The sports director of Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) Ilko Pirgov strongly expressed his opinion against the team's head coach Luboslav Penev. Pirgov spoke to the media after the loss of the "black and white" with 0:2 from Krumovgrad in a meeting of the 10th round of the First League. He took a stand in connection with the widespread position of the coach after the news of the retirement of the club's owner Hristo Krusharski, reports BTA.
"I think it is fair and normal for the club to come up with a position after Mr. Luboslav Penev's interview from yesterday. Being directly involved in what is happening at the club, I would like to express my personal point of view and the point of view of the club. Regarding the transfers - selection with Mr. Penev was quite a difficult process. From the first day he came, he showed a kind of almost disinterest. In mid-June, when it became clear that most likely Mr. Penev will be the future coach of Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), I had a meeting with him and he was presented with a list of Bulgarian footballers who are expected to leave their teams. I have watched 280 footballers separately and I have offered him between 30-40 footballers. There were players that really didn't work out, but negotiations are a two-way process and we can't always bring in a player we like. We have a framework in the budget that we have to comply with. I don't know how happy he is with the footballers I suggested, but almost no footballers were offered from his side. One and only football players from Heber. I was against it. I don't want to insult Heber or the level of players there, but the profile of the club itself does not match that of Lokomotiv. The goals in Lokomotiv are higher. The place in the ranking from the last season also shows it", said Pirgov.
"Michy Ntelo's transfer follows a clause in Mr. Penev's contract giving him a percentage of all outgoing Lokomotiv transfers. Mr. Penev's actions and approach to Michy Ntelo provoked his sale. According to my views, Mr. Penev has no interest in purely sports-technical development of the club. Personal financial interest is a primary factor in all his actions and decisions. Mr. Penev's attitude towards Michy Ntelo forced us to sell him because maybe it is a record transfer for Lokomotiv. As you know, from the beginning of the season he was not a starter, which created a lot of problems in the negotiations between the teams, because an important aspect in the negotiations is whether the footballer is playing at the moment," he added.
"In the same way, in a private conversation with me, Mr. Penev asked to effect the sale of Oliver Camdem. I told him it was impossible and it wasn't going to happen. I refused this transfer. Another interesting issue that arose between me and Mr. Penev is the Spanish coaches, who I want to emphasize are on salary at the club. I have no idea what qualifications they have, whether they are coaches, whether they are physiotherapists, I have no idea. They came twice, the first time was at the camp in Borovets and then a few weeks ago. In a private conversation with Mr. Penev I asked for the results of the tests, he told me that these results are for personal use and he is not obliged to provide them to the club. This is frivolous to say the least. There is no way the club pays someone a salary but does not get the results. To this day, I don't know what kind of work these coaches have done," Pirgov said.
"I will dwell on one more thing - the 8-hour work day, which Mr. Penev advertised that someone made him stay here for 8 hours. This was dictated by Mr. Penev's attitude to the training process. There were trainings in which he arrived 20-30 minutes before the training with his car, he did not have time to get better, this was also a problem during the preparation, during the selection of football players. We have a case - against Beroe in Stara Zagora, the team arrived at the stadium an hour and a half before the start of the match, Mr. Penev arrived at the stadium with his personal car 35 minutes before the start of the match. This is frivolous to say the least. It is not demanded by me or Mr. Krusharski, it is demanded by the Lokomotiv institution. I cannot define this behavior as professional. The personal example in life and in football is of the utmost importance," said Lokomotiv's sports director.
"If the conditions provided by Lokomotiv do not meet the requirements of Mr. Penev, the most normal thing was before he signed the contract, to say this and not accept the offer. It is not serious that this is the reason for poor results. I am starting my ninth year at Lokomotiv, under these conditions we won three cups, one second place and all the coaches before him had no problems with the conditions and the team looked much better from a purely sporting and technical point of view. The problem with our unregistered footballers - Marsilio and Juan Perea. The process for the registration of football players from outside the European Union in Bulgaria is very cumbersome and slow. Mr. Penev was familiar with these deadlines, on which we depend as a club directly from the institutions in Bulgaria. Lokomotiv and the club's administration does not decide on its own the deadline for issuing a work visa. Mr. Penev is also very well acquainted with this," he commented.
"Mr. Penev has not built anything here to date. I have been a professional soccer player for over 20 years, I have worked with quite a few great coaches. It was the first time I had not seen a training process with one workout per day. We haven't had double training sessions since Mr. Penev took over the team, which is not serious. This is my personal opinion. The subject of the club's school was also touched upon. "I am sure that Mr. Penev does not know the name of any child from the school or from the club's second team, because he is not interested in everything that happens in the club," Pirgov also said.
"All requirements of Mr. Penev are provided. However, we demand results. Lokomotiv has a negative goal difference, this does not meet the goals of the club", concluded the sports director of Lokomotiv and specified that if Lyuboslav Penev stays at the club, he will leave the "black and whites".
Matches from the 10th round of the First League:
Loco (SF) - Heber - 0:0
Beroe - Slavia- 1:0
Loco (SW) – Krumovgrad 0:2
Black Sea - CSKA-Sofia 0:0
Today:
CSKA 1948 - Botev (S) (4:15 p.m., Diema sport)
Levski – Arda (6:45 p.m., Diema sport)
Botev (Vr) – Ludogorets (9:15 p.m., Diema sport)
On Monday:
September - Spartak (Vn) (8 p.m., Diema sport)