28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
$54.0K on the table at Nestos Chrysoupoli. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sotirios Vrousai is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Christos Donis 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.
It is arithmetic now, and the arithmetic is done. A summer of hard questions starts early at Panetolikos, and next season's fixture list reads very differently.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Panetolikos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Panetolikos and Anagennisi Karditsa have settled on $65.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Panetolikos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Anagennisi Karditsa have kept their man, and Panetolikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Giorgos Sokos 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.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diallo Sanoussi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panetolikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Unai Garcia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The mood at Panetolikos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
17 appearances at Panathinaikos and the goals have stopped going in. Panetolikos lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panetolikos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Panetolikos will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miki Muñoz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Panetolikos would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
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.
Unai Garcia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sotiris Kontouris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Panetolikos are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Jack Sanders is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
In brief
The dugoutMiki Muñoz asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diallo Sanoussi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panetolikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Unai Garcia 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Ugrešić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Jack Sanders was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Panetolikos has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The mood at Panetolikos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Panetolikos
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panetolikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
8 clean sheets from 17 appearances at Panathinaikos. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panetolikos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Unai Garcia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javi Manquillo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Panetolikos know it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panetolikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Unai Garcia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panetolikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Panetolikos says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Panagiotis Avgerinos has written the date down.
In brief
SquadUnai Garcia looks at the other side of the line
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panetolikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Unai Garcia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Something was said to Novak Petrušić and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Adriano Bregu is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Javi Manquillo is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panetolikos 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 Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
8 shut-outs in 17 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Michalis Pardalos has been having a lot of them.
Position 13 and 20 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Unai Garcia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Ugrešić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Panetolikos will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panetolikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Unai Garcia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Panetolikos pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Javi Manquillo
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vasileios Bakasetas has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Cédric Makutungu is living that version at Panetolikos, and it tends to show in the first month.
Unai Garcia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cédric Makutungu and Panetolikos agree another 3 years.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
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 1‑3 Vasileios Bakasetas left the room before anybody could ask which.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Javi Manquillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kalamata left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Feb 2028
10 new faces, and Panetolikos 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vasileios Bakasetas after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stefanos Stroungis and Panetolikos agree another 3 years.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Unai Garcia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Ugrešić 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.
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 Javi Manquillo.
Unai Garcia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Javi Manquillo 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.
Panetolikos asked and Excelsior said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Panetolikos know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
“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 Panetolikos know it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Panetolikos told Živko Živković something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
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 1‑3 Vasileios Bakasetas left the room before anybody could ask which.
11 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Panetolikos close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Unai Garcia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AEL Larisa have kept their man, and Panetolikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
10 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.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Panetolikos
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
“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 Panetolikos, 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 Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Labros Smyrlis has come up in conversations Panetolikos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Ugrešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Panetolikos asked and Atromitos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos 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.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Panetolikos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Labros Smyrlis had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
There were 7 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 ratings17 Jan 2028
Ognjen Ugrešić, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.09
A mark of 8.09 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Labros Smyrlis has agreed terms with Iraklis for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Unai Garcia 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.
$54.0K on the table at Nestos Chrysoupoli. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The phone has started ringing about Diallo Sanoussi again, and this time the name on the line is Panargiakos. Panetolikos are listening politely and promising nothing.
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Panetolikos
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Unai Garcia 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 Labros Smyrlis has come up in conversations Panetolikos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ognjen Ugrešić did not need any: 7.82, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Unai Garcia 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Ugrešić 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.
“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; Panetolikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Something was said to Benny and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Panetolikos can tell you which week it ends in.
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“I watch every Panetolikos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Panathinaikos runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Position 9, 15 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The words a physio says slowly. 69 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Unai Garcia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Atromitos? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
77 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Unai Garcia 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Ugrešić 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vasileios Bakasetas after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Something was said to Uroš Stević and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Atromitos in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.79 on the card, and the Panetolikos support went home talking about one name.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Vasileios Bakasetas kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Panagiotis Avgerinos 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.
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Ugrešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Panetolikos, and 0 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Panagiotis Santis’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Panetolikos needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The words a physio says slowly. 100 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces8 Nov 2027
The mood at Panetolikos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vasileios Bakasetas has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Iraklis kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Panetolikos will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Two goals and a mark of 8.24 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Unai Garcia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Ugrešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
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.
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.
Unai Garcia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sotiris Kontouris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
1‑2 to OFI, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Alexandru Măţan's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑4 to PAOK, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Ugrešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Vasileios Bakasetas to a room that had heard them before.
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adriano Bregu did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panetolikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I watch every Panetolikos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Panathinaikos runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Panetolikos will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Unai Garcia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miki Muñoz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Panetolikos will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against AEK in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
OFI go through and Panetolikos go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adriano Bregu did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
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 dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Alexandru Măţan's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
1 for Sotiris Kontouris, marked 7.99, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Ugrešić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sotiris Kontouris has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Panetolikos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Panetolikos, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ognjen Ugrešić did not need any: 8.17, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Panetolikos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olimpija Ljubljana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Unai Garcia 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: Alexandru Măţan. 3‑2 against Levadiakos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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 words a physio says slowly. 70 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Panetolikos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Panetolikos close the window on a squad of their own making
18 in and 29 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Panetolikos have done the hard part with Panionios, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $201.8K — a club that wants Anthony Belmonte enough to be asked twice.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Estudiantes is saying, and nobody at Panetolikos is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Unai Garcia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Sep 2027
12 new faces, and Panetolikos 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.
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panetolikos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Kavala for Diallo Sanoussi 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.
The offer went to Panionios 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.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Panetolikos
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Garcia 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.
Panetolikos asked and Cukaricki said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panetolikos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
He is going to Anagennisi Karditsa, the club has $1.7M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Anagennisi Karditsa pay $1.7M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Rida Zouhir is living that version at Panetolikos, and it tends to show in the first month.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Panetolikos is running low.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
$360.0K settles it between the clubs for Rida Zouhir
Egaleo have accepted the money. What Panetolikos do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Panetolikos have done the hard part with Estudiantes, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panetolikos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Vangelis Noikokyrakis has, at Panetolikos, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Estudiantes keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The offer from Asteras for Kosta Aleksić 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.
Panetolikos and Anagennisi Karditsa have settled on $500.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Panetolikos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Vojvodina, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Themis Tselios has, at Panetolikos, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“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 Panetolikos know it.
The words a physio says slowly. 116 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Panetolikos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Panetolikos and Niki Volos have settled on $120.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The fee is $120.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Marko drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Christos Voutsas has just signed for Panetolikos, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Unai Garcia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vojvodina have kept their man, and Panetolikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 123 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Giannis Satsias had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Kosta Aleksić again, and this time the name on the line is Asteras. Panetolikos are listening politely and promising nothing.
Panetolikos have gone to Niki Volos 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Unai Garcia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
130 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panetolikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Christos Belevonis had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panetolikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deal with Mallorca 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.
Unai Garcia 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.
138 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panetolikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Panetolikos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Sotiris Kontouris 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 Panetolikos know it.
The words a physio says slowly. 146 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panargiakos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Panetolikos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: VfL Bochum keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Panetolikos have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Unai Garcia 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.
Panetolikos asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Panetolikos is running low.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Diego Esteban had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Panetolikos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
He is going to Egaleo, the club has $2.6M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Panetolikos asked and Anagennisi Karditsa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Chrysovalantis Manos is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kifisia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Panetolikos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deal with Panathinaikos is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Konrad Michalak has left for PAS Giannina in a $410.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Garcia 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.
Panetolikos asked and Olympiacos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panetolikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
In brief
The dugoutNovica Eraković is still being punished for one mistake
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vasileios Bakasetas has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Panetolikos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Panathinaikos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The name of Giannis Satsias has come up in conversations Panetolikos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Panetolikos asked and PAOK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michalis Pardalos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panetolikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Youssouph Badji 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.
18 games and 2 goals away from here, and a man the manager did not have last summer. The loan did what loans are supposed to do and almost never do.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Luís 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.
Squad31 May 2027
7 new faces, and Panetolikos 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikola Stajić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Yevhenii Kucherenko may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Panetolikos has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Panetolikos
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Elias Olsson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panetolikos 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 Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Niko Galešić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panetolikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Panetolikos will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Niko Galešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Hellas Syros to sit and watch. I want to come back to Panetolikos and fight for my place.” 13 appearances in 40 matches say the rest.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Novica Eraković's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Niko Galešić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panetolikos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kwadwo Opoku has written the date down.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos 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 Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Panetolikos know it.
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vangelis Nikolaou 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panetolikos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Panetolikos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panetolikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Niko Galešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Javi Manquillo was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Christian Manrique trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Panetolikos is running low.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Niko Galešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Niko Galešić 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Mateo Mejía 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Youssouph Badji was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Niko Galešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Panetolikos know it.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Panetolikos says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Panetolikos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Youssouph Badji and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Niko Galešić 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.
“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 Panetolikos know it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Kosta Aleksić is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager's exit leaves Niko Galešić exposed
The dugoutNiko Galešić asks for a word with the manager
The mood at Panetolikos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Panetolikos is running low.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mateo Mejía was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mateo Mejía 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 Javi Manquillo signs something — a contract at Panetolikos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Panetolikos will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Giannis Satsias’s exile
“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 Panetolikos, 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.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Niko Galešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Mar 2027
5 new faces, and Panetolikos 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Panetolikos will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Position 12 on 15 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marked 6.90 on 17 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Niko Galešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panetolikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Panetolikos can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Javi Manquillo and Panetolikos agree another 2 years.
Three points for Panetolikos, 3‑2 the final word against Panserraikos in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Salifou Soumah was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.43. 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.
“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; Panetolikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
In brief
SquadMateo Mejía falls out with a teammate over standards
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Panetolikos know it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Niko Galešić 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.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Panetolikos know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Niko Galešić 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.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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 Vasileios Bakasetas left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and AEL Larisa were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Youssouph Badji 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.
AEL Larisa made Panetolikos work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Mateo Mejía 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.
“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 Panetolikos know it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vasileios Bakasetas has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Wa All Stars for Kwadwo Opoku 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Niko Galešić 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.
Panetolikos asked and Godoy Cruz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Panetolikos know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
“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; Panetolikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugoutNiko Galešić loses the manager who believed in him
27Edition
The Panetolikos Courier
1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondentCrisis
The terraces1 Feb 2027
The mood at Panetolikos has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Panetolikos is running low.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. PAS Giannina moved on, Konrad Michalak reports back to Panetolikos, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Panetolikos close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Liberty Professionals waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Panetolikos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Panetolikos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Independiente, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gimnasia La Plata have kept their man, and Panetolikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Panetolikos, 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.” Panetolikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The phone has started ringing about Kosta Aleksić again, and this time the name on the line is Volos NPS. Panetolikos are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Unai Garcia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Panetolikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Salifou Soumah has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“I watch every Panetolikos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kifisia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
0‑4 to Kifisia, 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panargiakos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Panetolikos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with KAA Gent 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vasileios Bakasetas has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Panetolikos is running low.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panetolikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Chrysovalantis Manos is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Add another name to the list: Levadiakos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Miguel Luís. The answer from Panetolikos has not changed — yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Unai Garcia 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Panetolikos know it.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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 0‑2 Vasileios Bakasetas left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Unai Garcia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lazar Kojić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Vasileios Bakasetas to a room that had heard them before.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Panetolikos have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panetolikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandru Măţan signs something — a contract at Panetolikos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mateo Mejía was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Panetolikos, and 5 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Panetolikos told Christian Manrique something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michalis Pardalos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panetolikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Unai Garcia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
12 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.
Position 13 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Garcia is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I 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 Panetolikos know it.
Something was said to Kosta Aleksić and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Vasileios Bakasetas chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos 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 Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Mateo Mejía 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.
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Vasileios Bakasetas to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Unai Garcia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Youssouph Badji 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Juanpi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Panetolikos needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Panetolikos that is a harder question to answer.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Novica Eraković scored, was marked 7.87, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michalis Pardalos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panetolikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Unai Garcia 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.
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mateo Mejía 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.
Marked 8.10 — 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Nikola Stajić, marked 7.65, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
OFI left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Mateo Mejía 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.
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 dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Vasileios Bakasetas to a room that had heard them before.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
PAOK left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Garcia is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Vasileios Bakasetas to a room that had heard them before.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Panetolikos are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Garcia 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.
Thanos Prodromitis 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
14 new faces, and Panetolikos 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Vasileios Bakasetas chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michalis Pardalos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panetolikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Panetolikos, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panetolikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panetolikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panetolikos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Panetolikos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Panetolikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
“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; Panetolikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Unai Garcia 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Panetolikos are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juanpi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
0‑1 to Kifisia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Vasileios Bakasetas to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Juanpi
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panetolikos can pretend not to have heard.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michalis Pardalos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panetolikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Panetolikos will try again when the window opens; Panionios may not be selling by then.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Garcia 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
13 new faces, and Panetolikos 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.
“I watch every Panetolikos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hellas Syros runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Panetolikos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The deal with Panionios 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Panetolikos 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yevhenii Kucherenko and Panetolikos agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
SquadUnai Garcia falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer went to Panionios 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $609.5K — a club that wants Zois Karargyris enough to be asked twice.
$910.0K 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Panetolikos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
$910.0K on the table at Panathinaikos. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $951.2K — a club that wants Sotiris Kontouris enough to be asked twice.
$830.0K was the most the club would pay and Aris Thessaloniki 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.
Panetolikos asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Panionios have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Thanos Prodromitis. The answer from Panetolikos has not changed — yet.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Garcia 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.
Olympiacos next, and one man in the Panetolikos dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Panetolikos has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Panetolikos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Panetolikos asked and OFI said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Panetolikos have gone to Aris Thessaloniki 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $2.6M — a club that wants Thiago Nuss enough to be asked twice.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Panetolikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Unai Garcia is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panetolikos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Labros Smyrlis had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The offer from Asteras for Lazar Kojić 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panetolikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stylianos Tsimikas 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 125 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
The offer from Fehervar for Giannis Satsias 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Moussa Djénépo and Panetolikos agree another 4 years.
Marvelous Nakamba and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The name of Christos Belevonis has come up in conversations Panetolikos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.