From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Niki Volos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AEK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niki Volos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market5 Jul 2027
The name of Anestis Mythou has come up in conversations Niki Volos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
$440.0K on the table at AEL Larisa. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tom Bradshaw 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mimito Biai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Too much change too quickly at Niki Volos
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Niki Volos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with AEK; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Aris Thessaloniki is saying, and nobody at Niki Volos is enjoying the guessing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Everybody at Niki Volos saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$130.0K settles it between the clubs for Sokratis Dioudis
Aris Thessaloniki have accepted the money. What Niki Volos do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: OFI keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$47.0K was the most the club would pay and AEK were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Panetolikos have kept their man, and Niki Volos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Alexandros Lolis 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
39 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Themis Tselios
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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 Niki Volos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
$520.0K on the table at OFI. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Triantafyllos Pasalidis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Niki Volos have gone to AEK 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Mimito Biai 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Niki Volos asked and Olympiacos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market14 Jun 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad14 Jun 2027
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Niki Volos know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Niki Volos can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niki Volos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The deal with Panathinaikos 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Olympiacos keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Abdullah Abdo gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Abdullah Abdo has just signed for Niki Volos, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Alexandros Lolis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Jun 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Niki Volos, another week without a signature from Simãozinho.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
Simãozinho 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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 dugout31 May 2027
“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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Niki Volos now.
Market31 May 2027
Vasco Gadelho is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Niki Volos has been clear about where Vasco Gadelho stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market31 May 2027
The Mimito Biai story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mimito Biai signs something — a contract at Niki Volos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market31 May 2027
The shop window has Pavlos Eppas in it
Niki Volos have let the market know Pavlos Eppas can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad31 May 2027
“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 Niki Volos will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout31 May 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niki Volos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Gabriel Rodrigues damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Squad24 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
13 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kostas Plegas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vasco Gadelho, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 May 2027
Anestis Mythou knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Anestis Mythou trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
Gabriel Rodrigues damages knee ligaments — 25 days out
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Tom Bradshaw in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“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 Niki Volos know it.
The dugout17 May 2027
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 Loukinas has written the date down.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
Gabriel Rodrigues damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
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.
Market10 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christos Voutsas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niki Volos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 May 2027
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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
Mimito Biai 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.
Market10 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Niki Volos, another week without a signature from Gabriel Rodrigues.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandros Lolis signs something — a contract at Niki Volos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
Gabriel Rodrigues damages knee ligaments — 41 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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 May 2027
Mimito Biai 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.
Market3 May 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Niki Volos now.
The dugout3 May 2027
“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.
Market3 May 2027
The Mimito Biai story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mimito Biai signs something — a contract at Niki Volos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout3 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niki Volos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Ilias Tselios and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niki Volos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mimito Biai 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
Gabriel Rodrigues damages knee ligaments — 63 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Niki Volos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christos Voutsas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niki Volos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Mimito Biai 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
Gabriel Rodrigues damages knee ligaments — 72 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Niki Volos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Triantafyllos Pasalidis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Alexandros Lolis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Anestis Mythou knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Niki Volos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriel Rodrigues
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Niki Volos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tom Bradshaw in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Triantafyllos Pasalidis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Too much change too quickly at Niki Volos
6 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Zog Djaloshi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Triantafyllos Pasalidis signs something — a contract at Niki Volos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gabriel Rodrigues
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Niki Volos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mimito Biai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“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 Niki Volos know it.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 85% of the Niki Volos income
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 dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Vasco Gadelho
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niki Volos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market15 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niki Volos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Ilias Tselios and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“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; Niki Volos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market15 Mar 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Achilleas Salamouras has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Niki Volos.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“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.
Market15 Mar 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Niki Volos, another week without a signature from Gabriel Rodrigues.
Market15 Mar 2027
The name of Alexandros Lolis keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Niki Volos say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
Gabriel Rodrigues damages knee ligaments — 100 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tom Bradshaw and Niki Volos agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Ilias Tselios 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market8 Mar 2027
Mimito Biai linked with a move away
The name of Mimito Biai keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Niki Volos say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
Triantafyllos Pasalidis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mimito Biai 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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; Niki Volos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market1 Mar 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad1 Mar 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Kostas Plegas knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Niki Volos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Niki Volos may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market22 Feb 2027
Bukovyna come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Niki Volos did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Kostas Plegas 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages swallow 88% of the Niki Volos income
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
6 new faces, and Niki Volos 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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Kostas Plegas asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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 Niki Volos would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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 Loukinas has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PAOK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market15 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christos Voutsas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niki Volos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market15 Feb 2027
Add another name to the list: Bukovyna have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Anestis Mythou. The answer from Niki Volos has not changed — yet.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mimito Biai 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“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 dugout15 Feb 2027
Anestis Mythou asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A season on the outside for Simãozinho
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Niki Volos has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: OFI keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Giannis Loukinas: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Niki Volos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tom Bradshaw 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Nikola Stajić has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Niki Volos know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
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 Niki Volos would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market8 Feb 2027
Mimito Biai linked with a move away
The name of Mimito Biai keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Niki Volos say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes Vasco Gadelho a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niki Volos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 6 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Niki Volos 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The offer from OFI for Giannis Loukinas 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. OFI have kept their man, and Niki Volos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tom Bradshaw in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Markos Sifneos commits to Niki Volos for another 3 years.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Triantafyllos Pasalidis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Feb 2027
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Niki Volos know which stage they are at.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Colón have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
The offer from Volos NPS for Alexandros Lolis 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market25 Jan 2027
The paperwork is done: Markos Sifneos joins from Kavala in a deal worth $330.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad25 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Niki Volos have gone to AEK 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mimito Biai 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Anestis Mythou
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“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; Niki Volos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
92% of the income goes out in wages at Niki Volos
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match18 Jan 2027
Full time on the season at Niki Volos
Position 4 on 24 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Niki Volos
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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.32, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PAOK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Kavala, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niki Volos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Niki Volos offered $79.0K; AEK 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Jan 2027
7 matches without a win for Niki Volos
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Niki Volos are no longer polite ones.
Match9 Jan 2027
7 matches without a goal for Niki Volos
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Niki Volos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at OFI, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
$79.0K on the table at AEK. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kavala have kept their man, and Niki Volos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tom Bradshaw, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kostas Plegas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Jan 2027
At 34, 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niki Volos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match2 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Niki Volos's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Niki Volos has to find a result from somewhere.
Match2 Jan 2027
6 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Niki Volos have done the hard part with Iraklis, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Triantafyllos Pasalidis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mimito Biai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Niki Volos asked and PAOK 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 dugout4 Jan 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niki Volos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match26 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Niki Volos's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Niki Volos has to find a result from somewhere.
Match26 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
166% of the income goes out in wages at Niki Volos
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Alexandros Lolis 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Grigorios Tzavellas chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niki Volos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match19 Dec 2026
0‑3 against Iraklis, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market21 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niki Volos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match19 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Niki Volos
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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
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.
Match19 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Niki Volos
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Niki Volos can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Fabricio Corbalán falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Triantafyllos Pasalidis, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Squad
The decline has begun for Christos Tzioras
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Niki Volos dressing room in a hurry
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Kostas Georgiadis damages knee ligaments — 40 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Match14 Dec 2026
21 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Fabricio Corbalán 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mimito Biai 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
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.
Looking ahead14 Dec 2026
The big one: Iraklis come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Niki Volos will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Grigorios Tzavellas after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Match12 Dec 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Nestos Chrysoupoli defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kostas Plegas commits to Niki Volos for another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabricio Corbalán 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Asteras Tripolis B, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Niki Volos dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Víctor Fernández 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Nov 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Niki Volos did not have in the autumn.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabricio Corbalán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 164% of the Niki Volos income
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.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Niki Volos will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 7.25. 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Grigorios Tzavellas after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Match28 Nov 2026
Point won or two lost for Niki Volos?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against PAOK B? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Nov 2026
There were 86 minutes on the clock and PAS Giannina had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Niki Volos did not stop to explain themselves.
Market23 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christos Voutsas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niki Volos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandros Lolis. 1‑0 against PAS Giannina, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Alexandros Lolis at his very best
Marked 8.26. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Niki Volos.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kostas Plegas 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 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.” Grigorios Tzavellas, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Víctor Fernández dropped after a run of poor form
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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match16 Nov 2026
16 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Simãozinho 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 Nov 2026
Erfan Najjari arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Erfan Najjari has, at Niki Volos, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabricio Corbalán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Too much change too quickly at Niki Volos
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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Niki Volos told Víctor Fernández something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
PAS Giannina next, and one man in the Niki Volos dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market16 Nov 2026
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Erfan Najjari is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niki Volos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Triantafyllos Pasalidis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Fabricio Corbalán 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.
Match9 Nov 2026
Halfway: Niki Volos sit in position 2
16 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.31. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match7 Nov 2026
Point won or two lost for Niki Volos?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Makedonikos? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Age has not caught Tom Bradshaw yet — 7.85
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niki Volos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 164% of the Niki Volos income
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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Kampaniakos made Niki Volos work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kostas Plegas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Niki Volos, another week without a signature from Simãozinho.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tom Bradshaw named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Tom Bradshaw is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Grigorios Tzavellas could afford to be generous.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Oct 2026
Kavala will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Niki Volos were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Age has not caught Tom Bradshaw yet — 8.38
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.38 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market26 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niki Volos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabricio Corbalán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Mimito Biai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Alexandros Lolis was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.27. 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Appearance number 100 for Damián Silva
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Niki Volos
Something was said to Fabricio Corbalán and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Oct 2026
Niki Volos are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 9 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabricio Corbalán 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.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 34, 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Niki Volos
Something was said to Tom Bradshaw and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Niki Volos are still strangers to each other
12 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Evangelos Karelis damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Ilias Tselios: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Niki Volos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kostas Plegas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kostas Plegas’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Niki Volos needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Evangelos Karelis
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Niki Volos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad5 Oct 2026
17 days out for Sotirios Tzolis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Niki Volos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Nobody could get near Simãozinho
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabricio Corbalán 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
1‑2 to Iraklis, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Ilias Tselios and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 219% of the Niki Volos income
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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Triantafyllos Pasalidis, and the manager let it.
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Grigorios Tzavellas to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Evangelos Karelis
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Niki Volos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match23 Sep 2026
Panetolikos go through and Niki Volos go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niki Volos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Fabricio Corbalán 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dušan Stoiljković. 1‑0 against Nestos Chrysoupoli, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.25 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Sotirios Tzolis out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Niki Volos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Triantafyllos Pasalidis 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kostas Plegas 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 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mimito Biai, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Víctor Fernández
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Asteras Tripolis B came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes Tom Bradshaw a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niki Volos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Sotirios Tzolis out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Niki Volos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Fabricio Corbalán 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Niki Volos ran out of time with Asteras. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Market14 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Gabriel Rodrigues 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
7.17, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Niki Volos had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“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 dugout14 Sep 2026
Simãozinho knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Niki Volos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Ilias Tselios has had enough of the bench
“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 Niki Volos will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Niki Volos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 19 in, 3 out at Niki Volos
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Everything agreed with Asteras, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $170.6K — a club that wants Tasos Tsokanis enough to be asked twice.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Fabricio Corbalán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Niki Volos offered $160.0K; Volos NPS 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Niki Volos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kostas Plegas 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Víctor Fernández is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Kostas Plegas pops up at the right end — 7.79
7.79, 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niki Volos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The offer went to Volos NPS 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Triantafyllos Pasalidis was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Niki Volos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simãozinho 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Niki Volos asked and Godoy Cruz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Kostas Plegas’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Niki Volos.
In brief
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Niki Volos
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
Mimito Biai needs a bigger stage
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Niki Volos can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Alexandros Lolis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Niki Volos know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Niki Volos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atromitos have kept their man, and Niki Volos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Triantafyllos Pasalidis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Kostas Plegas 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Simãozinho
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. Niki Volos will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tom Bradshaw commits to Niki Volos for another 2 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Volos NPS have kept their man, and Niki Volos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tom Bradshaw 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Niki Volos offered $280.0K; OFI 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simãozinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Pavlos Androutsos 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Alexandros Mitroglou is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eleftherios Nikolaou 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Fotios Alexiou 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Triantafyllos Pasalidis and Niki Volos agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The offer went to OFI 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Niki Volos
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Triantafyllos Pasalidis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and Niki Volos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Alexandros Lolis 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
Niki Volos are still strangers to each other
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jean Pierre Barrientos has his answer from Niki Volos; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Kostas Plegas knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Niki Volos, and both men came out saying it was fine.