Simon Davis

Goalkeeper - Aris
19 Sep 2038
Sunday
Process

Marked for Simon Davis

630 Edition

The Aris Post

23 Aug 2038
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Yaroslav Sosnikhin out for 56 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Matteo Onofri 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Gustavo Pajé 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.

In brief

Back issues
626 Edition

The Aris Post

26 Jul 2038
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Vincenzo Alfieri

18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aris lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Yaroslav Sosnikhin breaks a bone — 85 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Only the photograph left for Gianluca Rossi

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gianluca Rossi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aris the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Matteo Onofri 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Gustavo Pajé 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.

Market

Ermis expected to open talks for Simon Davis

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Aris will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

In brief

  • Market Aris bring in an old head
  • Market The clock does Gianluca Rossi’s negotiating for him
625 Edition

The Aris Post

19 Jul 2038
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Vincenzo Alfieri

25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aris lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Yaroslav Sosnikhin breaks a bone — 92 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Gianluca Rossi puts it in writing

“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 Aris, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Aris

Gustavo Pajé 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.

Squad

Liam De Smet 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.

Market

Ermis join the queue for Simon Davis

Add another name to the list: Ermis have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Simon Davis. The answer from Aris has not changed — yet.

In brief

621 Edition

The Aris Post

21 Jun 2038
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Vincenzo Alfieri damages knee ligaments — 53 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.

Market

Kostakis Antoniou asks to leave Aris

“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.

Squad

Gustavo Pajé 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.

Squad

Zoran Mitrov 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

7 new faces, and Aris 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.

Market

Ermis are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Aris will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

In brief

  • Market Aris shop where it costs nothing
  • Market The shop window has Vincenzo Alfieri in it
  • Boardroom The Aris production line keeps running
619 Edition

The Aris Post

7 Jun 2038
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Vincenzo Alfieri damages knee ligaments — 67 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 67 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.

Boardroom

An order from above at Aris: somebody has to go

Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.

Market

Aris turn down Ermis for Simon Davis

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Only the photograph left for Alexey Sukharev

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexey Sukharev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aris the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Alexey Sukharev signs for AEL while still at Aris

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Alexey Sukharev has agreed terms with AEL for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

Home is on Leonardo Cruz's mind

“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; Aris are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

In brief

599 Edition

The Aris Post

18 Jan 2038
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Age has not caught Liam De Smet yet — 8.76

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.76 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Vincenzo Alfieri says Aris went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Aris

Veljko Nikolić 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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Gustavo Pajé

6 goals and a season average of 7.62 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Gustavo Pajé 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.

Match

Liam De Smet the difference as Aris beat Nea Salamis

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Liam De Smet. 3‑2 against Nea Salamis, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Gustavo Pajé at his very best

Marked 8.85. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Aris.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Leonardo Cruz at his very best

Marked 8.63. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Aris.

Market

The Simon Davis conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Ermis will make the call about Simon Davis this week. Aris have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

585 Edition

The Aris Post

12 Oct 2037
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Bence Babos hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aris can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Jonathan González keeps Aris in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Gianluca Rossi: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Liam De Smet yet — 8.03

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Player ratings

Matteo Onofri pops up at the right end — 7.70

7.70, 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.

Market

Simon Davis is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

No end in sight to Aris's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Aris has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Aris and Paralimni in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Aris training over how hard people work
  • Match A bad afternoon for Aris against Paralimni
  • Match No clean sheets in sight for Aris
581 Edition

The Aris Post

14 Sep 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Danilo Pellegrini

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Bence Babos puts it in writing

“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 Aris, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Alfred Mazurich yet — 8.49

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.49 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Market

Simon Davis is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Aris get the job done against Apollon

A 3‑2 win over Apollon, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Aris

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Match

Aris keep winning on the road

3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Gustavo Pajé at his very best

Marked 8.46. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Aris.

In brief

577 Edition

The Aris Post

17 Aug 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Veljko Nikolić

15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aris lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Jonathan González 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Aris training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Pajé 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.

In brief

573 Edition

The Aris Post

20 Jul 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Veljko Nikolić damages knee ligaments — 44 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.

Market

Artur Riabov puts it in writing

“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 Aris, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Aris training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Pajé 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.

Squad

Yaroslav Sosnikhin gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Yaroslav Sosnikhin has just signed for Aris, and for once the answer mattered.

Market

Alfred Mazurich told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Alfred Mazurich has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Aris.

In brief

572 Edition

The Aris Post

13 Jul 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Veljko Nikolić damages knee ligaments — 51 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Aris

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.

Market

Bahlul Dadashov hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aris can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Simon Davis

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Simon Davis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aris the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Aris

Veljko Nikolić 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Matteo Onofri

“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.

In brief

569 Edition

The Aris Post

22 Jun 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Veljko Nikolić damages knee ligaments — 74 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.

Market

Gianluca Rossi asks to leave Aris

“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.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jan Hellebrand

“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.

Squad

Ross McCausland has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Aris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

Nea Salamis are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Aris will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

In brief

567 Edition

The Aris Post

8 Jun 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Veljko Nikolić damages knee ligaments — 88 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.

Market

Bence Babos puts it in writing

“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 Aris, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Aris turn down Nea Salamis for Simon Davis

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Tamkin Sheydaev stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Tamkin Sheydaev and Aris agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Aris training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Pajé 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.

In brief

563 Edition

The Aris Post

11 May 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Jonathan González: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Bahlul Dadashov puts it in writing

“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 Aris, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Aris

Gustavo Pajé 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.

In brief

559 Edition

The Aris Post

13 Apr 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Bahlul Dadashov asks to leave Aris

“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.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Simon Davis is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

In brief

555 Edition

The Aris Post

16 Mar 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Bahlul Dadashov puts it in writing

“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 Aris, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Only the photograph left for Simon Davis

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Simon Davis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aris the goodbyes have quietly begun.

In brief

551 Edition

The Aris Post

16 Feb 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Aris tear Agia Napa apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑2 against Agia Napa, and it could have been more.

Squad

3 goals for Matteo Onofri

The match ball belongs to Matteo Onofri, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Alfred Mazurich yet — 8.75

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.75 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Market

Bahlul Dadashov hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Aris can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Danilo Pellegrini keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Aris may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Only the photograph left for Simon Davis

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Simon Davis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aris the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

7 goals as Aris and Agia Napa go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Aris and Agia Napa, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Player ratings

Matteo Onofri in the eights

A performance of 9.56 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Aris training over how hard people work
  • Player ratings Ninety minutes of Ville Vuorinen at his very best
  • Player ratings Leonardo Cruz in the eights
550 Edition

The Aris Post

9 Feb 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Yevgen Morozov

There were 12 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Veljko Nikolić and Aris agree another 2 years.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Charalabos Charalabous

Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Words at Aris training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Pajé 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.

Market

Paralimni are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Aris will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Match

Aris and AEL cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. AEL came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Market

Charalabos Charalabous linked with a move away

The name of Charalabos Charalabous keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Aris say nothing, which says plenty.

Player ratings

Ville Vuorinen runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 10. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

546 Edition

The Aris Post

12 Jan 2037
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Jonathan González keeps Aris in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Gustavo Pajé

8 goals and a season average of 7.71 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić 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 Aris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Aris training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Pajé 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.

Match

Aris see off Paralimni

Three points for Aris, 3‑1 the final word against Paralimni in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Liam De Smet was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.23. 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.

Player ratings

Gustavo Pajé was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.21. 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.

Player ratings

Ville Vuorinen in the eights

A performance of 9.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Market

Nea Salamis expected to open talks for Simon Davis

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Aris will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

In brief

541 Edition

The Aris Post

8 Dec 2036
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

No mercy from Aris

Ethnikos Achnas will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Aris were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

A fracture rules Luken Díaz out for 25 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Jonathan González

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Boardroom

An order from above at Aris: somebody has to go

Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.

Squad

Tempers go at Aris

Veljko Nikolić 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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Gustavo Pajé

7 goals and a season average of 7.65 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Market

Only the photograph left for Simon Davis

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Simon Davis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aris the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Melvin Gomes Da Veiga

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Tommaso Aliata was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.43. 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.

In brief

537 Edition

The Aris Post

10 Nov 2036
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Jonathan González

There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Veljko Nikolić: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Aris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Luken Díaz breaks a bone — 54 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

A brace, and Tommaso Aliata takes the afternoon — 8.89

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tommaso Aliata provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

No end in sight to Aris's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Aris has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Tempers go at Aris

Veljko Nikolić 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Simon Davis

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Simon Davis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aris the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

Aris are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Match

6 goals as Aris and AEL go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Aris and AEL, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

In brief