36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panserraikos 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 Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nick Tsaroulla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nick Tsaroulla 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.
Vernon de Marco 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nick Tsaroulla, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andrei Ivan signs something — a contract at Panserraikos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panserraikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Panserraikos know it.
Vernon de Marco 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 Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Babis Pavlidis is on it.
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panserraikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tibério Cunha will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Cheick Niang and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Babis Pavlidis 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.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Panserraikos could ask drops and the wages Nick Tsaroulla can ask rise.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikos Vafeas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Iva Gelashvili 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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panserraikos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Panserraikos will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Din Alomerovic has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Vernon de Marco 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andrei Ivan signs something — a contract at Panserraikos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yusuf Taiye trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Panserraikos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Vernon de Marco 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panserraikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Babis Pavlidis 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 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Panserraikos will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Position 6 on 26 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“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 Panserraikos, 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 Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simãozinho trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panserraikos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Panserraikos than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jean-Baptiste Léo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Vernon de Marco 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.
Everybody at Panserraikos saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andrei Ivan signs something — a contract at Panserraikos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Panserraikos 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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Atromitos moved on, Rui Faria reports back to Panserraikos, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panserraikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Iva Gelashvili 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.
Panserraikos ran out of time with Anagennisi Karditsa. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panserraikos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Panserraikos may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Panserraikos 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.
Everything agreed with Atromitos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Panserraikos ran out of time with AEK. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panserraikos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have shaken hands with AEK; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jean-Baptiste Léo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Vernon de Marco 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Panathinaikos have kept their man, and Panserraikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Grigoris Politakis and Panserraikos agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Panserraikos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with San Telmo 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.
Vernon de Marco 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Colón have kept their man, and Panserraikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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.
Panserraikos have made the call to Atromitos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panserraikos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Panserraikos know 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 Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Edu Cortina is living that version at Panserraikos, and it tends to show in the first month.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Panserraikos have done the hard part with Anagennisi Karditsa, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Panserraikos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at PAOK, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Alexandros Maskanakis scored in the 88th minute, Kavala had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Panserraikos took the lot.
The name of Nick Tsaroulla has come up in conversations Panserraikos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Panathinaikos have kept their man, and Panserraikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panserraikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Leonardo Sigali 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 Din Alomerovic 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 Leonardo Sigali.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Alexandros Papanikolaou after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad27 Dec 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Panserraikos man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Andrei Ivan was the best thing in any of them.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panserraikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nestos Chrysoupoli will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Panserraikos were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.07 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Vernon de Marco 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.
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.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panserraikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Grigoris Politakis is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“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 Panserraikos know it.
It needed Andrei Ivan to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Asteras Tripolis B, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leonardo Sigali trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Alexandros Papanikolaou was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Panserraikos dressing room was either.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Cheick Niang. 1‑0 against Anagennisi Karditsa, 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.
10 combined actions and 7.44. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.73 on the card, and the Panserraikos support went home talking about one name.
The dugout6 Dec 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.” Alexandros Papanikolaou kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos 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 Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
Vernon de Marco 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 Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Makedonikos defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jean-Baptiste Léo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Panserraikos needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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.
Paschalis Staikos 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panserraikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
Nobody at Panserraikos 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
The dugoutNikos Vafeas knocks on the manager’s door
1 for Paschalis Staikos, marked 7.38, 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.
Leonardo Sigali 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.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will 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.
“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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Leonardo Sigali 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.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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. Panserraikos will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Andrei Ivan
Vernon de Marco 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.
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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Kavala tried to reorganise, Panserraikos did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Vernon de Marco was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A 1‑0 win over Niki Volos, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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.
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kavala in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
“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 Panserraikos, 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.” Panserraikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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; Panserraikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos 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 Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Rui Faria has his answer from Panserraikos; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Francisco Tinaglini's mistake
Looking aheadA test against the best for Panserraikos
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tibério Cunha will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Panserraikos can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Paschalis Staikos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panserraikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Panserraikos told Alexandros Maskanakis something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Alexandros Papanikolaou after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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 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 was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 21 signed and 16 gone
That is the business done at Panserraikos 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 offer from Kalamata for Charalabos Georgiadis 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 Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Panserraikos heard it as anything else.
Panserraikos asked and Ludogorets said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panserraikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Moussa Wagué reports back to Panserraikos with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nontas Pantelakis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Panserraikos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lanús, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Vernon de Marco and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
Boardroom5 academy players handed senior numbers at Panserraikos
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Hellas Syros waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Lucas Freitas 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.
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.
Panserraikos asked and Dinamo Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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.
Panserraikos have made the call to Lanús. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Panserraikos has been clear about where Nontas Pantelakis stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panserraikos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Panargiakos for Moussa Wagué 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 chase for Vasilis Athanasiou ended with $570.0K changing hands and Atromitos out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Brooks 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Panserraikos have done the hard part with Ilioupoli, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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 Panserraikos know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Aug 2027
Ethan Brooks 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simãozinho trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alexandros Papanikolaou has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer went to Atromitos 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.
Vernon de Marco 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.
Panserraikos asked and Levadiakos 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 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ilioupoli waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Panserraikos and Ilioupoli have settled on $22.0K. 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.
Lucas Freitas 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kifisia have kept their man, and Panserraikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Brooks 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.
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.
Supporters organise against the Panserraikos board
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panargiakos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Panserraikos 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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Angelos Liasos has come up in conversations Panserraikos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Panserraikos asked and Udinese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Brooks 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 Panserraikos know it.
In brief
The dugoutRui Faria asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe manager makes Cheick Niang a promise
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panserraikos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“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 Panserraikos, 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 Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
“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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lucas Freitas 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PAOK have kept their man, and Panserraikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ethan Brooks was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panserraikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Stéphane Omeonga had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panserraikos 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 Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Athens Kallithea for Paschalis Staikos 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.
Lucas Freitas 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 Ethan Brooks was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panserraikos 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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Niki Volos for Charalabos Georgiadis 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Panserraikos have done the hard part with Panionios, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The name of Angelos Liasos has come up in conversations Panserraikos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Levadiakos have kept their man, and Panserraikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panserraikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marios Tsaousis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything agreed with Panetolikos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandros Maskanakis and Panserraikos agree another 4 years.
Iva Gelashvili 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.
13 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Fotios Papastathopulos clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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; Panserraikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Vernon de Marco 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Grigoris Politakis is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Panserraikos heard it as anything else.
Lucas Freitas 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.
18 games and 4 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 Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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 easiest signature of my career.” Grigoris Politakis and Panserraikos agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad31 May 2027
7 new faces, and Panserraikos 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panserraikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Supporters organise against the Panserraikos board
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Franco Farías is living that version at Panserraikos, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad24 May 2027
Ethan Brooks 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Babis Pavlidis and Panserraikos agree another 2 years.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Brooks 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 watch every Panserraikos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PAS Giannina runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giannis Pasas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody to talk to at the next peg, a few words of the language, and a training ground that has stopped being a foreign country. It never appears in a scouting report and it decides most signings.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Lucas Freitas 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 Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Panserraikos, another week without a signature from Rui Faria.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Panserraikos will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giannis Pasas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Panserraikos is running low.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Grigoris Politakis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Lucas Freitas 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adam Maher commits to Panserraikos for another 1 years.
Squad3 May 2027
Ethan Brooks 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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Lucas Freitas is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
In brief
Boardroom$1.7M taken back off the Panserraikos table
Supporters organise against the Panserraikos board
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panserraikos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Lucas Freitas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Brooks 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 Panserraikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Panserraikos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Position 14 and 10 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos 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 Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Panserraikos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PAS Giannina runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cheick Niang 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 Stéphane Omeonga signs something — a contract at Panserraikos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lucas Freitas 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 Apr 2027
Ethan Brooks 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 done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Panserraikos will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cheick Niang trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Panserraikos says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Moussa Wagué signs something — a contract at Panserraikos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Iraklis watched Francisco Tinaglini again at the weekend, and this time they did not bother hiding it. Clubs only stop hiding when they want the price to start moving.
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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; Panserraikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Lucas Freitas 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.
At 22 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.
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The mood at Panserraikos 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos 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 Adam Maher was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Charalabos Georgiadis and Panserraikos agree another 4 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panserraikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panserraikos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marios Tsaousis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panserraikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stéphane Omeonga 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.
Everybody at Panserraikos saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“I did not go to PAS Giannina to sit and watch. I want to come back to Panserraikos and fight for my place.” 10 appearances in 32 matches say the rest.
In brief
The dugoutLucas Freitas knocks on the manager’s door
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Panserraikos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lucas Freitas 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
14 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panserraikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panserraikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lucas Freitas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It 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 words a physio says slowly. 35 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 Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
“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; Panserraikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panserraikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 14 and 10 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marios Tsaousis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos 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 Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Brooks 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Vernon de Marco will call it something else in private.
The words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lucas Freitas 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 Adam Maher was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Panserraikos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
“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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Panserraikos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Grigoris Politakis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Lanús keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Lucas Freitas 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 mood at Panserraikos 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 words a physio says slowly. 64 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.
0‑8 against Olympiacos, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Panserraikos 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 Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Panserraikos are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Panserraikos close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 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.
“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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panargiakos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
The name of Nontas Pantelakis has come up in conversations Panserraikos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The offer from Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț for Andrei Ivan 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 Panserraikos 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.
0‑1 to AEK, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Maher 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panserraikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Panserraikos can pretend not to have heard.
Vernon de Marco 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.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Marcos León is living that version at Panserraikos, and it tends to show in the first month.
Panserraikos asked and Rizespor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Panserraikos
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Panserraikos has been clear about where Stéphane Omeonga stands, which is more than many ever get.
12 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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and Andrei Ivan takes the afternoon — 8.43
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Andrei Ivan provided it, and the 8.43 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Panserraikos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody at Panserraikos saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Three points for Panserraikos, 2‑1 the final word against AEL Larisa in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Brooks 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Panserraikos 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 Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 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.
Half the programme played, position 14, 4 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
The dugout14 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 Petros Tsimikas 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.
In brief
Boardroom89% of the income goes out in wages at Panserraikos
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.
“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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.52 for the rest of it.
“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 Panserraikos, and 5 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Out, 1‑4 to AEK, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Panserraikos are taken apart by AEK — and the town wants answers
It finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
7.76, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.95 for the rest of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Panserraikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Iva Gelashvili 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.
Vernon de Marco 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.
Kifisia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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 team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Vernon de Marco 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.
“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 Panserraikos know it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Brooks 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panserraikos, 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.
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 Panserraikos would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
0‑4 against Aris Thessaloniki, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panserraikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Vernon de Marco and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Stéphane Omeonga scored, was marked 7.78, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Iva Gelashvili 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iva Gelashvili, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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.
7.54, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Stéphane Omeonga scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Olympiacos, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ethan Brooks 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.” Petros Tsimikas after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
0‑3 against Panathinaikos, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Everybody at Panserraikos saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 39 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Marked 6.65 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Panserraikos dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad19 Oct 2026
14 new faces, and Panserraikos are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout19 Oct 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 0‑3 Petros Tsimikas left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Panserraikos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Nobody at Panserraikos 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nontas Pantelakis’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Panserraikos needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Panserraikos 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 Cheick Niang has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panserraikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
0‑3 to AEK, 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, terms agreed, medical booked. Marios Tsaousis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Panserraikos 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 Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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 Ethan Brooks 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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yusuf Taiye did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 Panserraikos know it.
Vernon de Marco 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.
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.
He is 20 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. OFI tried to reorganise, Panserraikos did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
In brief
SquadWords at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Stéphane Omeonga scored, was marked 7.59, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Vernon de Marco 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 Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
14 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 dugout21 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Petros Tsimikas to a room that had heard them before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Panserraikos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Panserraikos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Iva Gelashvili 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 Ethan Brooks was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Iva Gelashvili 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Borussia Dortmund have kept their man, and Panserraikos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Din Alomerovic 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Giannis Pasas is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“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 Panserraikos, 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 Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kostas Siopis 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
The offer from Minyor Pernik for Rui Faria 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panargiakos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Panserraikos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The name of Vernon de Marco has come up in conversations Panserraikos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Brooks 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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Panserraikos will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against OFI in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Yusuf Taiye from Olympiacos for $540.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Din Alomerovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Panserraikos will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Panserraikos, another week without a signature from Cheick Niang.
15 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.
Panserraikos have made the call to Borussia Dortmund. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Cheick Niang has just signed for Panserraikos, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$540.0K settles it between the clubs for Yusuf Taiye
Olympiacos have accepted the money. What Panserraikos do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Panserraikos 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.
Vernon de Marco 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 is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Petros Androutsos 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kostas Georgiadis 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. Nikolaos Nikolaou has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simãozinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Panserraikos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Panserraikos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Panserraikos asked and Benevento said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ethan Brooks 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.