There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.98 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panionios 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 Panionios 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 João Queirós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Emil Rockov.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Angelos Papagiannopoulos on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Position 3 and 19 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
João Queirós 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 Panionios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Angelos Papagiannopoulos, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Panionios have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Nobody at Panionios 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.
Javi Pérez 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 easiest signature of my career.” Giannis Kiakos and Panionios agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Panionios training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Díaz is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody will confirm 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Angelos Papagiannopoulos after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“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 Panionios, and it is not being withdrawn.
Javi Pérez 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
João Queirós 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.
“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; Panionios are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Dimitris Kolovos had Panionios level again within 1 minutes, and Kalamata never got to play with a lead at all.
In brief
BoardroomWages swallow 109% of the Panionios income
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panionios have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panionios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
João Queirós 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Angelos Papagiannopoulos after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panionios have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Javi Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Panionios training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Díaz 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 has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jorge Díaz’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Panionios needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Nobody at Panionios 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 Panionios, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Felipe Felício decided nobody was going anywhere. Olympiacos B had no time left to answer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Queirós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 3, 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Angelos Papagiannopoulos on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panionios, and both men came out saying it was fine.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.70 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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; Panionios are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Javi Pérez 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Panionios and Athens Kallithea in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad2 Nov 2026
João Queirós falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
BoardroomWages swallow 109% of the Panionios income
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Jorge Díaz falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Panionios told Leandro Basán something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Athens Kallithea next, and one man in the Panionios dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Adrian Mazilu had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Ilioupoli were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Position 2, 12 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Queirós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Adrian Mazilu 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.
Javi Pérez 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Panionios training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Queirós is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Panionios will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Ilioupoli next, and one man in the Panionios dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Nobody at Panionios will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A 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 Fotis Sgouris has written the date down.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.04 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Javi Pérez 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: Leandro Basán. 1‑0 against Hellas Syros, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“I 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 Panionios know it.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was 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 Panionios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Panionios training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Queirós 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Panionios go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.28 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Panionios training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Queirós 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.
Jorge Díaz 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Angelos Papagiannopoulos on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Adrian Mazilu, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.63
A mark of 7.63 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 Panionios can pretend not to have heard.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Dimitris Skafidas reports back to Panionios with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Javi Pérez 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.
Panionios offered $64.0K; Iraklis said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Panionios asked and Patronato said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Minute 85, against Kalamata, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Panionios training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Díaz 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.
Panionios offered $2.3M; Sportivo Luqueno said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Panionios close the window on a squad of their own making
21 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $68.2K — a club that wants Abdul Rahman Weiss enough to be asked twice.
The deal that would have taken Ioan Yakovlev to Makedonikos has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Panionios with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Panionios have gone to Iraklis 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 João Queirós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 7.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adrian Mazilu did not need any: 8.34, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
$2.2M on the table at Sportivo Luqueno. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Panionios offered $1.1M; AEL Larisa said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at NK Celje is saying, and nobody at Panionios is enjoying the guessing.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $34.1K — a club that wants Michalis Pardalos enough to be asked twice.
Panionios asked and Independiente said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Jorge Díaz 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.
Panionios have made the call to Ludogorets. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Panionios have gone to AEL Larisa 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 offer went to Talleres 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.
Javi Pérez 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.
$30.0K on the table at Panetolikos. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Panionios training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Queirós is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Panionios will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Panionios 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Panathinaikos is saying, and nobody at Panionios is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panionios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Panionios offered $290.0K; OFI said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nikos Torosidis has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stavros Siopis has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ioannis Alexiou has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Javi Pérez has just signed for Panionios, and for once the answer mattered.
The offer went to OFI this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Omonoia have kept their man, and Panionios go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Jorge Díaz 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 Panionios this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Dinamo Bucharest have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.