Giannis Theodosoulakis 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.
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.
Something was said to Zisis Chatzistravos and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AEL Larisa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AEL Larisa, another week without a signature from Zisis Chatzistravos.
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 Marcelo Marques is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AEL Larisa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AEL Larisa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. AEL Larisa told Facundo Quintana something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at AEL Larisa 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Nicolás Mosca 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether AEL Larisa can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vasilis Sourlis and AEL Larisa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at AEL Larisa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikel Santos 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 words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 120th minute. Asteras will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Nicolás Mosca 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at AEL Larisa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikel Santos 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.
7.46, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. AEL Larisa had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Spyridon Papagiannopoulos chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
The dugoutMikel Santos knocks on the manager's door
Looking aheadA test against the best for AEL Larisa
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AEL Larisa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AEL Larisa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Davíð Kristján Ólafsson and AEL Larisa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AEL Larisa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at AEL Larisa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Vázquez 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
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Pablo Vázquez
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AEL Larisa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” AEL Larisa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
AEL Larisa close the window on a squad of their own making
24 in and 14 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at KAA Gent is saying, and nobody at AEL Larisa is enjoying the guessing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Volos NPS have kept their man, and AEL Larisa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Daniil Khlusevich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Pablo Vázquez 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.
3 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.
123 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AEL Larisa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diogo Calila will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AEL Larisa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AEL Larisa can pretend not to have heard.
The chase for Marcelo Marques ended with $210.0K changing hands and Kavala out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Kavala, and it is not being withdrawn.
$73.0K was the most the club would pay and Panathinaikos were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The phone has started ringing about Charly Dutournier again, and this time the name on the line is Marko. Kavala are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgos Manousakis 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 142 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kavala people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kavala can pretend not to have heard.
Kavala had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AEL Larisa, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Kavala asked and Kifisia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Navas 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.
Giorgos Stamoulis 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.
Add another name to the list: Hellas Syros have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Giannis Ioannidis. The answer from Kavala has not changed — yet.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kavala people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The deal with Iraklis 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.
Kavala had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AEK, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Wiktor Mamroł is living that version at Kavala, and it tends to show in the first month.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Iraklis have kept their man, and Kavala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kavala can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: Panionios have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Andrés Galetto. The answer from Kavala has not changed — yet.
The deal with AEK 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.
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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Navas 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kavala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Kavala will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“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 Kavala, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kavala, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Andrada 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kavala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Luca Andrada 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.
Ignacio Rodríguez 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Kavala know it.
Something was said to Vasilis Gavriilidis and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marcelo Marques trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kavala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kavala can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kostas Triantafyllopoulos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kavala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kavala can pretend not to have heard.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Kavala will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Kostas Triantafyllopoulos 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kavala can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kavala, another week without a signature from Ká.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kavala, and both men came out saying it was fine.
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kavala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ignacio Rodríguez 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgos Manousakis 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kavala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Kavala, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal that would have taken Marcelo Marques to Levadiakos has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Kavala with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Kavala close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 2 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.
Kostas Triantafyllopoulos 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ká is living that version at Kavala, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgos Moustakopoulos 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.
72 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kavala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Levadiakos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kavala is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Ilias Karargyris and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Andrada 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.
Kavala asked and Madryn said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kavala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kavala have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kostas Triantafyllopoulos 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgos Moustakopoulos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Nestos Chrysoupoli the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Kavala will enjoy reviewing.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kavala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ilias Karargyris 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Kavala is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgos Moustakopoulos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kavala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
27 games and 13 goals away from here, and a man the manager did not have last summer. The loan did what loans are supposed to do and almost never do.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Max McKnight 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cuca trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Kavala told Rakip Bregu something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Kavala. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Christos Kountouriotis may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.