the same article can be found @
http://www.paok.com.auPAOK - WORTHY CHAMPIONS After watching PAOK destroy Xanthi on Saturday (in their most impressive performance this year, considering the stake's, the anti -PAOK fanaticism of Xanthi's owner, and the ease of the win in a difficult edra) I woke up this morning hoping for a Panathinaikos (the fact they needed assistance to beat a struggling Panionios shows they are not the best team in the league) and gay-ros ,(having seen Atromitos play against PAOK this year in Toumba, I could not imagine how gay-ros could get anything more than a draw in this game without "human error") but fully expecting them to win one way or another. Unfortunately for Greek football I was proved correct.
This round of matches confirmed the following; to me and all sane football fans disassociated from team bias:
1. PAOK is the best performed team in the league this season, and deserving champions. Up until now I believed Panathinaikos was a superior team, but after witnessing the performances and method of the two teams victories on the weekend, (one achieved with the assistance of the officials, and the other achieved because the official was taken out of the game by the 12th minute), I am now convinced.
2. If referees were consistent in their decisions to both teams in every super league match, PAOK would be sitting on top of the league with a significant gap from our contenders, the championship would be ours despite our financial disadvantages and lack of "star" players.
3. Panthinaikos and gay-ros will be carried into their derby in three weeks time without any loss of points, that match will decide the "Champion" for the 2009/2010 season.
The message PAOK fans received on the weekend is loud and clear, you will not win the championship. Fortunately PAOK finished the game off early against Xanthi, denying the referee the opportunity to influence the outcome of the result, despite his valiant efforts.
Let's examine some incidents from each of the matches involving the title contenders.
1. Xanthi v PAOK - Ivic is brought down in front of the referee, a clear penalty (no one disputes this, including the referee), the referee allows play to continue citing an advantage to PAOK, the ball ends up with Sorlen , who under pressure from a defenders challenge shoots the ball on to the bar from 12 yards on an angle. The decision not to award a penalty was an advantage to whom? Two Xanthi players escaped red cards for infringements that were clearly send off's, one of them was for an identical challenge to the one Melberg committed against Ergoteli last week which was also ignored, allowing gay-ros to salvage a point in a game in which they were destroyed by the opposition in the second half, and should have come away with nothing.
2. Panionios - Panathinaikos - In the 20th minute, Ninis goes down in an innocuous incident in the Panionios penalty box, the referee without hesitation awards a penalty. Replays from every angle show that it was not a penalty (even a viewer from Mars could discern this), a yellow card should have been given to Ninis for diving, instead Panathinaikos, having scored the penalty, relieved of all pressure and anxiety, not needing to force the game, go on to secure three points. The commentators of the game are trying to convince the viewers who saw the incident with their own eyes that it was a penalty.
3. gay-ros - Atromitos - Melberg brings down Saganovski of Atromitos in the 63rd minute of the encounter, a clear penalty which I don't think 99% of their own supporters can deny, the referee waves play to continue. The score at the time was 1-0 in favour of gay-ros. The foul committed by Melberg, was the type you expect to view in refereeing training manuals shown to 20 year old prospective referees entering the profession, as to what constitutes a clear penalty. The commentators of this game, label the penalty "claims" of the Atromitos players as doubtful, trying to convince the viewer watching, that Atromitos would have been fortunate to have the penalty penalty. gay-ros was so lame in this match that they were playing for time (time wasting) from the 50th minute onwards; I will not comment further on the refereeing in this match, it was the same as it has been the last 14 years, disgraceful and shameful.
Let's examine the manner in which the three title contenders won over the weekend, and you will have your answer as to who is the credible champion this year, furthermore you will understand how it's possible for Panathinaikos to be leading with gay-ros in equal second. Ironically, their two worthy opponents on the weekend were the teams against which, PAOK had two legitimate goals disallowed by officials earlier in the year, depriving the team of an extra four points, what a difference those points would make now. Conversely Panathinaikos and gay-ros have been awarded extra points than their performances have warranted.
Impartially, based on performance and the "human error" element of referees, PAOK should be 5-6 points ahead of Panathinaikos, as for gay-ros they should be 10 points behind Panathinaikos, and that's being generous. The fact that gay-ros is being kept in the title race at least until the upcoming derby is a disgrace to Greek football, the team is finished, it's performances woeful, they are being kept in the hunt because if Panathinaikos self destructs to such an extent that even the referees cant help them in some game, and they somehow manage to beat Panathinaikos when they meet, then gay-ros will be awarded the title by default. PAOK cannot be allowed to disrupt the status quo under any circumstances, irrespective of the fact that they are the best performed team this year, the stakes are too high. Champions league money on the one hand for Panathinaikos and more so gay-ros, and the threat of the emergence of PAOK as a genuine rival, competing on an equal footing on the other. (Championship and automatic Champions league qualification)
The rest of the championship, will be extremely difficult for PAOK, the team will need to win 6 out of 6 matches, defeat six teams, 6 referees, and 12 linesmen. Our main title contenders will have 5 referees, and 10 linesman on their side pushing them forward, (I have omitted the officials from the match between themselves) PAOK's sustained performance has made their upcoming derby into a title decider, a situation which neither side would have wished for, for different reasons.
Our objective is to destroy their well laid plans, continue winning despite the obstacles they place before us, and force them to expose themselves and their underhanded tactics ever more, every week until the end of the championship. We owe it to every healthy minded Greek football fan.
PAOK PANO APO OLA P.S. We have purposefully left out AEK from this discussion as they are not in the title race , suffice to say they were also the beneficiary of a human error on the weekend, when the referee in their match , did not award a training manual penalty to Ergotelis in the 93rd minute of the encounter. I mention it because this team has been pushed into fourth position, when the reality is they should be sitting in 7th or 8th.
