Is this PAOK's time

As we come towards the conclusion of what looks to be one of the most exciting finishes to a Greek Super League season that we’ve witnessed in years, we take a look at how PAOK are going about ending Olympiakos’ run of 7 consecutive Super League titles.

PAOK finished the 2016/17 season off on a positive note as they recovered from being 9th half way through the season to end up finishing in second place 6 points behind eventual winners Olympiakos.

Serbian manager Vladan Ivic, guided the club to its fifth Greek Cup and the clubs first Cup in 14 years after defeating AEK Athens 2-1 in a match fuelled with controversy and violence. It was believed that Ivic had already made a decision on his future throughout the playoffs and although Chairman Ivan Savvidis and Sporting Director Lubos Michel did all they could to try and convince the Serbian manager to continue on, Ivic stated that he could not continue on because he had problems with people on the team and he could not continue to work with them. Both parties decided to terminate the contract. As manager at the club, Ivic had an impressive 60%-win record from his 69 games in charge and he also led them to the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

It only took a week for them to find a replacement for their vacant manager position with another Serbian, Aleksander Stanojevic announced as the club’s new manager on a three-year deal. He had a successful stint at Partizan where he won two league titles and one Serbian Cup. PAOK suffered some early pre-season defeats but managed to defeat Olimpik Donetsk 3-1 on aggregate in a Europa League playoff. A week after they advanced into the third round of the Europa League playoffs Stanojevic was sensationally sacked. PAOK officials stated that the decision was made because Stanojevic had found it extremely difficult to relate to the playing group and after the poor pre-season results Stanojevic started to doubt the goals that the club had set out. The club stated that they were unhappy as they had brought in talent and had not lost any key players throughout the summer but they could not see any improvement under Stanojevic who was remarkably shown the door after only 56 days in the top job.

Would it be third time lucky for PAOK? Sporting Director Lubos Michel took the blame for the previous coaching appointment and announced that former Xanthi manager Razvan Lucescu would take over a club that had a talented playing group but just needed the correct manager to make everything click. Although the coaching appointment came so close to the start of the season PAOK officials made no excuses and wouldn’t accept anything less than the goals that they had originally set out for the season. When signing the 2-year deal Lucescu stated that he had confidence in the potential that the team had and knew straight away when he received the offer that it was the right job for him.

The disruption of the coaching changes affected them as they lost to Swedish club Ostersund FK in the Europa League third round playoff on aggregate 3-3 and they were eliminated on away goals.
They shrugged off the disappointment of not making the group stages of the Europa League by starting the Greek Super League season off on a positive note where they went undefeated in their first eight league games. They then had a hiccup where they lost two games to Olympiakos and AEK Athens in a three-week period. From that point onwards PAOK have been the dominant team in Greece picking up 34 points from a possible 36 points.

In such a successful season one of the shining lights has been one of their own in Dimitris Pelkas, who has been at the club since he was 15 years of age. He has finally been able to put a consistent season together which is one of the main reasons why they have been able to take the next step and become title contenders. Pelkas has seven league goals and 6 assists. He is also a lifelong PAOK supporter and it would be a terrific story if he could fulfill his childhood dream and win the league with them for the first time in 33 years.

For such a big club in Greece, there is no arguing that PAOK have underachieved and the question for now will remain, are PAOK a champion team or will they let down their loyal and passionate supporters once again? No matter of what occurs from here onwards, this has come as a surprise to most people as the club’s hierarchy looked like a mess after the departure of Ivic at the end of last season and then the sacking of Stanojevic in pre-season but with very limited preparation Lucescu has got his team playing exciting football which has seen them score some stunning team goals and have an unbelievable defensive record where they have only conceded 1 goal in their past 10 league matches.

PAOK are the favourites to win their first league title since 1985 and it is in their hands but the fascinating part is that there are eight games of the season left and they still have to play both their title challengers which have been there only two losses of the season. The first real test will come this week in one of the club’s biggest matches when they play Olympiakos at the Toumba Stadium which PAOK officials have already stated is a sell-out. A win will all but destroy their arch rivals title hopes and will almost guarantee us a new champion crowned for the first time since the 2009-10 season. Two weeks later AEK Athens will travel to Thessaloniki which is a match that could decide who wins the title.

By Athan for Hellas Football