Giorgos Kalafatakis who left the bench of GS Olympia Larissas talked to sepk.gr about the reasons that led him to this decision and the mistakes which led to this situation.



"I think that I lasted longer than normal. I was patient more than humanly possible. This situation didn't lead anywhere, but only caused problems and grief and no result.

I had expressed twice my intensions to leave the team, but I was pressed first by the administration and later by the players to stay. They promised that they will fight with all their powers.

I am no quitter and I don't neglect my share of responsibilities. But on the other hand, I saw that the players didn't try at all. I don't say that we can't loose, but we cannot loose without fighting, without trying on defense, without making a foul. We didn't have passion, desire or concentration. So my presence wasn't necessary. I didn't want to become a clerk in the team".

About the mistakes that led the team to this situation he said: "The biggest mistake was the structure of the team. There was an administrative gap and we lacked the support of the fans. The picture wasn't clear at all and we can say that the conjunction of the two teams didn't bring the fans together, but drew them apart. Nobody knew if we were AEL, Gimnastikos or Olympia.

The team was built quite late and the pre-season felt short. The team brought along a lot of dept and it wasn't easy to make adjustments in the roster during the season.

The agents didn't give us players. They tried to boycott our moves. The choices were a few, because of agents, dept and the lack of players in the market. We took a chance and we tried only to cover some wounds.

Moreover we were blackmailed by the American players, who didn't play in the crucial games, because their payments were left behind for a few days.

So everybody can realize that this situation didn't lead anywhere. The atmosphere was not good and things got even tougher. You cannot compete in the hard Greek League with all these problems".

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