Tenth coach casualty
Panserraikos has finally accepted the resignation of soccer coach Yiannis Papacostas at his third attempt. The Greek coach who last summer took the Serres club from the second division to the Super League for the first time in 16 years had repeatedly offered to resign in order for the team to improve their results. President Petros Theodoridis met with Papacostas yesterday and informed him of his decision to accept the coach’s resignation, unlike on the previous two occasions during the past month. Theodoridis reportedly told Papacostas yesterday that he still believes in the manager’s quality but noted that at the present time the team needs a change of psychology to return to positive results. Panserraikos currently lies 14th among 16 teams and has not yet won at home. It has picked up only one point at Serres and eight on the road. Papacostas became the 10th Super League coach to lose his job this season, since July 1. The Macedonian club also moved swiftly to refute claims that it was close to agreeing a deal with Cyprus manager Angelos Anastasiadis. In a statement Panserraikos said that it fully respected the manager’s contract with the Cypriot federation. Instead, Theodoridis is reportedly close to reaching an agreement with former Iraklis manager Savvas Kofidis. Theodoridis used to be the president of Iraklis when Kofidis was a player for the club.
