The man who would be king

However, the 55-year-old Portuguese has a distinct advantage over Rehhagel in that he has considerable experience of Greek football, having taken charge of several of the country's top clubs - Panathinaikos, AEK and PAOK - at some point during the last decade. In fact, in February a vote organised by EPO and Skai TV saw Santos being voted the best coach of the 2000-2010 decade.

Santos began his career in Greece by coaching AEK in 2001. He won the Greek Cup with the Yellows in his first season in charge and only finished second to Olympiakos on goal average. His impressive work with AEK earned him a move to Panathinaikos which turned out to be ill-fated as he lasted less than four months in the job. During that time, the Greens lost his first three games in charge and squeezed through a UEFA Cup first-round tie with PFC Litex Lovech in extra time.

Santos returned to Portugal and Sporting Lisbon but returned to Greece again in 2004, when he took over at AEK for a second time. While blooding a lot of young players, he achieved a third place finish, falling just three points short of top place. In 2006, he joined Benfica and guided them to within just two points of the title before returning to Greece the following year, when he took over at PAOK.

It is in Thessaloniki where Santos has probably done his best work in Greece, taking a team with little spare money at its disposal that had become synonymous with failing to live up to its status and gradually moulding a coherent unit made up of young Greek talent, journeymen from abroad and low profile foreigners who have taken the Super League by storm.

PAOK's third place finish during the regular season this year translated into Santos's side finishing top of the Champions League play-offs and securing a place in Europe's top club tournament for only the second time in their history.

In Portugal, his most successful period - in terms of trophies - was winning the league with Porto in 1999 and then the cup with the same team in 2000 and 2001. In fact, in Portugal, he is far less respected than he is with Greece. In his homeland, he is seen as a dour character who places too much emphasis on defence. Suggestions that he could take over the Portuguese national team after the World Cup have been met with derision by many fans.

In Greece, however, there are few - if any - candidates that have the experience of domestic and foreign football that Santos can boast. Also, his ability to work well with limited resources has been another feature in his favour. His ability to organise teams from the back is something that appeals to Greece because it allows the team to build on the philosophy established by Rehhagel, although Santos would be expected to be more adventurous in attack. Finally, his tendency to bring through young players is something that probably appealed to EPO. With the Greek team going through a transitional phase and younger players like Alexis Tsorvas, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Alexandros Tziolis, Sotiris Ninis and Giorgos Samaras playing a more important role, the federation wanted someone who could maximise the potential of the team. He has also developed a reputation for commanding great loyalty from his players, which is not a bad skill to have when you only seem them for a few days every couple of months.

Santos is a qualified engineer and he will certainly be expected to engineer something positive from what has the makings of a much more talented and exciting team than the one that has represented Greece in recent years.

If he is confirmed in the job, his first game will be a friendly against Serbia in Belgrade on August 11 before the qualifiers for Euro 2012 begin later this year. Qualification for the tournament would certainly be considered a success for the new manager and would likely lead to his contract being renewed. Greece waits to see what the Santos era holds. After the thrills, as well as some spills, of the previous decade with King Otto, he certainly has a lot to live up to.

Source:  www.sportingreece.com