“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Anestis Mythou had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Olympiacos is saying, and nobody at PAOK is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Kouamé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at PAOK 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.
PAOK had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Arsenal, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Position 3, 59 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Baptiste Santamaria 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 want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at PAOK heard it as anything else.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and PAOK know it.
The offer went to Arsenal 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at the club will say out loud who this signing is for, which is how you know exactly who it is for. Pol Tristán has been brought in to take a shirt somebody is still wearing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Kouamé 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. PAOK know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at PAOK. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. PAOK have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
PAOK had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Trento, 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 PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Bersant Celina wants continental football; whether PAOK can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Kouamé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Santiago Wanderers waiting with a shirt. Nobody at PAOK is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” SKA Khabarovsk had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
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 medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Kostas Thymianis, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad12 Jul 2027
7 new faces, and PAOK 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.
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 Tom Louchet is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonjoe Kenny trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at PAOK, and it is not being withdrawn.
PAOK had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at San Martín, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The offer went to Trento 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.
Baptiste Santamaria and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The name of Tomás Guiacobini has come up in conversations PAOK were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Kouamé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what PAOK can pretend not to have heard.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Kouamé 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 Greg Taylor is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at PAOK, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have shaken hands with Al Jazira; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at PAOK is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Panathinaikos have kept their man, and PAOK go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Anestis Mythou is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Dimitris Giannoulis 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tom Louchet has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Montana waiting with a shirt. Nobody at PAOK is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The chase for Jota ended with $1.6M changing hands and Panathinaikos out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
Panathinaikos pay $580.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Kouamé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 3, 59 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“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 PAOK, and it is not being withdrawn.
José Arnáiz 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 17 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 have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Kouamé 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.
José Arnáiz 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.
3 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at PAOK no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
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 Greg Taylor is on it.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at PAOK has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at PAOK. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. PAOK had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Taha Ali is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at PAOK is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 watch every PAOK game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Botev Vratsa runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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 Mady Camara is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kiril Despodov 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at PAOK. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
Magomed Ozdoev 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.
Nobody at PAOK will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Greg Taylor has written the date down.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Diego Costa has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
A programme of his own, away from the group, aimed at one thing the staff think is holding him back. Most improvement happens like this and none of it makes the paper.
10 graduates from an academy now rated 11 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Kouamé 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 goals in 26 games at Kayserispor — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at PAOK updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
6 goals in 19 games at Maccabi Petach Tikva — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at PAOK updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Kiril Despodov plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around PAOK 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 PAOK 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 Kiril Despodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at PAOK 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at PAOK. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” PAOK have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Kouamé 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.
Baptiste Santamaria 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 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.
Jiří Pavlenka has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
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.
In brief
The dugoutMagomed Ozdoev asks for a word with the manager
Baptiste Santamaria 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.
Nobody at PAOK will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimitris Giannoulis signs something — a contract at PAOK 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 Antonis Tsiftsis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kiril Despodov 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Baptiste Santamaria signs something — a contract at PAOK or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Dejan Lovren has agreed terms with Olympiacos for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
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 window away with the national side, and a shirt at PAOK that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Kouamé is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Jiří Pavlenka has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
José Arnáiz 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 had been thinking. Kiril Despodov 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 goals in 23 games at Kayserispor — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at PAOK updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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 Greg Taylor is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimitris Giannoulis signs something — a contract at PAOK or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Dimitris Chatsidis had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“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 PAOK, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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.
Dimitris Giannoulis 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Baptiste Santamaria signs something — a contract at PAOK or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match20 Feb 2027
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for PAOK. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Kouamé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 3, 56 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
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.
Baptiste Santamaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.72 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Kouamé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Baptiste Santamaria 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.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
PAOK close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between PAOK and AEL Larisa, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Kiril Despodov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.88. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zaglebie have kept their man, and PAOK go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kiril Despodov 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.
Dimitris Giannoulis was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Anestis Mythou. 2‑1 against OFI, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The offer from Panathinaikos for Kiril Despodov 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.
Aris Thessaloniki did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $6.3M for Christian Kouamé, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
“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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kiril Despodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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: Christian Kouamé from Aris Thessaloniki for $6.3M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Baptiste Santamaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The offer from Gostaresh Foulad for Tomás Guiacobini 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.
PAOK have gone to Atromitos with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Panathinaikos paid $1.7M and PAOK took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: José Arnáiz. 3‑1 against Panetolikos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Baba Rahman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer went to Aris Thessaloniki 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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and PAOK have had the benefit of it.
PAOK have gone to Levadiakos with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Kristijan Jakić 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 phone has started ringing about Tomás Guiacobini again, and this time the name on the line is Pribram. PAOK are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Kifisia, and it could have been more.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A brace, and José Arnáiz takes the afternoon — 9.19
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. José Arnáiz provided it, and the 9.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Costa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8.22. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Michalis Tzavellas on a 4‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Diego Costa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Aris Thessaloniki left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Michalis Tzavellas to a room that had heard them before.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. PAOK told Baba Rahman something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Two goals and a mark of 9.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Taison 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.
“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 PAOK know it.
8.01. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Costa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonjoe Kenny, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for José Arnáiz
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. José Arnáiz has come out of that comparison in the side, and PAOK have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Costa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dimitris Giannoulis 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.
Olympiacos next, which means a week that starts on Monday. Everything else on this page will be forgotten by Saturday; this fixture will not be forgotten for a year.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Two goals and a mark of 9.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kiril Despodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 4, 31 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now PAOK have 9 straight wins of it.
Match14 Nov 2026
José Arnáiz wins it after the whistle should have gone
96 minutes played. José Arnáiz found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Asteras went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
5 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Costa 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.
Baptiste Santamaria 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: José Arnáiz. 2‑1 against Asteras, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 17 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
8 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.15 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Vasilis Bratsiotis has just signed for PAOK, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Costa 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.
Dimitris Giannoulis 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.
7 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kiril Despodov 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.
Dimitris Giannoulis 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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. José Arnáiz is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutBaba Rahman dropped after a run of poor form
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Costa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; PAOK are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
A mark of 7.80, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad26 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and PAOK 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.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
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 7.74 for the rest of it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Dimitris Chatsidis is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about PAOK and AEK in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
José Arnáiz was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.79. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Diego Costa 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.32 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason PAOK will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kiril Despodov 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.
Dimitris Giannoulis 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 training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Amine Bassi
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kiril Despodov provided it, and the 9.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Costa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK 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: Kiril Despodov. 3‑1 against Atromitos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
José Arnáiz was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.73. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Eirinaios Papadimitriou is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Two goals and a mark of 9.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Costa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Baptiste Santamaria 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 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
12 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kiril Despodov 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.
Baptiste Santamaria 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 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Michalis Tzavellas was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the PAOK dressing room was either.
Nobody at PAOK is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The offer from Neman for Tomás Guiacobini 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.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Baptiste Santamaria scored, was marked 7.82, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Costa 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Stavros Bakasetas 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lazaros Tzavellas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
PAOK offered $4.3M; AEK said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
PAOK close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 3 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at PAOK hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Diego Costa 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 dressing room knows how to read a signing like this one. Iván Leszczuk is not here to sit and wait indefinitely, and the man whose place he has been bought to take knows it better than anyone.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jiří Pavlenka has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Michalis Tzavellas to a room that had heard them before.
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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PAOK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kostas Mavropanos 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 fixture the calendar is arranged around. Form goes out of the window, the table is not consulted, and for ninety minutes PAOK will be judged on one thing only.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Christos Zafeiris was one of the reasons people came, and $12.9M does not replace that by itself.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atromitos have kept their man, and PAOK go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
PAOK offered $620.0K; Panathinaikos said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Costa 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.
Baptiste Santamaria 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 most awkward business a club does is signing tomorrow's answer while today's is still in the building. Tomás Guiacobini comes from Sarmiento for exactly that purpose, and the handover will not be discussed publicly by anybody.
The offer from Crvena Zvezda for Christos Zafeiris 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.
PAOK and Sarmiento have settled on $250.0K. 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.
PAOK offered $800.0K; Kifisia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Costa 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.
Dimitris Giannoulis and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. PAOK will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at PAOK has been clear about where Dejan Lovren stands, which is more than many ever get.
Panathinaikos paid $5.7M and PAOK took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The offer went to Kifisia this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The shape has not worked since the summer and the reason was never a mystery. José Arnáiz comes in from Granada to be the missing piece, which is a flattering description and a heavy one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kiril Despodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Panagiotis Bakasetas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
$4.1M on the table at Granada. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
PAOK asked and Paris FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at PAOK heard it as anything else.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Christos Zafeiris 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Diego Costa 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at PAOK, another week without a signature from Taison.