Diagoras 2 - 1 OFI F/T

Agritis scored the goal.
Organitsa missed a penalty.

Prevailing view in the Snakes forum: it's OUR team now, so it's OUR defeat, next week it's gonna be OUR victory, and we can experience these all in all their AUTHENTICITY - without the psycho-baggage of the Vardinogiannis' years. Who cares about the taste of defeat when one can taste independence???

From what I hear, offensively the team was better than expected. It was defensive errors that cost us the game. Bertin in particular was poor. Pesic and Agritis worked fine together. Diagoras played well. We expected better from Diagoras' fans... Anyway, lessons to be learned - the hard way, and on every level. We'll need to keep our learning period short, though. Our scalp is the most prized in the market...

I completely agree with those sentiments.
1 million defeats in FREEDOM are better than one victory under the old regime.
My only fear is that although the core fans will understand this, the less committed fans will lose patience.
Patience is the key... after all.... we are FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Just got back home after watching the game. I'm not disappointed with our defeat, it was just one of those games. The game was not even on my mind today.

What I am disappointed about is the way that the OFI fans were treated and also the behaviour of a lot of the OFI fans.

We were shoved in a muddy field behind one of the goals with no seating and no chance for all of the travelling 350 fans to see the game. It was just a small muddy space and we were shepherded in like animals. I was hoping that the fans would show Diagoras that we were not animals and that we could behave. But no. A lot of the fans, and not just one or two, acted like animals, which proved the organisers right. Throwing rocks and stones at the home support with stands full of women and children is just not on, and simply embarrassing. I felt ashamed to be an OFI fan today.

The whole day is one I wish to forget. I was full of hope that we could finally play as a free team and enjoy the day. A lot of blame should be sent in the direction of the home team for treating us like animals, but hey, a lot of our support were just that, fucking animals. It was a disgrace. Some of our away support should hang their heads in shame.

I'm so, so disappointed.

Thanks for making that point, mate. I'm not based in Crete, and this kind of sentiment has only been implied so far in the Snakes forum (someone spoke of a "great defeat on all levels - and that ain't got anything to do with the team or its performance"). Maybe some of the more sober voices need some time to get their head around what happened. I'm totally with you at how you describe the situation, and it hurts way more than anything that can happen on the field... It's a shame, because some great stuff published recently in the forum shows that there is a very good proportion among our fans, who seem to push the rest towards a more inclusive and open and civilized version of being an OFI fan...


P.S. Let me ask you something: from what you say, we cannot speak of defense against provocation or whatever. Was there any effort by the rest of our fans to 'police' those who crossed the line? Was it possible at all? Do you think they were there to create trouble no matter what? (If you don't answer at all, no problem - I appreciate you have a bad taste in your mouth and want to forget all this...)

simonofi wrote:http://www.12soccer.gr/Photos.php?N_ID=5174&P_ID=11064&a=0

Was about to post that too. No excuse for photos 51, 53, 54, I'm afraid...

when someone treats you like an animal. Put you in a place with rocks and stell how will you act if someone attacks friend?
tell me...
All ok in rhodes i was there too ... so....

Throwing rocks to a stand with children (which is what Cullenakis says) is NOT on, even if attacked by that stand. You're not telling me they were human shields, obviously. What to do? Don't know, my friend, wasn't there. Move to a different spot, if possible? Worst case scenario: leave the place. Still more 'manly' than injuring a kid. That's not to say Diagoras' behaviour was not despicable and provocative...

If you're angry with Diagoras, I can understand it. If you're angry with me or the way Cullenakis described the situation, please say why. If you believe you/they had no option other than throwing the stones, then go on and explain it.

Was this an OFI organised trip?
If so did they get let down by Diagoras on where our fans were situated?
It seems this has a large part to play in what happened.

simonofi wrote:Was this an OFI organised trip?
If so did they get let down by Diagoras on where our fans were situated?
It seems this has a large part to play in what happened.

From what I've read in the forum and the press, Diagoras acted in bad faith. First they moved the game to that semblance of a football pitch in Ialysos, with substantially less capacity, citing as reason works in their home ground. When OFI officially asked for tickets, Diagoras agreed, although they made the point that OFI were obliged to have asked earlier, choosing to ignore that no date and time had been set until then by the League. Then, in their desire to accommodate their own fans in that extremely small ground, they tried to renege on the agreement, but OFI refused, stating that 200 of our fans had already paid advance for the air-trip, and more were determined to make it to the game (students, soldiers, Cretans of Rhodes etc.). Then our club issued a press statement, claiming that Diagoras effectively tried to prevent OFI fans from travelling to Rhodes (although they are obliged to give 15%, I think, of the tickets to away fans). So Diagoras opted to throw our support like garbage in that muddy space behind one of the goals, with no seats and no clear view of the field for everyone. There, they were possibly an easy target for home stone-throwers, but could also find their 'ammunition' far easier.

It's obvious that Diagoras should bear the brunt of the responsibility for this, but I cannot but agree with Cullenakis' viewpoint. I wasn't there, so I can't really talk distances and options and make detailed judgements, and that's why I wasn't totally dismissive of ofisss. But still I can't condone kids being treated like 'externalities'... I'd rather 'lose face' by retreating or leaving, than hurl stones, esp. to innocent bystanders - not just women and kids (as far as chivalry goes, that's one of its most hypocritical breeds to me).

Hope I clarified some of this mess for you, but I'm sure we could use some more detail by people who were actually there...



P.S. Please note that this crappy 'arrangement' was only a suspicion when our fans booked their flight, but it became a certainty before they travelled to Rhodes. Thus they knew they would be standing behind one of the goals, but not to its full detail: the mud, proximity to the stands, stones etc.

usual_suspect posted this morning on the Snakes forum, and I thought of giving you the run-in, because it is directly related with how we go about discussing what happened in Rhodes.

He claims that he, along with the vast majority of our fans who travelled to Rhodes, is disgusted and disappointed by the real cancer that we still have inside the body of our support. He doesn't go into the details of what happened, and mentions that the local (Cretan) media masked the truth, perhaps in order to allow us the opportunity to make a fresh start on every level. He URGES us to be patient, and REQUESTS that we don't post about the events in Rhodes, as he makes it absolutely clear that the issue will be dealt with 'internally' and immediately. This, he says, will take place in cooperation with the club, and is adamant that "no-one with psychological problems will be allowed to toy with our team, our safety, our dignity, our hopes, our efforts, even our money". "Measures will be taken and announced to the pricks concerned."

I'm not entirely sure if not talking about it is correct (although penal law is a serious consideration), but 1) I think you should know, 2) I'm not in Crete, I was not in Rhodes, so I intend to respect that request and take their word.

Have a nice day!

In light of those comments and the action being taken we should also draw a line under this here.