WTCS90 Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Not the greatest of starts mate but you can turn it around hopefully! Shame in the cup aswell Thanks, this season was always going to be a struggle in the league as it is a definite step up and we have only just gone professional, but to go out in the cup was a kick in the teeth, still we have the EURO Cup to come! May League: HamKam 1-1 Honefoss Goal: Vindenes When your lucks out there is nothing you can do, and right now lady luck has deserted me. We led the team sitting bottom of the league all the way until the final kick of the match and then we were robbed. It was virtually the only time our opponents got out of their half and they made it count. League: HamKam 0-3 Fredrikstad As pitiful a display as I have seen at any of my clubs so far. League: Rosenborg 0-1 HamKam Goal: Gando Ba I changed the tactics around a little to freshen things up, focussing on direct, counter attacking wing play and it paid off, what a result against the current league leaders! June League: Start 2-1 HamKam Goal: Hjort After taking the lead early on it looked like the switch in tactics was going to work again but as the match went on we simply stopped playing and in the end it was never going to be anything but a loss here, painful. League: Aalesund 2-0 HamKam Our terrible run continues and I just can't figure out what is going on. None of our defenders is rated under 7.20 for the whole season so the problem must be up top, I just don't think we have the quality to hit teams where it hurts. Wow! That's a shock. Being head hunted during the European pre-season by a side that will be playing in the Champions League this year, it would also be a massive step up in terms of club and competition quality and reputation. Decisions, decisions... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerud Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Wow! I'd be tempted... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Tougher expectations though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTCS90 Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Wow! I'd be tempted... Tougher expectations though. Pretty much my thoughts exactly... AS Aris (Thessaloniki) In the end I think the fact that it was such a good opportunity was the deciding factor, I know it is going to come with greater expectations but its an opportunity that probably wouldn't come around again for a while. The Hamarkameratene board are obviously unhappy that I have left, but the fans & players will have nothing but good memories of my time there. The fall out from my departure actually sees a few back room staff leave the club in the hope of following me to AS Aris. Upon arriving at the club I suddenly realise why the club isn't winning anything, and I can see that this isn't going to be the easiest of jobs. Even after adjusting my budgets to get rid of the transfer kitty we are already £12,000+ over budget on the wages, with absolutely no back room staff at all and losses of £3.3mil in the last season. And what do the board expect me to achieve with such amazing budgets and support? - Challenge for the Superleague - Qualify for the Champions League group stages. Thankfully the players I have inherited actually seem like they should be able to do the job in the league, and although I'd love to bring my 4-5-1 to Greece I just don't have any quality on the wings, so I reckon a 4-4-2 Diamond looks the best bet at the moment. Friendly: Doxa Kranoulas 1-2 Aris Goals: Versini & Cernea An uneasy win against low league opposition, we went behind early on but a couple of close range finishes from my new centre forwards rescued the match, I'll put this down to lack of match fitness as a lot of players are nowhere near being able to last a full 90 minutes. Friendly: Panachaiki 2-2 Aris Goals: Versini & Petrakos (pen) Another performance that hardly set the pulse racing. This time we were held by one of our feeder clubs in the Greek second tier. This 4-4-2 formation with no wide players may be the one where we can fit the most high quality players on the pitch but it has hardly seemed effective. Champions League: Galatasaray 0-3 Aris Goals: Cernea, Versini & Ravousis Wow! I changed to my favoured 4-5-1 with a defensive midfielder and two wingers and this was the result. It's a complete upset and puts us in a commanding position for the return leg. Champions League: Aris 1-4a Galatasaray Goal: Versini Ouch! Knocked out on the away goals rule. We took the lead mid-way through the first half and looked comfortable. After letting in the equaliser with half hour to go I went defensive and we then capitulated with 10 left to go, letting in a trio of goals with the deciding one coming in injury time. Gutted! Friendly: Ionikos 0-6 Aris Goals: Gianniotas, Versini, Triantafyllakos (pen x2), Teodorczyk & Cernea A very comprehensive win against this lower league team. Pre-season is short this year and unfortunately I don't think I have learnt much from it as I had no real time to organise friendlies against decent quality opposition. Although we weren't expected to win our Champions League qualifier I am disappointed that we chucked away our four goal lead in half an hour of football. Coming up to the start of the season we have been drawn against AS Roma in the EURO Cup qualifiers, and even though it isn't an easy fixture I do want to get through. The press also pop up with their predictions for the season and place us at 12-1 title challengers, which seems to tally with the boards expectations. I think success this season will depend on whether my tactical decisions pay off, we have a few brilliant players but the lack of any decent wingers worries me as I have never liked playing straight through the middle of the pitch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTCS90 Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 AS Aris (Thessaloniki) August EURO Cup: Aris 3-3 Roma Goals: Versini (x2) & Triantafyllakos A mixed result, giving away 3 away goals shows we haven't learnt from the Champions League exit but as we were 3-1 down with 15 minutes to go its actually a much better position than it could have been. League: Olympiakos 1-1 Aris Goal: Versini Starting our campaign against one of the biggest sides in the country was never going to be easy, but we actually out played them and had a goal disallowed when we were one up, pretty game changing in the end. EURO Cup: Roma 2-0 Aris What a pathetic way to go out of the cup, Roma went down to 10 men after four minutes and even after going a lot more aggressive we still got beaten. September League: Aris 3-0 AEK Goals: Versini (x2) & Yedigaryan Thats a bit more like it, I can think of no better cure for our EURO departure than a comfortable win like this. League: Aris 3-0 Atromitos Goals: Teodorczyk (x2) & Triantafyllakos Our center forward Versini got injured during training but thankfully our number two stepped up to the plate. Atromitos never got close to hurting us but they are hardly one of the best teams in the league. League: OFI 0-3 Aris Goals: Cernea, Triantafyllakos & Yedigaryan This game was dead and buried by half time, and although OFI dominated possession it was us who made the most of our chances. Three wins in a row, nine goals and none conceded is the sort of form we need to display all season to take this title. League: Aris 0-0 Ast. Tripolis As dull as the scoreline suggests, we were wasteful with possession and failed to beat a team who should have given us no problems. Unfortunately Panathinaikos already have a 4 point lead at the top. October League: Levadeiakos 1-1 Aris Goal: D'Haene Honestly we didn't deserve anything from this game, we took the lead through our left back after 5 minutes but then simply stopped playing. League: Aris 1-2 Iraklis Goal: Cernea Losing to your closest rivals is always disappointing, but the fact we lost to two 40-yard crosses that our keeper just watched fly into the net is sickening! Oh, and to add the cherry to the cake we missed a penalty in the 92nd minute... League: Panthrakikos 0-2 Aris Goals: Gianniotas (x2) Such a one-man show I couldn't believe it. Only a sub when everyone is available Gianniotas scored his first after running the whole length of the pitch and slotting into the bottom corner to get the rest of the team into gear. His second came after a period where we were under pressure and really killed off any challenge our opponents were putting up. Breaking news: AS Aris Salonika draw GFS Panaltolikos in the Greek Cup Third Round. A match up against a second division side means we should win through, but it is over two legs so we will have to make sure complacencey isn't an issue. I will be taking this competition seriously as it is now looking like our only way to get some silverware! November Board confidence update: The board are satisfied, which is a surprise considering I think the start to my tenure has been a disaster. However, with the club losing around £600k a month at the moment I don't see any way to build for the future and I'm already thinking I'll move on after one season. League: Aris 2-0 Veroia Goals: Gianniotas & Versini After impressing in the last fixture I kept Gianniotas in the squad and he didn't disappoint, his fitness is an issue as he can't last the full 90 minutes really. League: Panathinaikos 1-0 Aris I suppose this is a fair result, even if a little harsh. If we had won this game we would have been a single point behind the league leaders but instead we now sit a massive seven points behind. Already we are being left behind by the top two clubs, and if we don't get ourselves into gear soon then we could even find ourselves dropping down into the chasing pack of clubs. There is still a lot of football to be played, another 24 fixtures in total, but if we don't get this consistency straight away then it is going to be a struggle, we also need to make sure we win the remaining two fixtures against those above us! All in all it's a pretty mediocre start to life in Greece, and already we have mucked up the big games we had. In similar vein as my previous clubs we are looking very hard to score against, and even though we score a fair amount of goals it just isn't consistent enough to win game after game. I've been rotating the 4-4-2 Diamond & my favoured 4-5-1 formation and both have picked us up victories, I just need to make sure I get the right tactic for the right opposition and then I feel we can push on as neither Panathinaikos or Olympiakos appeared to be a class above us, they just do the business when they need too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.