Football in the Bulgarian community

Match Day 8

Home V Roza

The mood going into the game this week was optimistic, Roza are not as strong this year as previous years with several new players throughout the side and on the back of last weeks win to Inzovo the atmosphere was buoyant.
We were missing Kolio from defence and 2 of the normal starting 11 arrived late and were to come on later as subs. I decided to use the formation ( 5-1-3-1) which we ended the game with last week as it should give extra cover to the centre of defence, it is not a formation I particularly like but last week it seemed to work.
We started well creating the better of the chances but it soon became apparent that Roza were taking the game more seriously than Gagarin and started to get a better grip on the game. It took 31 minutes for the first goal and it came courtesy of a mix up between Avram in central defence and Ivan the Goalkeeper, both thought the other would get to the ball only to see the outstretched leg of the Roza striker snake in between them and lob the advancing Ivan.

The score remained 1-0 until the break. Dimitar was not having the best of games and was swapped for Angel and young Ilian at right back was changed for Asen who would normally have played there.
The match continued in much the same way with both sides battling for the ball but when Roza scored a 2nd in the 58th minute and then a 3rd in 70th the signs were ominous to say the least.
However Gagarin often seem to play better under adversity and in 72nd minute finally got on the score when Kuncho scored, then 5 minutes later Trancho’s shot was handled by a defender and when Trancho stepped up and converted the penalty we had hope.

At this point I substituted Older Avram at left back for young Tosho, I felt Avram was pushing too far up the pitch and leaving us exposed for the counter attack and that we needed to remain steady at the back. We again continued to look for the equaliser with our best chances falling to Kuncho who just seemed to be unable to take advantage.
With 10 minutes remaining I made my last change Kuncho came off and on came older Ilian. The plan was for me push out wide and get the ball in the box every chance I could, (tall) Ivan would push further up field, Angel would sit in front of the now back 4 with Ilian pressing for the ball in midfield and pushing it out wide for the cross. So we were more like 4-2-4.
Unfortunately our lack of discipline and understanding of marking in general was to be our downfall. And with 4 minutes to go Roza found the man unmarked at the back of our defence who scored securing the 3 points for them.

At the end of the match the blame game started, and this is where the lack of the language is really difficult for me, I can tell players where to play and I can make changes but explaining why I do these things is the hardest part.
The lads felt that the substitution of Kuncho was wrong and that Ilian was at fault for the Roza 4th goal. His bad marking had allowed the spare man to score.
What they failed to understand was that although he had not defended well the man he was marking was not his. And that Asen who had pushed so far up field he was playing more as a striker than a right back, had actually been the biggest problem as it had stretched the defence out of position and created need for Ilian to be in defence in the first place.
Ilian lacks confidence and was not bought on for his brilliant defensive skills. His job was to pressure the midfield, help win the ball back and pass to an attacking player; if he had made a mistake it would not have been fatal as cover would have been behind him.
Whilst I can identify a problem the ability to communicate this to the players is proving difficult, when I ask the players if they understand they reply "yes" but we are 1 and a half seasons further along and the marking is often woeful with players constantly getting the wrong side or completely leaving their man unmarked altogether.

When you look at the league you can see that 4 teams are playing well the others are playing hot and cold with 4 teams separated by just 1 point, I believe Gagarin have the ability to break away from this pack but they have to show discipline and need to consistent. On top of this they sometimes seem to lack the passion and cutting edge they need. But it is there under the surface and my job is to get them to release their potential and show everyone once and for all what they are capable of.
We now have the winter break so will get out on the training ground and nail these problems once and for all, I hope.
Man of the Match this goes to Young Ilian who played right back in the first half, he held his position well and is 1 of a good crop of youngsters coming through the ranks.

Ilian

No Magari award as no one person was particularly bad just an overall underachievement from the whole team.

Thanks for keeping an interest and if anyone had a really good exercise I can use to train man marking, not too difficult to explain, please let me know.

Dovishdane za cega. (Bye for now)      

Darren


My Thoughts

Without Jeanette and Keith here this week, I wasn't able to ask why? Keith is my footy technician and can usually tell me why, but today I was on my own.

To me I thought the team played well, many of players worked hard in my opinion, young Ilian played his heart out in the first half, older Avram has stopped being so lazy, younger Avram is pretty much consistently good as well as tall Ivan and Vesko, Angel plays with passion, (which a lot of them don't!) and little Ivan was back in goal (as Trancho doesn't want to be) and pulled off some great saves.

Angel actually turned up 5 mins before kick off and after Darren had talked to the lads about their positioning and as much as everyone (fans and team) wanted him to start, Darren stuck to his guns again, and insisted as he has said before, if you are not here 15 mins before kick off, you are a reserve.  They have to learn discipline and not think that they can wander on down to the pitch as if they are coming for a kick about.

Darren has already mentioned the positioning and not for the first time it has become apparent that the team keep letting the fans influence their play.
I saw many of the fans (as usual) shouting at players, who were turning and listening to them.
When older Ilian was put on for Kuncho (who cannot score in a brothel!) the crowd, including our own players complained "no not Ilian he's rubbish" right in front of the poor guy, so how's that going to boost an already unconfident player who week in week out kits up and rarely gets to play.

We lost again, and it is very apparent that it was all the teams making, no blaming officials this week who did a stirling job.
Gagarin are listening to the fans too much when they should be listening to Darren.  I watched Darren several times with a questioning look on his face, "wheres so and so", "why are you there when you should be here", "who wants the ball?!"

At the end of the match emotions were running high, not only from the fans but the team (for once) too.  Darren has said before that when he feels that he can no longer get the best out of a team then it is time for him to walk away.
It has been getting harder and harder recently to not do that as you know.
He finds it hard to put across why he wants them in certain positions, and they need to understand why, and they say they understand but then don't do it.

Today, they all hung on and questioned Darren, why did he put older Ilian on and were blaming Ilian for that final Roza goal, but what they don't see is the bigger picture, they don't understand that he did that for 2 reasons.
One, because Ilian has as much right to play as they have, but none of them want to be subbed. They all believe they are good enough for the team and are indispensable.

And two because Kuncho was not scoring, Darren repositioned a few players (so he thought) to make a difference.  Darren knows what each player is capable of, he knows where they are best off playing.  Older Avram for instance moans that he hates his position now, and yet he is doing a far better job of it than his position before.

If they just stuck to what they have been asked to do in the first place then things would have been different.

Darren very loudly and vocally told them all, "I know what the problem is, I am not getting you to understand what your roles are in the team.  You say you understand me, but then you dont do what I ask.  You don't understand your positions, because your not listening and your not coming to training so your not learning"

One of the team then said "okay we will come tomorrow (Sunday) we will come to training every weekend now during the break"

But they said this at the end of last season, he set up Tues and Thurs as training sessions, and approx 6 of the team would turn up for the training, the majority of the rest for the kick about at the end.
So Darren told them not to bother if that's all they wanted.
The 6 that turn up week in week out are the 2 Ilians, Tosho, the 2 Avrams and Trancho, they are hardly the main team, so its no wonder the rest are not learning.
And now they want to be dedicated again, so they expect Darren and Dencho to put themselves out because of that.

Also at the end, remember the fan who was bladdered at the recent home match to Elhovo?  Well today he shouted at Dencho that he and the Englishman should go home!
But as Darren says, its not that he is trying to teach them something difficult in football, they are just not fully grasping the basics of marking your man.  
He tells them week in week out and they just don't do it!  Its not an English way of playing, its how they should be playing, but at times they play like its a kick about in the park and all of them want to be strikers and the fans don't seem to know any better.

For a nation of football fans, these people seem to know diddly squat about tactical play, in fact they probably don't know a lot more than I do.  They just seem to think the players should chase the ball and go for goal rather than them each having a particular role to play on that pitch.

Dencho (again) decided enough was enough, he took the nets to the drunken man's house that night, and told him it was now his responsibility.
If he wanted to tell the team how they should play, he is now responsible for the nets, the cutting and line marking of the pitch, he would have to deal with all the paperwork for the municipality and the league.
The cutting alone takes 3 hours, used to be 6 with one mower, thanks to our donors we now have 2.
The line marking is done with dry var, which is a lime based powder they use on roofs (for those who don't know) In the UK it would not be allowed to be used.
Darren uses 2 x 4 mtr slats of wood put together at the ends at 10 cms wide, and painstakingly pours the powder bit by bit using his wooden guide around the whole of the pitch.
The circles are done by using a 2 litre coke bottle cut off the top, attached to a piece of string, staked to the centre and penalty spots, all very techinical!

It must be so good that the Roza goalie, who is a policeman was overheard asking to the Krumovo policeman did they use a machine to do them, and he replied yes I think they do!  And the Roza policeman said that they needed to get one, well they are very welcome to borrow Darren's "machine" and its great because it only takes 2  hours at least to do it!
(By the way we still want to buy one, so if anyone knows where we can and get it here please contact us)

Sunday and the bladdered fan was driven over to Inzovo to Dencho's cafe to hand back the nets and apologise.
Apparently his wife and daughters had had a right go at him threatening to bash him round the head with the nets, and if he didn't like the way Darren and Dencho were running the team then don't go to the matches!!
You Go Girls!!! Respect!!!

So Darren went to see Dencho on Sunday and they are going to have a get together with the lads with someone to help translate, so that all concerns/questions can be raised and dealt with.
They have decided to continue training at the weekends for as long as the "team" turn up for it.

Oh well that's it for this half of the season, until March although the league are talking about starting at end of December, which is a bit silly when the snow normally arrives around then and it is still warm now!!
Watch this space!

Thanks for reading as always
Nikki

Gagarin FC is sponsored by:
KitAid
A Devilishly Handsome Man
A couple who want to remain anonymous

P.s. I will add the table when I can, only we are disputing positions with the Bulgarian Football League at this time!

Match Day 7

Away to General Inzovo.

Today’s game was about more than the 3 points at stake, this was a local derby with Krumovo and Inzovo being only 6 kilometres apart and Inzovo is also the village I happen to live in. So today was as much about the pride and bragging rights that the winners would also receive.
The game started as expected with both sides pushing forward and looking for the break and it was Inzovo that scored first on the 25th minute mark when some slack defending allowed the striker too much time and space.
Gagarin however found the perfect response when Rusi scored direct from a fee-kick just a minute later.

The game continued in the same way both sides creating chances and pressuring the opposition into mistakes on the 36th minute Inzovo again took the lead and again it was sloppy marking that gave the striker space to pick his spot.
But as with the first goal Inzovo proved unable to hold the lead for long and a pass from myself into the path of Avram who calmly poked the ball past the on coming keeper saw the scores levelled again just 3 minutes later.

Before the break I made the first substitution as I made way for Dimitar due to an injury.  I also took the chance to change the formation as we seemed to be struggling with the Inzovo attack at the centre of defence. We had started with a 4-4-2 formation and it was obvious it wasn't working; we changed to 5-4-1 with tall Ivan sitting in the centre of defence and Angel sitting in front of the now back 5. Dimitar was given a free role helping with defence and joining in the attack when ever possible.
At half-time the scores were tied, Trancho came out of goal and our normal keeper Ivan moved from left back to take up position between the sticks.
Ivan is from Inzovo and didn't feel confident starting in goal today but seeing how the first half had gone he felt that he would be ok after all.

Avram went from left wing to left back and Trancho moved out to the wing.  These changes worked (mostly because the team did what I said for once!) and Inzovo were restricted to only having chances from set plays the extra bodies in the central areas making it difficult to find spaces.
Gagarin do have natural wide players and when we had possession we used the wide men which really stretched the Inzovo defence and with about 10 minutes to go Trancho won the ball out wide and played a pass into the path of Rusi to notch his 2nd and Gagarin’s 3rd.

It was now in our hands, could we hold on and take the spoils?  The answer was a resounding yes as the game finished 3-2 to Gagarin, the perfect way to get over the disappointment of last week. Gagarin showed great character today coming from behind twice and then after taking the lead holding on to it, at times such was their determination, they kept 6 players back marking only 2 strikers leaving the attack to put pressure on the Inzovo defence and keep the pressure away.

Every player played their part to perfection, Ilian and Tosho both great prospects for the future came on and only added to my belief that the youngsters will be a great asset in the coming years.

Isn’t football a fickle game?  Only last week I was wondering how to put things right and this week I am hoping we can build on the right stuff.
All in all we are all very proud of the way the team played today.

Man of the Match was "tall" Ivan who settled into the defence seamlessly and helped plug the hole and stem the tide, turning the advantage to Gagarin.

No Magari.

Next week we have the last game before the winter break when we host Roza.
Darren        


My Thoughts

WOW, great game, they seemed really settled, and up for it from the start, always a good sign.
The weather was roasting this morning, around 25 degrees, so they could have done with wearing the England strip today!
Darren forgot to mention this week that Gagarin had very few chances at goal, but the ones they did have they made count, which made a pleasant change!!
We did gain another 2 yellow cards Dimitar for a foul and Rusi when he scored and stripped in celebration

The ref and linesman nearest us were inconsistent as with last week, with the ref not listening to the linesman and the linesman changing his mind and putting down his flag.
I seriously think that Bulgarian referring needs looking at, but on the whole they are pretty fair and we have not come up against the really bad one since our first match of the season against Tenevo.

I bet we get him next week now!
We went back to Krumovo with the lads to celebrate the victory, and take the mick out of Trancho who apparently at half time said to Darren “I don’t want to be in goal” on and on and on like a spoilt kid!

What a difference a win makes, lots of BIG smiles in Krumovo this weekend with good reason, lets hope the team can keep this on a roll.

Many thanks (and to Jeanette and Keith) and look forward to next weeks match which is Saturday 14th Nov, at 2.30 pm in Krumovo.  This will be a tricky one as usually the lads are working on a Saturday afternoon, so who knows what will happen.

Until next time
Nikki

P.s sorry it’s a boring one without piccies (apart from Ivan) this week as my camera wouldn’t behave!

Good news though, we are climbing again!!

Gagarin FC is sponsored by:
KitAid
A Devilishly Handsome Man
A couple who want to remain anonymous

Home to Kukorevo

With the first half of the season nearing its end the table is becoming split into two sections; the top half battling it out for the league title and ourselves and four other sides chopping and changing positions on a weekly basis.
This week we had an opportunity to pull a little clear of the pack with a win against fellow strugglers Kukorevo. This is the visitors first season and they are proving a hard side to break down.

The game started well with Gagarin making chances and pushing forward with purpose when in possession, the deadlock was broken on the 12 minute mark when Rusi scored direct from a free-kick which the goalie should have done better with.
Shortly after we had a goal disallowed for offside to the obvious displeasure of the fans. Again we continued to press forward and seemed to be quite comfortable even though I felt we were not playing as well as we can. The half continued in similar fashion until a mistake, in the 38th minute, from the home keeper allowed the Kukorevo striker to tap in from close range.
By the way our keeper this week was one of our strikers Trancho, who had to take over from Ivan in the Elhovo match. Apparently a red card was not given to Ivan then after all, (only in Bulgaria) but because of the way he acted in that match and the fact that he does not want to be in goal during the Inzovo match as its his old team and the village he lives in, Darren decided that Trancho needed to have some experience and gave him extra coaching all last week. Trancho’s confidence is not high, and as soon as he made this error today, it only lowered it further.

Half time and the scores were level. When the teams came out for the second half we had been forced into two changes due to injury. Ivan came on for Vesko and young Avram replaced Vesi so after a small shake up the match resumed and it was soon apparent that Kukorevo were the team feeling more positive and started to control the game and it was they who took the lead heading home from a throw-in.

The referee today we have had before and is always fair but I have to say today was not one of his best, although in fairness he was not helped by his assistants who on a number occasions would raise the flag and then just as quickly put it down again and on at least two occasions my players were given offside from inside their own half.

The referee made several mistakes not allowing the game to continue when a team had advantage and clear chance at goal. He was reluctant to give out cards when he should have which may have calmed things down and prevented some of the frustration.
These kinds of decisions are what all fans get excited about and it was no big surprise that when an incident arose in front of the away fans trouble followed.
This is the side of football I despise.
What started the trouble was two players challenging for the ball, the referee has given us a free-kick, the ball has gone out of play and away fan nearest my player has attempted to headbut him, on seeing this the home fans have invaded the pitch and a fracas has erupted the one policeman in attendance has had to attempt to calm things down, it took between 5 and 10 minutes to get going again.
Once played was resumed the free-kick was curled in and landed on the foot of Kuncho who only needed to guide the ball in the right direction to level the scores, instead he didn’t get control and never managed to get a shot away.
A few minutes later and again a golden opportunity was squandered.
The referee bought the game to an end exactly on the 90 minutes when there should have been at least 5 minutes of extra time due to the crowd trouble because he was concerned it may start up again.
Effectively the behaviour of the fans has ended our chance to level the scores.
In fairness the away fans were as culpable, as far as I am aware no action was or is going to be taken, the fan that started the trouble should be facing a ban from football matches, and idiots like this spoil the game and have no place along side proper fans.

I have found in Bulgaria that the fans do get a little feisty but in the main the mood remains upbeat. It is unusual for the type of over-reaction that we had today to happen.

At the end of the day though we can only look at ourselves and that is where the blame lies, I mean no offence to Kukorevo but they did not win the game today, more like we lost it.
We have to take the chances we create. We are far better at the back but sometimes I feel we couldn’t buy a goal and that we could play all day and fail to hit the target.
It simply is not good enough and just leaves everyone, fans and players alike, feeling down.  
Man of the Match was Stancho who had a steady performance in the centre of defence and it is no coincidence that we have stopped leaking so many goals.
Magari award goes to he fans, who knows had the ref felt able to play the correct injury time we may have managed to salvage a point.
Next week have a massive game away to Inzovo who are currently at the bottom of the league. This is also the village I live in and the closest village to Krumovo so the atmosphere can get pretty heated.
Lets hope we can put today’s result behind us and get a much needed victory.

Thanks for reading.
Darren  

My Thoughts
Not a good game for Gagarin to lose to newcomers to the league and allowing their first win.
Kukerovo are looking better than we were this time last year, and seem to have a far better understanding of the game than Gagarin, which is such an important factor.

Today’s match was unusual in that the away side had a large group of fans.
Gagarin’s fans are kept 3 metres away from the side line by a long line of string and posts, but Kukorevo’s were not.

The referee didn’t seem to have a good head and was not watching his linesmen very well, he made a fair few bad decisions, and one in particular when one of the the inconsistent linemen flagged for something the ref looked and the linesman put his flag down.
This enraged our crowd and even Darren demanded to know what had the linesman seen, he must have seen something so why did he put his flag up and then down? The referee did not answer.

Unbelievably when our newcomer to the team Angel, had a decision against him and then stupidly pushed the ref, who then fumbled to get his cards out of his top pocket, the team tried desperately to calm the situation, and incredibly Angel got away with NO booking!!

In the 2nd half a Kukerovo fan who must have been in his 40s taunted older Avram (18yrs) who had gone to get the ball for a free kick, Avram stood up to the guy who then head butted Avram (this is how close they were to the line!) and all hell broke lose not surprisingly!

Our fans quickly followed the local policeman over to the other side and there was some argy bargy including the players which went on for about 5 minutes.I'm pleased to report that for once Jeanette decided not to become involved in this and we watched from a safe distance.

Darren sat this out; I could see his heart was not in this match any longer, though I noted his head went down from the 18th minute of the 2nd half along with the rest of the team, and that is unusual for him.

The chances were created for Gagarin, twice at least from incoming free kicks off Darren, which Kuncho should have had direct goals but instead hoofed away!!

At the end it was very friendly lots of shaking hands, except Darren who could not speak to anyone.  He says he doesn’t know what the answer is any longer and had actually threatened to stand down from managing to the team as he feels that he is not helping them as they still don’t seem to understand their positions, and he can only think it’s down to him not being able to explain it in their language.

Both times the team has said they DO understand Darren and they want him as manager of the team, so now it can only be that they are NOT listening.

It seemed a real downer of a match afterwards, something I have not felt whilst Darren has been managing Gagarin until today.

I soo hope that something positive will happen next week.

Thanks again to Jeanette and Keith, for the time keeping and coffee!! Sorry we didn’t bring cookies or muffins this week xx

Next week is away at Inzovo, Sunday 8th 10.30am
Nikki

Gagarin FC is sponsored by:
KitAid
A Devilishly Handsome Man
A couple who want to remain anonymous

Match Day 5

Home v Elhovo

To start this weeks report I feel it is only right to describe the task we faced. Elhovo is a town with over 11,000 residents; they have a big stadium and financial clout to match. Krumovo has approx 685 residents and all but 2 of the squad live in Krumovo, this is a fact I am proud of as we started the team for the village and my aim has always been to keep it that way.
So remembering the last match against this team ended with us losing 15-0 so today I was looking for the team to work hard and try to limit the chances that Elhovo would create, they are a young side, fit and everyone knows their position well.
After last weeks match we needed to defend well again and try when possible to break forward.
The game started well and we kept things tight not allowing spaces for the strikers to hurt us. Unfortunately it was an own goal by Kuncho, in the 15th minute, that gave the visitors the lead when he inadvertently headed into his own net from a long throw.
However we did not let this affect our game and continued to defend well, up front we also created chances.
Just before the break Elhovo did get a second when the striker span off the defender and slotted past the oncoming keeper.
At the interval I reiterated our need to keep our positions and felt the next goal would be important, if we could score Elhovo may have started to argue and maybe we could get something from the game but if Elhovo scored it would almost impossible for us to fight our way back, the key thing was to not concede early in the second half.
About 2 minutes of the second half had been played when a Elhovo player volleyed from about 35yards out beating the keeper and making the score 3-0.  
On the 64th minute Elhovo scored a 4th but 1 minute later Avram calmly slid the ball past the keeper into the far corner and the score was now 4-1.
At this point we were still trying to keep things tight and if we had put away some our chances we really should have been giving Elhovo a closer game, but in a crazy moment of madness the game was effectively put beyond us by our own goalkeeper.
He had been getting a lot of abuse from some of the supporters and suddenly without warning took off his shirt and gloves and stormed off the pitch, this happened at the same time as one of our players had been badly fouled and a small commotion had ensued. When the game resumed we had to put Trancho in goal were told that Ivan was to be red carded and we could not bring on another player.
I asked Dencho to get a substitute ready as I felt we needed some fresh legs. We still had to play 15 minutes and almost immediately Elhovo crossed in a ball and the striker jumped well in front of the new keeper and made it 5-1.
Still no sign of my substitute, but we continued to battle and I thought we did extremely well to not concede again. The match finished 5-1.

At the end of the game I have to admit to being a little bit peeved to say the least and ushered the whole team into the caravan (changing room) and gave them both barrels, I wanted to know why Ivan had decided that we no longer needed a goalkeeper and that it was ok to let down the rest of the team, and why were none of substitutes kitted up and ready to come on when I needed them.
I ranted for a little while and told them they need to get themselves sorted and decide whether or not they want a team in the league.
Later, after I had calmed down, the players apologised and said they do want to carry on.
I knew they wanted to continue before I asked the question; the problem was that when I got ?mad? I couldn?t express myself fluently enough in Bulgarian.
The thing that really disappointed me is that I feel had we been playing any other team in the league we could have won.
For the second week in a row the players had worked their socks off, the positioning was far better and they helped each other, talking and battling back, when you see your striker track a players run and make an important tackle you know things are finally sinking in. Every game this season we have improved from the week before.
Next week we have no game so will concentrate on training and building our understanding.
We have the ability to win our last 3 games but we must convert more of the chances we are making, defensively we are miles better but our speed in attack and the spaces they are making needs to be utilised. We are currently 5th in the league and this is the lowest position I feel we should be at the end of the season  
Onwards and upwards.

Darren

My thoughts
Well I think Darren has said it all but of course I do want to add my bit!
Before the match began, the BFC league official presented the Mayor of Krumovo a lovely trophy and Darren and Dencho a certificate basically for the services to getting Krumovo a team in the league after 35 years.  That was very unexpected and nice.

The support as usual was great from Krumovo, and the 400 year celebrations had been taking place all weekend so were a little more feisty than is normal (if that?s possible) a fan took on one of the 3 policemen who attended and that did distract the players, and then another fan started up and had to be ushered away by his daughter, only to come back for more, to say he was bladdered is an understatement!

Back to the team, and the lads were fantastic!
They were, 2 weeks in a row now and they have managed to play 2 full halves both matches, and today was no exception.
It?s very sad that Ivan (the goalie) decided to be very stupid and let his emotions get the best of him, show himself up and let his team down!  The stupid thing is he is a good goalie and we tell him this week in week out.
He has passion and courage, something a lot of the others have lacked.

As per usual we had lots of missed chances, but so did Elhovo, and to be perfectly honest, we didn?t look any worse than they did all the way throughout the match.
Well?what can I say about Darren?s temper tantrum, it has been coming, but what a shame it had to happen today, and purely only because of Ivan.
The team were too good today, to be shouted at and thankfully Darren did direct a lot of his frustration (and anger) at Ivan.
But he does regret this morning (Monday) going off on one.
I heard him shout at one point he can?t think of it in Bulgarian so a few choice swear words in good old English poisoned the air in the caravan.
A few girlfriends of the lads and some of the kids from training were outside and listened with horror on their faces as Darren shouted and hurled abuse, he eventually stormed out of the changing room pulled off his shirt chucked it on the ground, as he strutted off shouting more obscenities, as he went to help Dencho take down the nets.

Dencho told the team there and then, that he did not want to continue, to be honest this has been coming, as he is finding it difficult with being a new dad.  However the team have stated that they want Darren AND Dencho in the team, so after a good chat this morning (Monday) he has agreed to continue for this season at least.

Well that?s another match done and dusted, next weekend we have a rest, though the team are going to be training and then the following week (01.11.09) we are home (Krumovo) to Kukorevo at the earlier start of 10.30am

Now to the table week 5, interestingly though we lost we have moved up a place ??

How cool is that!!! woohooo!!!

Thanks Jeanette and Keith again, and to Velichka for washing the kit this week, despite having tons of baby clothes to wash!!

See you next time

Nikki

Gagarin FC is sponsored by:
KitAid
A Devilishly Handsome Man
A couple who want to remain anonymous

This was a report sent to us from Jeanette who also watched the game and i thought worthy of adding to this blog

Hi Guys,

Just thought i'd add a little thing here as well, we are seeing these lads week in and week out and since we started watching them last season the improvements have been fantastic, Yes we still have problems but nothing that can't be sorted.

Sunday's game was always going to be hard we knew that,Our lad's started with sheer determination and did actually in my eyes play very well until into the second half where they were still fighting and when Avrams goal slipped nicely into the net they seemed to get a second boost, By this time Elhovo were getting a bit dirty on the tackles just like school kids not getting there own way there was a few temper tantrums and bad tackles all of which shouldve been jumped on harder than they were.

The crowd distractions didn't help matters and who knows perhaps the ref shouldve stopped the match if the police were struggling to get it under control and waited till it was sorted out but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Ivan well what can anyone say, this guy is a really good goalie and has made some superb saves for FC Gagarin but like nearly all of the lads they lack the self confidence to believe they are any good.

Darren and Dencho have taken a group of lads formed a team and has with their sheer hard work and deetermination turned them into a football team which is playing in the league now thats an acheivement.

Now I don't know maybe I'm just biased about FC Gagarin but I think these lads can go far but only if they work at it.

They proved over the last couple of games that they are capable but need to control self discipline and start working together again.

I thought that the score wouldve been a lot more for Elhovo as the last time it 15-0 but I think they were just a little shocked at the improvements in FC Gagarin as they weren't able to get the freedom with the ball they wanted, there was times in the game that it was FC Gagrin that controlled what was happening and this annoyed Elhovo greatly.

I would love to make a prediction for the next game but don't want to tempt fate.

jeanette

Match Day 4

Home to Chargan

This was a big game for us today, Chargan are below us in the league and we desperately needed to win and put a small chink of light between ourselves and the bottom of the league.
The signs were ominous as five first team players were working and unable to start which meant we started with a back consisting of two fifteen year olds, a fourteen year old supported by a 33 year old and me at the tender age of 43.
What the younger players lack in experience they make up for in work ethic; they listen to my instructions and do exactly what I ask.
Unusually today we got of to a solid start working hard, marking tight and giving very little away. In the 17th minute we took the lead when Angel got on the end of a Vesi throw-in and put us 1 up.
We continued to press and prevent Chargan from creating anything.
At the break it was 1-0 and drummed into the players that it was only halt-time and we needed to put in another 45 minutes like the first and that we could win if we did.

The second started and we continued where we left off and within 5 minutes doubled our lead. Good work from Ilian at the back led to a pass to Rusi who dummied and let the ball run through his legs, Kuncho ran onto the loose ball and cut it back to the edge of the box for Dimitar to blast into the top corner, unstoppable, and in my opinion the best goal I have seen in a long time.

Again we worked hard and concentrated on the job at hand, we made 3 substitutions in the second with Kolio, Vesko and Trancho coming on for Tosho, Ilian and Angel, hoping that the more experienced players would help us safely through to the final whistle but when Chargan scored with 15 minutes to go it set up a nervy finish, and when Kuncho failed to supply the touch needed to put us 3-1 up you could feel the tension creeping in. Chargan in fairness pushed us right to the end but it was not to be for them and we ended the match 2-1 winners.

Although this was a close result today I feel this was probably our best match to date, we kept our discipline and continued for the full 90 minutes. I am extremely proud of the lads today and looking forward to the future, I have at least another 3 youngsters knocking on the door and believe the future is very bright for Gagarin football club.
It is however the present that we need to work on if today can be repeated every week we have every reason to feel positive.
Man of the Match today is Ivan our Goalkeeper, although he did not have a lot to do, he did pull off some outstanding saves to preserve our lead.
Next week home to table toppers and last seasons champions Elhovo, we would just love to cause a shock here but will need an almighty effort.     
 
Many thanks

Darren


My Thoughts

We turned up at 3, (for a 4pm kick off) to get the nets up and get the team ready, there wasn?t anyone there, but soon 2 reserves turned up, then a few kids (fans) and by about half past, there were virtually none of the first team choice actually at the pitch!!
At this time Chargan had arrived and started kitting up.
By 20 to, with frustrations showing via mutterings under his breath, Darren was trying to sort out who was playing and with 5 key players doubtful for start up; the team was looking decidedly dodgy.
Luckily for us there was an official delay, so by 10 to Darren had decided that tough, the team we have now is what he will work with regardless if so and so player turned up and he can be put straight on, if they can?t be there for the start then they will be reserve and not be put straight on.
Kolio turned up 5 mins before kick off at 4.15 pm and despite calls for him to start, Darren stuck to his word and he spent the first half on the bench with obvious frustration.
Chargan looked far better even in warm up with a much older and experienced team; I was feeling this would be a washout!
I couldn?t have been more wrong, our young inexperienced team defended brilliantly, not allowing Chargan in, and when we scored in the 17th minute, (older Angel) we could all feel the WOW!!
No-one could argue that Gagarin where playing their socks off, this young team were doing fantastically well against all the odds.
5 mins before half time, Trancho and Vesko, turned up and Kolio replaced young Ilian who came off with the biggest grin after setting up the 2nd cracking goal (Dimitar) 5 mins into the 2nd half, and about half way through the 2nd half Trancho and Vesko replaced young Tosho who played uncomfortably in left back but Darren reassured him he was doing a fantastic job, and Older Angel came off too.
The team continued to battle away with a few missed chances, and then Chargan turned up the heat when their big goalie swapped shirts with fellow team mate, hoping to make a difference, but sadly for them it didn?t matter, despite it being a little close at times we clung onto our lead and remained the victors of the game!!!

Agree totally with the Man of the Match being our goalkeeper Ivan, every week despite not wanting to be goalie and being soo small, he pulls off some spectacular saves.
Despite Darren?s reservations about starting him each match, young Avram is proving to be every inch as good as the rest of the first choice team, in fact better because he listens to Darren.

The league table is looking good as we are moving UP it!!
As soon as it is updated I will publish it in the League Table section.

Last week the match between General Inzovo and Tenevo was disrupted when a Tenevo player suffered a badly broken leg, so the 2nd half of the match is still to be played with Tenevo 1-0 up.

This weekend Krumovo are celebrating 400 years, so there are lots of celebrations over the weekend and whether this will help Gagarin?s performance is anyone?s guess!
The match was supposed to be away at Elhovo (group leaders) but will be at Home as the mayor wants the match to be part of the celebrations that Krumovo have a football team after more than 35 years.
As yet it still has not been decided if it is to be Saturday or Sunday, will keep you informed.

Thank you to Jeanette and Keith as always, and for going off to get some water for the thirsty team!!  Hope you enjoyed your muffins.

See you next time
Nikki

Gagarin FC is sponsored by:
KitAid
A Devilishly Handsome Man
A couple who want to remain anonymous

Match Day 3

NEW LOGO ON THE CHESHAM UTD KIT FROM KITAID (ONE OF GAGARIN'S SPONSORS THIS SEASON)

Away v Bolyaravo

With a pitch resembling a marsh and where in certain areas flippers would have been more suitable footwear this was never going to be a pretty game.
Bolyarovo?s pitch is short and wide and we again showed our frailties dealing with width, to combat this I am trying to play an extra player in the heart of defence but it is taking time for the team to adapt to this and before we had really sorted ourselves out we conceded the first goal.
Unfortunately that that was closely followed by a second as Ivan could only palm the ball into the net when really he would have expected to do better.
 At this point we were lack lustre and seemed bereft of ideas it took a goal by myself from a direct free-kick, about 35 yards out, to spur us into life and we were unlucky not to draw level as another shot from myself came off the crossbar and behind for a goal kick with the keeper beaten.

 
At half-time it was 2-1 to Boloyarovo but Gagarin had started to play like a team that believed in itself again and with the defence now playing comfortably and giving very little away it was time for the attack to do their bit.  

It was to be a hairy end to the game and it took until the 41st minute to finally get the equaliser after some good work from Trancho led to Kuncho firing in from close range.
The final score was 2-2 but Gagarin must start to convert the chances they are creating, the number of times they get into good goal scoring positions and fail to even hit the target is beyond belief.
I feel if they could just get one game when everything went in they would gain so much confidence and belief that they would become a force to be reckoned with.
Today we finally showed some spirit and walked away with a point the only down side is that we lost 3 players to injury and 2 of which will be big doubts for next week, both myself (knee) and Angel (thigh).
Man of the match goes to Stancho for a solid display at the heart of defence.
Magari award goes to Kolio for a not so solid display at left-back.

Next week we are home to Chargan where a win would see us put some daylight between us and the bottom of the league.   

Thanks again
Darren

My thoughts

Well, yes the pitch was atrocious and in the UK would have probably been called off.
Luckily the rain had subsided so things couldn?t get any worse, until of course we went 2 goals down!
The mood was pessimistic to say the least, until Darren scored his free kick (sadly I missed as he had sent me off to get a pump as the ball was in need of air)
The team picked themselves up and did play a lot better, but Kolio and Older Avram are really showing themselves to be prima donna?s, they don?t work as hard as the rest of the team, obviously feel they are doing their bit, and that that?s enough, shame because they had so much potential at the beginning of last season.
It got quite exciting toward the end, and tempers flared for Bolyarovo as they tried as hard as they could to get that winning goal unsuccessfully thank goodness.

Special thanks to Welsh hippy Sue, you?re a star for letting us use the van and sorry if the lads have re tuned the radio to their favourite chalga station!

Thanks again to Jeanette and Keith for your support as ever, hope you enjoyed your roast beef!!

Next week its home (Krumovo) to Chargan 4pm kick off Saturday 10th

Thanks
Nikki

p.s we are off the bottom of the table for the first time ever!!! Woohoo!!

Gagarin FC is sponsored by:
KitAid
A Devilishly Handsome Man
A couple who want to remain anonymous

Match Day 2
Home to Kalchevo

I have come to the conclusion that we are a team of one half, usually the second. Today was no exception. Throughout the first we were second to the ball and our marking was poor to say the least. The first goal came around the 8th minute mark from a Kalchevo corner an unmarked player had a free header and put the visitors 1 up.
We just didn?t seem to be able to get going in what was a very stop start game with both sides conceding fouls. Around the 26th minute mark we were forced to make a substitution with Dimitar injured and Vesko coming on at centre back and Stancho moving in to midfield. The game continued in the same vein. On the 36th minute mark Kalchevo broke through to score a second with Gagarin making the fatal mistake of not playing the whistle, the defence stopped believing the striker to be offside but the decision wasn?t given leaving the relatively simple task of beating the goalkeeper one on one.
At the break it was 2-0 to the visitors. We made our second substitution taking off the older Avram for the younger Avram at left back.
The second half was again stop start but this time we dominated the play, I dropped back in front of the defence and pushed Trancho up front and dropped Rusi out to the right. Kalchevo had very few chances in the second half as we finally got to grips with our marking and gave very little space to their players. With our own attacking game also stepped up a notch we created lots of chances but failed to convert them.
On the 52nd minute I put in a free-kick from the left which the Goalkeeper just managed to get down on the line and push out only for it to go to Stancho to tap in from close range. We continued to huff and puff but failed to get the equaliser I think we deserved. The amount of chances squandered and our slow start to the game this week were our undoing and if we are to get a win we need to get ourselves fired up from the start and play with some passion and determination.
Next week we are away to Bolyaravo, this was a feisty game last season and was one of the few grounds that we encountered racist remarks, hopefully there will be no repeat of this and we can get off the mark with a win.     
The man of the match award goes to new signing, Angel. This guy is older than the rest, but has no experience of football as Krumovo hasn?t had a team for 35 years, the difference is he is listening and learning and willing to get stuck in.  He will probably feel like he has been hit by a bus today, having not played a full match before.  But well done to him.

New signing Angel

Darren

My thoughts
Kalchevo played pretty mediocre football, so we should have won on our own turf, sad to say that the stupid mistake of not playing to the whistle let Gagarin down again, will they never learn!
Again lots of chances created AND Missed!

I am really impressed with 14 year old Avram, he is not afraid to tackle an older guy, lucky for him he has height in his favour, he talks to his team, man marking is spot on, he understands the game and wants the ball.
If we had more like him, the team would be a force to be reckoned with.

New signing 14yr old Avram

Also impressed with Darren?s choice of man of the match, I saw the passion on Angel?s face when he went for the ball, so maybe with more practice he will improve tenfold.

Rusi has a major problem with being offside; he just doesn?t understand it at all, though Kuncho and Trancho were nearly as bad.

I enjoyed the match along with Jeanette and Keith, and the rest of Krumovo, and looking forward to next weeks, when we hope to be sporting our new sponsor logo on the kit!

Thanks
Nikki

Gagarin FC is sponsored by:
KitAid
A Devilishly Handsome Man
A couple who want to remain anonymous

Away to Tenevo

This was not the start we were looking for and the signs were ominous from the start.

We were missing 3 first team defenders and a reserve defender due to work commitments.

We tried to start with a 4-4-2 formation but with an inexperienced back line we knew we would be up against it and after 16 minutes the deadlock was broken after 16 yr old Ilian passed back to the keeper who handled the ball and Tenevo scored from the resulting free kick only 3 yards from our goal line.
Ilian's confidence was shattered and having already been booked for a bad tackle he then made a second mistake a minute later and Tenevo gratefully slotted home their second.
Kolio then picked up our second yellow and Tenevo slotted home their third just after, again the defence opened like the Red sea for Moses.

Stancho arrived from work and Ilian made way but we still struggled to find our shape and just before half time Tenevo scored a fourth.

The half time talk was colourful to say the least, we lacked passion and ambition, everything we had practised went out the window and we failed to keep any possession and our passing was woeful.

After the break we started to get the ball down and pass, we chased the opposition and pressured to win the ball back, we finally looked like we wanted the ball.

Unfortunately the damage had been done and we ended the match with a 4-0 loss.

On a positive note we had been forced to play another youngster newly signed this season, 14 year old Avram, was at the back due to the lack of first choice defenders and although the score may not suggest it, he had a very good game and grew in confidence as the game went on.
This boy shows signs of being an excellent defender and we will watch his progress as the season unfolds.

Next week we are home to Kalchevo and need to get off to a quick start and make amends for our poor performance this week.
Thanks for reading
Darren
 
My Thoughts!
Oh dear, things didn't look very good for Gagarin right from the minute we turned up, we had the referee who we have found makes very obvious decisions against us, the team all went to shake his hand though, hoping that they can get some rapport with the man.
There was nothing really overly obvious this time, no more than a usual match, but the day after a manager from another side who came to watch us, told us he believed 3 of the goals were all off side.
The one thing that this particular ref does is ignore calls to him that the linesman has his flag up, and it is becoming very clear that he does not like Darren, and maybe this is the root of the problem for the team.
I found this match very disappointing as the lads themselves did not seem to be ready and have all kind of mislead Darren that they can be available for every match.
Darren now has to sign other people who he has not been training because he has concerns that the first team will have to work especially for the first 4 games which are all on Saturdays.
This is one thing that the new club Kukorevo will not have to worry about due to the fact that all of their matches have been scheduled for 10.30 ever Sunday morning, the only team in the league to have this special privilege and we are unsure why that is???
Special thanks to Jeanette and Keith, (Jeanette had not long been out of hospital after an op, but this won't hold her down) and to Karen and Nick, and their family who were visiting for their support.
Hopefully the home pitch will give the lads a more positive outlook this weekend.
We are at home (Krumovo) to Kalchevo kick 5pm on Saturday.
 
Nikki
 
FC Gagarin is sponsored by:
A Devilishly Handsome Man
A couple who want to remain anonymous 

FC Gagarin kicks off again on the 19th Sept hooray!!

Our first match is to be against the only team in the league who didn't beat us last season, Tenevo, so they will be hungry to crush us as soon as they can.

There will be no Inzovo (our own village) this year as they do not have the finances, so we are quite sad about that and so are the residents of the village, there was suggestion of merging the teams but due to politics/financial reasons we kindly declined the offer.

These are the fixtures for the first half of the season. http://tournaments.bfunion.bg/index.php?zid=82&aid=89&t_p=25
click on the bottom link in the green and then week by week on the side bar

19 Sept AWAY to Tenevo 5pm Kick Off
26 Sept HOME to Kalchevo 5pm Kick Off
03 Oct AWAY to Bolyarovo 4pm Kick Off
10 Oct HOME to Chargan 4pm Kick Off
18 Oct AWAY to Elhovo 4pm Kick Off
25 Oct AWAY to Kukorevo 10.30am Kick Off
31 Oct HOME to Rosa 2.30pm kick Off

There are some changes, as we thought there might be, with more teams entered this year which means we now have 2 divisions of 8 teams in each.
Which also mean there will be less matches to play than last year, which is pretty pants to be honest, as its a long break over the winter.
Financially this is fantastic, as we have money aplenty this season, thanks to 3 main donors, 2 who wish to remain anonymous and we respect this, and the other from KitAid whose logo will be on both the kits.
We have just had word that there has been another contribution to the fund who also want to remain anonymous so thanks also to them.

HUGE BIG THANKYOU'S from us and the team for your fabby donations which will pay for the team registrations, for the referee, linesmen and doctor at every home match, fuel for away games, and for a new lawn mower and we are hoping to find a line marker here in Bulgaria, so if anyone knows where we can obtain one, preferably in the Yambol or surrounding area please get in touch.

As with last year the club also receives money from the municipality which is to be spent ONLY on kit and equipment for the club, (and NOT for after match parties as the team were led to belive by a certain person in the village!) but will be reduced this season, due to more teams having to share the pot.

This money cannot be used for fees for the running of the club, and as we received a large donation of kit from KitAid this year, it has made it hard to spend, as we can't even buy the lawn mower or line marker with it.
But if we say no we will not get it next season.
The good thing is it can be spent on the younger kids as they are also part of the club so when we need new boots and shinpads for newcomers and replacements they wont go without.
At the moment they must be some of the luckiest kids in Yambol with all the gear they get for free thanks to the kindness and generosity of people from the UK, and the fact they get to play football every week whereas others dont get the opportunity.

We are still wanting to expand to another village it's just finding the right one with lots of needy children not too far away.
If your village is close to Yambol and has lots of kids please could you get in touch as we would like to bring football to them too.

Also money has been set aside for the Christmas party for the younger of the group and the end of season football awards.

Due to the donation of the Chesham FC kit last year via new sponsors KitAid we are going to be featured in the Chesham Program we hope on a regular basis which may create some more interest.

Sadly the team have not been without problems during the break.
Ivailo the goal keeper who bust his knee in the last part of the season had to have an operation and is still unable to play.
We signed Alex in the 2nd half of last season and he added so much to the team, so we are sorry that he has decided understandably that he has to play for his own village this season as they have decided to enter the league.
Alex also brought us a goalkeeper they nick name Big Bird lol as he is so tall and skinny (not yellow though) he would have been a useful addition for the team though sadly he too will now be playing for his own village, alongside Alex.
We have possibly lost Vesko, one of our better players from centre back, due to work commitments, and because of the matches alternating Saturdays and Sundays we are going to find it hard going due to other players working too.

We will be leaving little Ivan as the 1st choice goal keeper, and signing a reserve, but this is still a very weak area along with the defence.

It is noticeable that Kukorevo, (Alex's village) whose trainer is from Diana Kabel TV in Yambol, have somehow managed to wangle it so that all their matches are played on a Sunday at 10.30am, meaning that all their players will be available to play no problem.
No other team has got this option, and we of course feel it is totally unfair as it gives them an advantage the whole season half and we have assume the whole season.

The other problem seems to be getting the training in that the team so desperately need, with some of them not finishing work until late, its making it very difficult for training of the 1st team choice as a unit so some of the younger members who train religiously and are already showing great promise, will get their proper chances this season.

Though still very young little Avram who is actually bigger than big Avram, but only 14, is one to watch as is going to be a key player in the future, he is not afraid of the ball, and is versatile but still lacking some confidence. Ilian who has been a reserve all last season, is starting to also show that he is gaining his confidence and is great in the air, so we think he will also come into his own this season.

We hope to have the fantastic support from Jeanette and Keith and from everyone else who have been following the team (you know who you are) plus for everyone to read the reports that we intend to continue doing this year on here and copying onto the web site.

Congratulations to our BG friends, Dencho and Velichka who after several years of trying now have a beautiful baby girl, named Bozhedara Nikol.

We are over the moon that she arrived safe and sound on the 30th August weighing in at 3.8 kgs (8.4 lbs)
We will ensure that Bozhedara supports the team and we have vowed to only speak English to her.

Nazdrave everyone and please show your support by following us here,
Many thanks if you made it to the end

Nikki and Darren

Match Day 26
Home to Bezmer

This is it, the last report of the season, Bezmer are 5th in the league and a strong side so today was going to be another difficult game for us, but as I have said before away teams do not like playing us at home, the small pitch means that you cannot dwell on the ball and need to play a ?pass and move? game. The only downside to this type of game at the moment being that the pitch is hard and cracking as the temperatures have soared in recent weeks and left the ground dry and as hard concrete, also even though we kicked off at 6.30 pm it was still incredibly hot and hard going.
We started well with Kuncho and Trancho working the wings well and the midfielders, Alex and Stancho, working well with the defence and allowing Bezmer very little time to create anything and around the 10 minute mark we took the lead. Kuncho ran down the wing crossed into the box and Ruci scored his 9th goal of the season.
We continued playing the same way creating chances, hitting the crossbar and coming close on a number of occasions. However Bezmer were also creating chances and on 20 minutes managed a shot that although Ivan, our goalie, got his hands to was unable to keep it out. The score at half time was 1-1 and remained that way, with both sides playing well creating more opportunities and hitting the woodwork.
The final result of 1-1 was fair and the game was played in good spirits from both sides and the Referee also had a good game allowing the match to flow and playing good advantages when possible.
The whole team got the Man of the Match as everyone played well and worked hard for each other.

The Awards
After the game we went to the local bar and had food and drinks and I presented the players with trophies.
There were mentions for Koca and his 2 yard miss of an open goal, Ilian for WWF move on an opponent that he wasn?t even penalized for and to Kolio for the screamer of a goal he scored against Roza, shame it was passed his own Goalie.
As for the real awards they went as follows??.

For playing every game???Trancho and Kolio

Most games voted Man of the Match???..Kolio and Ivan (little)

Most improved ?????Vesko (his confidence has grown as the season has gone on and his positioning and understanding of the game are also far better)

Top Goal Scorer ????..Myself, Kuncho and Ruci each scored 9 goals.

Best Goal Scored???Kuncho for a goal scored in our 6-1 win over Tenevo.

Managers Player of the Year ??.Trancho (Although he would like to play striker every week will play any position asked without question including in goal, has been available every week and is always at training, he has a good attitude and tries to play with a smile on his face, a great club player.)

Players Player???Kolio (Another ever present, for a small lad he has great pace and is strong in the air, I feel he could be even better and if he can learn to talk to rest of the back four and become a leader he would make the games easier for himself.)

(from left to right top row) Dencho,Trancho,Tosho,Ivan(big), Darren, Rusi, Kosa, Kuncho,Dimitar, Vesko, Alex, Mayor of Krumovo(back)Ivailo,Avram. (From left to right bottom row) Vesi, Illian and Illian, Ivan (little), Stancho, Kolio, Angel)

All the award winners with the Mayor of Krumovo

Vesko, most improved player

Trancho played every game and manager's player of the year, Darren and Kuncho joint top goal scorer, and best goal scored.

Rusi joint top goal scorer

Kolio played every game, and players player of the year, and joint most games voted man of the match

with a celebratory kiss from one of the Illians!

Little Ivan voted joint most voted "man of the match"

Kuncho joint top goal scorer and best goal celebrates with Dencho

Every player registered with the club was also given a medal and an England shirt to remember the first season in 35 years that the village of Krumovo has had a team in the league.
I also want to mention the fans, they are fantastic and I think at Home matches we have the most in number and by far the most vocal, the buzz the players get when their name is being chanted is another contributing factor to our home success.
Also a massive thank you to Dencho, Velichka and Nikki, they have been tireless in their support of the team this season, Dencho was the person responsible for us starting the training in Krumovo in the first place which has led to us now having a team.
He is with me every week for both training and matches alike and I could not run things without him.
Velichka is the person responsible for making sure all our paperwork is correct and that we have the necessary forms for playing she also helps with the cleaning and supports at matches and training, she is great if one of the kids is playing up, a quick word from her and problem solved.
And then there is Nikki, my right arm, she works relentlessly at raising funds, equipment and awareness, cleans kit and anyone who has been at a match will know she is one of our more vocal supporters, I think it is because of her that the home fans are so good and cheering on the team.
I would also like to thank everyone that has been to watch or who has supported the team this first season, both financially and vocally, a particularly large thank you to Jeanette and Keith who have attended most matches and have braved the rain and cold risking pneumonia and worse still ?Man Flu?
Also to the UK charity KitAid headed by Derrick, with support from Dave and Twiggy and to the supporter known only as ?the devilishly handsome man? and last but not least to My Bulgaria, which I should add, I used to take the mick out of Nikki for chatting in the chat rooms all those years ago, telling her they are not real you know!

Finally as for next year I have set us a target of finishing in the top six and having seen all the teams I honestly believe this is achievable, if we can build on our experience and work on our consistency, the home ground and support will play a big part in helping us achieve our goal.

So until next season thank you to everyone and I am sorry if I haven?t mentioned you in person but your support is greatly appreciated and hopefully next season we can have more positive results and all have something to cheer about.
Thanks to all
Darren  

      
 
My final thoughts
What a great game to end the season on, it was played in a really good spirit, had a good feel about it, the team seemed to enjoy it, there were plenty of frustrated faces but equally as many smiling ones too.
The crowd as ever was large and vocal, and Darren is correct that Gagarin do have one of the biggest home crowd, even the league winners Elhovo, didn?t have as many fans when we visited.
Darren started the team buzzing by asking them if they knew who had the most goals, and they didn?t but they wanted to know and just to make it more curious, he told Kuncho that he was a reserve, just as a joke lol, but it got him wondering if it was him.
He then did the team talk and told them that ?today?s match is quite simple, we just need to win 12-0? which set them all about laughing.

The last time they played Bezmer, the last game of the first half season, they might as well have not been there, they were shockingly awful, but not today, they were fantastic!
Poor Ivan who was in goal today, he sat in silence and disappointment, knowing that he was the last man on the opposition?s goal.  
We were so near so far, it was a shame but it happened.

I want to thank everyone who has sent us money, kit, good wishes and who has been there to support at the matches.  We could not have done it without you all, no matter how big or small your donations, it was ALL appreciated.

Well done to all the lads in the team!

And a BIG THANKS to My Bulgaria for starting us off.

Here?s looking to next season, I can?t wait!  Enjoy the summer

Nikki

FC Gagarin are sponsored by My Bulgaria

Match Day 25

Away to Elhovo

On paper this was going to be a tough match, Elhovo knew that a win today and they would be league champions.

In reality it was a total mismatch and they easily out played us in every department, for the first 20 minutes they created plenty of chances but we worked hard to keep them out. Unfortunately when the goals did come they didn?t stop by the time the referee put an end to the slaughter we had conceded 15 goals in all.

Elhovo played extremely well and passed the ball around with purpose they worked well as a team and had some excellent individual performances as well.
Congratulations to them on their success this season.

As for us we have one game remaining next week, we are at Krumovo so hopefully can build on our recent home form and finish the season on a high. We will need to continue practicing our positions as once again on a wide pitch our frailties were easily exposed. On the narrow home pitch we are closer and are able to pressure the opposition quicker, add to that our quick short passing game and it is no coincidence that all but 1 point has come on our home turf.

There were no performances worthy of the man of the match and the whole team gets the Magari award.

Thank you Jeanette and Keith for rushing back from a loved up weekend to catch the 2nd half of the match, well you did get to see a lot of goals, shame they were in the back of the wrong net!

Next week we are home to Bezmer for the last game of the season.

Darren

FC Gagarin are sponsored by My Bulgaria

Match Day 23
Away v Veselinovo

Todays game against Veselinovo was always going to be tough as they are third in the league. But we were the architects of our own downfall.
Our home pitch is very narrow and the lads have become so used to it that when we play on wide pitches like Veselinovo?s we struggle with our positioning and marking, the smaller tighter pitches suit our style better, with quick passing and moving and close pressure marking.
On the bigger pitches we leave massive holes and allow the opposition to get goal side. The first two goals were as a direct result of these failings. The third goal was because of another of our problems, which team is going to turn up? By this I mean will it be the team that chases down everything and gives 100% or will it be the team that would rather be in the café chilling with a cold drink.
The striker seemed to just walk straight through the defence and then score almost unchallenged. We have to get some consistency to our game and start playing every week with the passion and desire that we show on too few occasions.
Veselinovo scored a forth goal in the second half which signaled the time for changes, with myself coming on at center back and Ilian at right back, then Tosho came on at left back and Angel at right wing. We managed to hold on and not concede further and in truth should have halved the deficit, with Trancho running through with just the keeper to beat and putting wide and then Kuncho winning a penalty and then blasting it wide.
We showed today that although we have come a long way we still have a lot to learn and improve on.
There was no man of the match and the whole team got the Magari award.
Next week we are home to Tenevo (Sat 17th 6pm kick off).

Thanks to Jeanette and Keith and guests, Karen and Nick, for arriving eventually at the right pitch.

Darren

FC Gagarin are sponsored by My Bulgaria

Match Day 22
Home V Boyadjik

After the results and performances of the last few weeks we were in desperate need of something special, we needed to show real determination and hard work. I asked the lads to give me two good halves and stop telling me that we could win and do something about it.
They responded with excellence throughout.
In the 10th minute we took the lead when Trancho nodded in from a corner, in the 20th minute however Kolio slipped and the striker pounced to level the scores.
We continued to press and 5 minutes before the break Avram scored to make it 2-1. Shortly after we lost Ivailo in goal and had to reshape with Ivan going in goal, Kolio to left back and Alex into centre back and Rusi coming on to join Trancho in attack.
After the break we continued where we left off as Rusi increased the lead to make it 3-1.
The lads were working hard all over the pitch with Stancho doing an excellent job of helping the defence.
With only 3 minutes to go Boyadjik were awarded a penalty and made it 3-2.
Knowing how little time was left I told Trancho to knock the ball into the corner from the kick off for Kuncho to run onto and hold up play and see time out.
Kuncho had other ideas though and from an almost impossible angle blasted past the keeper and gave us a 4-2 final result.
What a difference today was, in every department the players wanted the ball, and they worked hard for each other and showed real determination and character.
I should also mention the fans as they were also brilliant with constant shouts of support, I know the players appreciate it and it was great to give them something to cheer for a change.
Man of the Match was Stancho who worked tirelessly in protecting the defence, but there were many superb performances today.

Well done lads.

Darren
Next match Sunday 10th May kick off is 6pm away to Veselinovo.

My thoughts
Brilliant match, cheered and on the edge of our seats the whole match.
Gagarin really played fantastically well most of the match, though for me the outstanding ones again were Alex, and little Ivan especially when he went in goal, I don?t understand why he was not played at Inzovo.  He is not scared of the ball and commands his area; hopefully others will learn to take note.
Vesko who up until very recently has not been confident, definitely is finding his feet and is working very well within the team now.
Today we had a poor performance from Kolio, which is very unusual, he is one of the crowds favourite and usually works very hard, too hard in fact due the other defenders not doing so, he got a foul and missed many balls causing us worrying ahh?s and oohs in the goal area.
At one stage in the first half, Darren was going to sub him but due to poor Ivailo taking a knock Kolio was saved, and thankfully improved, though caused us more grief, when getting the other team a penalty minutes before the end.
Avram also caused Darren some problems, when he totally ignored him and was arguing with the crowd, some stern words were required, something Darren has avoided up to now, but maybe this is what they need.
Mostly what they need apart from hard work, is the passion to win, they tell Darren every week they will win, but don?t always act like they want to.  
What they don?t need now is luck, as they have proven that they can do it without it, obviously a little bit helps now and then, but they just depend on it too much; they must make their own luck.
For the 2nd time only this first season, the crowd and the team were smiling all round and we celebrated afterwards at the local café in Krumovo!

FC Gagarin are sponsored by My Bulgaria

MATCH DAY 21

HOME V ZIMNITSA

After last weeks poor showing it was important that we got ourselves off and running from the start. Zimnitsa are a good experienced side and we knew we were in for a tough afternoon, but we soon got into our stride and it was our willingness to pressure the opposition that lead to us taking the lead after about 10 minutes, when Kuncho managed to tap in after the keeper fumbled.
For the remainder of the half we played well, pushing out quickly and playing the offside trap well. However just before the break we failed to clear our lines and Zimnitsa leveled.
At the break it was 1-1, Vesko had picked up a knock and was changed for Stancho.
We were playing well but once again we let ourselves down by losing our shape and concentration.       Zimnitsa scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the half and we were all over the place.
We then made our second change as I came on for Vesi and we reverted to a 3-5-3 formation.  Most of the play after the change was in the Zimnitsa half but for all our huffing and puffing we were unable to get back into the game. Zimnitsa sealed the game with a fourth goal from a long ball as we were pushing forward. The final score was 4-1 to the visitors.
Once again we have only managed to play well in one half and have paid the price.
We have a game on Tuesday night and I believe if we lose it then we will end up bottom, we must win if we are to have any chance of climbing at all.
It is sometimes hard to remember that this is Gagarin?s first season and that they are still learning, my worry is that they still seem to be struggling with the basics of marking and defending in general. They also have a tendency to blame bad luck for a lack of hard work.
Never mind there is always next week.

Next match Tuesday (05.05.09) home to Boyadjik.    

Darren

Thank you to Ann and Steve who visit us from Canada, Margarita, Bernie & Stuart, Jeanette & Keith for cheering us on.

FC Gagarin are sponsored by My Bulgaria

Match Day 20
Away to Kalchevo

This week I will not pull any punches, we got what we deserved, nothing. We were second best to everything and our normal passing game was non-existent.
Kalchevo have changed a lot of their players and strengthened the squad by signing ex Yambol players.
They were a more organized team than before and we had difficulty making anything happen. We never got going and were lack luster throughout, only a few individuals really seemed to be trying.
Kalchevo scored 1 in the first half after a mistake at the back gifted them a goal.
In the second half they scored twice more with 2 contentious decisions, the first was from the spot after the striker had been fouled but he had blatantly handled the ball to get control in the box prior to the foul.
The referee was in a good position and must have seen if I could see it from where I was. The 3rd goal was even worse Kalchevo played the ball forward, the striker in an offside position the defence stopped but the decision wasn?t given and the striker scored, but the striker had also stopped and obviously thought he was offside too, he had even tapped the ball away.
In fairness without hearing the whistle my players should have continued, I have told them time and again to play to the whistle.
As I said at the beginning we did not deserve to get anything from this game but we also did not deserve to lose 3-0. Anyone who knows me will know that I never argue with the referee and ask the same of my players, I also respect the fact that the referee has a hard job to do and will never please everyone.
But this is not the first time this particular referee has made ?bad decisions? against us and I would hate to think that there are any non-footballing reasons for this.
We will be contacting the league and making an official complaint about the referee and his assistants.
Man of the match again goes to Ivan who was one of the few to making an effort and managed to have a good game.

The rest of the team can share the Magari award.
Next week we are at home to Zimnitsa.
Darren


My thoughts

Sadly the new kit that Gagarin sported today did not bring them lots of kismet!  
It came via KitAid on the van load last week, and is usually worn by Chesham Utd, who are a good side in Division One Midlands of the British Gas Business Football league, and checking their stats they win a lot of their matches so I was hoping it could rub off on Gagarin, huh fat chance!

The new home kit donated by Chesham Utd Via KitAid (we will put sponsors names onto this for next season)

There was a minute's silence, but I couldn't find out who for, we think for someone from Kalchevo?

Darren can be as tactful as he likes but this referee that we had today, has shown that each time he has refereed our games that he does not like our team.  One of the other times was against Yambol, when he allowed a goal from a thrown in despite it not touching a single player, he also allowed blatant off side goal where Darren was the last defender, and the Yambol player was goal side of Darren.

Whether it is just a grudge against Krumovo itself or is racism toward our team I don?t know, but the referee and linesmen today certainly leave me no other option than to think that they were acting in an anti Gagarin way and I personally think that this referee is racist. 

Apart from that Gagarin were pants, to be kind.
They had no oomph in them at all, so yes they deserved to lose either way.
We have all seen that they can do better than this, for me just a few players played their hearts out, Little Ivan being one of them and Alex also, it was very noticeable that our defence was weak, totally lacking.
Darren told me that when that penalty was given for a blatant hand ball the lads heads went down, he tried to gee them up, but Rusi said to him we might as well stop playing, they obviously knew that today there was no point as they weren?t going to get anywhere with this referee.

Thank you Jeanette and Keith for the coffee to go with the muffins, we will see you next Saturday 2nd May, at Home to Zimnitsa 6pm Kick off.

Thank you to the Mayor and Emil for the help with transport this week, we had a mini bus which was brilliant result.

Nikki

FC Gagarin are sponsored by My Bulgaria

Match Day 19
Home to Straldja

(We had to change our kit as the away team wore white too, despite knowing we where white, they normally wear green!  It meant Darren couldn't warm up the team properly as had to go back to get our alternative kit (Exeter City)

In case any one is worried they missed something there was no match day 18 as Yambol have folded and we are automatically given a 3-0 win and 3 points.
So to this weeks game, Straldja have been battling it out all season with Elhovo for top spot and these two are way ahead of anyone else, add to that they beat us 12-1 at their place and to say I was a little apprehensive about today would be an understatement.
But I am a great believer that you have to play the best to test yourself and discover whether you are improving and if so by how much.
My instructions to the lads were simple, forget about the last game and think only about today and try to win the game.
We were missing our usual ?goalkeeper as Ivailo has an injured knee so little Ivan stepped in to fill the sticks and tall Ivan went to left back from his normal position of midfield.
Well it wasn?t the best start, only 10 minutes in and Straldja scored, a mistake from Kolio allowing the striker in and giving our keeper no chance.
Straldja were soon to realise though that this was not going to be the easy 3 points they expected after Avram chased a hopeful ball through and got an equaliser.
Straldja once again came at us with everything and it was only a matter of time before they got their 2nd. And once again we went at them and from a corner Kuncho climbed majestically and nodded home our 2nd equalizer.
Straldja couldn?t believe it and at half time the score was 2-2.

The first 15 minutes of the second half proved to be our undoing though as the lads lost their concentration and started to lose their shape and Straldja scored 3 times to make it 5-2 to the visitors.
It was time to make a change and I went on for Vesko at center back as he had picked up an injury.
The team is still very quiet but that always changes when I am on the field.
We found our shape again and managed to stop Straldja adding to their tally for the rest of the game.
The match ended 5-2 to Straldja but what a massive improvement Gagarin have shown, whilst they still have a long way to go it is obvious to everyone that they already come a long, long way.
Man of the Match was Ivan in goal who did more this fair share of keeping Straldja at bay, an excellent performance made even better when you take into consideration he is only about 5ft 5 tall.

Little Ivan

There was no Magari award again as everyone worked hard to keep this a respectable score.
After the match we had to race home as we had a delivery from the UK of football kit and equipment and two great guys, John and Marshall were waiting for us to unload as they had been to Popovo and back just to deliver to us.
And after 9 hours of driving and helping to load the van were surprisingly still smiling as they helped unload as well.
Thanks guys you were diamonds, also thanks to Twiggy and Dave and Derrick for supplying all the kit etc it took me hours to go through and list of everything.
But I now know what I have to distribute and will be arranging training at Skalitsa to start as soon as possible and will hopefully be starting in my own village too.
The rest will be given to others that have contacted us and are hoping to do similar projects in their own villages.
Once again a massive thank you from me and all the kids, pictures will follow.
Next week we are away to Kalchevo.

Darren
 

My thoughts
Fantastic game, but we are suffering far too many injuries at the moment, with a lot of the players complaining about bad knees, half the team are wearing a support of some sort!
Unbelievably for the first game ever, Kolio did have to receive any treatment, as before today, every match he has had a knock to his ankle, we have got some good ankle supports in the delivery of kit from the UK, so hopefully this wont be a first!

The crowd support was as loud as ever, despite none of the usual shouting from Jeanette and Keith this week, who stayed away due to overworking in the garden allegedly, I think it was more due to sunburn, but there what do I know.

Gagarin Supporters

The sheriff was as loud as ever and again told me he wanted to be signed for the team, and I told him he was not fit enough, and Dencho and Velichka told him he was too old, he pointed out that Darren is at 43, the sheriff is actually only 39!  
We thought he was a lot older!

I think the team did so well today, to more than halve the previous deficit of goals and double ours is an achievement in itself.
Sadly and annoyingly we find Gagarin with another yellow card, so another fine we are going to have to cough up at the end of the season!

Darren has mentioned about all the gear from KitAid and David and his girlfriend Andrea, who are friends with Twiggy, were the ones who put us in touch with KitAid.
Thanks to John and Marshall and Dave's Mum for storing it all.

Without Twiggy?s arrangements and generosity none of this would have been possible, so please a big hand to everyone involved in getting us all of this stuff, but especially to Twiggy!

Dave with all the kit in the UK

Now please will you get in contact with me if you require kit for your village, let me know what ages and what is needed and we will try to sort something out, obviously from a logistics point of view it would be easier if it were the Yambol, Sliven, Bourgas, Elhovo region as we can make arrangements for delivery easier.

And at last, we will be able to make the headmistress smile, the flooring is here for the school gym, which has not been renovated for 60 odd years, which means that we can get this down and the kids from Krumovo will be able to play during school and during the winter training sessions indoors, this is again thanks to Twiggy who managed to get the flooring from Crystal Palace, but with the difficulties he encountered it has been a long time coming and the headmistress was none to pleased with us as she arranged for the gym to be painted, with municipality money!
So we can finally show her we are true to our word.

Nikki

Match Day 17
Home to Roza

After the euphoria of last weeks win, today?s challenge was going to be totally different. Roza have tried all week to come up with reasons to play the game at their pitch and not ours, but with the support of the mayor we resisted and the game went ahead at home.
Our home pitch is very small compared too most and allows us to put pressure on the opposition and not give them time on the ball. This suits us as we have practiced getting the ball under control and looking for early passes and utilising the pace of our forwards.
Roza put 7 past us last time and would have been expecting to do similar today but were in for a shock if they were.
The game was played at a high tempo but with both teams canceling each other out.
On the half hour mark Alexander shot from just inside the Roza half and left the keeper stranded.
We were 1-0 up and looking good for it.
We had chances before the break to increase the lead but failed to capitalise and went in with a 1-0 lead at half time.
I made two changes in the break with Ivan from Inzovo coming off for Ivan from Krumevo and myself coming off for Avram.
Avram went to the right wing and Trancho moved up front.

The game continued at pace with Gagarin still not able to add to their lead until about 15 minutes in when Kuncho fired home on the second attempt and gave US a 2-0 lead!
This was followed by 2 golden opportunities for Kuncho to make it 3 but were missed.  Around 10 minutes later Roza pulled 1 back and the pressure was back on.
Again at this point we had another excellent chance for a third and failed to take it this time Avram the guilty party.
With around 10 minutes to go Roza scored a second from a loose ball at a corner. 2-2. The last 10 minutes were nail biting stuff and we could still have added to our tally but in fairness with some tired legs and a few niggling injuries taking effect on the players, Roza had their chances too.
In all a final result of 2-2 should be cause for celebration but I cant help think that we dropped 2 points today.
We are showing a massive improvement and it would appear that the training is paying off and that the players are learning from their mistakes.
The first half of the season saw us lose 12 and draw 1.
This half we have so far lost 1, drawn 2 and won 1 and I am still not happy. LOL
Man of the Match was Alexander who scored an excellent goal and could barely walk come the final whistle.

The Magari award was shared between Kuncho for failing to score at least 2 sitters and Kolio.

Next week we have no match so hopefully can get players back to full fitness but when we return in two weeks we will be home to Straldja who beat us 12-1 and are battling it out with Elhovo for top spot.
We will approach the game in a positive manner and with determination and the help of our small pitch will use the opportunity to assess ourselves and see how far we have really come.

Darren 

My Thoughts
Wow, it was a fabby game, again!  I missed all 4 goals, yes I was there but there were loads of storks flying over head that kept distracting me.
I was in charge of the stop watch today, and wasn?t doing a very good job, as a few times when Gagarin or Roza came near to scoring I stopped the watch by accident from the excitement! 
In the end Jeanette took the watch off me as I wouldn?t stop looking at it, saying 40 mins to go, 35 mins to go etc etc!
The fans were excited to say the least, one in particular, who we have lovingly named the sheriff, as he loves to police the game, despite having a real policeman there, but this guy in particular is very loud and very feisty!
In the second half when we were 2-0 up, there was a big ruckus after Kolio was hacked by a Roza player, and the ref gave us a free kick, the manager of Roza was not happy with the decision made, and Sheriff and the Roza manager went for each other. 
Also at this time the referee booked the Roza player for arguing with him, and it all kicked off!
Jeanette and the Sheriff have become good friends, so she was trying to pull him away from the surge of Roza players and fans, and soon Gagarin players were arriving into the surge but Darren told them all to get back, and soon the Sheriff was stopped by his daughter and wife I believe.
Soon the match settled back down and sadly Roza pulled two goals back, but we could see they were desperate not to be shamed face by the new team still at the bottom of the league who are starting to make positive headlines!
It was an exciting match and the Gagarin fans were excellent and were appreciated at the end by the team as they cheered us at the end.
After the match a Bulgarian man called Emil, who paid for the registration of the team, wanted to treat us all to drinks and kebapche and chips.
Velichka thanked him for his support and he asked what else we needed, and Dencho told him of our transport problems for away matches.
Emil has said it is no problem for him to arrange a bus from Yambol, so that would be excellent if he can.
Thank you to the mayor for his support today, Jeanette and Keith, Graeme and Lisa who are off to Spain this week so good luck with that, to Robert and Sasha and the swiss rolls which Graeme ate most of them, Bri and Didi and Colin from Krumovo for supporting today, along with the village of Krumovo.
And special thanks to Dencho and Velichka as per usual for their help!

Next week we have Flower Day in General Inzovo, this is a fantastic day out, with many groups from many villages in the region and beyond, there was one from Russia last year, so Sunday the 12th April we will all be in the restaurant in Inzovo Park, this is a big event with the Mayor of Tundzha attending by the way, starting at around 10am usually through to 4pmish.
There will be lots of Bulgarians, and we hope to see a few of you there too.

Here are some piccies and video of last years event

Take care for now
Nikki