Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vangelis Noikokyrakis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Anagennisi Karditsa asked and Kalamata 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marco Thiede has his answer from Anagennisi Karditsa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Paul Reulet
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Anagennisi Karditsa had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Pablo Clavería has his answer from Anagennisi Karditsa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Aaron Silva did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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.
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.
He is 19 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Aaron Silva. 2‑0 against Nestos Chrysoupoli, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vangelis Noikokyrakis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Manolis Giakoumakis after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iker Pedernales 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.
Asteras next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
7.24, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Anagennisi Karditsa had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
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.” Manolis Giakoumakis chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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 Giorgos Moustakopoulos is on it.
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.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“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; Anagennisi Karditsa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Paul Reulet
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 hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Aaron Silva did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Makedonikos were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
1 for Triantafyllos Tsapras, marked 7.80, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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 Vangelis Noikokyrakis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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 done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Anagennisi Karditsa will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Vangelis Noikokyrakis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Anagennisi Karditsa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Anagennisi Karditsa would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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.
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. Anagennisi Karditsa told François-Joseph Sollacaro something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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 Giorgos Moustakopoulos is on it.
8 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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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 Iker Pedernales was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 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.
“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 Anagennisi Karditsa, and it is not being withdrawn.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Anagennisi Karditsa has to find a result from somewhere.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vangelis Noikokyrakis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
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.
Paul Reulet 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 Vangelis Noikokyrakis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
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.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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 Iker Pedernales was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Anagennisi Karditsa will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Anagennisi Karditsa will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vangelis Noikokyrakis 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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Anestis Vlachomitros is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
Player ratingsTyron Perret misses from twelve yards
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Anagennisi Karditsa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Triantafyllos Tsapras and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Aaron Silva 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. PAOK B had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Anagennisi Karditsa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iker Pedernales 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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Anagennisi Karditsa will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
8 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.
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.
“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 deal that would have taken Zé Leite to AEK has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Anagennisi Karditsa with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Iker Pedernales has just signed for Anagennisi Karditsa, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A last season at home is what Paul Reulet is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aaron Silva 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 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Manolis Giakoumakis after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
24 in and 13 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.
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.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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 had been thinking. Aaron Silva 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
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 Giorgos Manousakis is on it.
“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 Anagennisi Karditsa, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Anagennisi Karditsa people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Panargiakos moved on, Thanasis Papadakos reports back to Anagennisi Karditsa, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“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 Anagennisi Karditsa know 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 Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Aaron Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anagennisi Karditsa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Anagennisi Karditsa would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Anagennisi Karditsa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Aaron Silva 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.
5 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anagennisi Karditsa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Anagennisi Karditsa have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Triantafyllos Tsapras 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandros Nikolias and Anagennisi Karditsa agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Poletto 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 Kareem Ben-Kmayal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and PAS Giannina waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Triantafyllos Tsapras and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Aaron Silva 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 easiest signature of my career.” Alexandros Nikolias and Anagennisi Karditsa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anagennisi Karditsa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Anagennisi Karditsa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Labros Antonopoulos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anagennisi Karditsa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Pyry Soiri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Aaron Silva 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 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 Anagennisi Karditsa know it.
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 Giorgos Moustakopoulos is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anagennisi Karditsa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Pyry Soiri 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 Lucas Poletto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Kyriakos Kivrakidis arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
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 Kostas Baltas is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 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 Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
Pyry Soiri 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 had been thinking. Aaron Silva 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.
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Anagennisi Karditsa. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Anagennisi Karditsa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anagennisi Karditsa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aaron Silva 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.
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Anagennisi Karditsa than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Astals signs something — a contract at Anagennisi Karditsa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Panargiakos for Thanasis Papadakos 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Poletto 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 at Anagennisi Karditsa 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anagennisi Karditsa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Anagennisi Karditsa know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Labros Antonopoulos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anagennisi Karditsa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Pyry Soiri 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 Aaron Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Makedonikos have kept their man, and Anagennisi Karditsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Anagennisi Karditsa know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Anagennisi Karditsa has been clear about where Lucas Poletto stands, which is more than many ever get.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Anagennisi Karditsa have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anagennisi Karditsa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Anagennisi Karditsa have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Pyry Soiri 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nehemías Portillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Panathinaikos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Anagennisi Karditsa has been clear about where Pyry Soiri stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Poletto 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.
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. Pyry Soiri has moved up it.
Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anagennisi Karditsa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Pyry Soiri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Lucas Poletto 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anagennisi Karditsa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Anagennisi Karditsa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Anagennisi Karditsa know it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ronald Peralta has, at Anagennisi Karditsa, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Stajić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Apostolos Tsilingiris 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Nikola Stajić 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anagennisi Karditsa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Apostolos Tsilingiris 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 Nehemías Portillo 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 Anagennisi Karditsa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anagennisi Karditsa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Stajić 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 Anagennisi Karditsa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Lucas Poletto 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anagennisi Karditsa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nehemías Portillo 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 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.
Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anagennisi Karditsa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Apostolos Tsilingiris 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Labros Antonopoulos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anagennisi Karditsa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Nikola Stajić 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 words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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 words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Apostolos Tsilingiris 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 had been thinking. Nikola Stajić 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.
11 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.
In brief
The dugoutNikola Stajić knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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 instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Apostolos Tsilingiris 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 Nikola Stajić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Labros Antonopoulos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anagennisi Karditsa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nehemías Portillo 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 at Anagennisi Karditsa 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.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nehemías Portillo 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 Nikola Stajić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The words a physio says slowly. 55 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.
Apostolos Tsilingiris 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 had been thinking. Nikola Stajić 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 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A season-long audition: Deportivo Riestra still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Anagennisi Karditsa's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deal with Deportivo Riestra 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.
Paul Reulet 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 did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Anagennisi Karditsa will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
72 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Labros Antonopoulos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anagennisi Karditsa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Panargiakos moved on, Thanasis Papadakos reports back to Anagennisi Karditsa, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Stajić 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.
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
9 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thanasis Papadakos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anagennisi Karditsa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Paul Reulet and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
David Astals 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 7 on 18 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
8 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Anagennisi Karditsa have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Paul Reulet 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Panathinaikos have kept their man, and Anagennisi Karditsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panargiakos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Paul Reulet 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 David Astals was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Anagennisi Karditsa asked and Makedonikos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
106 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anagennisi Karditsa 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 Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Anagennisi Karditsa has to find a result from somewhere.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Anagennisi Karditsa have done the hard part with Panetolikos, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad4 Jan 2027
David Astals 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.
Pyry Soiri 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.
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 8 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Anagennisi Karditsa has to find a result from somewhere.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vasilis Prekates is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
“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.
121 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa can tell you which week it ends in.
Paul Reulet 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 had been thinking. David Astals 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. 128 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.
Paul Reulet 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 had been thinking. David Astals 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.
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.
“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.
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.
135 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anagennisi Karditsa can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Pyry Soiri and Anagennisi Karditsa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Golias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cristian García trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
144 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
David Astals 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.
He is 23 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.
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.
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Paul Reulet 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 had been thinking. David Astals 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.
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout23 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 Manolis Giakoumakis to a room that had heard them before.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against PAS Giannina in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Golias 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 Anagennisi Karditsa dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Labros Antonopoulos has written the date down.
They sit in position 8 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 3, 13 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.
7.26, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa 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 David Astals was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Giorgos Moustakopoulos. 1‑0 against Kampaniakos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Half the programme played, position 3, 13 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anagennisi Karditsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Anagennisi Karditsa has to find a result from somewhere.
5 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.
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad2 Nov 2026
David Astals 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.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vasilis Prekates and Anagennisi Karditsa agree another 4 years.
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.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Golias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
At 24 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Anagennisi Karditsa have a decision that made itself.
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.
Paul Reulet 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.
At 38, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Astals was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa can tell you which week it ends in.
“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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa 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 David Astals was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 33, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cristian García trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Niki Volos in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zé Leite signs something — a contract at Anagennisi Karditsa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Kostas Baltas is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
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.
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Joseph Na’a
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Joseph Na’a has come out of that comparison in the side, and Anagennisi Karditsa have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Golias 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.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
David Astals 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 23 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.
“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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Asteras Tripolis B? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Astals 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 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Anagennisi Karditsa has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Panargiakos moved on, Thanasis Papadakos reports back to Anagennisi Karditsa, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kareem Ben-Kmayal. 1‑0 against PAS Giannina, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 7.91. 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Manolis Giakoumakis, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Golias 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 squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kostas Balomenos’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Anagennisi Karditsa needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zé Leite signs something — a contract at Anagennisi Karditsa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anagennisi Karditsa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
16 in and 0 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Lanús keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Anagennisi Karditsa offered $720.0K; Levadiakos said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Astals 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.
Anagennisi Karditsa asked and Partizan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Anagennisi Karditsa scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer went to Levadiakos this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Anagennisi Karditsa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Levski, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Paul Reulet 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 had been thinking. David Astals 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anagennisi Karditsa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $100.0K — a club that wants Giorgos Kosidis enough to be asked twice.
Paul Reulet 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kalamata have kept their man, and Anagennisi Karditsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Anagennisi Karditsa will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
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.
Anagennisi Karditsa have made the call to Levski. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nasos Leonidopoulos’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Anagennisi Karditsa needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zé Leite and Anagennisi Karditsa agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Anagennisi Karditsa asked and Panserraikos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Astals 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 is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Anagennisi Karditsa know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The offer from Atromitos for Pyry Soiri 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anagennisi Karditsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sotirios Lampropoulos is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stavros Vrousai has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Konstantinos Pelkas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Anagennisi Karditsa have made the call to Kalamata. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Giannis Sourdis is in the works
Anagennisi Karditsa have gone to Panetolikos with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Anestis Vlachomitros and Anagennisi Karditsa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Pablo Clavería 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nikos Golias 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.