“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of 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 PAOK B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pavel Apetenok was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Abasiekeme Ikobong's mistake
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kostas Thymianis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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.
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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at PAOK B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kostas Thymianis 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 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.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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 PAOK B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The offer from Kalamata for Mahamadou Balde was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
At 21 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.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at PAOK B can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Lucas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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 PAOK B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and PAOK B have no good answer.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee PAOK B could ask drops and the wages Dimitris Monastirlis can ask rise.
Greg Taylor 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.
Squad31 May 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.
16 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at PAOK B now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Squad31 May 2027
5 new faces, and PAOK B 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pantelis Hatzidiakos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
0 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at PAOK B no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
24 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vangelis Gravvanis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAOK B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 May 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mahamadou Balde trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around PAOK B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Lucas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pavel Apetenok trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 5 on 24 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Mahamadou Balde and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
André Ricardo 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vangelis Gravvanis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vangelis Gravvanis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAOK B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Dimitris Tsopouroglou 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 André Ricardo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Karel Mustmaa is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The loan was meant to give him football. 3 games and 2 goals later he is back at PAOK B no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
André Ricardo 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vangelis Gravvanis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAOK B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at PAOK B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Lucas 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pavel Apetenok 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. PAOK B told Thomas Murg something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vangelis Gravvanis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAOK B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Dimitris Tsopouroglou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
André Ricardo 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Nobody at PAOK B is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dimitris Monastirlis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around PAOK B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Dimitris Tsopouroglou 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
André Ricardo 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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dimitris Monastirlis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around PAOK B people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad1 Feb 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.
Giorgos Kosidis 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 respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. André Ricardo has moved up it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. PAOK B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The window shut and Mahamadou Balde is still in the building
PAOK B spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
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.
Giorgos Kosidis 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pavel Apetenok trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
At 22 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.
Dimitris Tsopouroglou 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.
Iraklis left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad11 Jan 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.
Iraklis held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. PAOK B answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at PAOK B has been clear about where Pedro Biasotto stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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 PAOK B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 3, 23 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The bid was some way short and PAOK B did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Mahamadou Balde, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.02
A mark of 8.02 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vangelis Gravvanis is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandros Adam has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Dimitris Tsopouroglou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at PAOK B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Lucas 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Makedonikos scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Pavel Apetenok will call it something else in private.
A 1‑1 draw with Makedonikos leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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.” Apostolos Vlachodimos chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mahamadou Balde did not need any: 7.71, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mahamadou Balde is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Kampaniakos made PAOK B work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad21 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.
Marked 8.19 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
Mahamadou Balde is 19, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vangelis Gravvanis is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dimitris Tsopouroglou and PAOK B agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“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 PAOK B know it.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Pedro Lucas 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.
A mark of 7.24, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
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.” Apostolos Vlachodimos chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Anagennisi Karditsa defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
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.
“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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Niki Volos? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Vangelis Gravvanis’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and PAOK B needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Dimitris Tsopouroglou 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Vangelis Gravvanis has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad23 Nov 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Apostolos Vlachodimos after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
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.
Asteras Tripolis B left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Nov 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.
10 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout9 Nov 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Apostolos Vlachodimos to a room that had heard them before.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. PAOK B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order PAOK B prefer.
The dugout2 Nov 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 Apostolos Vlachodimos to a room that had heard them before.
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Mahamadou Balde has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: André Ricardo. 1‑0 against PAS Giannina, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.14 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Apostolos Vlachodimos could afford to be generous.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Iraklis.
Mahamadou Balde is 19, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at PAOK B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavel Apetenok 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
At 21 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.
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.
Squad12 Oct 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.
Makedonikos next, and one man in the PAOK B dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Giorgos Koupenos is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Pavel Apetenok 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.
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.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
7.37, 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Pavel Apetenok 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.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad21 Sep 2026
André Ricardo 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Apostolos Vlachodimos was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the PAOK B dressing room was either.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Anagennisi Karditsa moved on, Dimitris Tsopouroglou reports back to PAOK B, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vasilis Nikolakoulis is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pavel Apetenok was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Apostolos Vlachodimos after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.