5 Jan 2027
Tuesday
Process
23 Edition

The OFI Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 41. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

OFI say no — this time

The offer from Olympiacos for Aitor Cantalapiedra 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.

Market

Braian Uribe asks to leave OFI

“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.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Kenan Kodro yet — 8.22

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.22 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Tempers go at OFI

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.

Squad

A row about effort at OFI

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aitor Cantalapiedra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Home is on Facundo Silva's mind

“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.

Match

OFI end the wait against Kifisia

It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Match

OFI get the job done against Kifisia

A 1‑0 win over Kifisia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

In brief

Back issues
22 Edition

The OFI Post

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Fer Pina out for 17 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason OFI will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Fer Pina: 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.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

No end in sight to OFI's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at OFI has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A falling-out at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at OFI training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Nuss 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Thiago Nuss

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Zisis Karachalios

“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.

Squad

Ignacio Ten López stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ignacio Ten López and OFI agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

Honours even between OFI and Aris Thessaloniki

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

In brief

  • The dugout Gonzalo Verdú knocks on the manager's door
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • Market The Eddie Salcedo story refuses to die
21 Edition

The OFI Post

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

OFI taken apart

2‑5 to Levadiakos, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

A fracture rules Fer Pina out for 24 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason OFI will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Lazar Kojić: 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.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

The wait goes on for OFI

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.

Squad

A falling-out at OFI

Thiago Nuss and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about OFI and Levadiakos in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

The step up is real for Manuel Kalafatis

At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

A row about effort at OFI

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zisis Karachalios was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Andreas Bouchalakis

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andreas Bouchalakis, and the manager let it.

In brief

  • Boardroom Nobody left the OFI dressing room in a hurry
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Nikos Christogeorgos gets picked when it counts
20 Edition

The OFI Post

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

OFI out of the cup

Panathinaikos ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Match

OFI taken apart

0‑3 to Olympiacos, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

31 days out for Fer Pina after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. OFI will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Facundo Silva hands in a written request

“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.

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

6 saves: Nikos Christogeorgos was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Aitor Cantalapiedra pulls a muscle — 16 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Squad

Thiago Nuss 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 OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Nikos Christogeorgos

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikos Christogeorgos, and the manager let it.

In brief

19 Edition

The OFI Post

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Fer Pina out for 40 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason OFI will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Dimitris Nikolaou 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 OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Aitor Cantalapiedra 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 dugout

Dimitris Nikolaou gets it from the manager

“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.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon OFI had all but put away. Panathinaikos will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

Player ratings

Aitor Cantalapiedra takes the honours

Marked 7.87 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, OFI had the best player on the pitch.

Player ratings

Wrong net for Giannis Apostolakis

A touch he did not mean and a goal that goes in the book with his name against it. OFI will not blame him tonight and he will not need them to.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Eddie Salcedo

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Eddie Salcedo has come out of that comparison in the side, and OFI have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

In brief

18 Edition

The OFI Post

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Fer Pina out for 47 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason OFI will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Aaron Leya Iseka: 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.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Kenan Kodro yet — 8.03

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Words exchanged at OFI

Thiago Nuss 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.

Squad

A row about effort at OFI

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aitor Cantalapiedra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Thanasis Androutsos the difference as OFI beat Panserraikos

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thanasis Androutsos. 2‑1 against Panserraikos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

One of those days for Thanasis Androutsos

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Zisis Karachalios

“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.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout A promise honoured at OFI
  • Squad Aitor Cantalapiedra named player of the week
17 Edition

The OFI Post

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A fracture rules Fer Pina out for 54 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason OFI will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Both of them Aitor Cantalapiedra's — 8.88

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.88, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A falling-out at OFI

Thiago Nuss and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

OFI get the job done against Asteras

A 2‑0 win over Asteras, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The dugout

No hiding place for Gonzalo Verdú

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gonzalo Verdú, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words at OFI training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lorenzo Dickmann 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.

Match

The half-term report on OFI

Position 6, 18 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.

The dugout

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.” Stavros Vrousai, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

  • The dugout Jonathan Hereñú dropped after a run of poor form
  • Squad The division's best last weekend was a OFI man
  • The dugout Juan Neira gets picked when it counts
16 Edition

The OFI Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Fer Pina out for 61 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason OFI will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou 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.

Squad

Words at OFI training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aitor Cantalapiedra 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.

Match

OFI come up short against Volos NPS

Volos NPS left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Appearance number 200 for Filip Bainović

200 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 dugout

Braian Uribe gets it from the manager

“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.

Player ratings

Aitor Cantalapiedra beats them one at a time

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 dugout

Stavros Vrousai faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stavros Vrousai after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Gonzalo Verdú 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.

In brief

15 Edition

The OFI Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Thiago Nuss leads the rout of AEL Larisa

5‑2, and Thiago Nuss took the headlines on an afternoon when everything OFI tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

69 days out for Fer Pina after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. OFI will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss scores twice — 8.46

Two goals and a mark of 8.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Thanasis Androutsos goes up and wins it — 7.22

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.22 for the rest of it.

Squad

Dimitris Nikolaou 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 OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about OFI and AEL Larisa in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Aitor Cantalapiedra 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.

Player ratings

Eddie Salcedo was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.80. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

The dugout

No hiding place for Nikos Christogeorgos

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikos Christogeorgos, and the manager let it.

In brief

14 Edition

The OFI Post

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

76 days out for Fer Pina after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. OFI will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nikos Christogeorgos

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Facundo Silva hands in a written request

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

A bad afternoon for OFI against AEK

0‑1 to AEK, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at OFI training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lorenzo Dickmann 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Zisis Karachalios

“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 dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Stavros Vrousai to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

13 Edition

The OFI Post

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nikos Christogeorgos

There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

A fracture rules Fer Pina out for 83 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason OFI will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Thiago Nuss

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Sotiris Kontouris: 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.” OFI have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words exchanged at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou 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.

Squad

Aitor Cantalapiedra 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.

Match

Kenan Kodro’s goal not enough for OFI

Kenan Kodro scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to PAOK, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

Lorenzo Dickmann gets it from the manager

“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 dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Stavros Vrousai left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

12 Edition

The OFI Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

92 days out for Fer Pina after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. OFI will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Nobody wants to play OFI right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

The step up is real for Klidman Lilo

At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Tempers go at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou 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.

Squad

Aitor Cantalapiedra 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.

Match

OFI get the job done against Panetolikos

A 1‑0 win over Panetolikos, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Borja González

“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.

Player ratings

Eddie Salcedo was the difference for OFI

Marked 7.72. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

In brief

11 Edition

The OFI Post

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

100 days out for Fer Pina after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. OFI will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Nikos Christogeorgos

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Kenan Kodro yet — 8.19

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.19 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Dimitris Nikolaou 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 OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Giannis Apostolakis signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giannis Apostolakis and OFI agree another 4 years.

Match

OFI see off Atromitos

Three points for OFI, 2‑0 the final word against Atromitos in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

Andreas Bouchalakis gets it from the manager

“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 dugout

Stavros Vrousai: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.

In brief

10 Edition

The OFI Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Fotios Mandalos damages knee ligaments — 18 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.

Squad

A fracture rules Fer Pina out for 107 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason OFI will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

No mercy from OFI

Kifisia will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. OFI were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Market

Facundo Silva asks to leave OFI

“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.

Player ratings

Ilias Chatzitheodoridis beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Kenan Kodro, 33, rolls back the years — 8.81

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.81 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

A falling-out at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Manuel Kalafatis is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Match

At last: OFI win one

5 matches without a win, and then this, against Kifisia. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

In brief

  • Player ratings Eddie Salcedo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Jonathan Hereñú
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
9 Edition

The OFI Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Filip Bainović sends OFI through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Filip Bainović obliged against AEL Larisa. 2‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is OFI.

Squad

A fracture rules Fer Pina out for 114 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason OFI will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

The knee: Fotios Mandalos out for 25 days

25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. OFI lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

A hiding for OFI

Beaten 0‑3 by Aris Thessaloniki, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

Klidman Lilo is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Klidman Lilo: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Player ratings

Juan Neira, 37, rolls back the years — 7.91

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.91 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Match

5 matches without a win for OFI

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around OFI are no longer polite ones.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Giannis Theodosoulakis

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words exchanged at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou 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.

In brief

8 Edition

The OFI Post

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Tempers go at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou 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.

Match

OFI come up short against Levadiakos

Levadiakos left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words at OFI training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aitor Cantalapiedra 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Gonzalo Verdú

“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.

Squad

Rufo pulls a muscle — 14 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Player ratings

Thiago Nuss runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Stavros Vrousai to a room that had heard them before.

Squad

Rufo is a square peg at OFI

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

The dugout

No place in the plan for Gonzalo Verdú

The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

In brief

7 Edition

The OFI Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Transfer targets

OFI baulk at the price for Lazaros Lamprou

Volos NPS wanted more than $5.8M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Market

OFI turn down Panetolikos for Ilija Vukotić

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Dimitris Nikolaou 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 OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Ilias Chatzitheodoridis was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 21. 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.

Squad

Words at OFI training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aitor Cantalapiedra 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 targets

IF Elfsborg tell OFI: Frederik Ihler is not for sale

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for OFI against Olympiacos

1‑2 to Olympiacos, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

OFI promote Kostas Stafylidis from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kostas Stafylidis 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.

Market

Andreas Galanopoulos steps up from the OFI academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andreas Galanopoulos has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

In brief

6 Edition

The OFI Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Manos Chnaris damages knee ligaments — 20 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.

Match

Nowhere to hide for OFI

0‑5 against Panathinaikos, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Giannis Theodosoulakis says no to Emirates Club

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Giannis Theodosoulakis had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Transfer targets

An offer of $5.8M for Lazaros Lamprou

OFI have gone to Volos NPS 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.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 25 signed and 2 gone

That is the business done at OFI 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.

Market

OFI turn down AEL Larisa for Giorgos Kanellopoulos

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

A falling-out at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

PAOK tell OFI: Giannis Michailidis is not for sale

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.

Squad

Aitor Cantalapiedra 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.

In brief

5 Edition

The OFI Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Manos Chnaris

28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. OFI lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

Aitor Cantalapiedra scores twice — 8.85

Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Giannis Apostolakis, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.96

A mark of 7.96 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Player ratings

Ilias Chatzitheodoridis beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Panagiotis Katsikas asks to leave OFI

“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 targets

Apostolos Apostolopoulos is a medical away from OFI

The deal with Panetolikos 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 targets

No thanks: Tiago Caballero rejects the move

OFI had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olimpia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Market

OFI turn down Atromitos for Giannis Christopoulos

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

OFI sign Lazar Kojić for $450.0K

The paperwork is done: Lazar Kojić joins from Panetolikos in a deal worth $450.0K. Now comes the harder part.

In brief

4 Edition

The OFI Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

OFI say no — this time

The offer from AEK for Thanasis Androutsos 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.

Market

Filip Bainović asks to leave OFI

“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 targets

The paperwork begins on Sotiris Kontouris

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. OFI have done the hard part with Panathinaikos, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Lee Young-Jun rejects the move

OFI had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Grasshopper, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Tempers go at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou 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.

Market

Giannis Theodosoulakis attracts admirers

The name of Giannis Theodosoulakis has come up in conversations OFI were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Aitor Cantalapiedra 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 targets

Defensa y Justicia tell OFI: David Barbona is not for sale

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.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Andrin Hunziker is in the works

OFI have made the call to Young Boys. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

3 Edition

The OFI Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

OFI turn down Atromitos for Eddie Salcedo

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

Too dear: OFI walk away from Karol Świderski

$3.2M was the most the club would pay and Panathinaikos 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.

Transfer targets

Pavlos Pantelidis will not be coming to OFI

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Panathinaikos is saying, and nobody at OFI is enjoying the guessing.

Transfer targets

Panserraikos tell OFI: Yoël Armougom is not for sale

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.

Squad

Dimitris Nikolaou 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 OFI this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at OFI

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aitor Cantalapiedra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Giannis Christopoulos attracts admirers

The name of Giannis Christopoulos has come up in conversations OFI were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

The formation has left Gonzalo Verdú behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. OFI will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

Squad

12 new faces, and OFI 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.

In brief

  • Transfer targets A loan move for Lee Young-Jun is in the works
  • Market OFI bring in an old head
  • Market OFI pick up Fer Pina for nothing
2 Edition

The OFI Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

OFI say no — this time

The offer from PAOK for Giannis Apostolakis 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 targets

An offer of $4.2M for Andrews Tetteh

OFI have gone to Panathinaikos 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.

Transfer targets

OFI bid $3.2M for Karol Świderski

The offer went to Panathinaikos 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.

Transfer targets

Panetolikos tell OFI: Alexandru Măţan is not for sale

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.

Squad

Thiago Nuss signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thiago Nuss commits to OFI for another 3 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou 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.

Squad

A row about effort at OFI

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Dickmann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

One of our own: Lazaros Papadopoulos joins the OFI first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lazaros Papadopoulos is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Theodoros Mitroglou steps up from the OFI academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Theodoros Mitroglou 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The OFI Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Aitor Cantalapiedra stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Aitor Cantalapiedra and OFI agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at OFI

Dimitris Nikolaou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at OFI training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aitor Cantalapiedra 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 targets

Flamengo tell OFI: Joaquín Freitas is not for sale

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.

Market

Nobody at OFI has picked up the phone to Aitor Cantalapiedra

36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

Squad

The formation has left Braian Uribe behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. OFI will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

In brief