AMANATIDIS IRKED BY CAPTAINCY MOVE Eintracht Frankfurt striker Ioannis Amanatidis has raised doubts about his future at the club after being stripped of the captaincy by new coach Michael Skibbe. Skibbe decided to hand the captain's armband to Christoph Spycher instead of the Greek forward, who has been captain for the last two years and cannot fully understand the coach's decision. "This is a great disappointment for me," he said. "I don't understand such a low level of respect for a player who has been with the club for four years, two as captain. "This decision is not easy for me. Skibbe has only been here a month and he only knows us partly. "Everybody is trying to do their best for the club and he thinks this is the best way forward." The 27-year-old forward disagrees, though, and has promised to take action in one way or another. "There will be consequences," he told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper. "The captain decision was a surprise and maybe there will be another one coming. "I will have to see how I deal with it. Personally, a few things have changed for me now." Although Amanatidis claimed he was "not thinking about another club", he certainly feels Skibbe's decision will send shockwaves through the club. Not only is he disappointed, but he believes several of his team-mates will miss the support he gave them in meetings with the club's chairman Heribert Bruchhagen. He said: "How often have I sat down with Heribert Bruchhagen? I have stuck my neck out for the team. "I have worked on behalf of players, with contract talks and the like. "Bruchhagen always told me that when you think of Eintracht Frankfurt, you think of Amanatidis. I have extended my contract prematurely twice also. "Like I said, this is all hard to understand. I am not a 20-year-old anymore." Amanatidis joined Frankfurt in 2005 and has scored 33 goals for them in the Bundesliga. He has also been capped 31 times by Greece. |