“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 The request is on a desk at Vihren, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Vihren have done the hard part with Spartak 1918, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Mario Dilchovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denislav Aleksandrov 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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Momchil Petrov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 The request is on a desk at Vihren, and it is not being withdrawn.
Petko Ganev 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 Asen Mitkov 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. Botev Plovdiv have kept their man, and Vihren go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Vihren, another week without a signature from Yanko Angelov.
Vihren have made the call to Botev Plovdiv. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Vihren know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 The request is on a desk at Vihren, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fran Julian Malnar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Vihren the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Arda have kept their man, and Vihren go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Kostadinov 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.
“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 Vihren, 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 Vihren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asen Mitkov 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.
Vihren have made the call to Académico de Viseu. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“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 Vihren, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Vihren is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Petko Ganev 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vihren can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vihren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asen Mitkov 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.
Everybody at Vihren saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 38 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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Vihren could ask drops and the wages Martin Kostadinov can ask rise.
In brief
The dugoutDimitar Ivanov asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fran Julian Malnar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Vihren the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Petko Ganev 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asen Mitkov 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.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Vihren, another week without a signature from Fran Julian Malnar.
Mario Dilchovski 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vihren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asen Mitkov 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Dunav Ruse in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Vihren, another week without a signature from Fran Julian Malnar.
“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 Vihren will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vihren can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Vihren have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vihren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asen Mitkov 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“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.
“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 Vihren, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mario Dilchovski 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.
Vihren asked and Lokomotiv Plovdiv 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 Stefan Traykov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Vihren are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Stefan Traykov.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Matyáš Tomek is in the works
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vihren can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Vihren have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Petko Ganev 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 Asen Mitkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Vihren asked and Beroe 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 Vihren can pretend not to have heard.
Petko Ganev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Asen Mitkov 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.
“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
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Momchil Petrov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
Looking aheadVihren take on the side everybody is chasing
Mario Dilchovski 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 Stefan Traykov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Sportist Svoge? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vihren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denislav Aleksandrov 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.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Stefan Traykov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Vihren needing him to play as if none of it matters.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Vihren would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“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 Vihren, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Vihren have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mario Dilchovski 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 Denislav Aleksandrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stefan Traykov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Vihren is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mario Dilchovski was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denislav Aleksandrov 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. Levski have kept their man, and Vihren go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
“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; Vihren are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Mario Dilchovski 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 Ivan Arsov 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. Radnicki Nis have kept their man, and Vihren go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Léo Pimenta trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Vihren, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Vihren will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“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 Vihren, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Georgi Ivanov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Vihren the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mario Dilchovski 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Arsov 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Vihren, another week without a signature from Yanko Angelov.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Vihren is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mario Dilchovski 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 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Vihren, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Vihren. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Vihren could ask drops and the wages Aleksandar Veselinski can ask rise.
Mario Dilchovski 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 Denislav Aleksandrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Vihren, another week without a signature from Ivan Arsov.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Arsov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vihren can pretend not to have heard.
6 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.
At 37, 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denislav Aleksandrov 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.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vihren lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Mario Dilchovski 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Toby Bower has just signed for Vihren, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yanko Angelov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Marked 8.52 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Vihren close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Dimitar Ivanov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
41 goals in one match, Dimitar Ivanov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Vihren and Ludogorets II.
Everything was agreed with Levski and then the doctor spoke. Vihren have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Vihren have done the hard part with Ludogorets, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Mario Dilchovski 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Plovdiv have kept their man, and Vihren go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitar Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Mario Dilchovski 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.
He is 21 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.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vihren lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vihren 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 Dimitar Ivanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Etar scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Stefan Traykov did not need any: 7.60, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vihren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Stefan Traykov 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.
Three points for Vihren, 1‑0 the final word against CSKA Sofia II in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Georgi Ivanov 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.
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.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Belasitsa had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Vihren did not stop to explain themselves.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Vihren have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mario Dilchovski 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 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.
Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Vihren.
Squad26 Oct 2026
24 new faces, and Vihren are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
At 21 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.
Mario Dilchovski 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Vihren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Georgi Ivanov 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. Vihren told Asen Mitkov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Momchil Petrov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Ivan Arsov's mistake
Player ratingsAn afternoon Ivan Arsov will want back
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 7.64 for the rest of it.
Mario Dilchovski 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ivan Arsov. 2‑1 against Ludogorets II, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
23 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
25 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Momchil Petrov could afford to be generous.
In brief
SquadRoman Rodopski falls out with a teammate over standards