Gone Travelling

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 63812

February would be a month that would test our squad depth with 7 games over 3 competitions. The Champions League would see us take on Man Utd at home, then we would also have the 2nd leg of the Greek Cup Quarters against Larisa. In the league we would have 3 straight away games including a tricky trip to take on surprise package and 2nd placed Atromitos. We would round the month off with a couple of home games. Given our form I'd expect to win all of the domestic games and I think we could really push Man Utd at home.

View attachment 63811

View attachment 63810
Routine is the best way I can describe this. Another brace for Ze Tavares along with goals from Jokic and Junghan see us through to the Semi Finals where we will face Olympiakos. Beginning to eye another trophy for PAOK.

View attachment 63809

View attachment 63808

Another unbeaten month and we now head into March still unbeaten in the league and I can help but think about going unbeaten for the entire season. I'll not bore you with the details except to say we should have won all the games even when we rotated the side and Ze Tavares is on good form with a number of goals this month, I'd say he's looking good for 30 in all competitions, which given that he is one of the first to be rested is no mean feat.

View attachment 63807

View attachment 63806
1-1 with United isn't the worst result, but I think we blew our chance of getting through, not just by conceding the away goal just before the hour mark, but they had a man sent off in the first half, and up until then we hadn't been in the game. However the entire second half was pretty much played with us attacking and missing opportunities. When the hit us with a long ball over the top to go 1 up I thought we had lost but an injury time equaliser from Junghan gave us a lifeline, just need to score at Old Trafford now.

 

[JamesScott2908]

Looks like the league is going to be yours too lose! I imagine it wont be long till some premier league clubs come circling for you either! Hopefully you knock Man Utd out the cup to

 

[Ralph2211]

Looks like the league is going to be yours too lose! I imagine it wont be long till some premier league clubs come circling for you either! Hopefully you knock Man Utd out the cup to

Thanks mate. Hopefully something will come up to allow me to move up the ladder.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 63554

March was set to be another big month. We had 5 games to play with 2 against Olympiakos, 1 in the league and the 1st leg of the cup semi-final. We would also have Kerkyra and OFI in the league. Then of course we had the trip to Old Trafford and the 2nd leg of the Champions League. If I'm honest I'd happily lose all the domestic games for a win over United, but I have a felling it'll be the other way round.

View attachment 63553

View attachment 63552
A win in the cup to start the month, but it was nowhere near as comfortable as I thought it would be. We did rotate a bit and of course we have to have 2 under 20s in the squad but even still it was a strong team that found themselves 2 down inside half an hour. I went bananas on the touchline and it seemed to work as we were back on level terms by half time thanks to Ze Tavares and Zielinski, then when Jaworski put us 3-2 up just after the break we settled into the pattern I had expected from the start with us in control. With 3 away goal and the home leg to come I expect us to reach another final.

View attachment 63551

View attachment 63550

7 points from 9 isn't a bad return for the month. A slightly rotated team took on OFI and thanks to a brace from Ze Tavares 3 points followed, and meant we had a rested team for the big game in the Champions League. Another straight forward win over Kerkyra with goals from Pansera, Pote and Jarowski. This win meant that we were confirmed as Champions with 5 games to go. Now before the Olympiakos game I was faced with a choice, as we were already Champions I could play a number of the kids and try and get them the game time they needed to push on or as we were unbeaten so far in the league this season I could go full strength for the remaining games and try for an unbeaten season. As I hadn't managed an unbeaten season so far this year I decided to go for it. The game against Olympiakos was definitely a case of defenses on top as neither team created much and 0-0 was about right for the dull encounter.

View attachment 63549

View attachment 63548

View attachment 63547

So our Champions League dreams end in the first knockout round. I can't help but think if only we had taken our chances in the 1st leg when they were down to 10 men. In fairness they probably deserved it as they shaded a uneventful game and scored the winner late on. Gutted to be out!

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 63544

April would see us finish the league season with games against 2 of the big 4, Panathinaikos and AEK, at home whilst we'd travel away to face Lamia and Larisa. With only these four games between us and an unbeaten league season I was keen to ensure we didn't slip up this late in the day. We also had the return leg of the Greek Cup semi final with Olympiakos, so all in all a difficult month ahead.

View attachment 63543

View attachment 63542
Four wins and Four clean sheets means that we have gone the entire season unbeaten! In fact it makes it 50, thats right 5 - 0, league games since we tasted defeat in the league. With the 4 clean sheets it is now 12 straight games without conceding and we only conceded 4 goals over the whole league season! The games themselves were all straightforward. We dominated ZeTavares got at least 1 in every game and we walked away with the 3 points. All of this leave the table looking like this:

View attachment 63541


We ran away with it in the end. 18 points clear and I still can't get over only 4 goals conceded. We now need to win the cup to secure another double, of course there is the small matter of Olympiakos in the semi and then the final first.

View attachment 63540

View attachment 63539
Another routine win. We never looked like losing and went 1 up early doors. The pulled one back just on the stroke of half time, but we were doing all the running and got a deserved winner through Pote in the 76th minute, meaning we are in the final and have the chance to win the cup for the 4th year in a row!

So the cup final was upon us and for the 2nd season running we would be facing Panaitolikos. If we could repeat last years performance I'd be happy.

View attachment 63538
View attachment 63537
View attachment 63536

A win is a win and I don't think there is any doubting we were the better team, but the final itself was boring, dull, uneventful or cr*p. Call it what you want. I can only remember 2 highlights the entire game and 1 of those was the goal, but its another trophy to add to the cabinet and of course it enhances my CV.

View attachment 63534

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 63533
With the season now over we moved into the awards evenings. As you would expect we managed to pick up a few gongs after what was a very successful season, in fact too many to talk about, so here they are:

View attachment 63531
View attachment 63529
View attachment 63528
View attachment 63527
View attachment 63526
View attachment 63525
View attachment 63524
View attachment 63523
View attachment 63522
View attachment 63521
View attachment 63520
View attachment 63519
View attachment 63518
View attachment 63517
Now I know what some of you are thinking. Didn't you just tell us that you had won the League and Cup Double without losing a game in the league all season? And yet I didn't see a Manager of the Year award? Yep that right. Apparently being invincible (if Arsenal can say so can I!) is only worthy of 3rd in the manager of the year. So 2 mangers won finished below me in the league and lost games and didn't win the cup are better than me! I'm not bitter at all!

So as the curtain falls on another season and begin to look forward to the next, I can't help but feel a little demotivated by it all. The domestic scene is becoming a procession I really need the other teams to step it up. One thing that might help them is we have a number of key players who will be entering the final year of their contracts and have so far refused to sign new ones. It could be another big rebuild over the summer if I can't convince some of them to sign up, whilst others are angling for moves to bigger and better clubs. Interesting times over the transfer window.

 

[BallyC7]

I see a move to one of the bigger leagues in Europe on the cards

 

[Ralph2211]

I see a move to one of the bigger leagues in Europe on the cards

Maybe. Not going to move just for the sake of moving I want to pick the right team to move to. Oh and there are no decent jobs going at the minute!

 

[BallyC7]

Maybe. Not going to move just for the sake of moving I want to pick the right team to move to. Oh and there are no decent jobs going at the minute!

Yea that's what I did on my save. Was offered so many interviews when at Telford but eventually moved to Wigan ad I felt it was the right job/club to progress

 

[Hampus Silverholt]

Even if you don't find the right job soon do you think you've done all you can at PAOK? Domestic double and a Champions League Knockout Round will be hard to beat next season.

 

[Ralph2211]

Even if you don't find the right job soon do you think you've done all you can at PAOK? Domestic double and a Champions League Knockout Round will be hard to beat next season.

Think more domestic domination is on the cards but we would need a bit more luck with the draw to get any further in the Champions League.

 

[TheBattman]

Been a good couple of seasons to follow and definitely enhanced the CV! I'd keep an eye out for anything bigger, as I'm sure you are, and go when you can. Enjoyed this story so hoping you don't get stuck here and run out of steam

 

[Ralph2211]

Been a good couple of seasons to follow and definitely enhanced the CV! I'd keep an eye out for anything bigger, as I'm sure you are, and go when you can. Enjoyed this story so hoping you don't get stuck here and run out of steam

I think I'll move sooner rather than later but will have to be a good move. Might take half a season but I'm sure I will get the right club

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 62564

With the season over thoughts immediately turned to next season and more importantly the transfer window. With a number of key players entering the last year of their contract, and currently refusing new ones we could be faced with a big turnover of players. I had already decided that a number of our young players would be leaving the club as they just weren't up to standard.

So the good news is we have managed to sign a few of the players to new contracts, these include centre back pairing Marko Jokic and Martin Orons. Also committing themselves to the cause was left back Grimaldi, right winger Pote and most importantly of all striker Ze Tavares. Unfortunately a few still refused, but more on them later.

So along with the players recommitting to the cause we had a few new faces join up to try and push us to the next level. We also had a number of players leave, including a couple of big names.

View attachment 62563

So first departure was a player who only joined last season, in Pansera. He was ok last year without being outstanding. He had spoke to me towards the end of the season saying he wanted to join some team or other and then again in pre-season this time wanting to go to PSG. Several offers later and we almost doubled our money on him plus a 35% of next transfer clause could bring in a further few quid. He was a player I half expected to leave and one where his replaced had arrived before he departed.

Next out the door was Galindo. One of those players I tried really hard to tie down to a new contract but he wanted to move and given the number of times he was at my office telling me how he wanted to join Sevilla, Lyon and then Inter I don't think he was too bothered were he played as long as it wasn't with us. £25m was a bit lower than I had hoped but again a big sell on clause could see that fee increase.

The next four were players who had just slipped down the pecking order and given that 2 of them were in the final year of their contract I was happy to get something in for them rather than losing them for free in another season after a season of not really playing them. The final two sales were just a couple of the youngsters I had mentioned earlier. Of course there were the usual loans for some of the u20s in an attempt to get them game time.

So with a few big holes in the squad to fill and £79m brought in to do so who did we sign?

View attachment 62562

So a couple of loans, as I couldn't find someone of sufficient quality in my price range, a couple youngsters for the future for free or very little and then the big signings to go into the squad right away.

The first guy on the list is just a young Greek striker who we may never see again, so no need to discuss him.

View attachment 62561

So Petr was brought in as a straight replacement for PSG bound Pansera. When the two players were compared side by side there was too much difference except that Petr was £25m cheaper and on half wages. At £5.25m he looks like a bargain and we had to beat Arsenal and Chelsea to his signature, so I wasn't the only one who thought he looked good!

View attachment 62559

Banza found himself transfer listed at Monaco, and at a time when Ze Tavares future at the club was still in the balance was too good a player at too good a price to turn down. Finishing, first touch, composure, and off the ball all excellent and will for the first time since I have taken over at the club Ze Tavares has some competition up front.

View attachment 62558

So having allowed our back up keeper leave when his contract expired because a) He was on £10k per week and b) He wasn't very good, I set about trying to buy a number of keepers, including Fabre, but was being quoted silly money for anyone decent. When later in the window Fabre was put on the loan list I thought it was the easier route to go down and then look at someone more permanent next season. Fabre though is pretty good and will be a good back up to Smith and may even get a few games in the cup.

View attachment 62557

Just a youngster for the future. Already decent and under normal circumstances could expect to play a few games, unfortunately due to the 5 non EU rule will spend the season in the u20s were hopefully he can make some progress and oush for a first team slot next season.

View attachment 62554

Another one for the future. We paid his release fee, which I think was a good price for him. He can play the Carrilero role that we play and due to our lack of depth in the middle of the park he got the final non EU slot ahead of Luiz Henrique who plays further up the pitch where we have a few more bodies.

View attachment 62551

Fumaca is the direct replacement for Galindo. there again isn't too much difference between the two players and like the man he replaces he can play both the central midfield roles we play (Carrilero and DLP). With good tackling, passing, decisions and positioning I'm looking forward to see what he can do. I believe he can be a star for this team.

View attachment 62550

Another transfer window where I have been unable to find a 4th choice Central Defender without spending £10m+ on someone who more often than not won't even make the bench, and so I dipped into the loan market again. Domenichetti joins for the season from Atalanta and will do a job if called upon. Good in the majority of areas you need as a centre back he will no doubt get a few cup games but other than that it'll be injury and suspensions.

Overall I'm happy with our window with one exception and that is club captain and right back Georgen. He is in the final year of his contract and has done nothing but ***** about leaving for the last 18 months, however we have only received 1 bid for him and that was for £3.3m, which isn't even close to being enough even in the final year of his contract. He is now ****** off that I didn't sell him and has said he is going to run his contract down. I've decided to keep him as captain and in the team for the minute in the hope I can get him to sign a new deal, as he is pretty good.

View attachment 62549

Having said that if come January he still hasn't signed a new contract and I can get anything for him his feet won't touch the ground on his way out the door!

 

[Hampus Silverholt]

Petr looks like a great signing, Czech teams are always good for cheap regens. Hopefully no games are disrupted this season by your club president storming onto the pitch with a gun...

 

[Ralph2211]

Petr looks like a great signing, Czech teams are always good for cheap regens. Hopefully no games are disrupted this season by your club president storming onto the pitch with a gun...

I was reading that today and was thinking I'd better make sure I win the league as I never know what he'll do!

Yeah really like the look of Petr think he'll do well in this league.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 62322

Pre-season as always would be more about fitness than results, so we had set up 7 friendlies to try and ensure we were ready for the off as soon as the season started. I still expected to win every game, but was more keen to avoid injuries than anything else.

View attachment 62321
Things went pretty much as expected with mainly comfortable wins over in the most weaker opposition. My only concern was that the only game we struggled in, against Malaga, was on the only game I played my "starting 11" now sure it could just be that we were playing a better quality of opposition but we didn't look good at all.

An unbeaten pre-season meant that we could approach our first couple of league games with confidence. I was keen to stretch our 50 game unbeaten run as far as possible, though I think back to back unbeaten season will be beyond us. We would kick off our league defense away to PAS Giannina before entertaining Tripolis in our other game of the month. Two very winnable games and anything other than 6 points will be a disappointment.

View attachment 62320

View attachment 62319

4 points from 6 means not the start to the campaign I was expecting, and it could have been much worse as we went 2 down inside 15 minutes against PAS. Goals either side of half time from Petr with his first for the club, and Ze Tavares grab us a point, though by the time the final wistle went I think we probably deserved all 3. We were back to winning ways in our first home game of the season thanks to goals from Jaworski and Ze Tavares meaning we had the points wrapped up before half time.

August would also see the draws for the Greek Cup and Champions League group stages. I hoped that despite still being 3rd seeds the Champions League would be a bit kinder this year.

View attachment 62318

View attachment 62317

No concerns with the Greek Cup draw. I'd fancy us to get out of this group with ease and move into the knockout stages, who knows maybe 5 in a row could be on!

View attachment 62316

View attachment 62315

Another group of death for us! PSG and Dortmund are still major forces in European football and both could argue that they have a real chance of picking up the trophy come the end of the season. Belgium champions Standard have a very good team and have brought in a number of good signings over the summer, I should know as most of them were on my shortlist, and will therefore be no pushovers. I have a feeling that we won't be able to replicate lasts seasons performance and it'll be a fight to even make the Europa League.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 62313

September would be the first big test for us this season. A busy month with 6 games meaning our squad would be tested and with Champions League games with PSG and Dortmund we would need to be on tp form to ensure we were still in the mix for qualifying at the end of the month. We would kick off our Greek Cup group home to Volou, which would give me a chance to rest a few players as we should win easily. The league would see us face trips to Xanthi and Panionios with a home game with Kerkyra sandwiched in between. On paper 3 games we should be winning but as I will be rotating the team there is definitely a chance of dropped points.

View attachment 62312View attachment 62311
As predicted an easy win for us even with a rotated side. First goals for the club for both Banza and Geraldo along with a brace for winger Gajic, 1 apiece for Junghan and Jovic round off the scoring in a game that was well and truly over by half time when we lead 5-0.

View attachment 62309

View attachment 62308
Defeat to PSG shouldn't annoy as much as it did, but we made massive defensive errors for 2 of their goals and the 3rd one my defend looked to be well in control of a long ball over the top and all he had to do as put the ball out of play, but for some reason decided that stopping running 5 yards from the ball to let the striker get in front of him to score was a much better idea! It truth they were probably the better team though they didn't create to many good chances apart from the ones we presented them with. Dortmund was a better performance and we may have won the game on another day. This means we are joint with Dortmund on 1 point with Standard on 3 and PSG on 6 after 2 games. Looks like we will need to win both games with Standard if we are to stand any chance of progressing.

View attachment 62307

View attachment 62306
A win a draw and a defeat leaves us a little off the pace in the league too. I'm not sure whats going wrond as we are still dominating games and having plenty of chances they just aren't going in. The fact that we have picked up a few injuries this month hasn't helped, in fact the only natural AMC I have fit at the club is the young Brazilian I brought in who is ripping it up in the u20s but as I didn't register him can't play. I think we may nee to have a close look at the tactic to see what adjustments may need to be made to try and get us back on track.

View attachment 62305

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 61624
October would be a chance to get a reaction from the team, and to bounce back from our first defeat in the league in 18 months. With games against the teams above us, in AEK and OFI who have both had great starts to the season we have a chance to get back into title contention. The other two games against Trikala and Larisa we should pick up six points from so I'd be looking for at least 9 points. We also have the first of the Champions League games against Standard, which given how we have started in the group is pretty much a must win, or at least a not lose if we are to have any chance of progressing.

View attachment 61621

View attachment 61620

A very good month domestically with 4 wins, including beating the team who at the point were top of the league on two occasions. We started the month against unbeaten AEK, and it looked like another match that we dominated but failed to win until Silva popped up in the 93rd minute with the winner. We then entertained OFI who had a 100% record and were top of the table, and we spanked them. It was just like last season as we attacked with verve and we clinical in front of goal. They did have a man sent off on 53 minutes but we were already 3 up by that stage and coasted to a 5-0 victory. Larisa was much more comfortable than the score suggests though it took a OG to start thing off and the a late Ze Tavares goal to wrap up points. Trikala was a game that we should have won more convincingly than we did, 2-0 up before the half hour mark, we took our foot off the gas and let them back in the game. At 2-2 I thought we had let the points slip but two late goals meant that we rounded off the month with a 100% record which would see us top the table, though Olympiakos have a couple of games in hand which if they were to win would see them leapfrog us.

View attachment 61609


View attachment 61608
The must not lose match we lost, and with that I suspect goes any chance of progression to the next stage. If I'm honest we got what we deserved. We were poor, though I was fooled into thinking we might get something we we equalised on the stroke of half time, but it wasn't to be as we went down to a very good Standard side.

 

[Ralph2211]

View attachment 61606

In November I would be looking for us to carry over our league into not just the league but also the Champions Legue were we had Standard and PSG. Our group game in the Greek Cup is a chance for a few youngsters and back ups to impress.

View attachment 61604View attachment 61603
A routine win see us top our group and move into the knockout stages with a game to spare. Winger Jaworski was returning from injury and was very impressive with 4 of the five goals.

View attachment 61592View attachment 61589

View attachment 61588
Another 100% month. We were 2 up quickly against Panathinaikos thy did pull one back just after the hour but the result was never in doubt. Atromitos was tighter than the scores would have you think. It was 2-1 with 15 minutes to go but a 3 goal blast added a bit of gloss to the performance. Goals from Banza and Jaworski say is get another 3 points against Platanias in a game we dominated. Its good to see we are starting to get the results our performances deserve.

View attachment 61587

View attachment 61586
The win against Standard, which was probably our best performance of the season, briefly gave us hope that we may be able to pull off an amazing turnaround, however another hammering by PSG put those hopes to bed, though had we not missed a penalty on 15 minutes when we were on top it could have been so different. We now go into the final group game needing to beat Dortmund to finish 3rd and ensure we have European football to look forward to after Christmas.