It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at OFI is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OFI can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at OFI, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aaron Leya Iseka signs something — a contract at OFI or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee OFI could ask drops and the wages Giorgos Mygas can ask rise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around OFI they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 The request is on a desk at OFI, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Thiago Nuss 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 OFI, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around OFI they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thiago Nuss 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.
“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 OFI, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 OFI, and it is not being withdrawn.
Thiago Nuss 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.
“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; OFI are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Klidman Lilo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aaron Leya Iseka signs something — a contract at OFI or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OFI can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Paschalis Staikos is a OFI player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Marked 9.26 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Thiago Nuss 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; André Ramalho will call it something else in private.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Klidman Lilo knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OFI can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Thiago Nuss 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Taxiarchis Fountas. 1‑0 against Aris Thessaloniki, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 38 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kostas Kostoulas. 1‑0 against Levadiakos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Thiago Nuss 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Klidman Lilo knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“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 OFI know it.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by 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 OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every OFI game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Panetolikos runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Thiago Nuss 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Aaron Leya Iseka. 3‑2 against Panserraikos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 9.15 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Reiss Elliott-Parris is 20, and OFI have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
5 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.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at OFI has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OFI can pretend not to have heard.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.76 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giannis Apostolakis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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; OFI are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Anderson Prestes obliged against AEL Larisa. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is OFI.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 34 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 9.84 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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 OFI, and 0 appearances in 7 say he has earned the hearing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. OFI have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.52 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. OFI have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zisis Karachalios trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The offer from Volos NPS for Ruslan Stepaniuk 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.
Thiago Nuss 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. OFI know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
OFI opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Andreas Bouchalakis stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Angelos Androutsos is a OFI player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Nikolaos Limnios is a OFI player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The offer from Aris Thessaloniki for Bozhidar Kraev 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.
Thiago Nuss 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 offer from Atromitos for Taxiarchis Fountas was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OFI can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The fee is $370.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Panserraikos drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Thiago Nuss 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 name of Panagiotis Katsikas has come up in conversations OFI 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 OFI know it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Konstantinos Balogiannis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Grigorios Papadopoulos has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Klidman Lilo has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Thiago Nuss 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.
A new face in his position, and Klidman Lilo suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. OFI have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. OFI know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OFI can pretend not to have heard.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at OFI, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Andreas Bouchalakis may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at OFI, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Thiago Nuss 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Konstantinos Balogiannis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The chase for Alexandros Maskanakis ended with $670.0K changing hands and Panserraikos out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; OFI are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Achilleas Poungouras will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around OFI the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thiago Nuss 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at OFI is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around OFI they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thiago Nuss 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at OFI is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at OFI, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I 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 OFI know it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at OFI is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around OFI they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thiago Nuss 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ilias Chatzitheodoridis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 OFI, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Thiago Nuss 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 trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at OFI has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at OFI is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 OFI, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at OFI is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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; OFI are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OFI can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 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.
Thiago Nuss 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Konstantinos Balogiannis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Achilleas Poungouras will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around OFI the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Taxiarchis Fountas will call it something else in private.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around OFI they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I 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 OFI 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 OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Thiago Nuss 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Andreas Bouchalakis.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aaron Leya Iseka signs something — a contract at OFI or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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 OFI, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikos Marinakis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around OFI the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thiago Nuss 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.
Add another name to the list: Asteras have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Achilleas Poungouras. The answer from OFI has not changed — yet.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.79 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aaron Leya Iseka signs something — a contract at OFI or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Thiago Nuss 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 award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. OFI have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 31 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 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 OFI know it.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at OFI, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aaron Leya Iseka signs something — a contract at OFI or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Nikos Christogeorgos knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 9.43 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thiago Nuss. 2‑0 against AEL Larisa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.68 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.78 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Nikos Christogeorgos knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. OFI know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the OFI squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
7 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.
Thiago Nuss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.67 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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; OFI are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
6 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 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 OFI know it.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Kifisia? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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.
Thiago Nuss 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Nikos Christogeorgos knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.79 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. OFI know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Thiago Nuss 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at OFI, another week without a signature from Konstantinos Balogiannis.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Konstantinos Balogiannis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Olympiacos? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OFI can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Panathinaikos defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OFI can pretend not to have heard.
Thiago Nuss 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.
“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 OFI, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. OFI know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at OFI has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The language is arriving, the jokes are landing, and there is somebody at the next peg to talk to. None of it appears in a scouting report and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Thiago Nuss 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 shirt still fits. Konstantinos Balogiannis is back at OFI, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at OFI, another week without a signature from Konstantinos Balogiannis.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at OFI has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Thiago Nuss 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 shirt still fits. Ilias Chatzitheodoridis is back at OFI, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at OFI, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.