The Asteras Gazette
Squad16 Aug 2027
Giannis Kotsiras 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 Asteras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Asteras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Papadopoulos 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Door shut on Rareş Burnete
Asteras asked and Lecce said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market16 Aug 2027
Asteras promote Efthymios Mitroglou from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Efthymios Mitroglou 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
Manolis Giakoumakis steps up from the Asteras academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Manolis Giakoumakis 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
One of our own: Leonidas Karelis joins the Asteras first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Leonidas Karelis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market16 Aug 2027
One of our own: Spyridon Siopis joins the Asteras first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Spyridon Siopis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Panagiotis Deligiannidis gets picked when it counts
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 Panagiotis Deligiannidis is on it.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Belajdi Pusi still has not settled
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Asteras would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
In brief
- Squad Nikos Papadopoulos has company in his position
- The dugout Junior Mendieta knocks on the manager's door
- The dugout The manager plants his flag on Evgeniy Yablonskiy