Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Makedonikos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at PAOK B is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what PAOK B can pretend not to have heard.
Giannis Michailidis 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
André Ricardo 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimitris Kottas signs something — a contract at PAOK B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hicham Kanis has written the date down.
Jan Repas has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. PAOK B lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Karel Mustmaa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAOK B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Position 3, 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at PAOK B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ricardo 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and PAOK B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
121 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. PAOK B lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Karel Mustmaa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAOK B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Position 3, 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one PAOK B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimitris Kottas signs something — a contract at PAOK B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at PAOK B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Ricardo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bruno Onyemaechi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimitris Kottas signs something — a contract at PAOK B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and PAOK B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at PAOK B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Feb 2028
André Ricardo 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.
Nobody at PAOK B is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. PAOK B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the PAOK B squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
A few words of the language, a friend at the next peg, and a training ground that has stopped feeling foreign. Nothing measurable, and everything visible on Saturdays.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at PAOK B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Ricardo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and PAOK B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimitris Kottas signs something — a contract at PAOK B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one PAOK B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around PAOK B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Position 3, 22 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.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Pavel Apetenok, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.62
A mark of 7.62 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
16 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Jan 2028
André Ricardo 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Maksymilian Sznaucner is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Fotios Papadopoulos was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the PAOK B dressing room was either.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Pavel Apetenok has moved up it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pavel Apetenok signs something — a contract at PAOK B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Dimitris Tsopouroglou 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
André Ricardo 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Maksymilian Sznaucner has his answer from PAOK B; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at PAOK B is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maksymilian Sznaucner trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the PAOK B squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
They sit in position 5 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at PAOK B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ricardo 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Karel Mustmaa. 1‑0 against PAS Giannina, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Abasiekeme Ikobong 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.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Nikos Spyrakos has moved up it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kostas Balomenos has his answer from PAOK B; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimitris Kottas signs something — a contract at PAOK B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Ricardo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at PAOK B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kostas Thymianis has written the date down.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimitris Kottas signs something — a contract at PAOK B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Napredak had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Bruno Onyemaechi 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Dejan Lovren is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgos Kosidis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from Panargiakos for Antonis Stergiakis was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The phone has started ringing about Giannis Michailidis again, and this time the name on the line is Zlin. PAOK B are listening politely and promising nothing.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kostas Polykratis is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Kostas Thymianis 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 list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Bruno Onyemaechi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at PAOK B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgos Kosidis 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.
Not a month, not a run of form — a whole season of being the best 20-year-old anybody in this division could put on a pitch. This is the honour that gets mentioned for the rest of his career.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around PAOK B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dimitris Tsopouroglou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Dejan Lovren 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around PAOK B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Dejan Lovren 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around PAOK B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around PAOK B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at PAOK B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Lovren 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 PAOK B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at PAOK B would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Nobody at PAOK B is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Dimitris Tsopouroglou 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.
“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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at PAOK B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The offer from Iraklis for Mahamadou Balde was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Add another name to the list: Hellas Syros have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dimitris Chatsidis. The answer from PAOK B has not changed — yet.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. PAOK B know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Giorgos Kosidis 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.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. PAOK B have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kostas Polykratis is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation PAOK B did not have in the autumn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Dejan Lovren 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: André Ricardo. 1‑0 against Makedonikos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at PAOK B.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Fotios Papadopoulos kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dimitris Bataoulas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAOK B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dejan Lovren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dimitris Tsopouroglou and PAOK B agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around PAOK B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kostas Polykratis is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dejan Lovren 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Dimitris Chatsidis had PAOK B level again within 3 minutes, and Kampaniakos never got to play with a lead at all.
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. PAOK B will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.