Marked for Stanislav Tanev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Jul 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match29 Jul 2028
Beaten 1‑8 by Pirin Blagoevgrad, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market31 Jul 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at CSKA Sofia II, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match29 Jul 2028
6 matches without a win for CSKA Sofia II
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around CSKA Sofia II are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.93, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market31 Jul 2028
Dobrudzha come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and CSKA Sofia II did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; CSKA Sofia II are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Dodaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jul 2028
Stefano Sensi 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at CSKA Sofia II training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Dodaj 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Martin Sorakov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Dodaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jun 2028
“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 CSKA Sofia II, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Dodaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market19 Jun 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. CSKA Sofia II have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Cătălin Itu 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 Cătălin Itu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Jun 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CSKA Sofia II know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Vasil Kaymakanov has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Jun 2028
“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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Ludogorets come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and CSKA Sofia II did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Matthias Phaëton 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
He is 21, he is averaging 7.05, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Kevin Dodaj 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Stefano Sensi has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and CSKA Sofia II will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 May 2028
Vasil Kaymakanov 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.
Squad29 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA Sofia II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market29 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Matthias Phaëton’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market29 May 2028
CSKA Sofia II have made Kevin Dodaj available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad29 May 2028
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at CSKA Sofia II would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Squad29 May 2028
Cătălin Itu speaks, and the room listens
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at CSKA Sofia II was different afterwards.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 May 2028
“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.
Squad22 May 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vasil Kaymakanov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad22 May 2028
Stefano Sensi 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yulian Iliev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market22 May 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CSKA Sofia II know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout22 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stanislav Tanev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
At 21, Vasil Kaymakanov is already the best thing here
An average of 7.05 in a first team he is several years too young for. CSKA Sofia II have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Yulian Iliev 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Stanislav Tanev 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
Cătălin Itu: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one CSKA Sofia II will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market10 Apr 2028
The name of Stefano Sensi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. CSKA Sofia II say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CSKA Sofia II, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Apr 2028
4 matches without a win for CSKA Sofia II
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around CSKA Sofia II are no longer polite ones.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Stefano Sensi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Yulian Iliev 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
10 goals and a season average of 7.20. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and CSKA Sofia II will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Stoycho Bodurov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the CSKA Sofia II dressing room was either.
Match1 Apr 2028
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Minyor Pernik defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 8. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 May 2027
Bernard Tekpetey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 May 2027
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 Przemysław Tytoń is on it.
The dugout24 May 2027
Bruno Jordão 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 Bruno Jordão trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 May 2027
The James Eto'o story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until James Eto'o signs something — a contract at CSKA Sofia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout24 May 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Nobody writes a headline about a tutor. Nobody has to be told, either, what happens to a signing who spends two years being the man nobody can talk to at lunch.
The dugout24 May 2027
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Petko Panayotov plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Squad24 May 2027
Word from the training ground: Maks Ebong
The sharpest man in every session this week, by all accounts. Lines like this run the week before somebody’s run in the side begins.
Loan watch24 May 2027
1 days of the agreement remain and 26 appearances sit behind him. Somebody has to decide what happens next.