Greek Football Season 19/20

[seso]

14 clubs will participate in 2019-20 Greek Superleague (the fewest since 2001-02, which is a positive thing imo). 5 from Athens and Pireaus, 2 from Thessaloniki and 7 from the rest of the country.
Volos NFC is the newly-promoted club and PAOK FC the defending champion. Panionios start the league at -6 points. No transfer limitations for Panathinaikos this season.
The league will start on August 24th. After the regular season, there will be play-offs for positions 1-6 and play-outs for positions 7-14 (two clubs will be relegated in the end).
Let's see what it will be like!

[seso]

Asteras Tripolis continues signing Spanish and Agentinian players! They now have 6 Argentinian and 6 Spanish players!

Asteras has played in the top Greek division since 2007–08 and they always signed several Spanish and Argentinian players. Let's see if they can get to the top positions again!

[emortal]

Asteras Tripolis continues signing Spanish and Agentinian players! They now have 6 Argentinian and 6 Spanish players!

Asteras has played in the top Greek division since 2007–08 and they always signed several Spanish and Argentinian players. Let's see if they can get to the top positions again!

Well, in the past few years they invested in young, promising Greek players (Athanasiadis, Triantafyllopoulos, Kyriakopoulos, Kotsiras, Tsilianidis) and some more experienced ones (Manias, Kaltsas, Aravidis).

This didn't work out so well last year.
For one, the team struggled in the league.
More importantly, most of the aforementioned players didn't manage to attract enough attention from the big clubs in the country or from abroad.

Hence, it's back to Spanish and Argentinians.

I noticed that they haven't signed a replacement for Manias yet.
Is it plausible that they're starting the season with 19 y.o. Douvikas as the main striker?
That would be a ballsy move!

[seso]

emortal, Tasos Douvikas has a problem scoring goals. He has 45 apps for Asteras Tripolis (very good for a 20-year-old) but has only scored 4 goals (below par for a FW).

[seso]

Newly-promoted Volos NFC seem to also like Argentinian players; they have 8 in their squad! Brian Sarmiento is most well-known; he has played for Banfield and Newell's Old Boys!

[og2002gr]

AEK became Greek Champion after many many years. Despite being on their peak and having the CL challenge ahead, the team was dissolved with the coach and some players leaving the club.

PAOK became Greek Champion after many many years.
Despite being on their peak and having the CL challenge ahead, the team is being dissolved with the coach and some players leaving the club.

Sad phenomenon. Sign of the times (economic imbalance) or the teams are lightweight to inspire their members for something bigger?

[emortal]

AEK became Greek Champion after many many years. Despite being on their peak and having the CL challenge ahead, the team was dissolved with the coach and some players leaving the club.

PAOK became Greek Champion after many many years.
Despite being on their peak and having the CL challenge ahead, the team is being dissolved with the coach and some players leaving the club.

Sad phenomenon. Sign of the times (economic imbalance) or the teams are lightweight to inspire their members for something bigger?

The only sad thing here is the parallels you're drawing from two completely different situations.

In one case the coach left "for personal reasons", in the other because he got an offer 8x his current salary and paid the 2 mln buyout clause

As to lightweight teams, you must be referring to your own.
Two years without playing a European game and four years since last winning one.

Please spare us your sympathy and write a comment about your team's latest transfer targets from Cyprus instead.

[og2002gr]

You are getting too emotional and you are missing the point.

Jimenez was manager of a Champion and CL candidate. He left for a 2nd division team!!

Lucescu was manager of a Champion and CL candidate.
He left just 2 days before the season starts for an Arabian team!

But ok, let's talk about an irrelevant team

[emortal]

You are getting too emotional and you are missing the point.

Jimenez was manager of a Champion and CL candidate. He left for a 2nd division team!!

Lucescu was manager of a Champion and CL candidate.
He left just 2 days before the season starts for an Arabian team!

But ok, let's talk about an irrelevant team

So, you're telling us that managers may leave for a better paying position after winning a title
Wow, what a revelation

Not to mention the b.s. (summer dreams?) that PAOK is getting dissolved, because of a coach switch and some bench players leaving.

Re: emotional response.
As I've told you before, offensive, disrespectful and condescending remarks against my team ("the team is being dissolved", "the teams are lightweight") won't go unanswered.
Nevertheless, rest assured that I respond calmly.

[Dragonite]

Razvan Lucescu is a worthless coach, responsible for PAOK’s worst ever EL group stage result.
The only question here is how could Al Hilal be attracted to a coach that lost 10 of the 12 EL matches he played (he got another 1-0-5 for Rapid Bucharest in 2011/2012).

As for the team being “dissolved”, isn’t this another of og2002gr’s massive exaggerations (like considering losing 1.1% of the coefficient and remaining in the same 14th position comparing 2017 and 2019 “DISASTROUS”)?
Exactly which players are leaving PAOK, which players are arriving, and since the yardstick is so low now (just 3 points last season and not even reaching the groups in the season before), isn’t it almost certain that they will improve?

[emortal]

Razvan Lucescu is a worthless coach, responsible for PAOK’s worst ever EL group stage result.
The only question here is how could Al Hilal be attracted to a coach that lost 10 of the 12 EL matches he played (he got another 1-0-5 for Rapid Bucharest in 2011/2012).

Razvan is a good coach.

The team did really well in the CL qualifiers.
The EL record is explained if you realize he simply prioritized the league.

All deciding games, except the last defeat to BATE, were intertwined with derbies against the top two opponents in the league.
Games that PAOK won (home vs AEK and away vs Olympiacos), sat on first place and never looked back.

I was furious at the time, but he won the league undefeated and wrote history.
Hence I've been proven wrong and he right.

Now, he's lost many friends in Greece by announcing he's leaving 3 days before the season preparation in the Netherlands begins.
But this cannot erase what he achieved these past 2 years.

As for the team being “dissolved”, isn’t this another of og2002gr’s massive exaggerations (like considering losing 1.1% of the coefficient and remaining in the same 14th position comparing 2017 and 2019 “DISASTROUS”)?

Just a way to throw some shade PAOK's and AEK's way I guess.
Razvan leaving is a big blow to PAOK's CL qualification chances of course.
But, given a good choice for his replacement, this could also be a blessing in disguise.
The new coaching staff should also be in place next week, since there simply isn't much time.

Exactly which players are leaving PAOK, which players are arriving,

Leaving
I'll only miss Sérgio Oliveira, who was acquired on loan from Porto in January and is returning.
His rights buyout option was set at 12 mln.€.
PAOK made an offer to Porto to keep the player by buying 50% of his rights for 5 mln. €
Porto rejected that offer and letting him go.
At least until now all points toward him being a cog in Sérgio Conceição's team next year, replacing Herrera.

Then there's Cañas and Shakhov, the two defensive/central midfielders whose contracts ran out and that were foreseen to sit on the bench this year already.
However, initially Wernbloom's (Achilles' tear) and then Mauricio's (ACL) devastating injuries meant they got significant playing time.

Razvan insisted on keeping them, but honestly I don't see how they could contest a CL game.
I wouldn't mind keeping them both for the bench, but that would've been a lot of money tied to the bench.

I think the team even offered them to stay on a reduced salary.
They opted to leave. Cañas will be playing for Red Star Belgrade next year, while Shakhov in Lecce.

The rest of the players leaving the team (Tosca, Karelis, Malezas, Glykos) collectively played less than 200' last year.

That's it!
I don't expect anyone else to leave this summer, and if someone does it will cost the buyer dearly.

Arriving
The first transfer announced was Rodrigo from Desportivo Aves, a right full back.
This player looks good on paper and will share the position with his compatriot Matos from Brazil.
The thinking is probably to ease him in as a replacement, while Matos, who is 33 years young, plays progressively less minutes.
You probably know a lot more than me about Rodrigo.

One big addition this year will be imho 21 year old Lazaros Lamprou.
Lamprou was acquired from Iraklis 3 years ago, but has never played for PAOK even a single minute officially.
Instead he was loaned out, initially to Panionios and last year to Fortuna Sittard in the Netherlands.
There he had a dream season as a left/right winger, even receiving several match MVP awards

Probably getting announced today (unless the medicals fail ) are the transfers of Miroslav Stoch and Douglas Augusto.

It will be Stoch's second stint at PAOK, as he played on loan from Fenerbahce for the 2013/4 season.
Stoch almost willed PAOK into the CL groups that year, having 1 goal and 1 assist against Schalke in the play-offs.

Douglas Augusto is a 22 y.o. Brazilian central midfielder from Corinthians.
Relatively unknown and pricey, he's projected to be another rough diamond like Leo Jaba.

And that's not all.
I think at least one more defensive midfielder will arrive until the CL qualis.
Of course, in case PAOK makes it into the CL groups, all bets are off.
It's going to be fireworks

Add to the above Wernbloom, who has already returned from injury, and will even participate in the season preparation camp normally.
Mauricio and Vierinha are expected to return later during the season.

and since the yardstick is so low now (just 3 points last season and not even reaching the groups in the season before), isn’t it almost certain that they will improve?

Did I mention Razvan won the league undefeated plus the cup?
Did I mention Razvan won the cup the previous year, plus the most points on the pitch in the league?

The yardstick is making it into the CL groups this year, and winning the league.
Anything below that is going to disappoint the fan base.

Just to throw in some random names, PAOK is supposedly aiming to lure Abel Ferreira away from Braga.
Massimo Carrera should also be on standby, since he's without a club atm.

Finally, what's your opinion of Rui Vitória?
I wonder if it's worth it to bring him back from the Arab football wasteland.

[Dragonite]

Finally, what's your opinion of Rui Vitória?
I wonder if it's worth it to bring him back from the Arab football wasteland.

Rui Vitória is an incompetent coach. Perhaps he’s admired in Greece because of his results against Greek teams last season, but that’s one of the few things he hasn’t ruined.

In the 2013/2014 EL for Vitória Guimarães, after getting 4 points in the first two matches (4-0 home win against Rijeka and 1-1 away draw against Lyon), he was only able to get 1 point from the following four matches and was eliminated.

For Benfica he was good in his first 2015/2016 season, reaching the CL quarter finals (best ever CL campaign in Benfica’s history), but then things started to get worse and worse.
It wasn’t clear if the team was declining because of him (his decisions) or if he was just a puppet and someone else was “pulling the strings”. Anyway, none of the alternatives is exactly good for him.
In 2016/2017 he still progressed from the CL groups but behind an inferior team like Napoli (that defeated Benfica twice) and then he was smashed by Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 round, 0-4 defeat, the biggest in Benfica’s CL history (but not for long, because…)
Immediately in the 2017/2018 season he reached a new low when he lost 0-5 against Basel, got a 0-0-6 in the CL group, and actually lost 8 consecutive CL matches if we also count the defeats to Borussia Dortmund in the previous season and to Bayern in the following.

I don’t see him leaving Al Nassr now to join PAOK, it doesn’t make sense. Perhaps PAOK can get him later when he’s fired.

[emortal]

Finally, what's your opinion of Rui Vitória?
I wonder if it's worth it to bring him back from the Arab football wasteland.

Rui Vitória is an incompetent coach. Perhaps he’s admired in Greece because of his results against Greek teams last season, but that’s one of the few things he hasn’t ruined.

In the 2013/2014 EL for Vitória Guimarães, after getting 4 points in the first two matches (4-0 home win against Rijeka and 1-1 away draw against Lyon), he was only able to get 1 point from the following four matches and was eliminated.

For Benfica he was good in his first 2015/2016 season, reaching the CL quarter finals (best ever CL campaign in Benfica’s history), but then things started to get worse and worse.
It wasn’t clear if the team was declining because of him (his decisions) or if he was just a puppet and someone else was “pulling the strings”. Anyway, none of the alternatives is exactly good for him.
In 2016/2017 he still progressed from the CL groups but behind an inferior team like Napoli (that defeated Benfica twice) and then he was smashed by Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 round, 0-4 defeat, the biggest in Benfica’s CL history (but not for long, because…)
Immediately in the 2017/2018 season he reached a new low when he lost 0-5 against Basel, got a 0-0-6 in the CL group, and actually lost 8 consecutive CL matches if we also count the defeats to Borussia Dortmund in the previous season and to Bayern in the following.

I don’t see him leaving Al Nassr now to join PAOK, it doesn’t make sense. Perhaps PAOK can get him later when he’s fired.

Thank you for the information.

It seems PAOK is really swinging hard for Abel Ferreira, increased their offer to Braga to transfer him ( ) and this saga should end today one way or another.
Normally Braga wouldn't have much leverage, but PAOK is in a hurry and they could drag this out.

I like the fact that they didn't just settle for someone available, but found a coach they like and are pursuing to pry him away.

[emortal]

Well, immediately after posting the last comment I toured the sports websites and it's already being reported that Braga agreed to let Abel Ferreira go for a transfer fee of 2 mln.

PAOK has a new coach just in time for the preparation starting tomorrow

Now, onto watching some tape from Braga's games these past two years

[shikabalas]

I would be glad for some feedback from our Portuguese friends regarding Fereira. To be honest, I don't see anything that justifies the price we paid and his wages..Does he really have good potential or is it another case of teams trusting portuguese coaches just because it is hot and trendy nowadays?