The mood at Montana 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal with Levski 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Carlos Fuentes has, at Montana, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Ivan Zhelizko 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.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Bernardo 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.99 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Ivan Zhelizko 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 ratings4 Nov 2030
Aleksa Maraš was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.95. 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.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
Chidera Micheal was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.60. 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boyan Paskov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Montana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ivan Zhelizko 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 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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 Oct 2030
Somebody else is better right now than Petar Krastev
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Montana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Montana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Ivan Zhelizko 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.
“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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Ivaylo Markov 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.
Ivan Zhelizko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chidera Micheal 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.51, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Aleksa Maraš was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
“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 Montana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Josip Kilić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Montana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Josip Kilić has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chidera Micheal 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Montana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
Aleksa Maraš was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.62. 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.
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.
Montana interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Ludogorets go through and Montana go home, 1‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Montana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ivan Zhelizko 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.
Add another name to the list: CSKA 1948 have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Boyan Paskov. The answer from Montana has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chidera Micheal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Montana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Montana, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana 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 Chidera Micheal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Afonso Redondo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Svetoslav Iliev 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.
13 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Cherno More were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“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 Montana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Spartak 1918 have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nikolay Krastev. The answer from Montana has not changed — yet.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Aleksa Maraš. 2‑1 against Cherno More, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Montana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Ivan Zhelizko 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 words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
The offer from CSKA 1948 for Aleksa Maraš was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Montana can pretend not to have heard.
Montana offered $8.0K; Cherno More 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.
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.
Montana asked and Ludogorets said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Montana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Montana, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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.
Ivan Zhelizko 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.
At 17 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
Montana asked and Ludogorets 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Montana 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 Montana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deal with Ludogorets 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chidera Micheal 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.
Montana asked and Ludogorets said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Montana can pretend not to have heard.
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. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Montana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Montana have made the call to Ludogorets. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at Montana 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Miroslav Tonev
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boyan Paskov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Montana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ivan Zhelizko 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 Chidera Micheal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Montana, another week without a signature from Tomás Bernardo.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Montana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Bernardo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Montana 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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Zhelizko signs something — a contract at Montana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomás Bernardo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
In brief
BoardroomThe Montana production line keeps running
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Montana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ivan Zhelizko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Apr 2030
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.
Nobody at Montana 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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Zhelizko signs something — a contract at Montana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Montana says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Montana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ivan Zhelizko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lovro Bizjak 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Zhelizko signs something — a contract at Montana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chidera Micheal 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 message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Chidera Micheal plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Spas Chochev are not good
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aleksa Maraš will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Montana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aleksa Maraš, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Ivaylo Markov 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Zhelizko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Zhelizko signs something — a contract at Montana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Montana will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Montana can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with Beroe; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Montana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Montana hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The deal with Ludogorets 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Spartak 1918 waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Montana is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Montana have gone to Beroe 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.
The clubs have shaken hands with CSKA 1948; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Montana can tell you which week it ends in.
Ivan Zhelizko 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 Chidera Micheal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Montana go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Montana can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boyan Paskov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Montana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lovro Bizjak 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: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Nikolay Iliev to a room that had heard them before.
“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 Montana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Montana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ivan Zhelizko 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivaylo Markov 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 dugout17 Dec 2029
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Nikolay Iliev to a room that had heard them before.
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 Chidera Micheal is on it.
0‑3 against Lokomotiv Sofia, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Ivan Zhelizko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Dec 2029
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Levski in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
1 for Tomás Azevedo, marked 7.87, 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Montana 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 Montana 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 Ivaylo Markov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Nikolay Iliev, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lovro Bizjak signs something — a contract at Montana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Montana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ivan Zhelizko 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 Nov 2029
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lovro Bizjak 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.
Level with 95 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Montana had all but put away. Cherno More will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.58 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Dobrudzha made Montana work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivaylo Markov 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.
“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.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
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.” Nikolay Iliev kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Chances created: 9. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Montana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Montana heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lovro Bizjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Rui Areias 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 door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
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 Nikolay Iliev to a room that had heard them before.
“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 Montana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Up for the corner, and Tomás Azevedo delivers — 7.71
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Tomás Azevedo scored, was marked 7.71, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Ivan Zhelizko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lovro Bizjak 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.
Montana asked and Ludogorets said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Montana will try again when the window opens; Dobrudzha may not be selling by then.
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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Montana people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with CSKA Sofia; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chico Teixeira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Montana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
$3.4M settles it between the clubs for José Martínes
Beroe have accepted the money. What Montana do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
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 7.93 for the rest of it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Montana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Hossam Abdelmaguid 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 Lovro Bizjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Montana has been clear about where Rui Areias stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from CSKA Sofia for Daniel Ivanov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Montana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Montana have done the hard part with CSKA Sofia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Ivan Zhelizko 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.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
In brief
SquadChico Teixeira falls out with a teammate over standards
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Spartak 1918 waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Montana is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Montana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Montana, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mousa De Bruyne is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartak 1918 have kept their man, and Montana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Montana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Montana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and CSKA 1948 waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Montana is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ludogorets is saying, and nobody at Montana is enjoying the guessing.
Ivan Zhelizko 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.
At 26 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chico Teixeira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Montana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Montana have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Montana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have shaken hands with CSKA Sofia; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Montana asked and Spartak 1918 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chico Teixeira 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Montana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lovro Bizjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tomás Azevedo 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 Montana, another week without a signature from Lovro Bizjak.
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 Chidera Micheal is on it.
“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 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Hossam Abdelmaguid 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chico Teixeira 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Montana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ivan Zhelizko 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
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.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Ivan Zhelizko'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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chidera Micheal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.