Guys, the reason for the empty hall is not the lack of interest! It’s to do with the bad timing and the prices of the tickets, which are not affordable for the Bulgarian standards. Anyway, I’m sure the hall will be bursting tomorrow & on Sunday.

Because Alekno provoked him & laughed at him publically, that’s why Zhekov played at a good level in this match at WC 2007 & as a result we were able to defeat Russia then. Russia does not have the strongest reception in the world either, but the games we played with them in the last few years show, that the only way for us to win against them is either with a good enough setter (not brilliant, good enough will do, as their ones are incomparable to Zhekov) or 2 decent, very good OH. I remember the match in Habarovsk, when Ananiev was in a top shape & also in the controversial match in Varna last year Alexiev played well. I know the Russians did not care at all about this match & did not play the best they can, but it was the best match of our current team I’ve seen by far.

Interesting, not that I know all great players, but the ones I know, happen to be all very intelligent people altogether. There must be some correlation between the IQ & the higher level you can achieve as a pro athlete at least in vball.



My dear, I could quickly guess the reason - nice weather, beautiful nature, good quality of life, warm people, delicious food, within 2-3 hours by plane from the countries they are coming from, not last Italy must be one of the best, if not the best place to live, if vball is your passion. Every place could feel like home, if you are welcomed, respected & valued. Many Bulgarians love Italy too. :-) There must be something to do with the blood type

This obsession with Zhekov is getting ridiculously pathetic. The main job of the setter is to set the ball in a way, so his team can win!!!!! Who cares, if Zhekov could serve or block kinda well, when every single attack in the match, that is going through him, is not finished in the best possible way because of his poor setting abilities? If I learn to serve & block, will I get the NT setter's position? This is a joke.

Analyse the performance of our team in the last 5-10 yrs. Everything is clear. We can win against teams with shaky setters & not that great reception, because then is up to the wing-spikers & the opposite to decide the match & we are strong there. MB as we all know dont exist for Zhekov. The moment we meet a team with strong reception & good setting, then the real problems start. Our guys have a very poor strategy & your guru Zhekov is part of this strategy dead end every single time. Call at least one important match against strong opponent we won because of Zhekov?

If there is a bit of common sense, the current strategy should change immediately. Let's say this Olympic cycle is gone because of short-sighted decisions taken in the last 4 yrs. Why cant we start the work for the next Olympic cycle NOW? It looks, this is what the Serbs gonna do.

Merci, baboon! Pitty, our guys lost the match tonight. Skrimov did pretty well in attack 10 out of 15.... but I suppose Tours have the better team anyway. Hope next match will be more challanging.

Yes, this is a BRILLIANT IDEA!!!! We need a history section!!!!

HCLT = walking vball encyclopedia! I thought you are messing, but just checked & confirmed that what you said is 100% true! WOW!

Now, raylight, come to your senses or just keep quiet. You hit the rock bottom with your last statement!!!

Where on earth, did you get the guts to blame on Matey for the bad performance of the NT??? WHERE????

If we have no Matey, we hardly gonna fit in the first 15 teams in the world, if not worse.

I will blame the federation, the system, the limited knowledge our specialists have, the coaching team's irrational decisions. I certainly, dont feel bad to blame some players, but to blame Matey is a disgrace!

Matey is not a leader, but what's wrong with that? Why should you force somebody to be something he is not? Let him do what he can do best - to score the important & the difficult points. Smart coach knows how to bring out the best of his players in a nice way. It's too much pressure for Matey to be captain in Trento & in the NT as well, when Vlado is not playing. There are people born to be leaders and Matey is not one of them, but this does not mean his value is lower.

HCLT, according to the lists given from Stoychev, he very well understands the big issue with the setter’s position, because for the Olympic qualification in Sofia he has called apart from Zhekov & Bratoev, Dimitrov – very talented, young guy & another 38 yrs old setter - Nikolay Naydenov, who I had not heard anything about prior to that. Then for the WL instead of this experienced 38 yrs old guy, he called another young setter - Borislav Georgiev, who was captain of the youth NT last year. Obviously he will try to find a reliable setter. Hope things will work out nicely this time!

Raylight, hold on a moment. How old is Alexiev? How many chances he’s been given? How long we should wait more, hoping he will play the match of his life? If he knows, there’ll always be a next chance, he could never face the reality. He’s been spoiled big time & this is the main reason why he does not have a winner’s mentality. ZERO TOLERANCE to mediocre players, regardless of their name, connections, commissions etc. – this should be our policy, applicable to ALL players!!!! How many chances Ananiev has been given? Boyan Yordanov? Skrimov? Even Bratoev? Penchev? Is it fair to them all only Alexiev to be tolerated countless times. Is it fair to the team altogheter one single man to ruin their hard work every single time? Is it fair to the fans even?

Nothing personal against the guy, but if it comes to a NT, there is no space for sentiments & emotional allowances. Without rational decisions, there could be no success.