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January 2010 Panathinaikos Transfers

PANATHINAIKOS TRANSFERS > January 2010 Panathinaikos Transfers

PANATHINAIKOS TRANSFERS

(The complete scoop)

Confirmed Transfers • Needs • Loans •  Rumors

CONFIRMED TRANSFERS

CONFIRMED INBOUND PLAYERS: No confirmed inbound players yet

CONFIRMED CONTRACT RENEWALS: No confirmed contract renewals yet

CONFIRMED OUTBOUND PLAYERS: No confirmed outbound players yet

LOANED PLAYERS: No loaned players movement yet

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NEEDS (before the transfer season starts)

For the last three transfer seasons Panathinaikos has been in search of a dominant starting Center Back without much success. Several players have been signed but the two Central defender spots have been more successfully occupied by two pre-existing players. Vintra and Sariegi have done a good job to date, but the position could use an upgrade.

I personally think we could also use a little more depth at DM. We only have three players (Gilberto, Katsouranis, Simao) who have proven they can play at high level and one young prospect (Mahlelis) who has yet to see action. Since our formation requires two of the three to play, and since Gilberto is pushing 33 and plays non-stop without even a proper pre-season, I think the club would be wise to bring in a DM who could rotate in the lineup in case of injury and to give some rest to the existing players.

Beyond CB and DM, I would not be surprised to see the club add some depth to the LW position where only Leto can cover it properly. Also, personally, I would like to see an upgrade at GK. Tzorvas has done well so far and I hope he continues to develop, but I see many weaknesses especially on crosses that make me nervous. It's not an urgent need but I think the team will need to address, if not now, probably next summer.

The official word from the club is that the roster is complete and we should not be expecting any new players. The priority is to sell the dead weight that they were unable to unload last summer. Cleyton, Mantzios, Tziolis draw pretty good salaries to sit at home and the club will focus on selling them this January.

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CONCLUSION (after the transfer season ends):

Conclusion will be posted here once the transfer window closes

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RUMORS

This is a list of the names that have been linked with Panathinaikos, listed here just for the fun of it, as I find them reported in various media every day. It's funny to come back to see some of the outrageous names that are floated, and to see who is finally signed up.

INBOUND PLAYERS:

GK

Jan Mucha

RB

CB
Philippe Senderos
Per Kroldrup
Marco Materazzi
Gabriel Paletta

Jan Durica

Martin Jiranek

LB

RB

DM

M

Mathieu Valbuena

LM

AM
Ignacio Scocco

Rodrigo Palacio (video)

RM

LM

Forward
Riordan Derek

RW
Ricardo Quaresma

LW

Striker/Winger
Luis Garcia Fernandez

CF

OUTBOUND PLAYERS RUMORS:

Giannina and Aris are interested in Cleyton
Genoa interested in Vintra
Rumor that Cleyton, Tziolis, and Mantzios will be sold
Marsaille interested in Salpigidis

LOANED PLAYERS RUMORS:

Rumor that Christodoulopoulos might be loaned out

EXISTING PLAYERS (RESTRUCTURE, RE-SIGN) RUMORS:

Salpigidis is currently in discussions with the club to renew his contract

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Back to Panathinaikos Transfers

__________________________________

also see complete coverage of Panathinaikos' previous transfer seasons:

Summer 2009 Transfers

January 2009 transfers

Summer 2008 transfers

Winter 2008 Panathinaikos Transfers

Panathinaikos - Giannina 4-0

That's how it should be. Teams of the Giannina caliber come to OAKA and collect more than a couple.

It was a very frustrating game in the first half when PAO looked slow and uninspired, but in the last half hour it was very exciting to watch as the green jerseys walked all over PAS Giannina.

Everyone did well in the game, and a tip of the hat to Nioblia who turned the game with two gutsy substitutes.

Seeing that Gilberto's absence caused our movement out of defense to be arthritic, he pulled the slugish Seitaridi, moved the energetic Vintra to the right, and pulled Katsourani next to Kante at CB.

Immediately the results showed with better ball circulation and faster transition from defense to midfield. Vintra helped Salpi much more down the right and it looked like a matter of time before PAO would score.

The goal came from a penalty won by Simao when a Giannina player pulled him down in the box as he was moving to receive a set ball. Good call by the ref, and Cisse did well to send a painfully slow shot to the root of the left post where no keeper could reach.

With 1-0 on the scoreboard, and the misguided Giannina believing they could contest for something better, Panathinaikos picked up confidence, found tons of space, and scored three more goals. On top of it, they missed another five or six chances to make this a memorable score.

The other gutsy move by Nioblias was to pull Leto from the game in favor of Christodoulopoulos. It was inevidable that Leto would object but for Panathinaikos coach to be successful he needs to establish his authority. Leto made the decision an easy one with his less than successful game.

To be fair, Giannina deserved at least one goal because they took advantage of our well known defensive woes in the first half on a couple of occasions, but they were either unlucky (hitting the post in 9') or unable to finish. 

Tzorvas 9
excellent game by Tzorvas who had the skill to save a couple of difficult shots, and the luck to see the ones gone past him hitting the post or sailing out. Good positional awareness and quick feet make him an excellent shot blocker.

Seitaridis 5
He didn't have much trouble defensively, but he really looked sluggish and out of sync going forward in the first half to help Salpigidis who was on fire.

Spyropoulos 6
He looked energetic and had several runs down the left. Defensively he had heaps of problems containing Giannina's strong side, as he found himself surrounded more than once by multiple opponents. He did manage a few crosses, one of which spread panic in Giannina's defense, resulting in the second Cisse goal.

Vintra 9
He was very good defensively and very aggressive going forward, even when he played CB in the first half. In the second half he moved to RB and helped on the right wing, scored a goal, and missed a tete-a-tete. There is not much more I could ask from our defenders.

Kante 5
He did well on most occassions but there were times when he lost his opponents and his sense of space. He improved dramatically in the second half.

Katsouranis 7
He was completely out of the game in the first half when he played in midfield, but he was very solid as a CB, helping cut down opponents and moving the ball quickly out of our defense.

Simao 8
It would be no surprise that Simao was strong defensively in midfield. In terms of ball circulation he did the right thing and passed the ball quickly to the first free teammate in the vicinity. He also moved well in space helping others find an outlet when pressed. He also won the penalty that opened up the score.

Karagounis 4
He had one of these games where not much of what he did went right. He dissapeared for long stretches of the game and when he appeared he had many errant passes and wayward shots.

Leto 5
He was active but very rarely managed to go by opponents on the left. He had a few sweet crosses in the box and missed a sitter the kind of which they include in the "how did he miss that" blooper reel. He didn't seem happy to be subbed but he was the only candidate since everyone else was playing well.

Salpigidis 9
He didn't manage to score, but he was involved in countless plays, served the assist to Christodoulopoulos, and was the only successful forward in the first half. Despite having scored only one goal this season he was not selfish with the ball, always serving it to better positioned teammates. In the fourth goal he was face to face with Eleftheropoulos but he decided to secure the goal by passing to Christodoulopoulos who walked into the net with the ball. Sign the guy to a new contract already.

Cisse 9
Two goals and overall very energetic up front. He was a constant headache for Gianina's defense and this was one of the few games that he did well dropping deep to break the ball left and right. The penalty shot looked soft but was well placed at the root of the post where no keeper can reach, and in the second goal he moved beautifuly in a crowded area, keeping his bearings and making everyone else look like they were moving in slow motion.

Ninis 9
Ninis turned a very lethargic midfield into a ball of energy in the second half. He played more as an SS between Karagouni and Cisse and worked miracles moving effortlessly in traffic, evading defenders and distributing with authority.

Christodoulopoulos 7
Good work by Christodoulopoulos who replaced Leto in the second half and helped with possession and the counter attacks we unleashed in the second half. He scored the fourth goal and was generally a positive influence with his dribbling and speed.

Gilberto
He played in the last 8 minutes in Cisse's place.

Panathinaikos in the news 18 Dec. 2009

Everyone knows that we'll be playing Roma in the next round of the Europa league. While we can all dream about qualification, the truth is anything can happen in the knockout stage. Roma is no small team and they could easily put us out of contention in the first game (in Athens). But they are not unbeatable either and Panathinaikos could advance.

There are a couple more months between now and the games so we can put them out of our mind for now.

In other exciting news, the city of Athens guaranteed the 16 acres and to send letters to the ministry promising to do whatever is needed to get construction for the stadium started immediately.

This is excellent news because it releases Panathinaikos (GIPEL to be precise) to begin planning, staging, and construction very soon.

It's by no means over, since I think Vovos will not make his next move, which could be of a legal nature. He already has a lawsuit pending to stop any construction and I am not sure where this is at the moment.

Maybe we'll see a new Panathinaikos arena in our lifetime after all!

UEFA Europa League Round of 32 draw

After today's games we have a complete picture of the possible opponents:

Unirea Urziceni, Juventus, Roma, Wolsburg, Marseille, Fenerbache, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, Saltzburg, Sachtar, PSV, Werder, Anderlecht, Valencia, Hapoel


Sure it would be nice an easy opponent (Unirea, Saltzburg, Hapoel) to have a better chance at advancing to the 16, but I'd prefer a big opponent that would give us the chance to write history with again.


I look forward to seeing us play Juventus, or Marseille and I have faith that we would experience memorable contests. If on the other hand draw one of the easier teams, I won't be too upset :)

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=934505.html

Panathinaikos - Dinamo Bucuresti 3-0

 

Nice win to advance to the Europa league 32!

3-0 might be a bit too high for Dinamo who had 2 shots to the crossbar but they didn't seem to have any abillity to get in the box and exhausted themselves with 30 and 40 meter shots that Tzorvas dealt with one way or another.

Besides a 15-20 minute period in the second half when Dinamo moved the ball better and were allowed unimpeded shots form outside the box, Panathinaikos had the game under control and could have been up 3-0 before half-time but they missed three or four tete-a-tetes.

Tzorvas 8
He did well to get a glove on all the long range shots that came near the goal.

Vintra 7
He was solid, with the exception of a couple of plays when he allowed opponents some space on his side, but he also saved a certain goal right on the goal line.

Spyropoulos 7
Solid performance by Spyropoulo who did well defensively and helped down the line with runs and a couple of good crosses.

Bjarsmyr 6
He did well to close all angles and to prevent the Romanians from penetrationg in our box.

Kante 6
Good performance from Kante as well who didn't miss any challenges and moved well in space to close any holes left open.

Gilberto 7
Another solid game by Gilberto who gave another 100% effort. He did get tired after 60' and that seems to be one of the reasons Dinamo picked up the slack in midfield.

Simao 6
Another good game by Simao defensively who had several errant passes in the first half.

Ninis 8
As long as his legs had some strength he was the a creative spark in midfield.

Karagounis 5
He seemed to delay the game at times and also didn't participate in play as much as we are used to.

Roukavina 8
He had a very good game down the left and managed to support both Spyropoulo and Cisse. He scored the first goal and made eveyone relax by being at the right place at the right time.

Cisse 8
He missed a couple of sitters and scored a couple of sitters. He was involved in just about every play and pressed the defensive line constantly when they tried to play high. This was his first goals in Europa league this season and I hope it opened his appetite because we'll need him in the more difficult games that will come up. He should also buy dinner to both Leto and Salpigidi who made him the hero today.

Katsouranis 4
Katsouranis replaced Karagounis in 56' and it seemed as if his entry gave Dinamo more space in midfield because they dominated play for the next fifteen minutes. He looked like he had heaps of trouble covering his post defensively and when he moved in front of the other two DMs he was caught behind the play several times. I was puzzled how easily he gave up on plays. I am not sure if he passed the ball to Salpi in the last goal. If he did it was probably the only positive play that I noticed.

Leto
Leto played for about 20 minutes and managed to put the game away with a gutsy run and a beautiful cross to Cisse who could not miss from the penalty spot for the 2-0

Salpigidis
He replaced Ninis in 82 and managed to give a nice assist that allowed Cisse to make it 3-0 and to end this group stage on a high note for PAO. I hope they call him up tonight and sign him to an offer he can't refuse.

Nioblias did well to field a good formation and a good squad. I thought he was a bit slow in reacting to support the team when the Romanians seemed to control the midfield. Once he put Leto in after the 70th minute Panathianikos gained the momentum again. Leto managed to put the game away with a beautiful assist, and his other substitute, Salpi, finished it up on a high note with another one.

Cisse in his interview thanked Ten Cate for his good work and put all the coaching conversations to rest by throwing his 100% support behind "the new boss" as he put it.


The Next step

The draw for the round of 32 takes place Friday the 18th.

Possible opponents for Panathinaikos are:
Unirea Urziceni, Juventus, Roma, Wolsburg, Marseille, Fenerbache, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, Saltzburg, Sachtar, PSV, Werder.

There are four more teams that will be decided on Thursady the 17th. They include:
Ajax or Einthooven
Valencia, Lil, Tzenoa
Hamburg, Hapoel Tel Aviv

Game Reports

uefa.com
minute by minute
events
Stats
gazzetta.gr
sport.gr
sportdog.gr
exedrasports.gr

A closer look at Panathinaikos' play

I was looking at the goal against Iraklis here and I have to say that all the criticism the team gets about organization, ball movement, forward passing, movement without the ball, and wing play gets erased. Mind you it's one play and we don't always play like this, but it's a glimpse that the team is (was) working in practice.

Watch how many players exchange the ball and watch how Ninis cuts the ball against the flow of play to Spyropoulos, and then see where Ninis ends up to receive the rebound for the score. Also note Gilberto's moves to link defense/midfield and then midfield/offense.

I'll count the passes just for the fun of it:

Tzovas to Gilberto (note how Kante is on the left, spyro is already where he should be and Vintra hustles to move forward)

Gilberto to Bjarsmyr who takes the ball to midfield and to the right.

Bjarsmyr to Kante who moves the ball to the left

Kante to Christodoulopoulos (nice forward pass) who ran back to himself make himslef available (Spyro is making a move down the line)

Christodoulopoulos takes a few meters and gives the ball to Spyro right on the line (after he pulls the defender to release Spyro).

Spyropoulos makes a move toward the interior and passes to Gilberto in the middle. Christodoulopoulos has moved to the LAM position and Katsouranis is already in the SS position behind Cisse who is pressing the defensive line. Ninis moves towards Gilbertoto take the ball pulling the LB).

Gilberto attacks the DM and cuts the ball further to the right to Ninis. (At this point the entire Iraklis team is looking and moving to their left - our right with what looks like a good defensive formation except Cisse is already alone on the edge of the box)

Ninis evades one opponent and immediately gets pressed by another who puts a body on him. Ninis quickly (and with the left foot!) cuts the ball against the flow of play to the forgotten Spyropoulos all the way to the other end near the leftedge of the box. (At this point Iraklis' players begin moving to the left)

Spyropoulos delivers an excellent cross all the way to the opposite edge of the six yard box where Cisse is lurking all alone still.

Cisse with excellent touch lays the ball in the center for the trailing Katsouranis (aren't you glad Cisse didn't shoot from there?)

Sarakatsanos gets the edge of his boot on the ball that sails behind Katsouranis.

Ninis finds the ball at the edge of the box where he was supposed to be and sends a rocket of a confident shot to score in the near post.

That's 12 players touching the ball. Ninis, Gilberto, and Spyropoulos touched it twice. Eveyrone else moved in space where they should be. We moved from our RB position to the LW and all the way to the far post with the cross.

All the exchanges were short, high percentage passes, with the exception of few special plays: Ninis long pass to Spyropoulos against the flow, Spyropoulos' cross to Cisse, and Cisse's nice touch to Katsouranis. The finish by Ninis was class too.

Nice goal. I am not sure if Nioblias had anythign to do with this kind of play but if he did, great! If he didn't, I hope he keeps it up.

Panathinaikos New Stadium Saga: 14 Dec 2009

A few news reports deal with the new Panathinaikos arena
http://www.exedrasports.gr/football/superleague/article/?aid=47951&cid=24
 Panathinaikos is asking the city of Athens to guarantee that Panathinaikos won't have any problems if they begin building. Panathinaikos points out that the supreme court clearly indicated that building the stadium itself is not a problem.

It looks to me that Panathinaikos is proposing the beginning of construction without waiting for the status of the mall and the city hall to be cleared.

Good move but I don't see how the city can guarantee anything knowing they will be sued for sure by Vovos' group if anyone begins building on ground they consider their own.

According to this report http://www.prasinanea.gr/html/ent/685/ent.9685.asp city officials will meet to discuss the double rehab project and this is one of the reasons Panathinaikos sent the above letter. At the same time, Vovos' side also sent letters with their proposals for discussion, but I am having a hard time finding exactly what they containt.

Also, today we had some good news about the existing venue:
Panathinaikos will pay out of pocket to replace the pitch of the Olympic Stadium and they will withhold the money from the rent they pay. The new pitch will be ready January 5th according to this:
http://www.exedrasports.gr/football/superleague/article/?aid=47925&cid=24

Iraklis - Panathinaikos 0-1

 


The first game for the new coach, Nioblias, ended with in success with a goal by Ninis in the 73d minute.

The post-Ten Cate era began just like it ended with, difficulty, some spurts of good football, and tons of stress and defensive problems.

I admit that I was very nervous before the game, fearing that the mid-season coaching change might turn for the worst, and my worry increased as the game went on seeing our defense getting manhandled by two or three opponents at a time.

Iraklis could had scored a couple times but either their own inability, either a last ditch effort by Vitra, or Kante, or Tzorvas kept the clean sheet.

The lineup looked exactly like every other lineup this year and rightly so because Nioblias could not make many changes in the short four days he's been with the team. From midfield forward it was the expected five (Gilberto, Katsouranis, Karagounis, Ninis, Roukavina, Cisse) but the defense was changed completely.

While Tzorvas retained his starting spot under the goalposts, and Spyropoulos started on the left, Vintra was moved to the right to contain Iraklis' most dangerous player Epstein. This opened the door to Bjarsrmyr and Kante to start at CB.

It was painful to watch Panathinaikos' central defenders being manhandled by opponents on one-on-one cituations and I only hope Nioblias added first in his Christmas wish list: "All I want for the new year is two CBs (or at least one)". "Horrible" is an understatement when describing how bad the two CBs were. I read several reports that Bjarsmyr "showed his lack of games" and how he has an "upside" while for Kante the reports flat out mentioned that he is not good enough.

I will take more hard line here and say that both Bjarsmyr and Kate are not good enough to start at CB for Panathinaikos. Vintra is much better at CB than he is as RB, and Sariegi is better than both of them by a mile. This is to say that we need a stud CB. One that won't be displaced by opposing CFs, one that won't drift out of position (like Bjarsmyr did several times yesterday), and one that will win 90% of their personal contests on the ground and in the air.

To add to our stress, Tzorvas almost gave the game away with not one but two blunders the kind of which gave Galinovic a bad name and eventually culminated in his booing off the starting lineup.

Tzorvas has the sympathy of Panathinaikos fans who recognise in him an academy product and a hardcore fan of Gate 13. But I hope this won't blind the fans and management to the glaring deficiencies he has, especially when the ball is in the air. He has amazing reflexes and he does well to deflect the ball on his line, but once he comes off his line and especially when the ball is in the air, it's nail-biting time. I know many fans are willing to wait it out hoping that with more games he will get better, but I've been watching football for four decades and I don't have patience to watch games thrown away for anyone.

To be fair, Tzorvas did have at least two excellent stops to keep the clean sheet.

In other news, the much hoped for "morale boost" that Nioblias was supposed to infuse to the team instantly never materialized. Watching the game on the pitch looked like  exactly the same team (despite what some media seem to be implying today). We straggled to hold on the ball and could not get into Iraklis' box to save our lives. Up until the 73d minute when Ninis shook the net, I can remember less than a handful of combination plays or any other way we created a chance that wasn't from a set ball or a long lob.

Sure, the statistics say that we had overwhelming possession but we just turned the ball around in midfield behind Iraklis' two defensive lines.

Karagounis was up and down (mostly down) and Katsouranis took another day off playing as an AM (Ten Cate took a lot of flack for playing him high - because he is not good there). So it was up to Gilberto and Ninis to pick up the slack and they delivered with high quality play.

Gilberto was everywhere on the pitch, closing down in midfield, calming the game when needed, and pushing forward when appropriate. He was a joy to watch next to the amazing Ninis who was the other creative spark in midfield. He attacked, distributed, dribbled, and defended all game long. He even put his foot down and didn't allow Karagounis to take a freekick (the one he almost scored with a clever lob to the far post). He is immensely better at freekicks and corners than Karagounis is, so maybe Nioblias can convince Kara to sit back and let the youngster take them.

Cisse did a lot of work up front. Even though I read fan's online calling his game "garbage", I thought he did well to occupy the entire Iraklis' defense and his movement opened up several lanes for others. He doesn't have the dribbling skills to hold and attack a defense on his own, but his strenght and speed kept at least two defenders near him at all times. I guess fans were upset that he missed at least two sitters, but that doesn't mean much. Every striker misses tons of chances.

Roukavina was not as good playing the LW/SS role and he was subbed by Christodoulopoulos in the second half.

So what do we take from this game?

First, the three points.

Second, that we need to buy a CB in January. The official line up to now was that Ten Cate didn't ask for any players so we weren't going to by any. I hope Nioblias changes that. With the CB corp and the goalkeepers we have we'll be dropping unexpected points here and there.

The shareholders have an obligation to protect the huge investment they made on midfield and offense with a little defensive insurance.

And third, welcome Nioblias and best of luck. Even though we didn't have a say in the matter, we have all pinned this year's success on your hard work. I have to admit that I got a warm and fuzzy feeling seeing Nioblias and Warzycha stressing out on our bench. I know their stress is deeper than any other coach who hasn't played for the club would have.

Tzorvas 5
He saved the team a couple of times and almost gave the game a way a couple more. I hope it was just an off game, but I've seen him fumbling high balls before, so I have a GK on my shopping list for January.

Vintra 7
He did have some problems with Epstein ealry on, but as the game progressed he closed down the right side and even had time to help out the fumbling CBs.

Bjarsmyr 3
I had high hopes early in the season, but as I watched more and more games I realized that he is not a very good defender. Maybe he is having a couple of months off, but he was constantly manhandled by Jakob (he is too weak), lost most headers, and worst he drifted out of position several times.

Kante 5
His one shoestring tackle saved a certain goal early in the game. He was stronger on the ball than his partner but he also lost more personal battles than I care to see in a game.

Spyropoulos 7
He too had some defensive problems but his one razor-sharp cross that found Cisse on the far post was very timely and 1/3 of the goal that Ninis scored.

Gilberto 9
This was one of the best games he played with the green jersey. He was a joy to watch.

Karagounis 5
His game was up and down with a couple of nice passes forward and many unforced errors.

Ninis 9
Excellent game by Ninis and a timely goal that eliminated the potential for a very rocky beginning of the new coaching regime. He is becoming the leader of the team in his early age.

Roukavina 4
He was not much of a factor or trouble for Iraklis' defense. Aside from a couple of good plays from the left he was invisible most of the first half.

Christodoulopoulos 7
He looked spirited and did a lot of work in midfield in the second half. He was victimized majorly twice by the officials. Fist when he was called offside (missed his header from five meters anyway), and when he was denied the clearest of penalties in 90' (Gabriel managed to miss the goal on the rebound). In this last play he showed some of the brilliance that elevated him to one of the most hopeful Greek players. Fans keep forgetting that he is only 22.

Simao
He replaced Gilberto in 80' and predictably he closed all holes in midfield.

Nioblias did a good job fielding a rational team. Keeping out the out-of-form Seitaridis and putting Vintra on Epstein worked well, even though he risked opening another hole in CB by taking Vintra out. He was lucky it didn't cost the game so we'll call the move a success. I hope he puts Vintra back in the center though.

He also managed the game well by replacing Roukavina in the second half and wasn't afraid to plug the midfield with Simao after we scored.

A NOTE TO ALL THE FRIENDS POSTING COMMENTS HERE:
I will ask everyone to login to post comments. Everyone has been wonderful and civil but I suspect not everyone's name is "anonymous" :)

I hope it's not much of an inconvenience to make an account with Google.

Ten Cate Fired - The Day After

The ripple effects have started.

As with everything, there are deeper reasons for these kinds of absurd decisions by Greek football manager.

I don't have the inside scoop but it looks to me that Ten Cate paid mostly for his uncompromising character that kept management and players at bay. Greek football managers want to have a say in all matters (including how and who will lineup on the pitch) and with Ten Cate Pateras, Antoniou, and the rest of the shareholders didn't get a chance to "play" like they want.

Also, players in Greece are used to running to "daddy" everytime they feel they don't get a chance to play. It's the traditional Greek "connection". It was reported yesterday by reporters eager to justify Ten Cate's firing that "certain players" had complains and that Ten Cate would not grand them an audience.

For example they cited Christodoulopoulos who was substituted at half time against Eordaikos and he was very uhappy about it. He asked to talk to Ten Cate but he was not granted an audience. Well, I watched the game against Eordaikos and Christodoulopoulos was the worst player on the pitch. He was rightly subbed and he had no business complaining.

I am listening to all the reports and reading all the media and I am stragling to figure out the reason for Ten Cate's firing and especially the timing.

It seems totally unnecessary and unjustified.

Panathinaikos is one point behind first place and with one leg in the next round of the Europa league. The team did not play stellar football, but the established "tsoukou-tsoukou" ball was reversed by Ten Cate and we've had the best offense and one of the best defenses.

Regarding Nioblias, his lack of experience does not help us make any predictions. If he succeeds it would be a surprise. He has no real experience aside from coaching the young U-21 lads of Greece he has done nothing to justify being trusted with Panathinaikos' roster. It's now up to him to prove that he is worthy of the trust.

"Show me the money".