Marked for Kostas Polykratis
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at PAOK B
Pantelis Hatzidiakos 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 Apr 2028
A row about effort at PAOK B
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Spyrakos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Karel Mustmaa knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Karel Mustmaa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at PAOK B. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market24 Apr 2028
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what PAOK B could get for him.
Market24 Apr 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marios Kalaitsidis signs something — a contract at PAOK B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at PAOK B
Pantelis Hatzidiakos 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.
Squad27 Mar 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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market27 Mar 2028
PAOK B have let the market know Vangelis Gravvanis can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market27 Mar 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marios Kalaitsidis signs something — a contract at PAOK B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for André Ricardo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. André Ricardo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAOK B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Feb 2028
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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A row about effort at PAOK B
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.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“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.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
Nobody left the PAOK B dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“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 dugout14 Feb 2028
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“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.
Market14 Feb 2028
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs PAOK B money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Mar 2027
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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
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.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Pavel Apetenok asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A season on the outside for André Ricardo
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at PAOK B has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Mahamadou Balde at 19 — 7.67
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mahamadou Balde did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
At 19 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
The drought breaks for PAOK B
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Kavala were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Match12 Dec 2026
Kavala made PAOK B work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Nikos Spyrakos was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.24. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pavel Apetenok, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at PAOK B
Giorgos Kosidis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for PAOK B
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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
Pavel Apetenok 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at PAOK B
Dimitris Tsopouroglou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.28, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Match3 Oct 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Kampaniakos defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.