Marked for Jaime Júnior
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Feb 2028
Jaime Júnior hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cherno More can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Asen Donchev 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 Cherno More this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Cherno More training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maks Ebong 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 targets14 Feb 2028
Cherno More asked and CSKA 1948 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Plamen Iliev, and the manager let it.
Market14 Feb 2028
“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 dugout14 Feb 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Cherno More told Anton Tungarov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Plamen Iliev 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 Plamen Iliev is on it.
Market14 Feb 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikolay Zlatev signs something — a contract at Cherno More or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
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Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Celso Sidney 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
14 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maks Ebong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match25 Dec 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
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.” Danail Atanasov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market29 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad29 Nov 2027
Asen Donchev 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 Cherno More this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maks Ebong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match27 Nov 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Nikolay Zlatev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Cherno More.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout29 Nov 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.” Danail Atanasov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout11 Oct 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad11 Oct 2027
Celso Sidney 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maks Ebong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match9 Oct 2027
0‑2 to CSKA Sofia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luciano Squadrone, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 0‑2 Danail Atanasov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market11 Oct 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Cherno More, another week without a signature from Vasil Panayotov.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Plamen Iliev 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 Plamen Iliev is on it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Ertan Tombak joins up with his country. Cherno More lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Sep 2027
“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 Cherno More, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Up for the corner, and Asen Donchev delivers — 7.86
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Asen Donchev scored, was marked 7.86, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Celso Sidney 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maks Ebong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match11 Sep 2027
Beroe left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
The window shuts on the Pedro Victor deal
Cherno More ran out of time with Spartak 1918. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
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 1‑2 Danail Atanasov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Market13 Sep 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match17 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Cherno More's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cherno More has to find a result from somewhere.
Market19 Jul 2027
Jaime Júnior hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cherno More can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Celso Sidney 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.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
3 academy players handed senior numbers at Cherno More
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maks Ebong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Cherno More asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match17 Jul 2027
Emir Kuhinja scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Arda, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cherno More can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Cherno More have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market14 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Cherno More did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Bandaró: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cherno More have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market14 Jun 2027
The paperwork is done: Anton Tungarov joins from Montana in a deal worth $950.0K. Now comes the harder part.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad14 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Asen Donchev and Cherno More agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
$99.0K on the table at Beroe. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Celso Sidney 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.