What the president of APOEL said to Cablenet
The president of APOEL, Prodromos Petridis, was hosted on Cablenet and on the show “Kick Off”, with Adrea Kafa.
What he said in detail:
About the championship:“I feel very tired but I don't have time to rest because we are preparing for the new year which will be even more difficult. For the first time in my history as president, it was the most difficult year because it was the fourth year in a row that we were out of Europe and the financial problem was increasing, but also the competitive one with the criteria, the January transfers, the coaches. But with 24-hour work we found the strength to solve the problems”.
How did the success come? “How did you manage even if you ever thought the team would lose the championship? “We had a good communication with the coach as management and the coach with the players despite Mr. Sa Pinto's quirk. By the time we entered the playoffs I had told myself that the team would enter from a position of strength. In the playoffs I was a little shaken because I saw the team…fall. Losing the match against Anorthosis I was shaken but we had the margin of the loss. Then we were defeated by Omonia and we expected a gift from Anorthosis and it came. But if we only wanted a win in the last match, I was sure that we would win the championship because I believed in the team and saw every day what work was being done. It was the fairest since we were first and we were the most consistent team. It would be unfair to lose this championship”.
For Sa Pinto: “I knew before he came that he was quirky, but I didn't know how they would come out to this extent. We had two or three episodes in the preparation and in the first matches in Europe, we talked about it together and then the players who understood his character and solidified it were better. It took us some time to understand his passionate character and we made it to the last match to win the championship. We all made concessions and compromises. I feel completely vindicated that he stayed. Having your assistant instead of your coach for four months is a global phenomenon. Then we had some internal events, they got us to the zenith and we said “enough, it can't go any further”, however, I thought it good not to change the coach like last year, and in the end I was justified”.
For David Gaiego: “Because I have a history of looking for coaches, I wanted a coach who knew. We got positive feedback. Nine out of ten were positive. There is a risk that no matter what coach you hire, you will fail. For me, the coach's victory is to win over his players and I will have this conversation with him. If he succeeds we'll be fine. We put some conditions on the financial and other specifics and he accepted them and it was an additional reason. We will do this with titles too! Like Sa Pinto, he did not have a championship. We made another champion coach”.
For Giorgos Donis: “I often talk with Giorgos Donis and he knows all the problems of the team because of Tasos. George and I don't talk on a weekly basis, but definitely twice a month. I had informed him that no matter what happens, I would change the coach and you are on my mind. I spoke with him and at the moment it was very difficult to work together”.
About Kvilitaia:“I sigh because for the last 48 hours I have been talking about Kvilitaia. According to his words, his wish was to remain at APOEL, but he received a big offer from Aris. Then we called him again and I raised the offer and again we agreed, but I wanted his signature by the evening. We should show him in some ways that we want to keep him. With some bonuses and all that. However, we have reached our limits and I hope we will have a conclusion”.
For Dalsio: “And with Dalsio we exceeded our limits. I'm not going to give him a single euro more and I gave him a deadline to answer”.
For Vigiaphanes: “We will have to discuss it with the coach if he will stay. He has to wait”.
For the Cypriot players:“We want to invest in this part. Theodorou, Stavros Georgiou, Kattirtzis will come back. Konstantinos Poursaitidis will also be in training. We were approached by managers from other Cypriots but I told them that we have our own. I am not going to wrong an APOEL player who comes from APOEL for someone else from another team. We are looking for a team in the B division to give them on loan to get playing minutes because most of them are still young”.
For the world:“The world was characterized as a champion from the beginning and so it was. It broke the Cypriot world record and the attendance record of APOEL. With the exception of the cup game with Nea Salamina, all other matches were exemplary. Now for the financial support from the people, we did not have the results that we wanted in the financial support that we had in January. Especially the virtual sold out disappointed me with its course. Everyone could put in 20 euros to make it sold out”.
For Europe's goal:“The most important and the most dangerous is the first match because if we qualify we enter the groups of the Conference League. However, we want to reach the play-offs of the Champions League and we want to qualify at least for the Europa League before next year. If we qualify for the Champions League we will have a small profit”.
For investors:“We are waiting, we are making efforts every day and I will not stop making those efforts. We will keep doing this fight. There is interest, I give them information if they need it. Now as champions it is more attractive. There is nothing at the moment. When they come to APOEL, everyone understands the pressure they are under and they have not experienced this pressure of “we have to win”. This also happens with investors and it is not easy for someone to come and put such a thing in his head. Being an investor in APOEL is one thing, and being an investor in another team is another. We see that foreign investors in Cyprus are only in small groups. But I am not talking about Mr. Papastavrou and Omonia because it is different. Anyway, anyone who wants to put their money should come. APOEL did not stalk us. However, if they want 100%, we will have to put in place some safeguards”.
For Dino Iordanos:“I will feel when the foundations are laid. I received a lot of ridicule because they said that when I find things dark I always used the stadium as an excuse. Finally, God helped us and Mr. Jordanou came and the water has entered the groove. We have secured the land, we got the plans, on June 6 the French architects are coming to Cyprus. This stadium will put APOEL on another level. It will be a stadium with multiple areas to be able to work throughout the week. It's in our plans to see how we can operate it better in order to generate income”.
For Cavenaghi:“We are still talking. He opened an office and already suggested us players. They will be evaluated by the coach, I can't know or report anything from now. We'll see.”
On his biggest mistake and biggest achievement: “My biggest mistake was agreeing to stop the league during the coronavirus season. The biggest achievement is what we have been living for a few years with the financial one. Every day we are there and we fight. It's an achievement. I put the “I” down for APOEL. I wasn't ashamed to knock on doors, beg and get in trouble personally. It was my commitment that, as long as I am there, APOEL will be the protagonist despite any problems”.
