Here’s what he said in detail.

On the current period and the latest outbreak of the pandemic, the many Covid-19 cases, and the management that he was called upon to carry out in the team’s everyday life in recent weeks.

«It has ‘t been an easy time. We had players who were out due to the coronavirus, some then came back, then some others were added to the active positive cases. I am happy though from one side because we had a good training period with the players available. On the other hand I want to believe that we will see the back of this current situation in terms of the pandemic. The positive thing we can see was that we have gone through it without any injury problems and there were no games. It would have been more difficult if the latest outbreak happened during official match obligations.»

On whether this period of the pandemic is the most difficult that he has had to manage in his coaching career since every plan he was making could have gone awry the next day:

«Before we get onto that, for me personally and my coaching staff, the most difficult moment was when we won the championship on the pitch and they stole it from us in a different way. This was the biggest difficulty in my career. The second was the issue in Saudi Arabia with the Asian Champions League, when we finished first in the group stage and having one game less, but we were eliminated from the tournament due to Covid-19 cases. So this is my third most difficult period. I classify it there.»

On the problems he has to manage for the game with Panetolikos, and how he has been preparing the team:

«We had a period when we had to adapt to the difficulties we had to face. We look forward to the time of the games again, it is something we have missed. But despite the problems we have had to manage, this recent period of having a time-out from playing games at the same time has ben a good point for us.»

On the transfer planning for PAOK that is in full swing and whether he is counting on Jaba and Colak who are both training with the team:

«As far as transfers are concerned, I will have to talk to Mr. Boto to find out the path we will follow. As far as Jaba is concerned, I was pleasantly impressed by the way he returned. Both Jaba and Colak are back here and are in very good condition. They are fit, they train and work hard. I know Leo very well from my previous tenure, he is a footballer who belongs to the generation that won everything for PAOK. I have heard many stories about him. His injury, which was especially difficult. I am very pleased with his performances in training, his mood and his seriousness. Colak is also a pleasant surprise for me. A very smart striker, a player who does a lot of hard work on the pitch. They are both different options for us at the moment and I’m very happy to have them with us.»