2024-04-08 12:48:16
PAS Ioannina is in a strange situation at the moment, especially tormenting for its people and for the world.
There are still five races left and mathematically nothing has been decided, everything is still open, but to secure the stay he will have to improve his performance spectacularly to get the corresponding points. Most fans think it is difficult, almost impossible for him to make at least four wins in the remaining five games to get to 30 points from 19 he currently has, but in football you never say never. The local team has to compete against OFI (away), Astera Tripoli (home), Panserraikos (away), Kifisia (away), Volos (home).
In any case and regardless of what everyone thinks about the fate of PAS, it is obliged to fight to the end, claiming whatever hopes it has for staying, even if this venture looks like a miracle. And the point is to see each game separately, the players thinking only about the upcoming match and how they will win it. From there, once the games are over and the goals decided, the focus will be on finding a new investor to usher in a new era. The situation will be particularly difficult for the local team in case of relegation to the Second National League. Now things are not as they were in 2010 and 2019, where the team was relegated but had foundations and the following year returned triumphantly to the top division. There is a completely different situation, without the experienced Giorgos Christovasilis, with the departure of his descendants and with a search for a new major shareholder for the next day.
Let’s all hope that the good God of PAS Ioannina will perform his miracle again and that the team will remain in the Super League. Otherwise, difficult years will come that will remind of previous decades, if the right person is not found to take over the team. But let’s stop our dark thoughts here, we will have time to talk soon. We repeat, that since mathematically nothing has been decided, PAS with the support of the fans will have to fight to the end. Tomorrow’s game against OFI in Heraklion takes precedence. It will be a difficult game, since OFI also wants points and is not yet guaranteed his stay. It will be a real derby. And for PAS to have hopes of a winning result, it will have to change its playing behavior and, above all, find a way to score goals and keep well at the back. In many games, especially in Ioannina, he led the score and did not keep it in the replay.
The 3the matchday that will take place tomorrow, Saturday, April 6, has crucial games, such as Asteras Tripoli – Kifisia, OFI – PAS and Panaitolikos – Volos. The other match between Atromitos and Panserraikos has no statistical significance and both sides will be satisfied with a draw. As the games go by, time is running out, the rope is getting tighter and tighter for the teams in danger. We remind you that Atromitos and Asteras Tripoli have 31 points each, Panserraikos 30, OFI 27, Volos 25, Panaitolikos 24, Kifissia 22 and PAS Ioannina 19. The remaining limit is expected to vary between 29 and 30 points. It has never gone above 29 in the last five years that this play-off process has been held with the same number of teams and the same rules of conduct of matches. Last year (2022-23) it was 28, the year before (2021-22) it was 27 and before that it was 25 in the 2019-20 season and 29 in the 2020-21 season. The average stay limit is 27.3 points, let’s go up to 30 this year. Logically, somewhere between 29 and 30 will be the security valve. So PAS wants 10 to 11 points in the five remaining games. At least three wins and two draws. And when we say that a team has mathematically secured its goal, it means that it has enough points that the situation will not change even if it loses all the remaining games and its opponents win them.
PAS IS IN THE MOST DIFFICULT SITUATION
With the above data, Atromitos, Asteras Tripoli with 31 points and Panseraikos with 30 points, have already secured their stay in the Super League. Their own competitive behavior will then partly judge the battle to stay the rest. OFI with 27 points still needs at least 3 points to seal the stay. If he wins PAS tomorrow at “Yendi Koule”, he effectively locks the goal of staying in early as well. From then on, Volos still needs 4 to 5 points, Panaitolikos 5 to 6, Kifisia 7 to 8 and PAS 10 to 11 points, if what happened in previous years is repeated and the limit does not exceed 29 to 30 points .
PAS Ioannina is in the most difficult situation of all the other teams. While he has greatly improved his game image in recent times, he plays good football, creates phases, scores goals, but something goes wrong and he eats up goals easily. In our opinion, the problem is not whether the coach made the changes early or not, nor whether the alpha or beta footballer is to blame. The real problem is that the team is missing some key players who could be supports and help everyone else. There are good footballers in the team, but not in full armory to cover the gaps in all positions and to have quality depth on the bench so that the coach can manage the games better. Those who succeed against specific persons see the tree and miss the forest of bad planning from last summer. When the coach doesn’t have depth on the bench to refresh the team with the right players and when you don’t have supports as a team to keep the opponent up, then the pressure will make the mistake that will result in the goal, a scenario we saw this year in many PAS games. The players try, they take adulation, they shine their eye, but all this can help up to a point. We watch the training almost on a daily basis and see the great effort made by the technical team and the players to improve the competitive image. During Gregory’s era there is a much better image in the training sessions. They just didn’t get the results they should have, which is a combination of many factors as well as luck.
Let’s hope that the miracle of staying will happen at least in the end, after finding the magic button that will reverse the situation.