He came into our lives through a back… window. In the summer, they overcame Xanthi in the playoffs and won the promotion back to the big time. From day one there was a big question mark hanging over the club and many rushed to characterize them as absolute favorites for relegation. In terms of rationale it does make sense considering that the team’s pre-season was virtually non-existent and the squad as we know it now was put together in around 15 days. On the pitch, however, Apollon Smyrnis has managed to surprise everyone.

In early September, Giorgos Paraschos succeeded Babis Tenne at the helm of the team and began to re-build the team based on his own playing philosophy. A tough defense, with intensity and strength, limiting the spaces for the opposition and striking with counterattacks using players who rely on speed and quality.

So we could say that the Elafra Taxiarchia is one of the pleasant surprises of the league this season. The team may be down in in 10th place with just 18 points from 19 games, but the club’s playing style is encouraging and so far they are showing that they may be able to achieve their goal of staying up.

The Athens club have scored 19 goals scored, one in each game essentially, while they have conceded 26. These are stats that prove that the Athens club is doing something right. And a large slice of that success is credited to the coach.

With 900 games under his belt as a player and coach in total, Paraschos is one of the most experienced technicians in the Super League Interwetten, and he has managed to convey his demands to his players.

The squad has plenty of good options all over the pitch. Tsiloulis and Fatjon are the team’s top scorers with four goals each, followed by Ioannidis with three. On the creativity front, there are 10 players all having one assist each.