Who’s Out at Panathinaikos Under New Coach Fatih Terim?

 

The Panathinaikos family was given surprising news today as it was announced that coach Ivan Jovanovic was sacked just one day after Christmas. Turkish coach Fatih Terim was immediately announced as the permanent coach. Regardless of if this is the right or wrong decision for the club, it raises multiple questions. Namely, the player shake-up: which players will stay and which will be shown the exit door? Today I will look at which players I think are likely to leave under the new manager and why. (Disclaimer: I don’t recognize much about the new coach’s playing style and tactics. Most of my opinions will be weighed on other factors such as player performances, contract status, etc.).

 

GOALKEEPERS: Brignoli/Lodygin

 

There’s been a lot of talk about Alberto Brignoli recently. His recent blunders have been costly and not something we have grown accustomed to, especially with him being named the best keeper in the Super League in 2022-23. On top of that, there have already been murmurs of him leaving in the summer, with one potential suitor being our crosstown rival AEK. Despite all this, I think either Brignoli or Lodygin should stay with us going forward, and I think the likelier is Lodygin as Brignoli’s wage demands for a new contract would be a huge spike from his current earnings. I still rate him as the best keeper in Greece so I would like to see him stay, but not for an outrageous sum. I believe it’s likely that Terim feels he can find a quality keeper for a fraction of the price of what Brignoli would cost salary-wise, and this would also allow him to use that contract money elsewhere if Brignoli walked. Maybe Xenopoulos gets a real chance now, even if it is as the #2 option?

 

DEFENDERS: Juankar/Mladenovic, Kotsiras, Jedvaj

 

Our LB situation is interesting, and to be frank, I don’t see both players (Juankar, Mladenovic) staying. Juankar is off contract in the summer and his consistency, when healthy, has been questionable. Plus, he’s 33. I think he’s offered us his best and we should look to get younger and better. Unless he greatly impresses Terim I doubt that he’s offered a new contract. Mladenovic could be out too if he doesn’t immediately excite Terim. The only difference is that Mladenovic will still be under contract so his exit would be more complicated than Juankar’s, which could point to him ultimately staying.

 

I’m indifferent about Kotsiras. He does the job as an understudy but he’s also out of contract this summer and I’d be surprised if we offered him a new contract especially now with the change of coach.

 

Now on to Jedvaj. Somewhat of a big name when it came to signing him, mainly due to his reputation as a former wonderkid some 10 years ago. Once at Roma and Leverkusen, his career hasn’t panned out as many thought it would. Over that span he’s had multiple loan spells, couldn’t break into a Croatian National Team where the RB job was his for the taking (and had little-to-no competition), and now is a full time CB on a season-long loan from Russian side Lokomotiv. He hasn’t been horrible for us, but I also don’t think he’s warranted the option-to-buy fee at the end of the season. In my eyes, I think this signing was primarily based on the hopes that he would recapture some of that wonderkid form (which if I had to guess, PAO is not the first of his clubs to have such hopes).

 

MIDFIELDERS: Cokaj, Kleinheisler, Zeca, Bernard, Perez, Vilhena

 

The midfield may very well be the most interesting position to monitor under the new coach. The little I do know about Terim is that he does put an emphasis on the midfield. This could lead to quite a bit of turnover in the midfield because we’ve seen our midfielders struggle at times in build-up play, creating chances, and connecting with our attack.

 

Cokaj and Kleinheisler already had one foot out of the club, even under Jovanovic. For them, the coaching change could be beneficial as they surely would be looking to gain favor with the new coach. If they impress, they could make a case to stick around and gain playing time. If I had to make a case for one to stay it would be Kleinheisler. He showed decent stuff during the summer and was even expected to get a fair amount of playing time but fell out of favor and dropped in the pecking order behind our other midfield options. However, as it stands, I see them both still leaving as expected for a while now.

 

The one-year deal for Zeca was for him to close out his career with us. I don’t disagree with the move, but he was clearly not a factor in close games under Jovanovic. His retirement this summer is expected.

 

Bernard is linked heavily to his home country of Brazil and the question is less so if he’ll leave, but more so “where to?”. He is tied second in terms of wage on our squad so I can’t say offloading that is a bad thing. Similarly to Brignoli, shedding a large contract like that would allow Terim to invest that money in a player of his own choosing in the midfield.

 

Perez is tricky. His age showing recently has made it clear to many fans that his PAO time may be over. However, his contract isn’t up until summer 2025 and finding a buyer who’s interested is highly unlikely. Therefore, he’ll be with us next season barring something completely unexpected, so I implore Terim to use him as depth and not to rely on him too much minutes-wise.

 

Lastly, I feel very similarly about Vilhena as I do with Jedvaj. This is because their careers have mirrored each other quite a bit. Once a wonderkid himself, he never truly reached his full potential. With us, he’s been underwhelming, especially for the contract he’s on. Tied as our second highest earner at £1.4 million a year, that is A LOT of money for someone who can’t solidify himself in the starting XI week in, week out. To put it into perspective, he is making £1.1 million more a year than Cerin, who is comparable due to positional similarity, and has seen more game time and I think has been more effective. I’ve tried to give Vilhena the benefit of the doubt (new signing, takes time to acclimate and gel with the style of play, etc.) but he’s shown little to no signs of improvement and often looks unfit on the pitch. It’s upsetting because every now and then you do see glimpses of why he was touted as a wonderkid (I’m thinking specifically of the beautiful ball he fed Ioannidis for the second goal away at Villarreal), but nothing I’ve seen has warranted the money he’s on. Vilhena has the potential to be one of the players who benefits the most from the coaching change. He’s still a good age (28) and on a long contract, so if he gels with Terim more than he did with Jovanovic he could make a case to stay. However, if he doesn’t immediately impress Terim I would look to sell him before his market value drops due to him getting older and potential continued underwhelming showings.

 

WINGERS: Verbic

 

Verbic needs to go. He is for sure one of the players that could benefit the most from the new coach like others I’ve already mentioned. But here are the facts where we currently stand. He’s another player on way too much money (over 1 million yearly salary) for his contributions. His PAO career has been all over the place and he’s had his personal problems, but even so he’s not been an asset at all. Let me remind that Verbic couldn’t even make the European squad list, something which is outrageous for someone in our top six earners.

 

STRIKERS: Ioannidis, Sporar

 

Fotis Ioannidis is one of the hottest Greek talents right now. It’s a shame our European campaign won’t continue so he could showcase himself even more than he has already. Even so, he’s making his name heard and his move abroad seems inevitable. Will it be this summer or further down the road? That’s the question. Personally, I would like him to stay on for one more season. He hasn’t reached his ceiling in Greece yet and I think regression next season with his quality and age is unlikely. If he keeps trending in this direction then his stock will rise even more and that could do wonders for the club’s bank account. Personal preference aside, I think the switch in coach is likely to expedite his exit rather than lead to him sticking around. I think with the new coach Ioannidis leaves in the summer transfer window and the assets will (hopefully) go toward Terim bringing in a quality striker of his choosing.

 

Sporar’s Panathinaikos career has been full of ups and downs. Similarly to his compatriot Verbic, he’s on a large contract (5th highest earner at £1.2 million) and hasn’t backed that up with his performances. His consistent goal scoring record previously in his career hasn’t translated well in Greece and while he’s still under 30 we should try to look for a buyer, get a decent fee for him, and offload a large contract that is way too much for a player that has been relegated to backup striker duties.

 

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A coaching change at any point, for any team, often causes turmoil in the player personnel. When that coaching change comes in the middle of the season, right before a transfer window, this is just that much more prevalent. We will likely see several players leave and in turn, a number of players come in who have been hand-picked by the coach himself based on his style, tactics, and wishes. Whether we agree with the Jovanovic dismissal or not, all we can hope for is that Fatih Terim makes the right decisions with his players and also brings in the right people. Only time will tell and hopefully the January transfer window will bring the reinforcements we need to continue to challenge for the title and cup. Here’s to an even better 2024 filled with titles and European successes and good luck to coach Fatih Terim.

 

PS. Thank you Mr. Ivan Jovanovic for everything you have done for our club. You’ve made us look forward to Sundays again. You filled the seats of Leoforos once again and brought passion back to the fans. All I can hope is that your contribution will not go to waste.

 

 

 - Alex (@alexcv08)