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They call him the "iron man" or the "Great Timonieri”. Others compare him to Mao, who will lead the "red and white race" on the Great Way to the chosen ones. This is not about anybody else, but the absolute ruler of the red-white football Sokratis Kokalis, who recently celebrated 17 years as president. President Kokalis assumes the position on 15/04/1993 2 years after the basketball team of Olympiakos was transferred under his control. The story strikes nearly two decades in which everything passes through the hands of "strong ruler" - the man who has the exclusive right over the fates of coaches and players, but not only ...

This time, however, we can hardly say that the anniversary finds the president in the most appropriate situation. The absolute football victories of the white-reds (5 in a series in the period from 1996 to 2003 and 7 in a series from 2004 to 2009) now only belong to the past. This year's football season did not bring anything good to the team, and its loss in the championship of Greece as well as the chaos that reigns on the field can convince everyone that the “white-red” era came to an end. In the hysterical attempts to prove the peak position of his team Kokalis made many mistakes. Known for his blind faith in the absolute power of the coach, he organized a real coaches fashion show. In the last year the football stars of the white and red team have a new coach in almost every 3 months - a fact which is a phenomenon in the history of football as it is and which glows in red light showing that something is definitely lame in the team and in the. .. management. The lack of any patience in the struggle to achieve peak performance by Kokalis has become almost proverbial. For 17 years power over white-red team he made 25 changes of 21 coaches. Of course, some of the names of the coaching bench in the past did not really justify the expectations (Protasof, Alefantu, Badovich). 17th Anniversary finds Kokalis in another search of the "right" coach for the team ...

After partner Lavrentis Lavrentiadis refused to cover PAE shares worth 10 million euros Kokalis on the day of the anniversary of his presidency had to take over this task himself by paying the amount. Thus he became the holder of 78.5% of the shares of Olympiakos.

 But let us not, however, underestimate the facts. The 12 championships won are really a success for the team. The success however is mainly due to the expensive players bought from abroad. With the team’s shirt are playing names like Rivaldo, Karebe, Zahovich and Giovanni (for the purchase of which in 1999 Olympiakos pays 25 million euros), Kovacevic, Bellucci, Dzhorzhevich, Galeti and many others world famous players. For Grigoris Georgatos (Inter) the white-reds have paid 8 million euros, which is also the most expensive transfer in Greek football history.

In a history of a legend team built in this way it is really difficult to accept defeat. It is difficult not only for the team and its management, but also for the very fans who for years they have been convinced that they are "best", that they are "first".

Photo: SportDog