GSL Preview: Iraklis chases new century goals

The Greek Super League (GSL) is only a day away; and here at the Greece Blog we’re counting down the days to kickoff of the 2008/2009 season with a preview for each of the sixteen clubs comprising Greece’s top level of football.

Iraklis – Greek for Hercules – heads into its 49th season in the top flight with a new look, and with a brand new agenda. The club will be celebrating its centenary this coming term, and after several poor finishes in recent years the club is hoping for some birthday luck.

Iraklis has made many moves to bolster its squad for the upcoming season. For the Thessaloniki club, the ‘bam’ signing – as they call it in Greece – is none other than Michalis Konstantinou. After being released by Olympiacos, it took Cyprus-international nearly all summer to find a new club. The player had limited playing time in Piraeus, but he is expected to be the go-to-guy with his new club. Kiko Raton, a former leading scorer in the Spanish Segunda Division will partner up with Konstantinou in the attack, after the Spaniard sealed the move to Greece from Orihuela CF.

Several young talents have left Iraklis for new challenges. Giannis Papadopoulos being one of them, has joined Olympiacos. Aaron Niguez has seen his loan come to an end, and Iraklis pursuance to acquire him on loan again failed as Spanish giants Valencia sent Aaron to Rangers. Veteran Elias Poursanidis has thrown in the towel, as the experienced midfielder retired at the end of last year.

Iraklis will need to count heavily on Konstantinou to score the club goals, and lots of them. With talent in attack, including youngster Dimitris Giantsis, Iraklis main hope of survival will be the club’s potential to score.