A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Botev Vratsa 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 The request is on a desk at Botev Vratsa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Botev Vratsa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with CSKA Sofia 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at CSKA Sofia is saying, and nobody at Botev Vratsa is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botev Vratsa 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. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Botev Vratsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Botev Vratsa 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 Botev Vratsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2032
Words at Botev Vratsa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandar Buchkov 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 gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout13 Dec 2032
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
José Lino 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 Gabriele Rocchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Nov 2032
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Lainer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botev Vratsa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
José Lino and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2032
Words at Botev Vratsa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandar Buchkov 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Botev Vratsa told Valeri Nedelkov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 Nov 2032
The manager has not finished forgetting Oliwier Michułka'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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Botev Vratsa would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botev Vratsa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 dugout18 Oct 2032
Somebody else is better right now than Kjire Novakov
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The dugoutKjire Novakov knocks on the manager's door
69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botev Vratsa can pretend not to have heard.
1 for Aleksandar Buchkov, marked 7.63, 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Lainer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botev Vratsa 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 Botev Vratsa 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botev Vratsa 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 Botev Vratsa 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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Belasitsa scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Botev Vratsa people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Botev Vratsa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at CSKA Sofia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
José Lino 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 easiest signature of my career.” Amir Fattakhov and Botev Vratsa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Botev Vratsa asked and Levski said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandar Buchkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad17 Nov 2031
José Lino 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.
Amir Fattakhov 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martin Petkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botev Vratsa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botev Vratsa can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Cherno More, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botev Vratsa 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 Martin Petkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Spartak 1918 have accepted the money. What Botev Vratsa do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Botev Vratsa, 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 Botev Vratsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Words at Botev Vratsa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Petkov 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. Minyor Pernik have kept their man, and Botev Vratsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Minyor Pernik will make the call about Timurs Azarovs this week. Botev Vratsa have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Petkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Botev Vratsa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Botev Vratsa. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Martin Petkov 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sagesse Yalala and Botev Vratsa agree another 3 years.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Martin Petkov signs something — a contract at Botev Vratsa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
48 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Botev Vratsa will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Botev Vratsa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Michael Lainer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Amir Fattakhov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Sá was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 16 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Martin Petkov signs something — a contract at Botev Vratsa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“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 Botev Vratsa will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Petkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Valeri Nedelkov. 2‑1 against Montana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Oliwier Michułka 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Radoslav Slavchev and Botev Vratsa agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Marked 6.59 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.