The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Beroe have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Etar have accepted the money. What Beroe do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Beroe offered $220.0K; Chernomorets Burgas said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Teodor Ivanov 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yahcuroo Roemer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Beroe have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Beroe, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beroe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Montana have kept their man, and Beroe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oktay Hamdiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Beroe 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oktay Hamdiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Beroe the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oktay Hamdiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Tijan Sohna is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Beroe know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Tijan Sohna
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beroe can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teodor Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Juan Carlos Pineda is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Beroe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Beroe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beroe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 May 2029
Teodor Ivanov 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.
“I watch every Beroe game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at NK Krka runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lovro Bizjak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Yahcuroo Roemer plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Beroe is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Beroe know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Petar Karaangelov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Beroe the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
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 Juan Carlos Pineda is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Beroe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
Nobody at Beroe 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Beroe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Beroe know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Beroe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Oktay Hamdiev 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.
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 Juan Carlos Pineda is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beroe can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teodor Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Lovro Bizjak has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yahcuroo Roemer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Hristiyan Slavkov is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Beroe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.79 for the rest of it.
Yahcuroo Roemer 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Beroe, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oktay Hamdiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Beroe the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything agreed with Dinamo Zagreb, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ludogorets keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teodor Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beroe asked and Botev Plovdiv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Beroe, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$130.0K on the table at CSKA 1948. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Juan Carlos Pineda and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Teodor Ivanov 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Red Bull Salzburg have kept their man, and Beroe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Viktorio Valkov 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Nobody at Beroe 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Beroe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Beroe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.11 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oktay Hamdiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Beroe the goodbyes have quietly begun.
1 for Caio Lopes, marked 7.75, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Up for the corner, and Augusto Dabo delivers — 7.45
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Augusto Dabo scored, was marked 7.45, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beroe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Viktorio Valkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
Nobody at Beroe 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.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Dimitar Chochev chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Augusto Dabo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Spartak Pleven will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. George Akinniranye has pre-agreed a move to Beroe, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
A 1‑0 win over Pirin Blagoevgrad, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Viktorio Valkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Slavia Sofia kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Beroe will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Beroe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beroe can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beroe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
8.25. 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martin Sorakov provided it, and the 8.68 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Beroe 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sporting CP keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Beroe asked and Montana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadWords at Beroe training over how hard people work
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oktay Hamdiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Beroe the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Beroe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Yahcuroo Roemer 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Montana have kept their man, and Beroe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teodor Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Beroe can tell you which week it ends in.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: NK Maribor keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. DAC Dunajska Streda have kept their man, and Beroe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The chase for Ivan Vasilev ended with $120.0K changing hands and Montana out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Yahcuroo Roemer 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manu González 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.
Beroe have made the call to NK Maribor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Caio Lopes is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Beroe will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
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 Nene is on it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Montana; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $365.1K — a club that wants Elysée Sou enough to be asked twice.
Beroe offered $300.0K; Slavia Sofia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teodor Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beroe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Beroe are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Something was said to David Valverde and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The deal with Vihren is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Beroe have gone to Slavia Sofia with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Maksimilian Lazarov is living that version at Beroe, and it tends to show in the first month.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Stanislav Dyulgerov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Beroe have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beroe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Beroe will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Maksimilian Lazarov is 19, and Beroe have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Beroe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beroe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manu González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Nobody at Beroe 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.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Stefan Gavrilov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Teodor Ivanov 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yahcuroo Roemer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teodor Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Beroe can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Beroe would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manu González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Christoforos Karagiannis 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Nobody at Beroe 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.
Juan Carlos Pineda and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Teodor Ivanov 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.
Nobody at Beroe 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“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.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stefan Gavrilov, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Jaume Valens's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
5 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.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
“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.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Dimitar Chochev to a room that had heard them before.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Jaume Valens's mistake
Yahcuroo Roemer 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa have kept their man, and Beroe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Caio Lopes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
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 0‑1 Dimitar Chochev left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Juan Carlos Pineda and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Teodor Ivanov 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.
The goal that put Dobrudzha ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Beroe equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Teodor Ivanov 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Venislav Mihaylov 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Dimitar Chochev to a room that had heard them before.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Oktay Hamdiev 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.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Levski.
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.
A brace, and Emir Kuhinja takes the afternoon — 9.01
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Emir Kuhinja provided it, and the 9.01 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beroe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juan Carlos Pineda 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teodor Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 2‑1 win over Lokomotiv Sofia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Dimitar Chochev could afford to be generous.
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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
0‑3 against Pirin Blagoevgrad, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jaume Valens will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Beroe the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Yahcuroo Roemer 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teodor Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Dimitar Chochev to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
The dugoutLovro Bizjak knocks on the manager’s door
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Caio Lopes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Beroe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Francisco Varela signs something — a contract at Beroe or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
They sit in position 15 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teodor Ivanov 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.
Petar Karaangelov 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Beroe, another week without a signature from Lovro Bizjak.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Beroe told Teodor Ivanov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
A brace, and Emir Kuhinja takes the afternoon — 8.65
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Emir Kuhinja provided it, and the 8.65 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beroe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teodor Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beroe asked and Fiorentina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Botev Vratsa made Beroe work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Dimitar Chochev kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Nobody at Beroe 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Spartak 1918 kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Beroe will be asked about the last half hour all week.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Beroe, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Stefan Gavrilov, marked 7.74, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Beroe had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Admira Wacker, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Add another name to the list: CSKA 1948 have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jaume Valens. The answer from Beroe has not changed — yet.