31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. PAS Giannina lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evan Weir will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAS Giannina the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Dani Martín and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Botis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at PAS Giannina saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at PAS Giannina, another week without a signature from Evan Weir.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. PAS Giannina know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. PAS Giannina lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at PAS Giannina is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sebastián Macías commits to PAS Giannina for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Botis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAS Giannina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mathys Jean Marie trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at PAS Giannina, and it is not being withdrawn.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at PAS Giannina would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 37, with 12 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at PAS Giannina. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. PAS Giannina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at PAS Giannina is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tom Žurga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAS Giannina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at PAS Giannina can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. PAS Giannina lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason PAS Giannina will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at PAS Giannina is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Botis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at PAS Giannina. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. PAS Giannina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAS Giannina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for PAS Giannina is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Konrad Michalak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee PAS Giannina could ask drops and the wages Dani Martín can ask rise.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason PAS Giannina will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Vasilis Nikolakoulis has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means PAS Giannina have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Botis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Vladyslav Danylenko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Eric Herensperger has his answer from PAS Giannina; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Botis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nikos Botis has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; PAS Giannina are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Dylan Tutonda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at PAS Giannina, another week without a signature from Evan Weir.
7.76, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Dylan Tutonda was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon PAS Giannina had all but put away. Anagennisi Karditsa will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad25 Oct 2027
5 new faces, and PAS Giannina are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Spyridon Diamantakos after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Two goals and a mark of 8.74 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 3, 11 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Nicolas Rajsel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 6.81, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Botis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. PAS Giannina will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” PAS Giannina have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what PAS Giannina can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAS Giannina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Michalis Kyriakou has, at PAS Giannina, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Konrad Michalak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Spyridon Diamantakos was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the PAS Giannina dressing room was either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAS Giannina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for PAS Giannina is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladyslav Danylenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and PAS Giannina know which stage they are at.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Spyridon Diamantakos could afford to be generous.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what PAS Giannina can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 17 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everybody at PAS Giannina saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo Merlo have kept their man, and PAS Giannina go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Markos Nino has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Nicolas Rajsel and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at PAS Giannina
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dani Martín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
PAS Giannina asked and Cobreloa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ioannis Papadopoulos is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Leonidas Papastathopulos has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Evangelos Samaris has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Dani Martín was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evan Weir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
PAS Giannina asked and Villa Dálmine said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; PAS Giannina are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dimitris Pinakas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dani Martín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Evan Weir and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 May 2027
Dani Martín falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at PAS Giannina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Words at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastián Macías is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Themis Patrinos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikos Botis signs something — a contract at PAS Giannina or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eric Herensperger trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. PAS Giannina lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Evan Weir and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
SquadWords at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. PAS Giannina lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hugo Vidémont and PAS Giannina agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Dani Martín falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at PAS Giannina, another week without a signature from Evan Weir.
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dani Martín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAS Giannina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for PAS Giannina is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. PAS Giannina told Darnell Bile something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.