Marked for Ivan Aleksiev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Radoslav Georgiev has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad5 Jul 2027
42 days out for Nani Ferreira after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartak 1918 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Jul 2027
Levski come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Spartak 1918 did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market5 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Spartak 1918 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Everything agreed with CSKA Sofia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad5 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vitoria Guimaraes have kept their man, and Spartak 1918 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Boris Ivanov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ivan Aleksiev and Spartak 1918 agree another 3 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Apr 2027
20 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Angel Granchov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I watch every Spartak 1918 game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Levski runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
When it matters, Xande 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
Pedro Victor 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 Pedro Victor has written the date down.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Jota Lopes 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 Spartak 1918, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
Nani Ferreira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Aleksiev, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Spartak 1918 says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Market12 Apr 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Spartak 1918, another week without a signature from Diogo Barroso.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes Pedro Victor a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Spartak 1918. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Jota Lopes 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 Jota Lopes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Dimo Krastev 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager's exit leaves Angel Granchov exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Angel Granchov is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I want to play”: Dimo Krastev speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Market5 Apr 2027
The Xande story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Xande signs something — a contract at Spartak 1918 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces29 Mar 2027
The mood at Spartak 1918 has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Spartak 1918
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Spartak 1918 is running low.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spartak 1918 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Angel Granchov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Dimo Krastev 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 Dimo Krastev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Mar 2027
20 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Angel Granchov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Spartak 1918, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Xande 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 Xande is on it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Dimo Krastev 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 Dimo Krastev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad22 Mar 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Spartak 1918 has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces1 Mar 2027
Supporters organise against the Spartak 1918 board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad1 Mar 2027
27 days out for Yordan Atanasov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartak 1918 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Spartak 1918
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Spartak 1918 is running low.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Angel Granchov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Pedro Victor
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A season on the outside for József Balázs
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Spartak 1918 has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Feb 2027
20 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad22 Feb 2027
37 days out for Yordan Atanasov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartak 1918 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spartak 1918 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Aleksiev and Spartak 1918 agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Nani Ferreira and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Xande 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 Xande is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Slavia Sofia, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Xande
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Market14 Dec 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vladimir Marcelinho has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Boardroom14 Dec 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Radoslav Georgiev left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
There were 6 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
0‑1 to Beroe, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Radoslav Georgiev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Xande 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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Dobrudzha in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Jota Lopes does not fit this one
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Xande story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Xande signs something — a contract at Spartak 1918 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Ivan Aleksiev damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad21 Sep 2026
61 days out for Pedro Victor after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartak 1918 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match19 Sep 2026
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match19 Sep 2026
A goal on 87 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with CSKA Sofia leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Radoslav Georgiev after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
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The dugout
When it matters, Xande plays
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Looking ahead
A reunion for Tailson
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The dugout
The plan did not have a place for Dimo Krastev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ivan Aleksiev
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Spartak 1918 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Levski, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Pedro Victor out for 68 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Spartak 1918 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Sep 2026
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vasco Oliveira commits to Spartak 1918 for another 4 years.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Angel Granchov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match12 Sep 2026
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ventsi Mladenov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dimitar Yankov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Dimo Krastev
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Spartak 1918
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ivan Aleksiev damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Pedro Victor out for 76 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Spartak 1918 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match5 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Spartak 1918
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Spartak 1918 are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 19 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Spartak 1918 until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Angel Granchov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA 1948 have kept their man, and Spartak 1918 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match5 Sep 2026
Lokomotiv Sofia left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Tailson
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.