There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Lokomotiv Plovdiv scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Alberto Salido was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.32. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
SquadMartin Ruskov falls out with a teammate over standards
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lokomotiv Plovdiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Julien Lamy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Ruskov 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Lokomotiv Plovdiv told Joacim Holtan something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ramiro Di Luciano 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.
Montana made Lokomotiv Plovdiv work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Alberto Salido was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Martin Ruskov 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.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.33 — 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.” Martin Lukov and Lokomotiv Plovdiv agree another 1 years.
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.
Bojan Milosavljević 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Ludogorets in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Ruskov 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 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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 is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ramiro Di Luciano 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.
“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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv know it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lokomotiv Plovdiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lokomotiv Plovdiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Levski left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Martin Ruskov 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 hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sevi Idriz did not need any: 8.40, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lokomotiv Plovdiv can pretend not to have heard.
Ramiro Di Luciano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 19 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alberto Salido provided it, and the 8.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lokomotiv Plovdiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Venislav Mihaylov is living that version at Lokomotiv Plovdiv, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.
Venislav Mihaylov is 19, and Lokomotiv Plovdiv have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Plovdiv has to find a result from somewhere.
Julien Lamy 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 had been thinking. Martin Ruskov 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.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Alberto Salido was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.60 for the rest of 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Lokomotiv Plovdiv has been clear about where Martin Atanasov stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
Player ratingsZapro Dinev changes it off the bench
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Plovdiv has to find a result from somewhere.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Martin Lukov is a Lokomotiv Plovdiv player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Bojan Milosavljević 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 Plovdiv paid $730.0K and Lokomotiv Plovdiv took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Lokomotiv Plovdiv can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Valeri Bozhinov and Lokomotiv Plovdiv agree another 3 years.
“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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Slavia Sofia for Martin Atanasov 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.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Plovdiv has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Boris Bozhikov 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lyubomir Tunchev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lokomotiv Plovdiv can pretend not to have heard.
Bojan Milosavljević 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
SquadAndrei Chindriş falls out with a teammate over standards
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bojan Milosavljević 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Georgi Chorbadzhiyski is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Botev Plovdiv paid $360.0K and Lokomotiv Plovdiv took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lokomotiv Plovdiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bojan Milosavljević 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kaloyan Kostov is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lokomotiv Plovdiv 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMartin Ruskov falls out with a teammate over standards
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lokomotiv Plovdiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Ruskov 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.” Enzo Espinoza and Lokomotiv Plovdiv agree another 4 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julien Lamy 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 18 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cătălin Itu 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Idoto Ocheme and Lokomotiv Plovdiv agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Martin Ruskov 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 words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Julien Lamy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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. 37 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lokomotiv Plovdiv can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lokomotiv Plovdiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bojan Milosavljević 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Martin Ruskov 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.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.
Joacim Holtan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. CSKA 1948 defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Rashed Issam has just signed for Lokomotiv Plovdiv, and for once the answer mattered.
Bojan Milosavljević 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 had been thinking. Martin Ruskov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Lokomotiv Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.
Bojan Milosavljević 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Petar Lovric 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.
Septemvri made Lokomotiv Plovdiv work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Joël Zwarts was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.16. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Plovdiv has to find a result from somewhere.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ivaylo Ivanov and Lokomotiv Plovdiv agree another 3 years.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Martin Ruskov 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Lokomotiv Plovdiv has been clear about where Lucas Ryan stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Lokomotiv Plovdiv can tell you which week it ends in.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Sebastian Musiolik will call it something else in private.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kaloyan Kostov has his answer from Lokomotiv Plovdiv; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Lokomotiv Plovdiv are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petar Lovric is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Lokomotiv Plovdiv can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Ruskov 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 the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
In brief
SquadThe manager has not finished forgetting Cătălin Itu's mistake
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Petar Lovric 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petar Lovric 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.
Bojan Milosavljević 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
SquadAndrei Chindriş falls out with a teammate over standards
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.
Marked 8.03 — 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Lokomotiv Plovdiv told Efe Ali something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Parvizjon Umarbaev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Andrei Chindriş 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.
“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; Lokomotiv Plovdiv are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Andrei Chindriş 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 had been thinking. Petar Lovric 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.
Bojan Milosavljević 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Petar Lovric 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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Lokomotiv Plovdiv know it.
Bojan Milosavljević 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Petar Lovric 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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Plovdiv has to find a result from somewhere.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petar Lovric 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 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 crowd waited for a goal that never came. CSKA Sofia defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lokomotiv Plovdiv can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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 is no crueller way to lose a football match. Lokomotiv Plovdiv scored in the 95th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Bojan Milosavljević 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 had been thinking. Martin Ruskov 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.
Bojan Milosavljević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francisco Politino and Lokomotiv Plovdiv agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
10 combined actions and 6.78. 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Bojan Milosavljević’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Cherno More defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotiv Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrei Chindriş 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.
Yonatan Jordan is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
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.