It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egaleo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Satsias 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 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 Spyros Kostopoulos has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Egaleo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nick Perc 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Egaleo, and 2 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Egaleo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Egaleo 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egaleo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nick Perc 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.
Diogo Pereira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Satsias 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 Egaleo know it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diogo Pereira trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Egaleo 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Egaleo 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 Egaleo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Nick Perc 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 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 Egaleo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nick Perc 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 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Egaleo, and 2 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
6 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Egaleo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Raúl Navarro 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 Giannis Satsias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Egaleo know it.
Nobody at Egaleo 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. Egaleo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Egaleo know it.
Raúl Navarro 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nick Perc 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 is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Yago Santos is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Egaleo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giannis Satsias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giorgos Kosteas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Egaleo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Diogo Pereira 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 Giannis Satsias 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Egaleo, and 2 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
6 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giorgos Kosteas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. André has, at Egaleo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Egaleo can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Egaleo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Raúl Navarro 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diogo Pereira trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Egaleo, another week without a signature from Eliandro.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Egaleo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Egaleo can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Egaleo, another week without a signature from Diogo Pereira.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egaleo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I watch every Egaleo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Marko runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Odysseas Spyridis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Raúl Navarro was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nathan Buayi-Kiala is living that version at Egaleo, and it tends to show in the first month.
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 sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Egaleo have gone and got theirs early.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Egaleo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Fermín Iriarte has just signed for Egaleo, and for once the answer mattered.
Raúl Navarro 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Satsias is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Egaleo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Egaleo can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Egaleo until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Egaleo asked and Rodina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Odysseas Spyridis 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 Egaleo 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 Egaleo can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Egaleo have done the hard part with Panathinaikos, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Diogo Pereira 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Satsias 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 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Egaleo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Raúl Navarro 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 Giannis Satsias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Egaleo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kampaniakos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Egaleo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Raúl Navarro 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. Panetolikos have kept their man, and Egaleo go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Egaleo can pretend not to have heard.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Egaleo had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giannis Satsias 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. Rodina have kept their man, and Egaleo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Giorgos Kosteas has come up in conversations Egaleo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“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 Egaleo know it.
Zois Karargyris, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.15
A mark of 8.15 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
1 for Diogo Pereira, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egaleo 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 Giannis Satsias 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Zois Karargyris 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sotirios Stafylidis after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Eliandro
92 minutes played. Giannis Satsias found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Chania went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Raúl Navarro 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fanis Tzandaris 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 dugout21 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.” Sotirios Stafylidis kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Rida Zouhir
Raúl Navarro 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Satsias 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.
Something was said to Aleksandr Šapovalov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Chania in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Diogo Pereira 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.
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Zois Karargyris is the division's best young player this month
At 19 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. Egaleo will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“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.
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.
Out, 0‑2 to Aris Thessaloniki, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows 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 Egaleo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Panargiakos were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fanis Tzandaris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Zois Karargyris did not need any: 8.26, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Raúl Navarro 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aleksandr Šapovalov, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Antonio Leal is still being punished for one mistake
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Raúl Navarro 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Satsias 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.
Ilioupoli next, and one man in the Egaleo 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 Félix Nzouango Bikien has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Egaleo, 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.
Position 5, 11 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Egaleo told Vladimir Savić something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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 Egaleo 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 Giannis Satsias 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 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.
Minute 93, against Olympiacos B, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Egaleo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Raúl Navarro 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Satsias 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.
18 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 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.
“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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egaleo 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 Fanis Tzandaris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Sotirios Stafylidis could afford to be generous.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Zois Karargyris is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Raúl Navarro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fanis Tzandaris 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 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kalamata in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Egaleo has been clear about where Dimitris Goumas stands, which is more than many ever get.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Egaleo would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“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 Egaleo 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 Egaleo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Satsias is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club 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 young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at Egaleo who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Sotirios Stafylidis to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Diogo Pereira is still being punished for one mistake
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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Guilherme Zimovski obliged against PAS Giannina. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Egaleo.
A mark of 7.97 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Raúl Navarro 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 Fanis Tzandaris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Guilherme Zimovski 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.
18 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.
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fanis Tzandaris 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 Egaleo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Sotirios Stafylidis to a room that had heard them before.
“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.
Panionios next, and one man in the Egaleo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Zois Karargyris, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.00
A mark of 8.00 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Raúl Navarro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannis Satsias 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.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Zois Karargyris. 1‑0 against Panargiakos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Egaleo will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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.” Sotirios Stafylidis, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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 Egaleo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Egaleo close the window on a squad of their own making
23 in and 3 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 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.
Egaleo had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Partizan, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egaleo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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. Egaleo will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Aleksandr Šapovalov has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
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: 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Egaleo have done the hard part with Partizan, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
17 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Odysseas Spyridis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Egaleo have made the call to Napredak. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sotirios Stafylidis was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Egaleo dressing room was either.
In brief
BoardroomEgaleo say no to the training-ground money
“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 Egaleo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Raúl Navarro and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Egaleo know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Egaleo, another week without a signature from Diogo Pereira.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Odysseas Spyridis 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 used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ilioupoli in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Antonio Leal has, at Egaleo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Iraklis have kept their man, and Egaleo 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. Egaleo will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The deal with AEK is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Raúl Navarro 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Manolis Mitroglou is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Evangelos Galanopoulos has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Fotios Karelis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Asteras have kept their man, and Egaleo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Still no offer on the table, and Nick Perc’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Egaleo are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Egaleo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Odysseas Spyridis 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.
Egaleo have made the call to Panetolikos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.