WINNERS

MILTOS TENTOGLOU

The 21-year-old displayed great skill at the 2018 European Championship in Glasgow, where he managed to take home the gold after his 8.25 metre jump. The European Athletics Federation announced their top-5 athletes for March, with Tentoglou being among them. He could even be come out as the best, should he win the popular vote on Twitter. One thing’s for sure though, we still have plenty to see from the aspiring young star.

KOSTAS FOURTOUNIS

The 26-year-old from Trikala is enjoying the best football of his career. He’s taken up a leadership role both on and off the pitch at his club, Olympiacos, as he already has 10 goals and 6 assists, hence becoming a potential MVP for the season in Greece. Fortounis has also been the centrepiece around which the entire national blue-and-white squad is built. Whether it’s Sergio Markarian, Michael Skibbe or Angelos Anastasiadis, all recent managers of the Greek national team seem to create their plans based on the former Kaiserslautern midfielder. It will be very interesting to see if he will capitalise on his excellent form by seeking a career at a league of a higher level or if his love for the club will prove enough to keep him there for a few more years.

WELLINGTON PHOENIX

The New Zealand club seem to be unstoppable in the A-League, scoring 15 goals in their last three matches, and proving that there is life without Roy Krishna. It begs the question of how things would’ve played out if Mark Rudan was on the team’s bench from the beginning of the season and it’ll definitely be interesting to see how things go in the play-offs, as the “kiwi’s” have demonstrated that they are are nobody’s fool. One thing is for certain though, the FFA are definitely going to have a hard time taking away that license for next season with attendances so high.

SINNERS

OLYMPIACOS BASKETBALL TEAM

Disgust. That’s the only emotion any normal person could feel looking at the sign that the “fans” (if they could even be described as such) of the Piraeus team had up during the club’s game against Zalgiris Kaunas for the Euroleague. It read Gavre (a nickname, meaning ‘anchovy’, that the club’s fans share) don’t forget the triumph of Peania that alluded to the incidents of 2007, where a clash between fans of Olympiacos and Panathinaikos led to the death of a supporter of the greens. Who thought to put up that sign? Who considered it acceptable and why did nobody react to it? It seems the field of sport in Greece is deteriorating more and more into a battleground and sadly no one is willing to do anything to change that.

CON TANGALAKIS

South Melbourne wished to make a new beginning after last year’s dreadful season in the NPL of Victoria. But with an opening of just two wins, one draw and already four losses it was obvious that they were going nowhere fast. Something needed to change and after a lengthy meeting at the club’s offices, it was decided that the two parties would part ways. Esteban Quintas, Tangalakis’ assistant, will be temporarily put at the helm until someone more appropriate can be found to fill the position. Tangalakis was first team coach at South since June of 2018, yet the results he produced during that period were less than satisfactory.

ERNIE MERRICK

The Newcastle Jets manager was quoted last week saying that his team have “lost all hope” to reach the A-League play-offs and that from now on he will be giving more opportunities to younger players. However, the Jets are still in it mathematically and can theoretically advance should Melbourne City or Adelaide United fail to win three of their next four games. But this is a whole different matter entirely. How would a professional player feel motivated to go out onto the pitch when he listens to his manager speaking like that on the media? Merrick’s remarks were completely unacceptable and he should really reconsider his position before he declares defeat.