Super League Playouts: Who stays up? Who goes down?

Super League Playouts: Who stays up? Who goes down?

By Michael Vissini

The final stage of the 2020/2021 Super League has arrived as the league splits into two groups with the Top 6 fighting for European qualification in a 10 round playoff competition. 

However, my latest blog focuses around the dog fight that has spiced up this season’s relegation battle with four of the eight teams battling to secure survival and avoid the drop. There is a slight difference compared to the six playoff teams, the Bottom 8 teams only face each other once in the playouts over 7 rounds to determine who will finish in last place and atomically drop down to the Super League 2. 

13th place is the last hope, with the team facing against the runners-up of the Super League 2 in a two-legged playoff and try stay in the top flight of Greece.

Bottom 8 Standings:

Volos: 33 points

You could argue Volos were unlucky this season not to qualify for Top 6 but that is ultimately impacted by the departure of the egomaniac Egyptian ace Amr Warda returning to PAOK after six months. It took quite a bit of time for Spanish coach Angel Lopez to fill in the gap with the signing of Alberto Bueno, who unfortunately has been a failure, but managed to find a more advanced role for Sotiris Ninis after mostly operating as a deep lying playmaker. Ninis, who re-signed until June 2022, is one of the players of the seasons along with top scorer Tasos Douvikas and Franco Ferrari carrying the number Thessalian side to collect vital points and ensure their safety in the Super League. There are no warning signs for Volos and Angel Lopez, they are in a very comfortable position. Relegation is impossible.

PAS Giannina: 31 points

PAS Giannina may have ensured their stay in the Super League but have 25% chance of qualifying for Europe next season as they face the mighty Olympiacos in the Greek Cup semifinals. The cup tie certainly won’t disrupt their confidence in the playouts after garnering 31 points in the regular season with notable wins over AEK and Panathinaikos, after beginning their season in Round 3 coming off a phenomenal promotion winning season in the Super League 2. Couple of reinforcements were formalised, the squad is stable and everyone is well aware of their role in the system under the reign of rising coach Argyris Giannikis. The Epirotes can hurt teams below who are battling to stay up with their ability to soak up pressure, sit back and pounce on errors to start the counter attacks. Like Volos, there is nothing to worry about.

Apollon Smyrnis: 28 points

One man you must give your props to is veteran coach Giorgos Paraschos. Of course, one of the several coaches aboard the carousel but his latest tenure with Apollon Smyrnis has been nothing short of excellent. Personally, I think the 68 year old deserves credit for constructing this team within a two week timeframe to prepare and organise his system after the playoff win against Xanthi before the season opener. New players arrived almost every day, first match was in Round 4 and many doubted whether the Light Brigade will climb up the table. It was a rocky road but Paraschos side managed to garner enough points that almost secures another season in the Super League. What’s unfortunate is Paraschos walked away from his job after the 1-0 win over Panetolikos on the last round of the regular season due to an internal conflict with the owner Monemvasiotis. It was revealed after this game was Paraschos informed the team inside the locker room that he will be departing the club on the night. It was emotional; everyone shed tears, truly showing how high the team’s spirit was under this man. Now Makis Chavos is at the helm and must maintain the team’s confidence. I believe one more win out of the 7 rounds ensures safety, so after all, they will be fine.

Atromitos: 28 points

You are probably thinking Atromitos are safe because they have the same amount of points as Apollon Smyrnis. Well, no, since dismissing Austrian coach Damir Canadi and hiring his successor Savvas Pantelidis, the team have entered dreadful form with 0 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses, the attack has been toothless and the defence has been quite ordinary since losing key centre-back Spiros Risvanis to Cypriot outfit Anorthosis. This form presents hope for the bottom 4 sides the opportunity to claim points with Atromitos defending looking more atrocious as the weeks go by and also presents a possibility of being relegated. The sacking of Canadi has obviously negatively impacted not only the stability of the team but also the last six results of the regular season with Pantelidis at the helm. The wrong choice of coach to steady the ship, but in my view, it looks like they have struck the iceberg. The playouts is an opportunity for Atromitos to turn the situation around as every game counts.

Lamia: 23 points

At the start of 2021, Lamia were in last position with a measly 2 points under their third coach Michalis Grigoriou, marking his debut with a shocking 2-0 win over high-flying Aris. After this fantastic result at home, the team’s confidence increased astronomically and the winter reinforcements have also helped contribute to Lamia’s rise on the table with 5 wins, 6 draws and 5 losses, collecting 21 points in total. Basically, Lamia started a new season in a season, meaning their 2020/21 campaign literally started at the beginning of this year. The centre-back duo of Tzanetopoulos/Adejo have been instrumental, as well as Fanis Tzandaris who has stabilised the midfield. Lamia head into the playouts as the most inform team and are pushing even further to achieve their objective of competing in next season’s Super League. Of course, Lamia are the favourites to survive.

Panetolikos: 20 points

This is where we enter the spicy stuff. Panetolikos once again find themselves in a relegation battle, and if you recall last season’s playouts, the Canaries were lucky to survive considering Xanthi were docked 12 points for the multi-ownership case with PAOK (7 points) and not announcing the change of shareholder structure (5 points). Just for context, Panetolikos finished 12th with 29 points, Xanthi finished 13th with 24 points. If EPO did not deduct Xanthi 12 points, the outlook would have been different. It has been a rollercoaster season for Panetolikos under the legendary defender Traianos Dellas in his second stint with the club. Impotent attack, not even the slightest ounce of coordination or link up play is seen, while on the defensive end there are moments the team lack the concentration and easily give up the leads. Relegation favourites for sure.

OFI: 19 points

Where do we start with the Cretans. Amazing at the start of this season they faced Apollon Limassol in the second qualifying round of the Europa League only to bow out 0-1 at home and set their objective on the Top 6 again after formalising several Greek talents and high profile Dutch international Johnathan De Guzman. OFI have been inconsistent up until the Christmas break and only the minority would predict what will happen once when the Super League starts. From contending Top 6, only to somehow find themselves in a relegation dog fight. They have only earned just 4 points and those were collected in January with a 2-0 win over Lamia and 0-0 draw with Atromitos. Since the draw with Atromitos, the Cretans lost ten consecutive games which finally saw coach Giorgos Simos fall on his sword and publicly announce his resignation after the 2-3 loss to AEL. So much unrest occurred in Crete, from the fans to the players, demanding change and expressing their frustrations at the teams performances. The mentality of the team has been shot after each loss. OFI legend Nikos Nioplias’s second term as coach did not get off to bright start last week with a 1-0 loss to Aris courtesy of an early Mitroglou goal. Nioplias task holds greater difficulty, with his job now is to regain the players’ confidence, not repeat the same mistakes as Simos and try steer the most valuable team of the playouts away from the relegation zone. Is it possible? Every game is a final

AEL: 16 points

I finish off here with my beloved AEL. I have emptied my defeats on the Hellas Football Podcast regarding my club’s performances and the ruthlessness against the foreign contingent of the team. Also, take into account AEL started the season with Grigoriou as coach, his inability to change tactics were harming the team and was playing favourites with certain players, specifically Croatian left-back Mateo Muzek operating in central defence as a portion of the goal conceded are his responsibility and eventually was demoted from the squad. Grigoriou resigned and then Kougias the prison coach Giannis Tatsis. The team was not even playing football, I wanted to bleach my eyes after every match under Tatsis because he placed AEL into further danger and afterwards got sacked. Gianluca Festa now at the helm and the Crimsons are finally playing nice football and improved in every aspect, creating goal scoring chances, overlapping runs, communication, leadership and defensive structure. I have previously mentioned, Festa demands passion and the players are showing effort and are playing for the Italian in every match. If they do not obey his orders, they are cut. AEL may have lost the last two but the 1-3 loss against Olympiacos does not exactly show the reflection of the score line with AEL feeling hard done by with the chances that were created which should have been buried if the players were more composed. Festa has been repeating after every game, he believes the team will survive, the staff believe will survive and the players believe will survive. Let’s see if that is the case in the playouts.

Hellas Football 

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