End to End AEK with Gianniki in 70 days

It was Christmas Eve when AEK had just played their last game in the Super League Interwetten and suffered their first – of three consecutive – home defeats by OFI. The very next day, on December 21, the Union, in a clear move of (under) support, announced the activation of the option to extend Argyris Giannikis’ contract until summer 2024.

A clearer framework could not be defined. 70 days later this framework is completely dissolved and the Greek coach is now suspended from the AEK leadership for a few hours. Meanwhile, Dikefalos has completed 12 games. He won the four.

The three against the last of the rankings (Apollon at home and Atromitos, Lamia away) and only one with a team claiming or in the playoffs (PAS), with the specific win last week was only one that represented the presence of AEK in them safe.

Added to this is the exclusion in the quarter-finals of the cup by PAOK, the scene that was formed in a relieved and intensely demanding manner. With Union intent to push the envelope, they’re going all out with the 42-year-old coach and are clearly looking to spend the year with him.

With a double goal and purpose: First, if Giannikis managed and managed to turn the paper over. If not, then secondly, that by staying on the bench he could gain the necessary time in management to calmly and unhurriedly find his replacement in better conditions, in line with the principles of AEK’s new game planning.

Neither the one nor the other was achieved. The image and the “trio” of AEK from Panathinaikos, the reactions it caused in public opinion and what is counted in the bill in terms of reporting on the state of the dressing rooms, definitely surpassed the “does not offer” and so on An immediate move was deemed necessary to avoid another departure that would even jeopardize next season’s European ticket.

From the moment Giannikis failed to personify the second option – thus saving time by making the year as bloody as possible, thus leading to the move on the bench – his replacement was approved.

At the foot of the club and from now on

Ideally, he should be the one AEK would now “touch” in training right away. It wasn’t done. It’s not possible at the moment. Moreover, none of the alternatives contemplated by the Union, even superficially, have entered a process of adopting … bridge status. That means being a solution until the end of the season, with no (same) guarantee of continuity for the next.

So since it was a given at AEK that they didn’t want to commit to a coach who considered nothing more than a “bridge” at that point, the obviously simpler solution was chosen, which is the case at . .. feet of the organization, with the promotion of Socrates Ofridopoulos from AEK B ‘.

A solution that doesn’t need any adjustment period, that knows people and situations in the team, fully understands deployments from now on and achieves the goal (only now) without anyone – inside and outside the team – expecting more than the fulfillment of the mission entrusted to him.

In other words, to competitively save the game, prevent this year’s roster from “burning up” and thereby give the management the necessary time and space to primarily calm down and make the necessary other changes in the organizational chart ( so it goes without saying that the responsibility does not lie with Giannikis) and furthermore to continue the search for the ideal next coach.

On more favorable terms, without time pressure and with many more options.