“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CSKA 1948 can pretend not to have heard.
James Eto'o 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether CSKA 1948 can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
0‑1 to Cherno More, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jules Meyer 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.
“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 CSKA 1948 know it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CSKA 1948 has been clear about where Dragan Grivić stands, which is more than many ever get.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CSKA 1948 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
André Hoffmann and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. James Eto'o 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at CSKA 1948, and 5 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody at CSKA 1948 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CSKA 1948 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CSKA 1948, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 CSKA 1948, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” André Hoffmann and CSKA 1948 agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. James Eto'o 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.
Lasha Dvali 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Plamen Bodurov after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Yohann Magnin is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Nobody at CSKA 1948 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.
“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 CSKA 1948, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Atanas Iliev 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.
“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 CSKA 1948 know it.
A mark of 7.49, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Plamen Bodurov, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mamadou Diallo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Atanas Iliev 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA 1948 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at CSKA 1948 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 manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is James Eto'o’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and CSKA 1948 needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CSKA 1948 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Mamadou Diallo was at the centre of it, Levski were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CSKA 1948 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
1 for Yohann Magnin, marked 7.99, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Kaloyan Strinski reports back to CSKA 1948 with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mamadou Diallo. 3‑2 against Levski, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CSKA 1948 can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 14 signed and 12 gone
That is the business done at CSKA 1948 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Zenit is saying, and nobody at CSKA 1948 is enjoying the guessing.
“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; CSKA 1948 are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA 1948 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Atanas Iliev 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nasarawa United have kept their man, and CSKA 1948 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. CSKA 1948 will try again when the window opens; Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa may not be selling by then.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Chernomorets Burgas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CSKA 1948 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 9.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CSKA 1948 can pretend not to have heard.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
7.94, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Moscow is saying, and nobody at CSKA 1948 is enjoying the guessing.
James Eto'o 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.
In brief
SquadAndré Hoffmann falls out with a teammate over standards
1 for Luann, marked 7.76, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. CSKA 1948 have done the hard part with Dinamo Moscow, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
James Eto'o 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.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.58 beside his name.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether CSKA 1948 can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Hoffmann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
CSKA 1948 asked and Villa San Carlos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA 1948 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 André Hoffmann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
CSKA 1948 asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon CSKA 1948 had all but put away. Arda will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
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 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 Berna is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and José Martínes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Atanas Iliev will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at CSKA 1948 escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sportist Svoge waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CSKA 1948 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 CSKA 1948 know it.
James Eto'o 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Atanas Iliev will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at CSKA 1948 escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A brace, and Atanas Iliev takes the afternoon — 9.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Atanas Iliev provided it, and the 9.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The chase for Edson Silva ended with $790.0K changing hands and Botev Plovdiv out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
André Hoffmann 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.
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.
The name of Florian Krebs has come up in conversations CSKA 1948 were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation CSKA 1948 did not have in the autumn.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Atanas Iliev 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartak Moscow have kept their man, and CSKA 1948 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer from USM Alger for Fourat Soltani 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 clubs have shaken hands with Botev Plovdiv; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CSKA 1948 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Lasha Dvali 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.
CSKA 1948 asked and Ludogorets said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match17 Jul 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for CSKA 1948. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mamadou Diallo
The offer from CSKA Sofia for Atanas Iliev 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 offer went to Botev Plovdiv 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA 1948 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Hoffmann 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.
$860.0K was the most the club would pay and Vihren were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Velizar Kanalyan is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Beroe have kept their man, and CSKA 1948 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 André Hoffmann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Académica have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Berna. The answer from CSKA 1948 has not changed — yet.
CSKA 1948 offered $660.0K; Fratria said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether CSKA 1948 can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ludogorets have kept their man, and CSKA 1948 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Fourat Soltani has his answer from CSKA 1948; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad21 Jun 2027
5 new faces, and CSKA 1948 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. CSKA 1948 have done the hard part with CSKA Sofia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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 CSKA 1948, and it is not being withdrawn.
CSKA 1948 asked and Chernomorets Burgas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Hoffmann is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. CSKA 1948 will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Hoffmann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA 1948 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CSKA 1948, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at CSKA 1948 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.
6 goals in 29 games at Bourg-Peronnas — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at CSKA 1948 updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Position 4 on 49 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Nobody writes a headline about a tutor. Nobody has to be told, either, what happens to a signing who spends two years being the man nobody can talk to at lunch.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around CSKA 1948 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Lasha Dvali 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.
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 Atanas Iliev is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CSKA 1948, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Hoffmann 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA 1948 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Berna is on it.
8 goals in 10 games at Fratria — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at CSKA 1948 updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CSKA 1948 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Somebody to talk to at the next peg, a few words of the language, and a training ground that has stopped being a foreign country. It never appears in a scouting report and it decides most signings.
In brief
SquadAndré Hoffmann is training like a man with a point to make
“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 CSKA 1948, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Kaloyan Strinski is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brian Sobrero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Hoffmann 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.
Position 4 on 49 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Yohann Magnin plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Yohann Magnin is training like a man with a point to make
Nobody has promised him anything and he has not asked. The coaching staff have noticed, which at this stage of a season is the only thing that matters.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Hoffmann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fourat Soltani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CSKA 1948 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and CSKA 1948 have no good answer.
3 goals in 27 games at Montana — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at CSKA 1948 updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Hoffmann 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at CSKA 1948 can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA 1948 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Kaloyan Strinski is on it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA 1948 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asen Chandarov 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Borislav Tsonev signs something — a contract at CSKA 1948 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 4 on 49 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at CSKA 1948. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Brian Sobrero 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.
In brief
The dugoutFlorian Krebs knocks on the manager’s door
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CSKA 1948 can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kaloyan Strinski is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Hoffmann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 CSKA 1948 know it.
6 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.
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.
8 goals in 8 games at Fratria — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at CSKA 1948 updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brian Sobrero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 CSKA 1948, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Frédéric Maciel again, and this time the name on the line is Hødd. CSKA 1948 are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” André Hoffmann commits to CSKA 1948 for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Hoffmann 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.
“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 CSKA 1948 know it.
Something was said to Dimitar Sheytanov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at CSKA 1948 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at CSKA 1948 can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Plamen Bodurov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Lokomotiv Plovdiv? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Borislav Tsonev signs something — a contract at CSKA 1948 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
Dragan Grivić 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.
4‑0, and Mamadou Diallo took the headlines on an afternoon when everything CSKA 1948 tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A brace, and Atanas Iliev takes the afternoon — 9.00
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Atanas Iliev provided it, and the 9.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mamadou Diallo provided it, and the 8.44 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
André Hoffmann 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.
Marked 8.35 — 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
6 new faces, and CSKA 1948 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Plamen Bodurov kept it short after the 4‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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 Berna is on it.
In brief
SquadWords at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Tiago Catarino
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.53 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
10 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Arda were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
André Hoffmann 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about CSKA 1948 and Arda in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
CSKA 1948 close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 3 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Spartak Moscow keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tomás Bernardo is living that version at CSKA 1948, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Hoffmann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 CSKA 1948 know it.
Lasha Dvali 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.
CSKA 1948 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.
The offer from Etar for Mamadou Diallo 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and CSKA 1948 have had the benefit of it.
CSKA 1948 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.
Dragan Grivić 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 Berna was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. CSKA 1948 told Florian Krebs something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
André Hoffmann 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.
2‑3 to Cherno More, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Berna 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.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
0‑1 against Partizan, and an evening that measured the gap rather than the ninety minutes. Nothing about it was a disgrace and nothing about it was close.
1 for Florian Krebs, marked 7.99, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Berna was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Dimitar Sheytanov.
36 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Plamen Bodurov, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
André Hoffmann 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Berna 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.
Something was said to José Martínes and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Borislav Tsonev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and CSKA 1948 needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Berna signs something — a contract at CSKA 1948 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
0‑1 against Feyenoord, and an evening that measured the gap rather than the ninety minutes. Nothing about it was a disgrace and nothing about it was close.
1 for Florian Krebs, marked 7.68, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CSKA 1948 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 Berna was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at CSKA 1948 pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Plamen Bodurov could afford to be generous.
0‑2 against Shakhtar. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
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.
6 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Berna 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.
Dragan Grivić 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dragan Grivić, and the manager let it.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the CSKA 1948 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑4 Plamen Bodurov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Two goals and a mark of 8.78 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
1 for Florian Krebs, marked 7.86, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CSKA 1948 can pretend not to have heard.
André Hoffmann 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.
7 goals in one match, Atanas Iliev on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of CSKA 1948 and Botev Plovdiv.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Berna 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.
0‑2 away to the standard of Partizan. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
André Hoffmann 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.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
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 Plamen Bodurov to a room that had heard them before.
The phone has started ringing about Dragan Grivić again, and this time the name on the line is CSKA Sofia. CSKA 1948 are listening politely and promising nothing.
CSKA 1948 had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Benfica, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
André Hoffmann 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.
CSKA 1948 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.
Dobrudzha will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. CSKA 1948 were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 7.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The offer from Montana for Marto Boychev 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.
André Hoffmann and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at CSKA 1948 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Berna 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 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.
Add another name to the list: Dobrudzha have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Benaissa Benamar. The answer from CSKA 1948 has not changed — yet.