The Giorgos Donis Era (2008)
Honours Won: —
Runner-up: —
2008–09 season, Part I
Giorgos Donis, former head coach of 2006–07 Greek Cup winners Larissa, was appointed as head coach of AEK Athens. There were big changes in the squad with the club spending almost €8M in signings including Swedish international Daniel Majstorović, Nacho Scocco, Argentine international Sebastián Saja, Spanish international Juanfran, Greece's captain Angelos Basinas, Greek international Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Algerian international Rafik Djebbour and the simultaneous departure of all tree captains and club legends Akis Zikos, Traianos Dellas and Nikos Liberopoulos combined with young starlet Sokratis Papastathopoulos' transfer to Genoa. On top of that Brazilian legend Rivaldo who was the new captain asked, and was ultimately given, a last minute transfer to Uzbeki side Bunyodkor.
The season started in the worst way possible as AEK Athens failed to surpass Omonia (0-1 in Athens, 2-2 in Nicosia) for the UEFA Cup's second qualifying round resulting in their elimination from European competitions, the earliest in their history.
The league campaign started very well due to the 2-1 derby win over rivals Panathinaikos thanks to goals by Edinho and Ismael Blanco in the opening game but a series of poor performances and results left AEK Athens in a difficult situation. Donis was eager to leave the club after drawing 3-3 against underdogs Thrasyvoulos despite having a 0-3 half-time lead, but president Demis Nikolaidis did not allow him to leave. Nevertheless, Nikolaidis left shortly after due to the continuous disappointing results, the heavy criticism he took from the fans and the press for the disbandment of last year's championship winning team and a lengthy clash with the club's hardcore supporters Original 21. The presidency was temporarily taken by Nikos Koulis and Takis Kanellopoulos. However, the series of disappointing results continued, bringing anger and insecure situations for everyone in the team. The first to be hit by this wave of disappointment and with the council of the team upset, was Donis, who was asked to leave the team after a 0-0 home draw against Panserraikos.
Overview
Under Donis' management the club did not perform well. They played a total of 13 matches winning 4 of them and drawing in 7 more. They scored a total of 17 goals while conceding 16.
| Competition | Pld | Won | Drw | Lst | GF | GA | GD | W% | Pts% | Pos/Rnd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 Superleague Greece (1) | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 30.00 | 50.00 | 5th (Inc) |
| 2008–09 UEFA Cup | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 00.00 | 16.67 | QR2 |
| 2008–09 Greek Cup (1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 | 100.00 | R5 (Inc) |
| Total | 13 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 16 | +1 | 30.77 | 48.72 | — |
Read more about this topic: History Of AEK Athens F.C.
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