Marked for Stoyan Predev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Minyor Pernik, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Minyor Pernik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match1 Jan 2028
4 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandar Todorov 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 targets3 Jan 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match1 Jan 2028
0‑1 to Sportist Svoge, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stoyan Predev, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Danail Nedelev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Dec 2027
Emil Kolev 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.
Match25 Dec 2027
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Wages eat 89% of everything Minyor Pernik earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Valentin Kostov
“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 dugout27 Dec 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Danail Nedelev after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Anastas Pemperski'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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Dec 2027
Deyan Lozev 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandar Todorov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match18 Dec 2027
Late, late show earns Minyor Pernik a point
Minute 95, against Dobrudzha, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pavel Zhabov, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Minyor Pernik know it.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Emil Kolev runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match18 Dec 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Dobrudzha leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Danail Nedelev after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Stoyan Predev
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Emil Kolev 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 Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandar Todorov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match11 Dec 2027
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Market13 Dec 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minyor Pernik, another week without a signature from Aleksandar Georgiev.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Stoyan Predev dropped after a run of poor form
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.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Georgi Dimitrov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market13 Dec 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Georgi Angelov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Minyor Pernik.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Emil Kolev 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Match27 Nov 2027
3 matches without a goal for Minyor Pernik
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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“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; Minyor Pernik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
97% of the income goes out in wages at Minyor Pernik
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.42 on the card, and the Minyor Pernik support went home talking about one name.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Minyor Pernik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Emil Kolev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Match20 Nov 2027
Pirin Blagoevgrad left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Danail Nedelev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Stoyan Predev
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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Slav Petkov 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 Slav Petkov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Looking ahead22 Nov 2027
Fratria next, and one man in the Minyor Pernik dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Nov 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Kostas Dionellis 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kristiyan Milushev, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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 dugout15 Nov 2027
Stoyan Predev 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 Stoyan Predev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market15 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aleksandar Georgiev signs something — a contract at Minyor Pernik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Nobody at Minyor Pernik 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.
Market15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
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 Minyor Pernik would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Nov 2027
A 0‑4 beating by Lokomotiv Plovdiv was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Robbe Keygnaert: 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.” Minyor Pernik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Emil Kolev 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Emil Kolev
“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.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
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 dugout8 Nov 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Stanislav Nistorov
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Stanislav Nistorov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Minyor Pernik have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Marked 8.41 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Deyan Lozev 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 Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
21 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandar Todorov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces1 Nov 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Georgi Dimitrov 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.
Match30 Oct 2027
Three points for Minyor Pernik, 2‑0 the final word against Yantra in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Stoyan Predev
“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
Crisis
Squad4 Oct 2027
Borislav Stoichkov damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Emil Kolev 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
0‑2 to Spartak Pleven, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Stoyan Predev 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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Emil Kolev runs at them all day
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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lourenço Borges and Minyor Pernik agree another 4 years.
Market4 Oct 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Sep 2027
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Minyor Pernik lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Marked 7.93 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Kostas Dionellis 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 terraces27 Sep 2027
At 21 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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Georgi Dimitrov. 1‑0 against Sevlievo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Pavel Zhabov
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“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; Minyor Pernik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. 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
Steady
Squad13 Sep 2027
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Minyor Pernik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market13 Sep 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 dugout13 Sep 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Minyor Pernik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Deyan Lozev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
Minyor Pernik asked and Spartak Subotica 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 dugout13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stoyan Predev, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Minyor Pernik is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Market13 Sep 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minyor Pernik, another week without a signature from Stoyan Predev.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Kostov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Aug 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 Minyor Pernik can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Levski, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Madryn have kept their man, and Minyor Pernik go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match28 Aug 2027
Marek left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emil Kolev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Minyor Pernik can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout30 Aug 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Danail Nedelev to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Aug 2027
Emil Kolev 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Stoyan Predev
“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.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match14 Aug 2027
Late, late show earns Minyor Pernik a point
Minute 92, against Sportist Svoge, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Market16 Aug 2027
“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.
Match14 Aug 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Up for the corner, and Aleksandar Todorov delivers — 7.59
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Aleksandar Todorov scored, was marked 7.59, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandar Todorov 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 targets9 Aug 2027
Minyor Pernik asked and Zlin said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market9 Aug 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Kiril Georgiev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Minyor Pernik.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stanislav Nistorov, and the manager let it.
Match7 Aug 2027
A goal on 92 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Market9 Aug 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minyor Pernik, another week without a signature from Aleksandar Georgiev.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Hebar: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 37. 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: HNK Vukovar 1991 keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Deyan Lozev 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Minyor Pernik asked and Racing said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Borislav Stoichkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Georgi Atanasov
“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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Minyor Pernik can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Pogon: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Stoyan Predev dropped after a run of poor form
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jun 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Sofia have kept their man, and Minyor Pernik go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Stoyan Predev
“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.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anastas Pemperski 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 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Montana: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A loan move for Ivo Bodurov is in the works
Minyor Pernik have made the call to Levski. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad14 Jun 2027
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Minyor Pernik will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Nobody at Minyor Pernik 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Georgi Babaliev damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Squad3 May 2027
He is 20, he is averaging 7.27, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad3 May 2027
Michal Kroupa 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 dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Georgi Atanasov, and the manager let it.
Market3 May 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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Minyor Pernik now.
The dugout3 May 2027
Stoyan Predev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad3 May 2027
“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 Minyor Pernik will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market3 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aleksandar Todorov signs something — a contract at Minyor Pernik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Minyor Pernik lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Valentin Dotsev: 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.” Minyor Pernik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marsel Bibishkov 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
“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 dugout26 Apr 2027
Stoyan Predev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Preslav Yordanov
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Minyor Pernik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Stoyan Predev
“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.
Match27 Feb 2027
0‑1 to Yantra, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Georgi Atanasov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market1 Mar 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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Anastas Pemperski'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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Minyor Pernik lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Aleksandar Todorov 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 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marsel Bibishkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages swallow 120% of the Minyor Pernik income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Georgi Dimitrov, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Nobody at Minyor Pernik 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Minyor Pernik lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
No sign of nerves from Michal Kroupa at 20 — 8.03
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Michal Kroupa did not need any: 8.03, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad8 Feb 2027
He is 20, he is averaging 7.13, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Match6 Feb 2027
4 matches without a win for Minyor Pernik
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Minyor Pernik are no longer polite ones.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Michal Kroupa 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Minyor Pernik asked and Botosani 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Preslav Yordanov
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Minyor Pernik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad25 Jan 2027
28 days out for Yordan Chochev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Minyor Pernik will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Kiril Georgiev 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.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Leningradets have kept their man, and Minyor Pernik go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match23 Jan 2027
0‑1 to Fratria, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
116% of the income goes out in wages at Minyor Pernik
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Minyor Pernik lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Marsel Bibishkov is a better footballer than he was
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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Aleksandar Todorov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
A loan move for Artur Garibyan is in the works
Minyor Pernik have made the call to Rodina. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“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 dugout18 Jan 2027
Nobody at Minyor Pernik 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Preslav Yordanov
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Minyor Pernik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match7 Dec 2026
29 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Michal Kroupa at 19 — 8.05
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Michal Kroupa did not need any: 8.05, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Kiril Georgiev 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Stoyan Predev
“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.
Match5 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Michal Kroupa’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Minyor Pernik.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
Preslav Yordanov damages knee ligaments — 117 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 117 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.
Match30 Nov 2026
26 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Emil Kolev: 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.” Minyor Pernik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Minyor Pernik make home a hard place to visit
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
At 19 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
A 2‑0 win over CSKA Sofia II, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
129% of the income goes out in wages at Minyor Pernik
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Minyor Pernik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
7.99, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 20 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Everybody at Minyor Pernik saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Vihren, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emil Kolev, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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 Nedelev kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match3 Oct 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 9‑0 against Ludogorets II, and it could have been more.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Michal Kroupa, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 9.55
A mark of 9.55 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad5 Oct 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Squad5 Oct 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.19, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Aleksandar Todorov 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Minyor Pernik and Ludogorets II, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
132% of the income goes out in wages at Minyor Pernik
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Michal Kroupa is a better footballer than he was
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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
No thanks: Boyan Manolev rejects the move
Minyor Pernik 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stoyan Predev, and the manager let it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Minyor Pernik are still strangers to each other
23 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 Aug 2026
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Sportist Svoge kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Minyor Pernik will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Squad10 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.68 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Aleksandar Todorov has, at Minyor Pernik, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Minyor Pernik have done the hard part with Septemvri, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Deyan Lozev 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kristian Tunchev 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kiril Popov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.