League champion’s coach expected to terminate at least five contracts
Just days after Olympiakos was crowned league champion for the ninth time in 10 seasons, two rounds ahead of the end of play, Norwegian coach Trond Sollied has reached decisions on players to be ousted from the Piraeus team’s roster, local reports said yesterday. The Norwegian’s black list, containing no major surprises, includes five players with ongoing contracts – Belgian goalkeeper Erbin Lemens, defenders Thanassis Kostoulas and Michalis Kapsis, midfielder Tassos Kyrgiakos, and Spanish striker Dani Garcia. Several more squad members, namely Stelios Venetidis, Brazilian striker D’Acol, Uruguayan striker Nery Castillo, midfielder Yiannis Taralidis, and Spyros Vallas, whose contracts are set to expire, are also believed to be on the way out. Lemens, who moved to Olympiakos last summer, failed to get a single game with his new club. The keeper has reportedly already found a new club. Formerly a regular starter in defense for Olympiakos, Kostoulas lost his place following the arrival of Argentinean Gabriel Schurrer. Kostoulas’s contract is set to expire at the end of this year. The club’s administration is expected to seek an amicable split with the player, whose exemplary behavior will be rewarded, reports said. Kyrgiakos had been warned about his bleak future at the club last summer by vice president Giorgos Louvaris, the man who facilitated the midfielder’s move to Olympiakos. But the player opted to carry on in a bid to establish his place. His contract expires at the end of next season, but the club’s administration is expected to seek a premature end and settlement. Spaniard Dani Garcia rates as one of the bigger disappointments at Olympiakos this year. The striker was unable to establish himself as a reliable scorer up front. Kapsis, who transferred from French club Bordeaux a year after his key role in Greece’s astonishing triumph at Euro 2004, has fought nagging injuries since joining.
