32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Septemvri lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Valentin Dotsev did not need any: 7.79, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stanimir Tonev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Septemvri the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Valentin Dotsev 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Borislav Marinov. 2‑0 against Yantra, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout29 Nov 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.” Galin Yankov, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Anton Nedyalkov 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.
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. 7.88 beside his name.
6 goals in one match, Yanis Guermouche on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Septemvri and Botev Vratsa.
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Medved 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑4 Galin Yankov left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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; Septemvri are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Yanis Guermouche was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to André Liberal, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Nicolas Fontaine'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.
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 Faiz Mattoir is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Faiz Mattoir trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
14 appearances away from home and 8 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Septemvri man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Edney Ribeiro was the best thing in any of them.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Septemvri is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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; Septemvri 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 Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Edney Ribeiro in the middle of it, and Botev Plovdiv unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Marked 4.81. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Faiz Mattoir 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 Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Galin Yankov to a room that had heard them before.
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.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Edney Ribeiro decided nobody was going anywhere. Lokomotiv Sofia had no time left to answer.
Anton Nedyalkov 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Edney Ribeiro. 1‑0 against Lokomotiv Sofia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Nobody at Septemvri 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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stanimir Tonev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Septemvri the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Borislav Marinov and Septemvri agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Medved 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.
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 Faiz Mattoir is on it.
7 goals in 10 games at Sevlievo — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Septemvri updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Two goals and a mark of 8.82 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Faiz Mattoir 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Beroe held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Septemvri answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
7.61, 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.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Yanis Guermouche 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 Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 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.
“I watch every Septemvri game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dobrudzha runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Yanis Guermouche 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 Nikolay Krastev, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Medved 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Septemvri are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 Nikolay Krastev is on it.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Galin Yankov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Septemvri dressing room was either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Septemvri, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Konstantin Kostadinov has his answer from Septemvri; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
Player ratingsFaiz Mattoir beats them one at a time
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Septemvri have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AZ keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Septemvri is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Septemvri can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Kubrat Onasci 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 19 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Faiz Mattoir 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. Athletic Bilbao have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 18 signed and 15 gone
That is the business done at Septemvri 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 Ludogorets is saying, and nobody at Septemvri is enjoying the guessing.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Septemvri can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Septemvri asked and Feyenoord said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Borislav Marinov 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Sebas Wade has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
He is 20, and nobody at Septemvri signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Septemvri have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Anton Nedyalkov 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Edney Ribeiro decided nobody was going anywhere. CSKA 1948 had no time left to answer.
“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; Septemvri are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Anton Nedyalkov 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 14 combined actions and a mark of 6.67, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Faiz Mattoir 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. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Valentine Ozornwafor has come up in conversations Septemvri were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stoyan Stoichkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Septemvri the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Septemvri have done the hard part with AZ, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Anton Nedyalkov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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.
Septemvri asked and AVS said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Septemvri, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Septemvri had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ludogorets, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Septemvri 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.
“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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AZ keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Yanis Guermouche 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yanis Guermouche. 1‑0 against Cherno More, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Yantra kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Septemvri will be asked about the last half hour all week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
Edney Ribeiro 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The offer from Spartak Pleven for Dominik Ivkič 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 agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Septemvri is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
Septemvri had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Austria Wien, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lecce have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Dominik Ivkič again, and this time the name on the line is Spartak Pleven. Septemvri are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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; Septemvri 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 Septemvri 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.” Zahari Atanasov and Septemvri agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Austria Wien have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Septemvri 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 Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Septemvri can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Anton Nedyalkov 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.
31 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Septemvri now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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. PAOK have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bozhidar Tomovski and Septemvri agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Łukasz Bomba is in the works
“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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with Ludogorets; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Valentin Dotsev is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Yanis Guermouche 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.
26 games, 13 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Septemvri now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
The offer from Arda for Edney Ribeiro 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Septemvri 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 Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chernomorets Burgas have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
13 goals in 26 games at Dunav Ruse — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Septemvri updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Dinamo Moscow have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Septemvri people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Ludogorets; Septemvri go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Septemvri have done the hard part with Slavia Sofia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Edney Ribeiro and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The name of Ali Aruna has come up in conversations Septemvri were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Edney Ribeiro 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. Kristiyan Nikiforov is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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.
26 games and 14 goals away from here, and a man the manager did not have last summer. The loan did what loans are supposed to do and almost never do.
Squad31 May 2027
5 new faces, and Septemvri 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Septemvri, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 May 2027
Faiz Mattoir 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Valentine Ozornwafor trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
A few words of the language, a friend at the next peg, and a training ground that has stopped feeling foreign. Nothing measurable, and everything visible on Saturdays.
14 goals in 26 games at Marek — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Septemvri updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
26 appearances away from home and 13 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Smolenski 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 Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody at Septemvri 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Edney Ribeiro signs something — a contract at Septemvri or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Septemvri know it.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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 did not go to Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa to sit and watch. I want to come back to Septemvri and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 36 matches say the rest.
Kirill Davidenko 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Septemvri 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 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 Septemvri know it.
Petar Debarliev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Septemvri, another week without a signature from Vladimir Mendes.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vladimir Mendes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Petar Debarliev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and André Liberal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Septemvri would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Somebody from CSKA Sofia has seen every one of Kubrat Onasci’s last few games. Nobody travels that far that often out of curiosity, and everybody at Septemvri knows 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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
Petar Debarliev 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 Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Septemvri, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Bozhidar Tomovski is on it.
Petar Debarliev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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 watch every Septemvri game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Septemvri, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Septemvri 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 done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Septemvri will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 watch every Septemvri game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at CS Afumați runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Valentine Ozornwafor 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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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 Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yoan Baurenski trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nicolas Fontaine signs something — a contract at Septemvri or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Galin Ivanov has written the date down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
14 goals in 25 games at Marek — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Septemvri updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
13 goals in 25 games at Dunav Ruse — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Septemvri updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each 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 Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Septemvri 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 Septemvri, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Septemvri can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kristiyan Nikiforov is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Stoyan Stoichkov is on it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Septemvri 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 Septemvri 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. Kirill Davidenko is living that version at Septemvri, and it tends to show in the first month.
“I watch every Septemvri game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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; Septemvri are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Petar Debarliev 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Septemvri pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Petar Debarliev 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Stefan Stojanović. 2‑0 against Spartak 1918, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8.22. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Smolenski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Galin Yankov could afford to be generous.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
In brief
The dugoutFaiz Mattoir knocks on the manager’s door
0‑4 to CSKA 1948, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Septemvri asked and Sochi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Stoyan Stoichkov is on it.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Stoyan Stoichkov reports back to Septemvri with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Levski have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Septemvri, and 5 appearances in 23 say he has earned the hearing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.69 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 Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 8.15 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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
Septemvri close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 2 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 phone has started ringing about Stoyan Stoichkov again, and this time the name on the line is Botev Plovdiv. Septemvri are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kubrat Onasci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Septemvri asked and Swansea City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
0‑3 to Beroe, 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.
Everything was agreed with CSKA 1948 and then the doctor spoke. Septemvri have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Everything agreed with CSKA Sofia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Petar Debarliev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The phone has started ringing about Sebas Wade again, and this time the name on the line is Marek. Septemvri are listening politely and promising nothing.
The deal with CSKA Sofia 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.
Petar Debarliev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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. Slavia Sofia have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Chernomorets Burgas paid $13.0K and Septemvri took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kaloyan Popov 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. Krasimir Angelov 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.
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 Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Septemvri know 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 Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 18 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chernomorets Burgas have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.78, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Septemvri dressing room in a hurry
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Botev Plovdiv spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Up for the corner, and Dominik Ivkič delivers — 7.75
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Dominik Ivkič scored, was marked 7.75, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“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 Septemvri know it.
Petar Debarliev 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 matches without a win, and then this, against Botev Plovdiv. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Faiz Mattoir 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.
0‑3 to CSKA 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.
Stipe Vulikić 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 Dec 2026
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kubrat Onasci 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.
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.
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 7.84 for the rest of it.
2‑3 to Levski, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Kubrat Onasci 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.
“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 dugout21 Dec 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Galin Yankov to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody at Septemvri 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faiz Mattoir 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.
Ronaldo Almeida Magat 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.
Stipe Vulikić 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kubrat Onasci 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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Vladimir Mendes is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Valentine Ozornwafor's mistake
Petar Debarliev 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Hristov 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 7, 18 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“I watch every Septemvri game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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.
Minute 85, against Botev Vratsa, 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.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Septemvri will not try tonight.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri 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 Kubrat Onasci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Petar Debarliev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Faiz Mattoir is on it.
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.
Botev Vratsa next, and one man in the Septemvri dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dominik Ivkič signs something — a contract at Septemvri or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
In brief
The terracesThe Kubrat Onasci rumours reach the terraces
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. 7.97 beside his name.
Stipe Vulikić 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Marked 8.38 — 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.
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 finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Septemvri training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Faiz Mattoir 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.
Vladimir Mendes 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: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Faiz Mattoir 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.
14 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout26 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 Galin Yankov left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Nobody at Septemvri 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ronaldo Almeida Magat has, at Septemvri, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Vladimir Mendes's mistake
Petar Debarliev 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 19 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.
At 38, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 Faiz Mattoir is on it.
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.
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 7.85 for the rest of it.
“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 Septemvri know it.
Stipe Vulikić 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Martin Smolenski 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Petar Debarliev, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Faiz Mattoir 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 Septemvri has been clear about where Martin Hristov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kubrat Onasci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri 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 Faiz Mattoir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Septemvri told Galin Ivanov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Septemvri can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Jagiellonia have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Faiz Mattoir 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.
12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fratria have kept their man, and Septemvri 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 Martin Hristov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. André Liberal is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kubrat Onasci is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Septemvri are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The deal that would have taken Bozhidar Tomovski to Minyor Pernik has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Septemvri with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Everything agreed with Lokomotiv Sofia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: André Liberal. 3‑1 against Botev Plovdiv, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Septemvri 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Stoyan Stoichkov provided it, and the 7.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Septemvri, 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 Septemvri this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Septemvri asked and Sturm Graz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slavia Sofia have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Lokomotiv Plovdiv wanted more than $530.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Stipe Vulikić 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.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Lokomotiv Sofia had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Septemvri did not stop to explain themselves.
The offer from Sevlievo for Martin Hristov 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Dominik Ivkič delivers — 7.14
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Dominik Ivkič scored, was marked 7.14, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $568.8K — a club that wants Todor Pavlov enough to be asked twice.
$530.0K on the table at Lokomotiv Plovdiv. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Septemvri have gone to CSKA 1948 with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
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.
Stipe Vulikić 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 Stefan Stojanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Werder Bremen have kept their man, and Septemvri go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Ali Aruna again, and this time the name on the line is Yantra. Septemvri are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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.