History of AEK Athens F.C. - The Nikos Kostenoglou Era, Part I (2008)

The Nikos Kostenoglou Era, Part I (2008)

Honours Won: —

Runner-up: Superleague Greece (2008)

2007–08 season, Part II

Papastathopoulos Dellas (c) Georgeas Bourbos Kafes Zikos Edinho Rivaldo Blanco Liberopoulos Lineup against Olympiacos (2008-03-30)

On 12 February 2008 AEK parted company with Lorenzo Serra Ferrer after a poor run of form and un-successful signings and replaced him with former player and then assistant manager Nikos Kostenoglou, on a caretaker basis, at the end of an indifferent season. The team had an impressive run in the last ten games of the league, during which they had two 4-0 wins against Olympiacos and PAOK, finishing in first place. Nevertheless the team ultimately finished second due to a court case between Apollon Kalamaria and Olympiacos for the illegal usage of Roman Wallner in Apollon Kalamaria's 1-0 win earlier in the season. Olympiacos were awarded the three points in a court hearing, thus finishing two points ahead of AEK. AEK president Demis Nikolaidis and several other managers and chairmen have been angered with the court's decision stating that the Hellenic Football Federation knew about the usage of the illegal player prior to the game but didn't do anything about it.

The second place meant that the club had to compete in the league's play-offs but AEK Athens' captains, MVP performer Rivaldo and president Demis Nikolaidis did not want to compete as they considered themselves champions. Akis Zikos preferred to retire after the league's last game against Asteras Tripoli than compete in the play-offs. Nevertheless, the clubs stakeholders insisted that the club had to compete and the ultimately did. The clubs low morale resulted in disastrous results, including a 4-1 loss against Panathinaikos and a 4-0 loss against Aris. They finishing second in the play-offs missing the opportunity to compete in the UEFA Champions League during the nest season.

Overview Under Kostenoglou's management the club had mixed performances, excellend in the domestic league yet disappointing in the UEFA Cup and the play-offs. They played a total of 18 matches winning 10 of them and drawing in 5 more. They scored a total of 35 goals conceding 19.