Takis Lemonis

Infobox Football biography
playername = Takis Lemonis


nickname =
fullname = Panagiotis Lemonis
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1960|1|13
cityofbirth =
countryofbirth = Greece
currentclub =
position = Midfielder (retired)
years = 1979-1987 1988-1991
clubs = Olympiacos Levadeiakos
caps(goals) = 174(22)
118(24)
nationalyears = 1977
nationalteam = Greece
nationalcaps(goals) = 02 0(0)
manageryears = 1996-2000
2000-2002
2003
2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
managerclubs = Asteras Zografou
fc|Olympiacos
APOEL
Kallithea FC
Levadeiakos
Xanthi FC
Olympiacos

Takis Lemonis (Greek: Τάκης Λεμονής; born January 13, 1960) is a former Greek football player and current coach.

Playing career

Takis Lemonis played for local club Attikos before playing for Olympiakos from 1979 until 1987. He also played for Levadiakos (1988 - 1991). During his playing career Lemonis was capped twice by the Greek national football team.

Coaching career

Having stopped football as a player, Lemonis studied coaching in England and, in 1996, became head coach at Asteras Zografou. In 2000, he returned to Olympiakos as the assistant coach and, after the dismissal of Ioannis Matzourakis, as head coach. Lemonis had domestic success at Olympiakos by winning two championships in a row but internationally fell short of the fans' expectations and was dismissed in October 2002. He has since coached APOEL F.C. in Cyprus (2003), Kallithea FC (2005) and Levadiakos upon their return to the Alpha Ethniki for the 2006 season.

Olympiakos under the leading of Takis Lemonis won the championship with 11 points difference in 2001 and beat AEK in a match practically final of the championship with a 4-3 in an impressive match in April 2002. He also managed to win AEK 6-1 and Panathinaikos 1-4 in Leoforos, Panathinaicos' historical castle, which together with this season's 4-0 against Panathinaicos again are the biggest domestic victories a Greek team has ever achieved during the last 20 years. However Olympiacos did miserably in the Champions League (lost 3-0 to Maccabi Haifa) and Lemonis was quickly fired.In September 2006, Lemonis once again replaced Ioannis Matzourakis, this time as coach of Xanthi FC. He resigned in December 2006 and, later that month, signed a six months contract and replaced Trond Sollied as the head coach of Olympiakos, but many fans were negative to his return. Despite the fact that Takis Lemonis is a genuine supporter of Olympiakos, many of the clubs fans dislike him because of his defensive coaching mentality and his inexperience in coaching international games.

Although Olympiacos was eventually crowned champion, the loss of the derby of the eternal enemies, the disqualification by a lower division club in the Greek Cup and the loss of Rivaldo led Olympiacos fans to boo Lemonis, Sokratis Kokkalis (the chairman of the club) and the players. However the chairman decided to extend Lemonis's contract for two more years which keeps Lemonis in the club until summer 2009. The 2007-08 season started badly with Olympiacos losing points in the Greek Superleague and drawing with Lazio at home. The away match with Werder Bremen was critical for Lemonis. However Olympiacos prevailed 1-3 (his first win in an away Champions League match) and Lemonis was given an extension. Lemonis is doing better on his second spell with Olympiacos, leading the way to a second away victory in Champions League away game against SS Lazio, a home win of 3-0 against Bremen (6-1 tally in favor of Olympiakos between the two teams), and a devastating 4 to nil win against Panathinaikos in the Greek Cup eighth-finals. However he has received a lot of criticism for his defensive coaching mentality, the terrible performance of Olympiacos in the Super League Greece and the poor training of the team in the summer which resulted in a large number of injuries. Takis Lemonis responded to the criticism by stating that the large number of injuries is not surprising given the fact that Olympiacos has a lot of new players. He dismissed the negative comments regarding the summer training. He "refused to apologize" for the team's performance so far and stated that Olympiacos remains a contender for all the targets he has set since the beginning of the season. However the recent draw in Karaiskákis Stadium with Asteras Tripolis, days before the UEFA Champions League match with Chelsea, cast a shadow over Lemonis's future in the club as it may cost Olympiacos the championship. In March 11 2008 the Olympiacos board of directors unanimously decided to sack Lemonis.

As coach of Olympiacos, Lemonis has achieved a great amount in both their domestic and UEFA Champions League campaigns. He achieved Olympiacos' greatest margin of victory in the competition by defeating Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 in 2002-03. In his second reign as coach, Lemonis gave Olympiacos their first away win in the competition against SV Werder Bremen, and a trip to the Round of 16 for only the second time in their history in 2007-08.