“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 The request is on a desk at Asteras Tripolis B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alexandros Tereziou 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.
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 strip of cloth that decides nothing on the pitch and tells the dressing room whose opinion counts. The manager has made a statement without making one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Asteras Tripolis B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kavala waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Asteras Tripolis B is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asteras Tripolis 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 Giannis Nikopolidis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Nikos Papadopoulos keeps the shirt for now, at Asteras Tripolis B's convenience rather than his own.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Asteras Tripolis B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Dimitris Karadalis 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Asteras Tripolis B have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Hagan Frimpong 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Nikopolidis 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giannis Giakoumakis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Asteras Tripolis B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Nikopolidis 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 year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Asteras Tripolis B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asteras Tripolis B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Nikopolidis 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.
“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 Asteras Tripolis B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Theofilos Kakadiaris 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. Giannis Nikopolidis 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 new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Asteras Tripolis B have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Charalabos Kallanxhi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Asteras Tripolis B can pretend not to have heard.
“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; Asteras Tripolis B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squads form friendships and that is healthy; this is not that. 3 separate groups, 1 players belonging to none of them, and a set of tables at lunch that have stopped rearranging themselves. It very rarely fixes itself.
Alexandros Tereziou 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 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.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Asteras Tripolis B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Hagan Frimpong 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.
1 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Asteras Tripolis B no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giannis Nikopolidis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Asteras Tripolis B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Asteras Tripolis B have had the benefit of 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asteras Tripolis B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Álex Méndez 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 Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giannis Giakoumakis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Asteras Tripolis B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Asteras Tripolis B than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Asteras Tripolis B. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
Dino Grozdanić 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.
Position 2, 34 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Asteras Tripolis B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Asteras Tripolis B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Giannis Nikopolidis has written the date down.
Hagan Frimpong 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. Leandro Frroku 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.
“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 Asteras Tripolis B know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Frroku 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.
Álex Méndez 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.
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 had been thinking. Dino Grozdanić 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Asteras Tripolis B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Álex Méndez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadLeandro Frroku falls out with a teammate over standards
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Frroku 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 year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Asteras Tripolis B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Successful dribbles: 10. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asteras Tripolis B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kostas Bouloulis and Asteras Tripolis B agree another 2 years.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Grozdanić 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 trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Asteras Tripolis B has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Leandro Frroku 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.
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 Asteras Tripolis B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 36, with 293 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
Nobody at Asteras Tripolis 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.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Asteras Tripolis B lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giannis Nikopolidis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Asteras Tripolis B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Asteras Tripolis B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Asteras Tripolis 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.
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.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Asteras Tripolis B 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 Asteras Tripolis B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Grozdanić 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.
“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 Asteras Tripolis B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Asteras Tripolis B lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ilioupoli waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Asteras Tripolis B is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Asteras Tripolis B have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Asteras Tripolis B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Kostas Bouloulis's mistake
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Asteras Tripolis B lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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; Asteras Tripolis B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Álex Méndez 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 Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Asteras Tripolis B lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Asteras Tripolis B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Leandro Frroku 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.
A new face in his position, and Leandro Frroku suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Asteras Tripolis B have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Asteras Tripolis B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Asteras Tripolis B have lost him in all but the paperwork.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Frroku 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 Asteras Tripolis B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fotios Torosidis after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Asteras Tripolis B lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Atromitos for Spyros Angelidis 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Asteras Tripolis B can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Charalabos Kallanxhi is 20, 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 Asteras Tripolis B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fotis Kotsonis 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.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Asteras Tripolis B lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Asteras Tripolis B have had the benefit of it.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandro Fernández 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: Alexandro Fernández. 1‑0 against Makedonikos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
Position 2, 29 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.
Álex Méndez 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.
Marked 8.23 — 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Fotios Torosidis kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The words a physio says slowly. 90 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asteras Tripolis B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fotis Kotsonis 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Fotios Torosidis was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Asteras Tripolis B dressing room was either.
11 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
The words a physio says slowly. 98 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Fotios Torosidis was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Asteras Tripolis B dressing room was either.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Grozdanić 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.
“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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Anagennisi Karditsa? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Asteras Tripolis B lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Asteras Tripolis B who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
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 Asteras Tripolis B prefer.
Nestos Chrysoupoli will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Asteras Tripolis B were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alexandro Fernández provided it, and the 9.05 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Asteras Tripolis B can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 6.87, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Leandro Frroku 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.
Niki Volos 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.
In brief
SquadFotis Kotsonis falls out with a teammate over standards
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 7.05, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Marked 8.57 — 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Hagan Frimpong was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. 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.
The dugout23 Nov 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.” Fotios Torosidis, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dino Grozdanić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Hagan Frimpong 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Asteras Tripolis B will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leandro Frroku 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.
Álex Méndez 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.
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.
Marked 8.42 — 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 said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.12. 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.
Position 3, 15 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Fotios Torosidis on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alexandros Tereziou scored, was marked 7.82, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Leandro Frroku scored, was marked 7.71, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Álex Méndez 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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandros Tereziou. 2‑0 against PAS Giannina, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Asteras Tripolis B who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kostas Bouloulis is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Fotios Torosidis on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asteras Tripolis B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.46 on the card, and the Asteras Tripolis B support went home talking about one name.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Fotios Torosidis was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Asteras Tripolis B dressing room was either.
Successful dribbles: 10. 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 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.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Asteras Tripolis B squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
At 23 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Asteras Tripolis B have a decision that made itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asteras Tripolis B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Theofilos Kakadiaris has his answer from Asteras Tripolis B; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Christos Gromitsaris’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Asteras Tripolis B needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
At 26 he has taken a place rather than been given one, and somebody else has to find something to say about it. Asteras Tripolis B have a decision that made itself.
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.
Leandro Frroku 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. Dino Grozdanić 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.
“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.
“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; Asteras Tripolis B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Asteras Tripolis B will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Hagan Frimpong 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vasilis Archontakakis is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout28 Sep 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 Fotios Torosidis to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fotios Torosidis after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dino Grozdanić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Hagan Frimpong was the best thing in any of them.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Niki Volos moved on, Spyros Angelidis reports back to Asteras Tripolis B, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Álex Méndez 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.
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.
A mark of 7.86, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
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.” Fotios Torosidis, 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Asteras Tripolis B people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Álex Méndez 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.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
It involved Leandro Frroku, it was loud enough to reach the car park, and it was over by lunch. Dressing rooms run hot; the ones that should worry you are the silent ones.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Grozdanić 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 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.
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.
A new face in his position, and Kostas Bouloulis suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Asteras Tripolis B have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
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 Asteras Tripolis B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“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 Asteras Tripolis B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leandro Frroku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fanis Tzandaris 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Asteras Tripolis B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Alexandro Fernández 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.” Giannis Giakoumakis and Asteras Tripolis B agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vasilis Chatziemmanouil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Asteras Tripolis B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandro Fernández and Asteras Tripolis B agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandro Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Asteras Tripolis B, another week without a signature from Alexandro Fernández.
“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; Asteras Tripolis B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.