33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 The request is on a desk at Botev Vratsa, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Boris Dimitrov again, and this time the name on the line is Gomel. Botev Vratsa are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botev Vratsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Arda. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Botev Vratsa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Gallegos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lecco have kept their man, and Botev Vratsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stefan Ivanov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 7 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Botev Vratsa 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.
The deal with Gimnasia y Tiro 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at PSV is saying, and nobody at Botev Vratsa is enjoying the guessing.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Diogo Belo is living that version at Botev Vratsa, and it tends to show in the first 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 Botev Vratsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from Levski for Martin Petkov 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Botev Vratsa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Montana keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iliya Yurukov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1 for Iliya Yurukov, marked 7.92, 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. José Ganhão has, at Botev Vratsa, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
The shirt still fits. Aleksandar Lyubenov is back at Botev Vratsa, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Daniel Genov 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.
Botev Vratsa asked and Slavia 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
“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 Botev Vratsa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Botev Vratsa and Lokomotiv Sofia have settled on $280.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The offer from Beroe for Martin Smolenski 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.
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.
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.
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑5 to Lokomotiv Sofia, 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botev Vratsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Martin Smolenski has come up in conversations Botev Vratsa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Botev Vratsa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iliya Yurukov 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 words a physio says slowly. 78 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.
Daniel Genov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Botev Vratsa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Gallegos 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Boris Chochev after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Ivan Goranov
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Slavia Sofia? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Dec 2026
José Gallegos 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 7.71. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout21 Dec 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.” Boris Chochev, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at Botev Vratsa 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 did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Botev Vratsa will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Botev Vratsa, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Boris Petrov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Marked 8.65 — 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.
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Botev Vratsa are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Dec 2026
José Gallegos 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 goal that put Dobrudzha ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Botev Vratsa equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
110 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Nov 2026
José Gallegos 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 8.01 — 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.
Minute 91, against Spartak 1918, 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.
“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 dugout30 Nov 2026
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.” Boris Chochev chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botev Vratsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout23 Nov 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Boris Chochev to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Mitchy Ntelo's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
126 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Botev Vratsa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Daniel Genov 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 Botev Vratsa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Gallegos 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.
Level with 95 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Botev Vratsa had all but put away. Lokomotiv Plovdiv will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Boris Chochev after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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 Martin Achkov is on it.
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botev Vratsa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It finished 3‑1, and it was Radoslav Tsonev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Botev Vratsa.
Squad9 Nov 2026
José Gallegos 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Bistra Aleksandrov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kristian Aleksandrov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
142 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
7 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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Septemvri scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Botev Vratsa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Đorđe Jovičić 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.
149 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad26 Oct 2026
José Gallegos 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
158 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad19 Oct 2026
José Gallegos 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Something was said to Radoslav Tsonev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 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 0‑2 Boris Chochev left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
SquadBotev Vratsa are still strangers to each other
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Botev Vratsa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 to Botev Plovdiv, 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.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Botev Vratsa can tell you which week it ends in.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Milko Ivanov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Marin Orlinov 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.” Boris Chochev after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Ivan Goranov
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
Daniel Genov 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
José Gallegos 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 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 dugout28 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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Boris Chochev to a room that had heard them before.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
Botev Vratsa take on the side everybody is chasing
CSKA Sofia arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Beaten 4 times, with 5 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Daniel Genov 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.
Botev Vratsa asked and ND Gorica 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 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
6 new faces, and Botev Vratsa 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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Boris Chochev was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Botev Vratsa dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutDaniel Genov knocks on the manager's door
97 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Gabriel Rodrigues is living that version at Botev Vratsa, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Daniel Genov 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. HNK Rijeka have kept their man, and Botev Vratsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Sainey Sanyang 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martin Atanasov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botev Vratsa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Botev Vratsa 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.
Botev Vratsa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Club Brugge, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
0‑1 to Cherno More, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout7 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Boris Chochev to a room that had heard them before.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Marto Boychev
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Marto Boychev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Botev Vratsa have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Botev Vratsa have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botev Vratsa can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Leganés is saying, and nobody at Botev Vratsa is enjoying the guessing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Defensores have kept their man, and Botev Vratsa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Botev Vratsa have made the call to Olympiacos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botev Vratsa can pretend not to have heard.
Botev Vratsa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olimpia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The phone has started ringing about Boris Dimitrov again, and this time the name on the line is Gomel. Botev Vratsa are listening politely and promising nothing.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 7.28, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Botev Vratsa 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Mitchy Ntelo at his very best
The deal with Olimpia 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.
Marin Orlinov 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.
Botev Vratsa have made the call to Defensores. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
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.” Boris Chochev chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Botev Vratsa will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Spartak 1918? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Đorđe Jovičić
Daniel Genov 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.
Botev Vratsa asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martin Petrov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Radoslav Marcelinho is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Valeri Nedelkov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kiril Nikolov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Martin Achkov commits to Botev Vratsa for another 4 years.
The dugout10 Aug 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 0‑1 Boris Chochev left the room before anybody could ask which.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botev Vratsa can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Radoslav Tsonev and Botev Vratsa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.