Stramaccioni: “We were first and the payments stopped”

Former Panathinaikos coach Andrea Stramaccioni gave a wide-ranging interview to “gazzetta.gr” for the first time since leaving Athens over three years ago, where he shed some light on various issues plaguing the club at the time.

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Former Panathinaikos coach Andrea Stramaccioni spoke out for the first time after leaving the club over three years ago. In a wide-ranging interview with Greek sports site gazzetta.gr, the Italian shed some light on various issues plaguing the club during his helm. He spoke about payments being stopped, the dressing room being torn apart due to sales, and also apologised to the Panathinaikos world for his own mistakes.

Stramaccioni arrived in Athens in November 2015, replacing the popular Giannis Anastasiou following the infamous Qabala debacle in the UEFA Europa League. The Italian wasted no time in attempting to put together his squad, and heavy investment began in January 2016. The team finished the 2015-16 regular season in second spot but dropped to third after the playoffs, without significantly impressing on the pitch.

However, a massive increase in the budget was authorised by Giannis Alafouzos in the summer of 2016, and the Italian spent big on an array of experienced foreigners (mostly past their best). The initial outlook was good as the team qualified for the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League group stage by beating Brondby and AIK Stockholm along the way. The team started well domestically but had fallen apart by late October. To compound his misery, the team was winless in the Europa League and finished bottom of the group.

By this stage, Stramaccioni lost the dressing room, and the football on display was worsening each game. He was eventually sacked on the 1st of December, 2016 lasting just over one year in the Panathinaikos hot seat.

When asked about his opinion on the commonly held notion that ‘Stramaccioni destroyed Panathinaikos,’ he replied by stating the following. “The truth is very different from what you describe as the dominant view. When I arrived, the team was fifth after the derby penalty (points deduction) but finished the regular season in second. During the first year, I bought good players like Leto, Villafanez, Mesto, and Moledo. Then, we managed to make the Europa League group stage and were drawn in a hard group. We were first in the Super League in late October, but then the club stopped paying everyone! They could not afford our salaries anymore, at least that is what they told us.”

He thinks the team continued to play well despite this, but this is what ultimately “disintegrated the locker room as players began to worry about whether or not they would get paid,” and players had not “gotten paid in months.”

Stramaccioni also indicated that he made a mistake during a difficult period as he “refused to give any interviews to shed light on the situation in an attempt to protect his players.” He also believes Victor Ibarbo, who “did not perform well,” was not afforded the time he needed to settle in.

The Italian went on to state that he “Joined Panathinaikos during a difficult time and tried to do my best. I did a lot more than a normal coach has to do supporting the President. My first mistake was not focusing solely on the team as I focused too much on protecting the players. My second major mistake was not frequently explaining the situation to the fans in order to protect the team.”

In terms of describing Alafouzos as a person, Stramaccioni stated that “He is a very serious person. What Alafouzos did was for the love of the team, and unfortunately for him and Panathinaikos, something went wrong.”

Ultimately, it can be inferred that the Italian left Greece a very frustrated person as he went on to say that he “left Greece angry because I could not finish what I had started building.”

He also apologised to Panathinaikos fans stating that “They are so special and deserve to have regular success. My daughter was born in Greece, wearing a green blouse. This is why Panathinaikos will always mean something very special to me.”

Stramaccioni was also quizzed about the next chapters in his career and briefly spoke about Sebastian Leto, as he chose the popular Argentine as his assistant coach in Iran. “He has leadership qualities. We had a close relationship at Panathinaikos and respected each other, even when we did not agree on certain things. As an assistant coach, he was very good. Every day he gained more confidence and skills. He has a bright future ahead of him.”

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