Beating PAOK and Selling The Club: A Typical AEK Week…

By: Chris Paraskevas | January 14th, 2009

Well, I was going to give a lengthy account of the PAOK game (probably will end up doing that anyway) but The Offside blogger’s equivalent to a total Armageddon occurred when I must have hit “Delete” accidentally on my keyboard, thus condemning some cyberspace ranting of the purest quality to the depths of ww-hell…

In any case, Dusan Bajevic’s side produced their best performance of the season to condemn an utterly woeful PAOK to a 1-0 loss at the weekend.

One wonders whether the Serbian manager would have been able to construct a title challenge had he been given the reigns from the beginning of the season, given his galvanizing effect on a side that are unbeaten thus far under his direction.

Rafik Djebbour showed glimpses of the sort of form that made him a star at Panionios before his pricey summer move, whilst Pantelis Kafes continued his superb season with another impressive performance, the sort of which has redeemed his black-and-yellow career after a shaky start since joining from the Gavroi (Olympiakos, for those not too savvy with Greek football nick-names).

The lingering impotence of Juanfran serves as a reminder of the strengthening that is needed in parts of the squad – namely all of them – with a January spending spree perhaps necessary if a dual Champions League/Greek Cup push is to be initiated during the second-half of the season.

Which of course brings me to the issue of administration, which has dominated headlines in Greece this week.

The announcement of current president Giorgios Kintis is a sensible one, with the club looking to raise €15 million of share capital through a part-sale.

Despite assurances that any party willing to invest is welcome – whether they be interested in majority or minority stakes – the reality is that the sale paves the way for former president and oil and shipping tycoon Dimitris Melissanidis to take a majority share in the club.

I was at an age where I was unable to absorb the full effect of Melissanidis’ previous reign, but he seems to serve as something of a controversial figure amongst AEKzites, though his apparent financial and political power render meaningless any potential character flaws at a time of “economic crisis” for both AEK and Greece.

With debts continuing to plague the club, Melissanidis apparently ain’t all that interested, particularly in light of the fact that he was knocked back by previous president Demis Nikolaidis during the summer (or so it was, to my understanding of it…)

In any case, it’s not so much a matter of who but how much with AEK these days.

We’re yet to make a movement on the transfer market and it’s at the interval of January.

Let’s see if things improve after a few half-time oranges and a team talk…