Roumeliotis: “The Glaukos/Esperos project is probably my last chance”
The coach of Glaukos/Esperos (National League 1, 2nd group), Costas Roumeliotis, was “hosted” on the show “Before the jambol” of OK WebRadio with Athina Patrinou and Raphael Alagas.
He said in detail:
For the game against Apollon Patras (01/11): “If someone had said 3-4 years ago that Apollon Patras would play in the national categories against Glaukos/Esperos, they would have thought him crazy. They are essentially a GBL team. It is the most historic team of all in Patras and has played there for many years. For some reasons of their own, they found themselves in National League 1. I, who live in Patras, know that almost the entire city is Apollon. It is the third year of our club in the category, not as Union, however, as Glaukos and as Esperos separately. There is a big favorite in the match. Apollo and Saturn were built to move up to the Elite League. They are the favourites, but we will play at 1000%, as in every game. I said in an interview here a verse of Gatsu’s that I really like: “he who goes to battle to die, my soldier, does not fight for war”. We don’t go to “die”, we go to “survive”. We will do everything we can, with faith in our work and the vision of the club. It’s… an easy game for us, in the sense that the pressure is not on our side. We will approach it the way we do in all matches.”
For this year’s goal of Glaukos/Esperos: “The goal is to easily stay in the division. This year there are three teams that were made for promotion: Kronos Agios Dimitrios, Apollon Patras and Ethnikis Livadeias. There is also a fourth team, in my opinion, Prometheus 2014, which finds from a large “reservoir” of players. They are a very young team, talented and I think they will surprise this year. There are also traditional forces, such as Paneleusiniakos, Esperos Kallitheas, AENK. If we remove Ionian Corfu and N.O. Saronidas, all the teams have a history in the national categories. We who come there for the first time, the goal we should set is an easy stay. If we manage to enter the play-offs, it will be a great success.”
For the project of maintaining last year’s roster in a higher category: “The task is difficult. Last year we built a team whose goal was to move up a division. We had the pressure, but we did it relatively easily. This year it was a decision by me and the management to build team bonds. We have many stepchildren and want to create group bonds. We kept almost the whole group, only one child left. We wanted to make two nerve-wracking moves, but not by getting players just to get, but by bringing in really good players and team-mates. We didn’t make it. We are the team we are. It is a difficult task, but we have a great “weapon”, the administration. I have not met an administration and a president like Kostas Marlafekas. The conditions here are conditions not even found in GBL. They are incredible. He provides us with everything.”
On what it’s like to go from the “label” of the big favorite (last year) to the… outsider (this year): “I’ve experienced this before with the ‘absolute favourites’ and we responded well. When I was at Fanaria Naxos, in the matches against the absolute favourites, Mykonos and Milos, we performed very well, we lost in extra time. And last year with Proteas Voulas, who was promoted to the Elite League, we won three matches, two in the regular season. When you play without stress it is very important. We experienced it the other way around last year, we had a lot of pressure. Our concern is that this horn is the most important. If we have a good run and easily stay in the division, I believe that great years are coming for the Union. We adapt. We lived with the pressure of the big favorite, we also live as outsiders”.
On whether this year is a landmark year for the club: “Now the team is becoming known, in Athens and in the basketball arena. This team, because they have a financial possibility through the president, the conditions sound great and we have a base of worthy kids that we have been working with for two years, if things go well this year they will claim more things in the future. We know where we “pain” and where we need reinforcement so that we can create something better to make a championship in the category. All this rests on solid foundations and that is the most important thing here. Mr. Marlafekas has a real vision, not only for the first team, but also for the academies, the court, basketball in general. Unfortunately, there are few groups that have this basis and provide these conditions to their employees.”
On whether the Glaukos/Esperos project is the most ideal fit at this point in his career: “It is something exclusively mine. Generally in all teams I did this, I never take any players I don’t want or that others will tell me. Here are the conditions to create something very beautiful, lasting and in my own way: with good teammates. We like the team to be the star. This might be my last chance. It’s just the way I want it so far. Me, because I have been in basketball for years, I know how we are judged every day. I hope things go like this, because really so far it’s probably even more than I dreamed here.”
