Panathinaikos announced on Tuesday the sudden sacking of Dutch manager Henk ten Cate and his replacement by Greece Under-21 coach Nikos Nioplias.
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon Panathinaikos made it known that after the meeting that club president Nikos Pateras had with the Dutch coach, “the two sides agreed to terminate their cooperation”.
“It has been an honour for me to cooperate with Panathinaikos and the results support my work,” said ten Cate in a statement published at the clubs official website.
“I have laid the groundwork for this team. I respect the fact that some people may not be happy with the general picture, but my assistants and I have given everything to succeed.
“The president’s decision will not affect our relationship and the friendship we have developed.
“I would also like to thank all Panathinaikos fans for their support and wish the team to win the title,” were ten Cate’s last words at the statement.
Ten Cate got to stay with the Greens for a year and a half, but his reign will go down as quite controversial due to the team’s ups and downs in those 18 months and the lack of any trophies won, at least in his first season with the Greens; this year Panathinaikos find themselves one point from the top of the table, and going strong in the Greek Cup (unlike Olympiakos and AEK) and the Europa League.
The news came practically out of the blue for the team and fans, although there had been some reports in the media about a possible replacement of ten Cate with Greece manager Otto Rehhagel later in the season.
The name of ten Cate’s successor was officially announced five minutes later. He will have veteran striker Krzysztof Warzycha as his assistant.
“It is a great honour for me to take over at Panathinaikos. We are starting work from today and my aim is to achieve with the team as a coach what I have achieved as a player: Win titles,” said Nioplias at the Panathinaikos website.
Nioplias has been successful at the Greece Under-21 team leading it to the top of the European Championship group at the moment and having led the Under-19 team to the final of its own European Championship.
He is also a former player of Panathinaikos from the 1990s. His future at the Under-21 national team remains unclear at the moment.