In just a week, Panathinaikos has fired its third coach of the season, and hired a fourth as it goes through one of its worst seasons.
Giannis Vonortas takes the lead this time, after Spaniard Fabri Gonzalez was fired after launching a stinging verbal attack on his players after the embarrassing home loss to Platanias.
The popular team now sits in sixth place and are three points behind fifth-placed PAS Giannina. They need to finish in the top five to contest a mini-league which decides European places for next season.
Vonortas is a former Panathinaikos player and has previously coached the academy side and worked as an assistant to Rocha.
Speaking to the media this week, Vonortas placed his faith in the embattled club and hopes to turn things around quickly.
“I love Panathinaikos and want to help the club as much as I can for what is a difficult mission,” he said.
“I believe we have enough quality and I think we still have every chance of getting to the playoffs.
“The final three matches of the season are vital and we are trying to fight for something which is out of our hands and does not depend solely on our results”.
Superleague matches:
Olympiakos conceded its first home draw last week to PAOK. It was the first time that under the ownership of Ivan Savvidis PAOK visited the Reds in Piraeus, but they hardly lived up to their name, ending 0-0. Olympiakos fans once again jeered their players off the pitch at the end.
There were no goals either in the games between Xanthi and Atromitos and between Aris and Panthrakikos, but the match at Thessaloniki was marred by the attack by fans on Aris players, that had the latter escape the ground from the back door hours after the game, and the alleged attack by Aris security staff against Panthrakikos’s Dimitris Papadopoulos, a Euro 2004 winner with Greece.
A goal by Thomas Nazlidis brought about the third win of Platanias over Panathinaikos this season, including the Greek Cup. The Greens’ loss brought the end of Fabri’s spell on their bench, with former assistant coach Yiannis Vonortas taking over as caretaker on Monday until the end of the season.
With just six goals in seven games this weekend, the match between OFI and PAS Giannina accounted for half of them, as OFI won 2-1 in a game that eventually was not hindered by the crash of the ground’s floodlight pylons during the week.
Levadiakos and AEK were probably happy not to lose in yet another goalless game, but the clashes between AEK supporters and police before the game resulted in an AEK fan being treated for serious head injuries.
Veria beat Kerkyra 2-0 in a game where the teams shared four red cards.
Source: Enet English, Kathimerini.
