the fans "Hey look, we signed so many guys!!!". I know there are financial constraints at PAOK which are also plaguing other clubs as well. To expect however, to be successful at the CL, UEFA, or Ethniki level with basically the SAME club is foolish and irresponsible. Who, for the most part, makes the decisions to get certain players? Anastasiadis. Why drop money on has beens like Atmatsidis or Maladenis, players who are well past their prime, when there were players out there for the taking. Tsiartas or Lymberopoulos are the immediate examples that come to mind. I just don't get it.

I think it's clear the team is either going through a phase where they are either trying to "find their legs" after a long break, or, they have other issues. And I can't help but think that perhaps they have tuned out all the yelling and screaming and bitterness that seems to seeth out of Anastasiadis all the time. I hope I'm wrong about that. I hope that the team turns it around and the next couple of weeks PAOK show their true colours and show everyone the team that they can be. If by November however, PAOK are still a disorganized bunch, playing football with the indifference that they played that last UEFA game, then I think it would be time for Anastasiadis to go.

What does everyone else think?

[Ziaka]

File Batigol, I was thinking lately about the cause of the problems at PAOK, and really can't come up with definitive answer. As you mention, there is probably some tension withing the team right now The reactions by the different factions (front office, organized, fans, and even Anastasiadis) don't help the situation. I think the big reason for all this is the way the team went out of the CL competition.

What actually might be the root of the problem is the lowering of the players wages and their new contratcs. It is a fact that most players have re-negotiated their contracts, with most of them taking a pay cut in the basic wage, but also receiving bonuses in the case of qualifying to the group stage of CL in return. That was supposed to be the big incentive for the players to perform. Sounds good on paper. But The team lost the CL dream, and it could be said that this happened because of the huge and amateurish mistake by the team's front office with the Louka's case. A lot of people blame this on Anastasidis also, but I feel the front office is to blame here. I believe that with this development, the players probably felt that they were robbed of potential income by their big mistake. This was a big blow to the players, which affected them psychologically.

Now, where does this put Anastasiadis in all of this? I think that he is good coach, and that he really cares about PAOK. We also know that he has a "different" character from other coaches, and I think because of that he and his team are an easy target for the very biased Greek sports press. A lot of people call for Anastasiadis's head, but in my opinion, this will not help the situation at all. Who is going to take over? I don't really see any decent coaches available or even eager to take the coaching job at PAOK presently. As it is PAOK fans should remember that he was the person that managed to keep the team together after the Batatoudis disaster.

Now how do we get out of this mess. It's not going to be easy. I think the best way is to put the poor European games behind and start focusing on the future. The win against Kerkyra was a good start despite the average play by the team. If the team can get a good result against Panionios, and then have a good showing against Alkmaar, the things will slowly start fall in place. The true PAOK fans will start changing their mind, once they see the team winning. I still think PAOK has a chance to have a decent season. Lets not ruin it by the poor results in European competitions.

[Ziaka]

Just for laughs:

Thanks to Mitsos for the picture.

[paokg4]

I think Angelos Anastasiadis is a great coach. Yes, he did make alot of mistakes in the Champions League qualifier however he's the person to lead the club at the minute. If he leaves tomorrow as an example who's going to takeover.

With metagrafes, you don't know what happen there. Maybe Goumenos told him you can't make any signings.

[Batigol]

With metagrafes, you don't know what happen there. Maybe Goumenos told him you can't make any signings.

I could accept that if it wasn't for the fact that they signed Atmatsidis and that clown Maladenis from AEK.

[paokg4]

With metagrafes, you don't know what happen there. Maybe Goumenos told him you can't make any signings.

I could accept that if it wasn't for the fact that they signed Atmatsidis and that clown Maladenis from AEK.

With Atmanzidis I agree with you. They should have got rid of him. He's a joke. Maladenis has done a few good things.

[Original Melbourne 21]

Maladenis........I still cant beleive you signed that idiot.

paokg4 makes a valid point......he can leave tomorrow, but who will step in then?

[paokg4]

There's not many good coaches going around.

[Batigol]

So is it just a matter of sticking with the devil you know?

If the guy is making critical on and off field mistakes, if he has lost the players, then is it better to keep him?

I agree that there aren't many better coaches available right now. And I agree that he's an awesome coach. But if the team is suffering week in and week out because of specifics related to Anastasiadis, I don't know that keeping him there will do good. He'd only inflame the situation and the team might find itself with key players wanting to leave. Is that a better scenario?

[Ziaka]

Do we know for a fact that the players are rebelling against Anastasiadis? I am not sure that is the case.

The front office might be ready to replace Anastasiadis, since there are rumors of Karageorgiou eyeing the job. Also, supposedly Goumenos had a coach sitting with him in the stands during the Kerkyra, game just in case PAOK lost the game and Anastasiadis quit. All this info according Thanassis Dimopoulos during his radio shown on Xtra Sport, which might just be a lot of hot air, the more I think about it.

I don't understanding re-signing Atmatsidis either, and for that matter Tochoroglou. I think PAOK will need to clean house during the next transfer period. They'll need to release players like Markos, Ekgomitis, Atmatsidis, Amaefule among others, and start bringing in some of the youngsters such as Konteon and Eleftheriadis and sign some new players.

[Mitsos]

Thanassis Dimopoulos during his radio shown on Xtra Sport

Is this the ex soccer player?

[Ziaka]

Yes, the ex-Iraklis, PAOK, PAO player.

[Mitsos]

What time and what days is he on?

BTW, any idea if ERT has agreed with Supersport yet?

[Ziaka]

Dimopoulos is on between 2-4 p.m. Chicago time Monday - Friday.

The word on ERT games is that they are close to signing the deal with Supersport. Any day now. Maybe in time for Saturdya's game between Aris - Olympiakos.

[paokg4]

Do we know for a fact that the players are rebelling against Anastasiadis? I am not sure that is the case.

The front office might be ready to replace Anastasiadis, since there are rumors of Karageorgiou eyeing the job. Also, supposedly Goumenos had a coach sitting with him in the stands during the Kerkyra, game just in case PAOK lost the game and Anastasiadis quit. All this info according Thanassis Dimopoulos during his radio shown on Xtra Sport, which might just be a lot of hot air, the more I think about it.

I don't understanding re-signing Atmatsidis either, and for that matter Tochoroglou. I think PAOK will need to clean house during the next transfer period. They'll need to release players like Markos, Ekgomitis, Atmatsidis, Amaefule among others, and start bringing in some of the youngsters such as Konteon and Eleftheriadis and sign some new players.

Not Karagiorgiou. If they get him then we are going backwards.

He once threw the paok shirt when he got substituted when he was playing for PAOK.

[Batigol]

Looks and sounds like a lot of postering by Goumenos for the benefit of the hardline fans who want Anastasiadis out. Insofar as a clean up is concerned, I agree with you Ziaka, a whole bunch of players need the boot. Amongst those you cited in your post I would also like to add Maladenis as well.

It's always boggled my mind that PAOK haven't taken advantage of bringing in some cheap overseas talent from places like Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay. They had luck before when they found a gem in Camps. He wasn't overly expensive, was an effective player, and he only left because of Batitoudis. They have loads of good players over there..drop these deadbeats and spend some of that money on bringing in some solid talent.

[Ziaka]

Batigol I agree. I understand the logic of not signing overpriced players like Tsiartas and Lakis. Can you imagine if we signed Tsiartas to a contract, and then went out of the CL like we did because of the Louka case? We would now be stuck with a 400K Euro salary.

There are talented players out there like you mention in the South American market, as well in European market (Eastern Europe for example), that would cost a lot less.

[paokg4]

Agreed. If I did a scouting job for PAOK I'd do a better job than the clowns who are doing the scouting for PAOK at the minute.