Except Russia, I think Cuba is the most "dangerous opponent" among those you named (if they find their balance and continuity). Even more than Brazil (sounds a bit mad to say that, but this is what i think)!

We finished 6th at the EC which means the efforts did not pay off. In the future we might get some reward from them but we will see.

I agree with you that Brazil team is ageing and they are not in their full strenght anymore. Nevermind they still are the most experienced, clever and mentaly stable team & if any team think they are easy opponent just mislead themselves. USA without Ball is not the same. Cuba without Simon too. Poland and Italy have their ups and downs. Serbia and Argentina are not to be forgotten. But Russia is the team to beat and this has always been the most difficult for Bulgaria.

We need to focus on our own minuses and work on them to change them into pluses not to rely on the weaknesses of the others and the luck.

Some impartial users said previously that Rado is a weak defensive coach which I think is true because this is the weakest element of his players.

Last edited by champion on 16:42 02/01/2012.

It did pay off, partially, champion. Aleksiev and Ivanov reception improved and Zhekov played MUCH BETTER with the MB's.

12 YOSIFOV Viktor 20 36 18 18 62 2 8 0,1 -10% 3 0 0 3 100% 100% 39 1 3 23 59% 56% 1 11 0,6
2 0 0 2 100% 100% 0 0 0,0
14 TODOROV Teodor 18 35 26 9 55 0 3 0,0 -5% 0 0 0 0 - - 42 2 0 25 60% 55%

He couldn't help Aleksiev in mental relation, but that can be done from the inside, not from the outside. For three months preparation it is not so bad. I don't know why the defense got poorer, the defense and the block on team level. About Zhekov - forget the idea the he suddenly will start distributing the ball like Garcia or Lloy Ball. He improved dramatically with MB's, our first competition with 60% efficiency in attack from the middle - usually is 50%, which is big difference in volleyball. I too want to use them more often, even very often, but for such miracle we need a lot of faith. I too want to play faster volleyball, but this should be learned from the beginning in volleyball trainings. We can get medals and even golds with this current squad if we make few errors, block and serve a lot, and save every easy ball in the defense. Brazil, USA are not what they used to be, Russia can be beaten if you stay close in the result, Poland is on our level. We need finally to have some luck and all the players to be fit for the competitions and will receive the rewards for the hard work from the boys.

Yes you're both right. I believe Rado knows what to do! And I hope he will make the changes we want to see..

Sllaveq, after the Olympics Rado's contract is over anyway. Playing safe wont bring him much success. He invested all his time last summer to help Alexiev and Zhekov and Ivanov to become better players. Unfortunately his huge efforts did not pay off. Obviously something needs to change for better or for worse.

To get what we've never had we must do what we've never done. Security is a myth. Avoiding failure is no safer in the long run than accepting risk. Life is either an adventure or nothing at all.

Last edited by champion on 18:24 02/01/2012.

@Sllaveq and Champion: but, in fact, the main problem here are National Federations!! As i wrote before, they're usually too blind and narrow-minded to see farther than today's results!! It's a shame

Pearl, I keep saying that for every success there has to be risk taken sooner or later, no pain no gain as they say in English. Our specialists so far prove to be weak analysts who start looking for subs after a player retire...... We had to wait Plamen Konstantinov to retire and then in 2009 for the WL qualifications Prandi announced "my main goal is to find a sub for Konstantinov". Could not they see that we will need sub for Zhekov as well at this time?

Sokolov (22) is still very young and not so experienced but he takes every single chance with both hands and never let us down. Though we have seen very little from Skrimov (22) I can say the same for him. Teodor Todorov (22) is another example of great potential that needs to be polished and realized. Bozhilov (23) could be the sub for Salparov when he retire eventually but they need to invest time in his development now. In other words forward thinking is vital!

Again I am not specialist but outstanding players easily could be spotted even from people who simply enjoy watching volleyball. BTW there is a young guy Dobri Dimitrov (20) who is playing as a setter in one of the Bulgarian clubs - Pirin. I know the level of Bulgarian championship is low but this guy looks very promissing and must be given a proper shot at the WL qualifications IMO.

Last edited by champion on 17:42 02/01/2012.

@pearl, yes you're right but haha.. when our federation says Rado "You should win the olympic qualification" or whatever tournament, how do you think? It's not that easy to get the risk... there is too much pressure for the team coming from the federation, from the fans also..
I'm sure our coach want what you're saying but.. You don't know how much swill he ate after the euro. champ because he let skrimov play with slovakia, because we won against germany.. now we have big expectations again and if he let somebody without experience to play and we loose.. that's the end of Rado in Bulgaria

@Sllaveq: sorry if i butt in on your Bulagrian Job again but i wanted to say something about "NT improvisations in important tournament". imo, sooner or later you must run this risk!! there's no other way! I don't think there is a tournament that suits improvisations (as you call them, i would say experiments instead) better than others! It only depends on coach's ideas and bravery. I mean, if you have a big problem with setter position, you can't waste other time. You should try other players (even enexperienced or very young ones) without paying too much attention of what kind of tournament you're taking part to! Sometimes inexperienced athlets can be surprisently effective when put under highly stressing situations! This is just my humble opinion

There is another thing.. for NT there is no time for improvisations don't you think so? Which coach will take the risk to change Zhekov in important tournament as they all are so..
In the training I'm sure Rado (and before him Prandi) is looking at Bratoev maybe or someone else, but in the matches.... as I said and as you all know.. in this WL is the time for improvisation..

Champ, well I hope this year since we are hosts in WL, Rado will play with the 2nd squad in order to see if there is better than Zhekov and Aleksiev.. I'm sure Skrimov can play better than Aleksiev.. 100%.. just as you said , nobody gives him the chance to show what he can do..

Pearl you are welcome

Ray, wait a moment. How somebody could notice a player if they do not play in the NT at all?

Yosifov was discovered by Prandi, gave few good matches and straightaway was noticed and bought in Italy. Something similar happend with Valio Bratoev and Niki Nikolov if I am not mistaken.

My point is that we do not know if there were/are better setters because they never got a single chance to play one full match. And yes, it is Lazarov's fault mainly but not only. If Zhekov himself wants to get better he will be looking for competition himself and will not stay in his comfort zone as the one and only....

Champion, we have better then Aleksiev, but right now we don't have better than Zhekov and is Lazarov to blame for that not because some believe Zhekov is favorite, but because our school does not produce quality setters for the NT, does not market them well to play in strong leagues

Champion: you didn't confuse me at all! On the contrary now everything is clearer to me! I agree with you when you say that " nobody should be guaranteed his place in the team. They all have to fight and compete with each other regardless what their names are and should be given equal chances". This is the only way to improve and get the best from what you have!! But sometimes Federations (not only Bulgarian one) are too blind or narrow-minded to see that!!
Thanx for being so clear and complete in your explanation

@champion - I couldn't have explained it better myself
Btw,sorry to everyone who couldn't follow our discussion from earlier,'cause it was in Bulgarian

Pearl, this is only my opinion based on the information I gather myself from the medias, interviews and matches.

Zhekov is a great fellow - hard working, responsible etc. but it is a suicide for the team that we have only one setter in the last 7-8 years and this is he. What if he gets injured or sick or gives up volleyball? Should Bulgaria close down the NT when he will not be there? Everybody could see his limitations and I am not saying it to humiliate him but just to point out that alternative should be available always. Zhekov is a favourite of our president of the federation Dancho Lazarov who 99% of all Bulgarians can not stand. People keep saying that we do not have better players than Zhekov and Alexiev... which is a pure joke for me because nobody was ever given half of the chances that these 2 players have had. So in my opinion all that is going on in our team is a disgrace and the goals, the plans and the achievements are all mixed up. You can not achieve long term success overnight but this is what our federation is looking for. Also the greedy federation is getting nice commissions from the players contracts and have higher personal interests in some of them compares to others. All this crap is going on. Our players are kind of "white slaves" and money is put first. As far as I know only Kaziyski, Sokolov and Skrimov are out of this creative scheme that brings big cheques to Lazarov. I guess this is the main reason why Skrimov is overlooked. They would not make any money from his transfers.....

Also if it is up to me nobody should be guaranteed his place in the team. They all have to fight and compete with each other regardless what their names are and should be given equal chances.

Hope I did not confuse you more....

Last edited by champion on 18:20 02/01/2012.

I understand. It's almost the same thing that occurs with Italian Rugby NT

Bulgaria always plays with the main NT in the World League, because we need the money from qualifying to Finall 6-8 and no other setter than Zhekov plays

Okay, i would like to bring the discussion back to a more serious level I read again a comment from champion and one passage caught my eye: "the stupidest thing is that no competition is allowed for the setter's position in our NT. This is the policy of our useless, money hungry federation in the last 10 years almost".
Can you tell me more about that? Why no competition is allowed for setter's role? What does champion mean exactly?

ahahahah ray...5 stars for you