Marked for Ekaitz Jiménez
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ekaitz Jiménez and Kampaniakos agree another 3 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Ilias Tselios 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Kampaniakos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Pedro 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Manuel Pedro knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kampaniakos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 Mar 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
$120.0K settles it between the clubs for Petros Mantalos
AEK have accepted the money. What Kampaniakos do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kampaniakos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Kampaniakos until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad1 Feb 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 Kampaniakos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Kampaniakos asked and Egaleo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Dimos Tenekes
“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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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 Kampaniakos would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market1 Feb 2027
The Germán story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Germán signs something — a contract at Kampaniakos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Christos Eleftheriadis is 35, with 293 appearances behind him, and Kampaniakos will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kampaniakos can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The deal with Kifisia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Xiscu Martínez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
The game went through Ekaitz Jiménez — 7.34
Marked 7.34 on 14 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Kampaniakos is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
AEL Larisa have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan move for Nabil Makni is in the works
Kampaniakos have made the call to Volos NPS. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Olympiacos: 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
Steady
Squad7 Dec 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 Kampaniakos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Pedro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Ilias Tselios did the work nobody counts — 6.85
9 combined actions and 6.85. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kelvin Lamptey-Mills and Kampaniakos agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
7.77, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Kampaniakos had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giorgos Tsapakidis, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Eleftherios Torosidis was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Kampaniakos dressing room was either.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Nasser Aboudou dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
Paris Ntoumanis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Manuel Pedro gets it from the manager
“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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Anagennisi Karditsa left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Match9 Nov 2026
The half-term report on Kampaniakos
Position 3, 15 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Eleftherios Torosidis left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad9 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and Hakim Sahabo sits out. Kampaniakos lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Giorgos Tsapakidis
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ekaitz Jiménez 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Kampaniakos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Pedro 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
Hakim Sahabo gets it from the manager
“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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Eleftherios Torosidis to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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 Paris Ntoumanis is on it.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
Niki Volos next, and one man in the Kampaniakos dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Chances created: 7. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Sep 2026
Aris Thessaloniki ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad28 Sep 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 Kampaniakos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 18 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Manuel Pedro gets it from the manager
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.33. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
The leaders are next for Kampaniakos
PAOK B top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Kampaniakos man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Christos Tachmatzidis was the best thing in any of them.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. PAS Giannina will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match19 Sep 2026
Makedonikos made Kampaniakos work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Kampaniakos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Pedro 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Angelos Papasterianos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Eleftherios Torosidis on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Nasser Aboudou
“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.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
PAS Giannina next, and one man in the Kampaniakos dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 19 in, 0 out at Kampaniakos
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ekaitz Jiménez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Kampaniakos will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Manuel Pedro knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kampaniakos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Xiscu Martínez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Manuel Pedro 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 targets24 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Olympiacos: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Angelos Mitroglou and Kampaniakos agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Looking ahead24 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kavala in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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 Kampaniakos would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
Agia Napa come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Kampaniakos did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Kampaniakos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Aris Thessaloniki, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Xiscu Martínez 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Kampaniakos know which stage they are at.
Squad17 Aug 2026
No place for Manuel Pedro in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Kampaniakos are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market17 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Kampaniakos
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Panathinaikos have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Olympiacos: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.