From family to enemies. AEK, a club that’s confused about what it wants to be

Saturday 24/11; AEK loses away to Panetolikos extending their winless streak to 4 games. Marinos Ouzounidis calls out some of his players “If things continue like this, im obligated to make some decisions and changes. I have to find the players that are motivated to play for this team. Unfortunately, some of the guys seem like they want to play just to play.”

Sunday 25/11; AEK owner Dimitris Melissanidis visits the training ground at Spata, where he also calls out some players by name “If someone doesn’t want to be in the team he can tell me and he will leave. Simoes, Labropoulos  and Bakasetas who don’t want to renew their contracts should bring me a transfer offer from a club in January and leave”

Monday 26/11; Marinos Ouzounidis announces that Simoes, Labropoulos and Bakasetas will be benched for the remainder of their time at AEK.

Throughout last season’s league winning campaign, AEK was praised for its good dressing room environment. Many mentioned the word ‘family’ when talking about the players and the manager,and the club didn’t shy away from that analogy. “We are like a family here” were the words on the mouth of every player and staff, not to mention thatthe club used the hashtag #aekfamily on nearly every post on social media. 

Turns out this said “family” turns against 3 of its most loyal and important members overnight. Andre Simoes (who is also the vice-captain of the team), Vasilis Lambropoulos and Tasos Bakasetas will not play for AEK again this season (or ever), a move triggered by the club’s recent run of poor performances and their unwillingness to sign new contract extensions. A baffling decision, considering that they are 3 key players who have 355 appearances for AEK between them. 3 loyal servants of the club, who have never caused any problems and who always gave everything they had on the pitch. 

This is a disgusting move by AEK, who wants to make them the scapegoat for the club’s recent poor form. A continuation of the standard Melissanidis policy of benching players that wont agree on new – far from what they deserve in terms of wages - contract extensions, something that’s not done in any level of football anywhere in the world. This move shows a lack of respect for these players, who carried the team to success and whose work ethic was an example to others in the dressing room. They respected the club but it seems that the club doesn’t respect them.

Its especially harsh for Andre Simoes, the vice captain - who acts more like a leader than the actual captain - of the team. He led the team to the away fans after the 2-1 defeat away at Panetolikos and had the class to apologise for the team’s performance. He joined in 2015, elevated his game and was one, if not the most important player in the club during these last 4 years. He never complained about how his wages did not reflect his ability or his importance to the team, he never threatened to leave to a club that recognises his worth but here he is, betrayed by the club that he served.

Does AEK want to be all about being one big family or do they want to see their players strictly as economic assets? 
Does AEK want to create a connection between the club and the players or do they want to treat everyone they don’t like as garbage? 
Does AEK want to be honest with their fans or do they want to manipulate them and turn them against the people that actually make this club what it is? 

These are questions that need to be answered going forward, in a time where the average fan struggles to believe that someone like Nikos Lyberopoulos continues to be under protection while players like Lambropoulos, Simoes and Bakasetas are thrown under the bus. 

Footnote; The club has just lost 3 key players, we are down to only 3 cm’s, 4 cb’s (one of which is Svarnas and the other 3 are extremely prone to injuries) and we lost another winger. The squad is getting dangerously thin, but I guess that doesn’t matter to the club, making scapegoats to cover their failures seems to be more of their concern. A cold atmosphere awaits AEK in today’s Champions League game vs Ajax, hopefully a wake up call to everyone who runs this club.

By Mesartic for Hellas Football