Marked for Boris Ivanov
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market11 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Halachev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak 1918 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
No thanks: Akram Bouras rejects the move
Spartak 1918 had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Levski, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
$8.0K on the table at Cherno More. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xande 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 targets11 Jun 2029
Spartak 1918 asked and Botev 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Georg Stojanovski 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 targets11 Jun 2029
A loan enquiry to Ludogorets: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market11 Jun 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Dimo Krastev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 May 2029
First, on 72 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market14 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Halachev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak 1918 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout14 May 2029
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad14 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xande was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 May 2029
Georg Stojanovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market14 May 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Spartak 1918, another week without a signature from Dimo Krastev.
The dugout14 May 2029
Dimo Krastev 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 Dimo Krastev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout14 May 2029
Georg Stojanovski has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Spartak 1918 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 dugout14 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Andrey Krastev
“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
Upbeat
Match16 Apr 2029
72 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market16 Apr 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Spartak 1918 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Georg Stojanovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihail Tsonev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Georg Stojanovski is on it.
Market16 Apr 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Dimo Krastev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Georgi Staykov 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 Georgi Staykov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Johan Martial has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Mar 2029
Spartak 1918 make home a hard place to visit
12 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Dimo Krastev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Angel Granchov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Mar 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Daniel Halachev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Spartak 1918.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
7.80, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Spartak 1918 had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Damiano Menna commits to Spartak 1918 for another 2 years.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Bojidar Yankov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
The team sheet said everything about Boris Ivanov
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 Boris Ivanov.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Mar 2029
The view from the top for Spartak 1918
69 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market19 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Halachev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak 1918 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Xande 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Boris Ivanov 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 dugout19 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Angel Granchov
“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.
Match17 Mar 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bojidar Yankov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Georg Stojanovski is on it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Feb 2029
63 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.64, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market19 Feb 2029
“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.
Market19 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Halachev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak 1918 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Spartak 1918 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.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Match17 Feb 2029
Spartak 1918 make home a hard place to visit
10 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xande 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Georg Stojanovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match3 Feb 2029
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Window shuts: 1 in, 3 out at Spartak 1918
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Adnard Mehmeti gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Adnard Mehmeti has just signed for Spartak 1918, and for once the answer mattered.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Boubacar Hanne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad5 Feb 2029
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match3 Feb 2029
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Boubacar Hanne commits to Spartak 1918 for another 4 years.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xande was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match22 Jan 2029
The view from the top for Spartak 1918
54 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market22 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
A brace, and Daniel Halachev takes the afternoon — 8.16
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Halachev provided it, and the 8.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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 Spartak 1918, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at CSKA Sofia is saying, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is enjoying the guessing.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Match20 Jan 2029
It finished 3‑1, and it was Daniel Halachev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Spartak 1918.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angel Granchov 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 targets22 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Levski have kept their man, and Spartak 1918 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match25 Dec 2028
First, on 45 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market25 Dec 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Spartak 1918 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market25 Dec 2028
Johan Martial hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak 1918 can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Xande wants to go home
“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 Spartak 1918 know it.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Damyan Yordanov 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Mihail Tsonev 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 dugout25 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Boubacar Hanne, and the manager let it.
Market25 Dec 2028
Tiago Almeida is 19, and Spartak 1918 have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match9 Dec 2028
5‑1, and Georg Stojanovski took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Spartak 1918 tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Boris Ivanov breaks a bone — 20 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match9 Dec 2028
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad11 Dec 2028
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.26 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Boubacar Hanne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Match9 Dec 2028
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Spartak 1918 and Hebar, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Ninety minutes of Georg Stojanovski at his very best
Marked 9.38. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Spartak 1918.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Angel Granchov 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
Triumph
Squad4 Dec 2028
27 days out for Boris Ivanov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartak 1918 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match2 Dec 2028
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Sportist Svoge, and it could have been more.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
A brace, and Georg Stojanovski takes the afternoon — 8.83
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Georg Stojanovski provided it, and the 8.83 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match2 Dec 2028
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Dimo Krastev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Damyan Yordanov 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.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
A masterclass from Xande
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Arseny Popushoy 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.
Match4 Dec 2028
Half the programme played, position 1, 39 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad27 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Boris Ivanov out for 34 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Spartak 1918 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match27 Nov 2028
36 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market27 Nov 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Halachev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak 1918 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match25 Nov 2028
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spartak 1918 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Georg Stojanovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces27 Nov 2028
At 22 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 Nov 2028
It finished 2‑0, and it was Damyan Yordanov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Spartak 1918.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Nov 2028
41 days out for Boris Ivanov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartak 1918 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Pedro Victor has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Angel Granchov 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Georg Stojanovski 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
Vasco Oliveira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Spartak 1918 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.
Market20 Nov 2028
The Dimo Krastev story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimo Krastev signs something — a contract at Spartak 1918 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market20 Nov 2028
Xande placed on the list
Spartak 1918 have made Xande available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Spartak 1918, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Nov 2028
Boris Ivanov breaks a bone — 48 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Martin Georgiev, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.92
A mark of 7.92 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
Johan Martial: 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.” Spartak 1918 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match11 Nov 2028
Nobody wants to play Spartak 1918 right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Saad Moukachar has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Angel Granchov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Georg Stojanovski 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 terraces13 Nov 2028
He is 23 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.
In brief
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Squad
Spartak 1918 are still strangers to each other
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Valentin Kostov gets it from the manager
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Nov 2028
56 days out for Boris Ivanov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartak 1918 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Boubacar Hanne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Match4 Nov 2028
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Spartak 1918 have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Mihail Tsonev 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 dugout6 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Angel Granchov
“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.
Match4 Nov 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Daniel Halachev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Spartak 1918.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Martin Georgiev 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.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
7.69, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Spartak 1918 had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Spartak 1918 will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Oct 2028
63 days out for Boris Ivanov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartak 1918 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match30 Oct 2028
First, on 27 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market30 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Georg Stojanovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces30 Oct 2028
At 23 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.
Looking ahead30 Oct 2028
Top-of-the-table clash for Spartak 1918
Dunav Ruse next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stanislav Dyulgerov 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
Upbeat
Squad23 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Boris Ivanov out for 70 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Spartak 1918 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market23 Oct 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Spartak 1918 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Xande wants to go home
“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 Spartak 1918 know it.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Boris Ivanov 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 Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces23 Oct 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Arseny Popushoy 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.
Match21 Oct 2028
A 1‑0 win over Fratria, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stanislav Dyulgerov 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 dugout23 Oct 2028
“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.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
7.87, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Spartak 1918 had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Oct 2028
77 days out for Boris Ivanov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartak 1918 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
A move Andro Slaviček would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Andro Slaviček is living that version at Spartak 1918, and it tends to show in the first month.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Saad Moukachar has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Mihail Tsonev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Martin Georgiev 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.
Market16 Oct 2028
Andro Slaviček is 19, and Spartak 1918 have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Spartak 1918, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Georg Stojanovski is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Boris Ivanov out for 84 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Spartak 1918 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match9 Oct 2028
Spartak 1918 refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 21 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Boubacar Hanne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihail Tsonev 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 dugout9 Oct 2028
“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.
Match7 Oct 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Belasitsa leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
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 dugout9 Oct 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Boris Ivanov out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Spartak 1918 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market2 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market2 Oct 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Market2 Oct 2028
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Spartak 1918 hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Georg Stojanovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match30 Sep 2028
Minyor Pernik left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihail Tsonev 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
Upbeat
Market18 Sep 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 Spartak 1918, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Saad Moukachar has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Boris Ivanov and Spartak 1918 agree another 3 years.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces18 Sep 2028
At 23 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.
Match16 Sep 2028
Three points for Spartak 1918, 1‑0 the final word against Vihren in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihail Tsonev 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Valentin Kostov 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 dugout18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorge Campos, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces11 Sep 2028
The mood at Spartak 1918 has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Boubacar Hanne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Georg Stojanovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
Spartak 1918 ran out of time with Dobrudzha. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanislav Dyulgerov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Boris Ivanov gets it from the manager
“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.
Market11 Sep 2028
Andrey Krastev is 20, and Spartak 1918 have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Spartak 1918 are still strangers to each other
5 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.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Sep 2028
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market4 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at CSKA 1948 is saying, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Spartak 1918 close the window on a squad of their own making
20 in and 6 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.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Sportist Svoge will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Valentin Kostov has pre-agreed a move to Spartak 1918, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Spartak 1918 had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at CSKA 1948, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets7 Aug 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.
Market7 Aug 2028
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Market7 Aug 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Spartak 1918 will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Petar Kazakov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Spartak 1918 have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad7 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihail Tsonev 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 dugout7 Aug 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Jul 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Spartak 1918, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
The offer went to Levski this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chernomorets Burgas have kept their man, and Spartak 1918 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Mihail Tsonev 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Saad Moukachar 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 targets10 Jul 2028
Ludogorets have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Damyan Yordanov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Jun 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Spartak 1918 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market12 Jun 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Spartak 1918, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Montana; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Botev Plovdiv, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Levski keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market12 Jun 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Spartak 1918 heard it as anything else.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
An offer of $28.0K for Otelo Silva
Spartak 1918 have gone to Spartak Pleven with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mihail Tsonev and Spartak 1918 agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2028
18 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market15 May 2028
Dimo Krastev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak 1918 can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout15 May 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Georgiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 May 2028
Damyan Yordanov 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.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vilhelm Svenstrup, and the manager let it.
Squad15 May 2028
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 Spartak 1918 would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Squad15 May 2028
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Spartak 1918 says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 May 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market8 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout8 May 2028
This is not rotation. Petar Prindzhev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Angel Granchov and Spartak 1918 agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
Saad Moukachar 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 May 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vasco Oliveira is on it.
Squad8 May 2028
Xande still has not settled
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Spartak 1918 would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout8 May 2028
Petar Prindzhev 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.
Market8 May 2028
The name of Daniel Halachev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Spartak 1918 say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Apr 2028
18 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Home is on Xande's mind
“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; Spartak 1918 are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad17 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Stanislav Dyulgerov 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 dugout17 Apr 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Petar Prindzhev is on it.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Dimo Krastev 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Georg Stojanovski has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Xande 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Saad Moukachar has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damyan Yordanov 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market10 Apr 2028
“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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“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.
Market10 Apr 2028
The name of Daniel Halachev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Spartak 1918 say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad10 Apr 2028
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Spartak 1918 says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2028
Position 15, 18 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihail Tsonev 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 dugout20 Mar 2028
Martin Yankov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Spartak 1918, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market20 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Georg Stojanovski has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Spartak 1918 will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Spartak 1918 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market13 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Ivan Aleksiev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Aleksiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak 1918 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Halachev and Spartak 1918 agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Georg Stojanovski 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Mihail Tsonev 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vasco Oliveira is on it.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Xande 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 Xande trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market13 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Feb 2028
18 matches without a win for Spartak 1918
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Spartak 1918 are no longer polite ones.
Match21 Feb 2028
18 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
No sign of nerves from Arseny Popushoy at 21 — 7.61
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Arseny Popushoy did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market21 Feb 2028
The deal that would have taken Petar Prindzhev to Arda has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Spartak 1918 with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Xande and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
Spartak 1918 asked and CSKA Sofia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Xande beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“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 Spartak 1918 know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Jan 2028
14 matches without a win for Spartak 1918
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Spartak 1918 are no longer polite ones.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Martin Georgiev damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
Match24 Jan 2028
Every point is an argument now for Spartak 1918
Position 15 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market24 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak 1918 can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
The deal with Sportist Svoge 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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Xande signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Xande commits to Spartak 1918 for another 4 years.
Match22 Jan 2028
3 matches without a goal for Spartak 1918
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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fratria have kept their man, and Spartak 1918 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Jan 2028
11 matches without a win for Spartak 1918
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Spartak 1918 are no longer polite ones.
The terraces3 Jan 2028
Anger at Spartak 1918 spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market3 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak 1918 can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Pressure builds in the Spartak 1918 boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market3 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Boubacar Hanne has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Levski have kept their man, and Spartak 1918 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak 1918 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Martin Georgiev 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Dec 2027
10 matches without a win for Spartak 1918
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Spartak 1918 are no longer polite ones.
Match27 Dec 2027
Position 15, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match25 Dec 2027
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Botev Vratsa kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Spartak 1918 will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.61 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market27 Dec 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.
Match25 Dec 2027
7 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
The terraces27 Dec 2027
At 23 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.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Martin Yankov
“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
Match29 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Spartak 1918
Position 15 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match27 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Spartak 1918's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Spartak 1918 has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Boris Ivanov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak 1918 is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hovhannes Voskanyan is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Mihail Tsonev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Georg Stojanovski, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
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 1‑3 Bojidar Yankov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Saad Moukachar 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.
In brief
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Player ratings
One moment undoes Mihail Tsonev
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Mihail Tsonev's mistake
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Player ratings
Xande was unplayable
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Nov 2027
Chastening afternoon for Spartak 1918
A 1‑4 beating by Lokomotiv Sofia was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match20 Nov 2027
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market22 Nov 2027
Ivan Aleksiev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Spartak 1918 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings22 Nov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Mihail Tsonev 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 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Georgiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Boris Ivanov
“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.
Boardroom22 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Oct 2027
A one-man rearguard from Pedro Victor
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Georg Stojanovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match16 Oct 2027
0‑2 to Botev Plovdiv, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vasco Oliveira, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Mihail Tsonev 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aleksandar Aleksandrov and Spartak 1918 agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout18 Oct 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Bojidar Yankov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Xande 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.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Petar Prindzhev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Spartak 1918 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
Uneasy
Market6 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 dugout6 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spartak 1918 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Spartak 1918 until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Xande 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 targets6 Sep 2027
Spartak 1918 asked and Sportist Svoge said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Spartak 1918 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihail Tsonev 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Too much change too quickly at Spartak 1918
5 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Lyubomir Vasilev
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Lyubomir Vasilev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Spartak 1918 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.