Last season was not exactly what everyone at Atromitos anticipated. Going from having high hopes of getting into Europe, they found themselves in the Play Outs and out of the Greek Cup relatively early on.

This was the reason behind the management of the club’s decision to ‘restart’ with a small dose of ‘reload’ as well as some familiar faces returned to Peristeri. Some top class players came in aiming to revive their dreams of returning to the upper echelons of the league standings. Dreams that until today have turned into a bit of a nightmare due to the club’s bad start in the league.

A  change of leadership

The responsibility to build the new Atromitos was initially taken on by the Spanish coach Miguel Λngel Lόpez, a technician who made himself known to the Greek public through his tenure at Volos with their attacking football. Lopez did not manage to make his blend of football work for the club, as despite getting a draw against Olympiacos at the «Georgios Karaiskakis», the results did not follow and the club’s administration decided to part company with his services.

Lopez’s freshness was followed by the experience of Giorgos Paraschos. A former coach with the club, he has had two previous spells in charge (2005-2007) and (2013-2014). In fact, in his second term he achieved a historic record, clinching a 3rd-place finish in the championship by participating in the then Play Offs, remaining undefeated for 17 games at home!

The arrival of Paraschos, however, has not yet – until now at least – seen the team transform into a better unit just yet. Atromitos remains bottom of the table with three points and wihout a victory to date.

Strong additions

The results are certainly not in line with the quality of the team’s squad on paper. The transfers that stood out were those of Efthymis Koulouris, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, and Dimitris Hatziisaias. Also acquired were Alexandros Kartalis from PAS Giannina, the experienced midfielder Tomas Bedinelli (Apollon Smyrnis), Vasilantonopoulos (AEK) and Tzavidas (Panathinaikos).

New foreign entries are the Argentine winger, Matthias Pisano (Argentinos Juniors), the Bosnian goalkeeper Kenan Piric, the Spanish left-back, Danny Casteliano from Las Palmas, and former Panionios man Kvorino Srino.

With problems

Giorgos Korakakis, who will coach Atromitos in today’s match due to the absence of Paraschos, who was diagnosed with Covid-19, cannot count on long-term absentee Kotsopoulos, who underwent knee surgery on Monday. Meanwhile, Kartalis is also doubtful.