Marked for Vasilis Kaperdas
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 Nov 2027
No end in sight to PAS Giannina's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at PAS Giannina has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match6 Nov 2027
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Market8 Nov 2027
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Javi Pérez 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.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Zisis Karachalios 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Panagiotis Ballas, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Sep 2027
So close: Javi Pérez’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. PAOK moved on, Javi Pérez reports back to PAS Giannina, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market13 Sep 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at PAS Giannina, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market13 Sep 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Themis Patrinos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAS Giannina the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AEK have kept their man, and PAS Giannina go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Amílcar Silva 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.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
The numbers do not look good at PAS Giannina
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Afonso Silva 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Late, late show earns PAS Giannina a point
Minute 93, against Niki Volos, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at PAS Giannina
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at PAS Giannina is running low.
Market16 Aug 2027
“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.
Market16 Aug 2027
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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. PAS Giannina have done the hard part with Egaleo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Javi Pérez 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Afonso Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at PAS Giannina now.
Market16 Aug 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Fernando Neto damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom24 May 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at PAS Giannina
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at PAS Giannina is running low.
Market24 May 2027
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.
Squad24 May 2027
Alexis Kalogeropoulos 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Afonso Silva 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.
Market24 May 2027
He is 19, and nobody at PAS Giannina signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad24 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Wa’il Jaafar and PAS Giannina agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom24 May 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at PAS Giannina now.
The dugout24 May 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
Fernando Neto damages knee ligaments — 40 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match3 May 2027
Position 10, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad3 May 2027
Javi Pérez in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Afonso Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 May 2027
“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 Afonso Silva.
Squad3 May 2027
“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.
Market3 May 2027
Javi Pérez linked with a move away
The name of Javi Pérez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. PAS Giannina say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout3 May 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Angelos Papadopoulos is on it.
The dugout3 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
Fernando Neto damages knee ligaments — 77 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 77 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match5 Apr 2027
Every point is an argument now for PAS Giannina
Position 10 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Endika 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adán Gurdiel 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.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ricardo Ribeiro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market5 Apr 2027
The Javi Pérez story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javi Pérez signs something — a contract at PAS Giannina or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Fernando Neto
122 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Javi Pérez 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Endika 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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Endika
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
The knee: Fernando Neto out for 131 days
131 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” PAS Giannina may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Endika 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.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at PAS Giannina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markos Nino 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.
Squad15 Feb 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Guilherme Santos’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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 Vasilis Kaperdas has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
The knee: Fernando Neto out for 146 days
146 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
PAS Giannina close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market1 Feb 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around PAS Giannina they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Javi Pérez 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Endika 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Almirante Brown: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Nov 2026
10 matches without a win for PAS Giannina
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around PAS Giannina are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
35 days out for Themis Patrinos after a fracture
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.
Match7 Nov 2026
6 matches without a goal for PAS Giannina
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market9 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Themis Patrinos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAS Giannina the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match9 Nov 2026
Position 10, 3 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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 Afonso Silva.