We are currently going through a period of our lives when everything seems to happens so fast and a lot of things are out of control. Time seems like a luxury, and few are willing to wait before drawing conclusions. Under these circumstances, and given that he had already been at PAOK for six months without winning a place in the starting XI, at the start of last season Josip Misic seemed to be merely ranked in most people’s minds as a fringe player.

His subsequent performance in the recently-completed season is a typical example of avoiding jumping to conclusions and giving some time to people. Because as soon as the Croatian was given the opportunity to shine by Abel Ferreira, he never looked back and was perhaps the best player of the Greek championship. Josip Misic is very much a worthy winner of the «Platon Foropoulos» award given to the MVP of the 2019-20 season.

He started the season on the bench in the first European games, but as soon as he was given a chance in the starting XI, he became the benchmark for the rest of the PAOK players to follow. The ball simply had to go through him virtually every time when the team was moving from defense to attack. And his incredible slide-rule passes became the number one danger to opposing teams who were forced to adjust their gameplan each time just to try and limit his influence on games.

He is a central midfielder who does everything out on the pitch. Consistent and solid in his defensive duties, he is always full of running, passion, and intensity. He offers composure in the difficult moments in matches, and makes a significant contribution to the attacking side of the team. In just two months of consecutive games, Misic managed to turn into Mr Vertical and take on the role of … midfield maestro on the pitch for the Dikefalos tou Vorra.

In 32 games, he scored six goals and made 11 assists. Misic was by far one of the top midfielders in the Super League, and the club are looking forward to having him back from injury and on the pitch to continue to surprise us (and everyone else) with his inspirational form. In the poll for the 11888 MVP of the 2019-20 season, Mr Vertical received 36.53% of the votes, easily taking home the «Platon Foropoulos» award.

Dimitris Giannoulis was second, with the defender enjoying a stunning breakthrough season with some impressive performance on the left, while third place on the podium was filled by Dimitris Pelkas , who despite his injury problems proved what an essential part of this team he is.