David Ogaga

Left Back - Lokomotiv Sofia
2 Dec 2027
Thursday
Process

Marked for David Ogaga

48 Edition

The Lokomotiv Sofia Post

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Krasimir Stanoev breaks a bone — 98 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Real improvement from Kaloyan Kostov at Lokomotiv Sofia

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kaloyan Kostov is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words at Lokomotiv Sofia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angel Lyaskov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Transfer targets

Lokomotiv Sofia rebuffed over Gabriel Silva

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sporting CP have kept their man, and Lokomotiv Sofia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

A late step up for Dário Miranda

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

The dugout

Bozhidar Katsarov gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Transfer targets

Lokomotiv Sofia ask about Ivan Yordanov

A loan enquiry to Ludogorets: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

The dugout

Ante Aralica knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ante Aralica trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Ante Aralica talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lokomotiv Sofia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

Back issues
44 Edition

The Lokomotiv Sofia Post

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Lovro Bizjak falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

A falling-out at Lokomotiv Sofia

Erol Dost and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Ryan Bidounga knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ryan Bidounga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Aleksandar Lyubenov gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

When it matters, David Ogaga plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Gabriel Rodrigues has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Gabriel Rodrigues has written the date down.

In brief

40 Edition

The Lokomotiv Sofia Post

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words at Lokomotiv Sofia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angel Lyaskov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Luann for 16 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Lokomotiv Sofia will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Market

Talks stall between Lokomotiv Sofia and Damyan Yordanov

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Squad

Gonçalo Cascalheira in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Sofia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Ante Aralica knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Lokomotiv Sofia, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Aleksandar Lyubenov gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

David Ogaga has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Lokomotiv Sofia will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

Market

The Adil Taoui question follows Lokomotiv Sofia around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Adil Taoui’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

Gonçalo Cascalheira has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Gonçalo Cascalheira has written the date down.

In brief

36 Edition

The Lokomotiv Sofia Post

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

34 days out for António Eirô after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lokomotiv Sofia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Lovro Bizjak pulls a muscle — 16 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Squad

Diogo Barroso is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Words at Lokomotiv Sofia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angel Lyaskov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

Spas Delev asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

Lokomotiv Sofia and Gabriel Rodrigues are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

The dugout

David Ogaga gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say David Ogaga is on it.

The dugout

A door opens for Lovro Bizjak

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Market

The Adil Taoui talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lokomotiv Sofia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

32 Edition

The Lokomotiv Sofia Post

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules António Eirô out for 65 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokomotiv Sofia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Spas Delev signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Spas Delev and Lokomotiv Sofia agree another 2 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Lokomotiv Sofia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sadio Dembélé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Bozhidar Katsarov asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Squad

Lovro Bizjak still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Lokomotiv Sofia would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

The dugout

No hiding place for Guilherme Sobrino

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guilherme Sobrino, and the manager let it.

The dugout

David Ogaga gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say David Ogaga is on it.

Market

The Adil Taoui talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lokomotiv Sofia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

Bozhidar Katsarov placed on the list

Lokomotiv Sofia have made Bozhidar Katsarov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

16 Edition

The Lokomotiv Sofia Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Lokomotiv Sofia leave it late against Arda

Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Arda spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.

Player ratings

António Eirô was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Angel Lyaskov falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Lokomotiv Sofia get the job done against Arda

A 2‑1 win over Arda, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Adil Taoui

7.97, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Lokomotiv Sofia had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

Stanimir Ivanov: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.

The dugout

The plan did not have a place for Lovro Bizjak

Nobody at Lokomotiv Sofia is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.

Looking ahead

A reunion for Bozhidar Katsarov

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Septemvri in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

Market

The Ante Aralica question follows Lokomotiv Sofia around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ante Aralica’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

12 Edition

The Lokomotiv Sofia Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Martin Velichkov

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

A row about effort at Lokomotiv Sofia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Angel Lyaskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Levski take the points off Lokomotiv Sofia

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Ante Aralica did the work nobody counts — 6.76

10 combined actions and 6.76. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.

The dugout

Stanimir Ivanov faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stanimir Ivanov after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Kaloyan Kostov gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Ryan Bidounga has to sit this one out

A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Lokomotiv Sofia lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.

Player ratings

Adil Taoui beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Gabriel Rodrigues wants out of the dugout

“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Lokomotiv Sofia will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.

In brief

8 Edition

The Lokomotiv Sofia Post

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Divine Teah, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65

A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Player ratings

António Eirô runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ryan Bidounga in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Sofia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Adil Taoui sends Lokomotiv Sofia past Botev Vratsa

It finished 2‑0, and it was Adil Taoui’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Lokomotiv Sofia.

Player ratings

Ante Aralica was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.40. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

200 appearances for Erol Dost

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

Squad

Gonçalo Cascalheira stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Gonçalo Cascalheira and Lokomotiv Sofia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Stanimir Ivanov has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Stanimir Ivanov on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

Squad

Words at Lokomotiv Sofia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sadio Dembélé is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

1 Edition

The Lokomotiv Sofia Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Adil Taoui runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Spas Delev signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Spas Delev commits to Lokomotiv Sofia for another 2 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Lokomotiv Sofia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Spas Delev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Spas Delev sends Lokomotiv Sofia past Arda

It finished 2‑1, and it was Spas Delev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Lokomotiv Sofia.

Market

Cauê Caruzo attracts admirers

The name of Cauê Caruzo has come up in conversations Lokomotiv Sofia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Player ratings

The game went through David Ogaga — 6.88

Marked 6.88 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.

Squad

Lovro Bizjak is a square peg at Lokomotiv Sofia

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

Market

Lokomotiv Sofia and Lovro Bizjak are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

Player ratings

Ante Aralica stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.99 on the card, and the Lokomotiv Sofia support went home talking about one name.

In brief