Martin Raynov 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 May 2028
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petko Ganev 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.
“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.
The dugout22 May 2028
Yoan Yordanov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Minyor Pernik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Radoslav Apostolov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Minyor Pernik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jon McLaughlin and Minyor Pernik agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivaylo Klimentov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minyor Pernik, another week without a signature from Radoslav Apostolov.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Minyor Pernik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Minyor Pernik know it.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roland Buhaj 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.
11 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.
Martin Raynov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Petko Ganev 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 accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Minyor Pernik now.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
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.” Svetoslav Kraev chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
10 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.
30 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Petko Ganev 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.
Alan Sukiennicki 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Minyor Pernik know it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Svetoslav Kraev after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 Yoan Yordanov.
In brief
The dugoutYoan Yordanov is still being punished for one mistake
Looking aheadMinyor Pernik take on the side everybody is chasing
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. António Sousa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Minyor Pernik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Martin Raynov 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petko Ganev 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 offer from Botev Plovdiv for Petar Kirev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deal with ŁKS Łódź 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.
Martin Raynov 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Montana have kept their man, and Minyor Pernik go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Petko Ganev 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.
Marked 8.19 — 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.
Chernomorets Burgas held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Minyor Pernik answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Minyor Pernik can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Minyor Pernik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Radoslav Apostolov 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.
Minyor Pernik asked and Lokomotiv 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petko Ganev 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Minyor Pernik have done the hard part with Lokomotiv Sofia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 14 combined actions and a mark of 6.87, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Beroe have kept their man, and Minyor Pernik go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Petko Ganev 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.
15 combined actions and 6.87. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Sofia have kept their man, and Minyor Pernik go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petko Ganev 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 name of Umut Habil has come up in conversations Minyor Pernik were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
1‑5 to Hebar, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Minyor Pernik and Hebar, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petko Ganev 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Minyor Pernik will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Petko Ganev 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.
Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Minyor Pernik.
The dugout29 Nov 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Svetoslav Kraev to a room that had heard them before.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Martin Raynov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Petko Ganev 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Minute 90, against Pirin Blagoevgrad, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minyor Pernik, another week without a signature from Radoslav Apostolov.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Svetoslav Kraev after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Minyor Pernik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petko Ganev 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.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minyor Pernik, another week without a signature from Martin Raynov.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 4‑1, Svetoslav Kraev could afford to be generous.
Radoslav Apostolov 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 Petko Ganev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Minyor Pernik will quote 18 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Sportist Svoge next, and one man in the Minyor Pernik dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Jon McLaughlin 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petko Ganev 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.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Svetoslav Kraev on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Martin Raynov 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 Sep 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petko Ganev 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Roland Buhaj has his answer from Minyor Pernik; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Svetoslav Kraev after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Something was said to Roland Buhaj and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Borislav Vakadinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Minyor Pernik lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Botev Plovdiv keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Jon McLaughlin 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 Petko Ganev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Minyor Pernik lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minyor Pernik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Minyor Pernik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petko Ganev 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vangelis Tsiamis and Minyor Pernik agree another 2 years.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Svetoslav Kraev after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Botev Plovdiv 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.