proud TOP 500

After reading your first paragraph,I'm just reminded how naive I can be...OF COURSE Dancho would do whatever will get him easy money...With the exception of Argentina,I'm also not happy with our group - Poland's federation did everything right last year(their groups in the group round and the one in the finals) and for whatever reason I thought that ours would have taken a note...silly me ?
I'm also a big Bozhilov fan,but I hope that Ivanov would get a chance as well.I hope the fact that he played in a low level league this season(and actually didn't finish it)won't slow him down much.He's already training with the players from the list who are already in Bulgaria,right?I heard Petrov has started working with them.
I actually expect that Salparov will play in some of the matches in the group phase,too.Rado will want to see his shape after the long treatment he went through.
I love your suggestion for Ceco and Boyan!It's very likely to happen ?

ray,you're a walking contradiction,man...First,you can't shut up about Matey's extraterrestrial abilities,mind-blowing technique and that he's a player of important moments,than you're suddenly not in "Matey mood" and say he can't finish a point and he's a coward.If anyone lists 3 or four names as their favorite MBs you HAVE to correct them and say that TT,Yosifov,Nikolov,whoever is just as good,but last month his nose was running,his haircut gave him bad luck or there was something in one of his shoes,preventing him from giving his best,then say that Zhekov is not a problem on our team and that his refusal to play with the MBs is not because he can't,but because THEY are ineffective....One day Alexsiev is king of the world,he's unappreciated,Matey should bow in front of him,you're the only one who sees him for the diamond he truly is,the next day you don't trust him...What is it now?Make up your mind! You go on and on about your education,your expertise in every subject on Earth,you're a man of science,bla-bla,then declare yourself as a "fan" of someone who doesn't believe in evolution and global warming...Now tell me how I have no arguments,how God will punish me and accuse me of having no moral and(for whatever reason or proof you have) of stealing.Can't wait... I hate what you're turning me into....I just can't stand it anymore!!! I'm so sorry that I won't be home tonight,to witness your break down live.I can't even begin to imagine what kind of crazy bs you'll come up with.

I disagree,EPINEPHRINEable.I think Bobi deserves to be on the list over Mitev.He's overrated,imo.
I hope Dobri and Bobi will get to play at least one whole match each,'cause as we all know Bratoev will be our first setter during the group phase.
Who do you guys want next to Sktimov for the group phase - Valio or Penchev?I haven't seen any of those two play since last year,so it's not really fair,but I'm leaning towards Valio 'cause at least he's playing now + I'm just not a big Penchev fan.

Impressive list!I'm expecting Kruglov to play in the group phase,so Maxim could take a little breather before the Olympics.We'll probably see more of Apalikov,too ?
I really envy how many good wing spikers Russia has(though,I'm still not completely sold on Sivo and Berezhko,despite the CL title)-Khtey,Biryukov,Tetyukhin,even Ilinykh is much better than any of our second spikers...and the fact that you have more than one setter - such luxury ?
I've never seen Makarov play(he's now Russia's third setter,right?).Is he good?
Btw,I'm really happy that two guys from Gazprom Yurga made it on the list(Rodichev and Kobzar).That's the team that Plamen Konstantinov coaches - it's good to know he works well with young guys ?

My condolences to his family.
Rest in peace,Vigor.

Congrats to Zenit!To be honest they played below my expectations,but still won deservedly ?
Alekno...love this man,he was 50% of the team tonight!!!
Hilarious decoration...lol
@pearl - Who else could I be talking about? ? Congrats on your guy getting an individual award!I guess you could say I was one of the Valerio skeptics,because I didn't expect him to play this way before the F4,but he really did a wonderful job ?

A note on the last action - What was the point of the whole "challenge system" if not to avoid situations like this one?Semi-final between Russia and Serbia from ECH 2011 all over again...It's unfortunate that that's the way SKRA had to lose in front of their fans,but they had a lot of chances to win the match before and didn't take advantage of them.

Just want to say that the atmosphere was great!And not just at the final,but at all 4 games this weekend!I don't think there was a match with less than 10 000 spectators ?

You're completely right,champion!He has no experience,no confidence - I don't know how anyone could think that he can handle a situation like the one he was put in last night?He needs to leave ASAP!

does the contract tights him up somehow?

I start wondering the same thing,because there's no way that after these 3 years he still thinks Trento is the right choice for him.

Oh,qwerty,always late to the party...that sponsor talk died awhile ago...

And of course in football and f1 sponspors paid much more money.

That was the whole point - that volleyball needs to lure in sponsors,not push them away and not being able to represent them at such a commercial tournament as F4 is not gonna win you any points with them,right?
Yeah,I think Ferrari can manage without a sponsor or two.As of right now not a lot of volleyball teams can say the same.HOWEVER,I respect the law.I would have said the same thing if Macerata or any other team had qualified for the F4 instead of "poor,hurt Trento".
Kisses

Really cool article!I didn't know Quiroga started as a libero ?

Thank you,marchst ? I wasn't sure,'cause I found it posted as a comment on Facebook,but it was still the only one I could find.I kept waiting for it to appear on Trento's forum,but nope...Now I see what the whole controversy's about.

Italian friends,is that the now infamous interview Osmany gave?

Osmany Juantorena ha deciso cosa fare l'anno prossimo?
Dipendesse da me l'avrei già deciso da un pezzo. Un mese e mezzo fa sono andato a cena con il presidente Mosna e lì abbiamo trovato l'accordo per restare insieme anche nelle prossime stagioni. Però dopo quella cena, pur sapendo che io ho ricevuto tante proposte, sino ad oggi nessuno mi ha portato un contratto o un pre-contratto. Questa cosa mi ha fatto sorgere dei pensieri.

Quali pensieri?
Che forse alla società, alla fine, non dispiaccia poi così tanto incassare un milione di euro, ovvero l'importo della mia clausola rescissoria.

Ma se ora la società le proponesse di mettere tutto nero su bianco, lei firmerebbe subito?
A questo punto non lo so. Io non voglio fare polemiche con nessuno, ma il tempo passa e chiedo solo un po' di chiarezza per sapere che cosa fare. Vorrei solo delle certezze da parte della società.

Cosa si aspetta a questo punto?
Non lo so, mi piacerebbe solo capire che cosa voglia fare la società. Quale sia la sua intenzione nei miei confronti. Le faccio un esempio: da quello che ho capito Matey (Kaziyski, ndr) ha iniziato a parlare con la società del suo rinnovo dopo di me, eppure ha già annunciato il prolungamento del contratto.

Immagino che l'accordo che trovaste quella sera non era sugli stessi importi delle offerte arrivate dalla Russia.
No, per una cifra molto inferiore. Ma quello non era un problema, perché quella di restare a Trento era una scelta di vita. Per il bene che voglio a questa squadra ed a questa città. Ancora non ho preso una decisione definitiva, ma i tempi sono stretti.

Che tempi si è dato?
Fosse per me avrei già deciso dopo quella serata con il presidente. Ma adesso che mi arrivano queste altre offerte le valuterò e penso che prenderò una decisione dopo le finali di Champions. Chiariamo una cosa, però, io voglio vincere tutto in questa stagione. Champions e scudetto, per cui il mio massimo impegno come quello di tutti sarà per andare a vincere a Lodz e poi nei playoff.

Può dirci da quali squadre è stato contattato in questi mesi?
Ci sono due squadre russe, lo Zenit Kazan ed il Novyj Urengoj, ma anche due offerte importanti da due squadre italiane. Ma non penso sia corretto fare nomi.

Se dovesse decidere di andare in Russia cosa le mancherebbe di più?
Mi mancherebbe tantissimo tutto questo ambiente. Questa città, i suoi tifosi, la società che mi ha riportato ad essere un giocatore di pallavolo. Mi mancherebbe tantissimo questo gruppo di ragazzi che è qualcosa di fantastico, di unico. Se dovessi andarmene so cosa lascerei, ma non quello che troverei.

Il fatto però che giocatori come Raphael o Kaziyski abbiano già rinnovato è una garanzia tecnica per l'anno prossimo, l'Itas resterà competitiva.
Certo, con o senza di me Trento resterà una squadra forte. Ma quello che ho capito è che l'anno prossimo cambieranno diverse cose. Dallo staff in giù.

Dell'ormai quasi certo addio a Cormio cosa ne pensa?
Mi dispiace tanto, perché tutto quello che questa squadra ha vinto in questi anni è anche per merito suo. Spero che alla fine lui possa restare a Trento.

@Aelinn - haha,glad to be of service ?

Oh,can't believe I forgot - Sivo?!?!Who would have thunk it? lol
I've said some pretty bad things about the guy in the past,but he impressed me tonight.Tomorrow we'll see if this was a one time thing or he'll shine just as bright against SKRA ?
@handan - Osmany can't be singled out and blamed for that loss.Too many things went wrong today...
I guess,so much for a perfect season,ha?May be Trento finally couldn't handle the nerves?

Congrats to Zenit and Russian fans(mostly,kate really ?) ? Max was simply great today!
Yeah,Kjeldhor,Rafa was completely outplayed by Valerio today...I'll take solace in the thought that this have made my favorite Italian on Earth happy ?
I don't know what you guys mean by Osmany being good or whatever,he looked totally checked out.Bad decision to announce his departure so close to the F4...very bad decision.
To me they lost the match when they let Zenit come back from 14:10 to 16:14 in the 2nd set...so careless...I didn't expect them to act like that - at times it looked like they didn't take it seriously ? Also,not even one ace!!!Seriously?!
Well,such dominance couldn't have gone on forever - I mean it's not good for the sport and all... ?

@champion - Here's my point - it's Osmany's decision to leave and he's leaving because he got a better offer and not just any offer,but Zenit's offer,meaning more money + a guarantee to stay a factor in volleyball,write a new chapter in his career.You're right - there are other teams that could afford him(Qatar,Russia,Japan,may be even in Turkey),but he wouldn't be fighting for any titles with these teams.It's his ambition more than greed(imo),that made him choose Zenit over any other team.I just don't see how Alekno and Rado's relationship helped in any way.Like you said,Rado doesn't like losing his "treasures",not to mention that by losing this "little" one,not only is his team taking a huge blow,but his biggest rival is getting stronger.
About Mosna statement - of course they're parting on good terms,(I think Osmany has said he may return to Trento one day)but no one can honestly believe that he,management,staff,fans,you name it are not disappointed Os is leaving.They didn't want to lose him,he's not being sold for money.
@AndreaTN - I often read posts on your forum,but thanks to the "amazing" google translation(well,and the fact that I don't understand Italian... ?) I don't always get everything,so thank you for clarifying a few things,it was really helpful ?
@_k-is-for-kate_ - Glad you appreciated it ?
My question wasn't for you,I understood what you meant.Other people were implying some stuff,so I was curious,but Andrea already cleared it all out ?

@champion - There is friendship between Alekno and Rado,but I highly doubt that had any impact on Osmany's transfer.Yeah,they say all business is personal,but I don't think that applies in this situation.It's not really a case of Rado going "Hey,Vlado how 'bout you take that Osmany guy off my hands?" and Alekno doing him a favor,right? :0)

Rado will not let his "treasures" leave easily & go just anywhere

Why let them go at all?They have everything.
Trento's definitely not happy about losing Osmany,or why would Mosna say he's disappointed about
Osmany's choice?
The more I think about it the more I come to kate's conclusion that it's a matter of lost motivation.He probably wants to prove to himself(and others) that he can have the same success with a different club.
Btw,how does Matey's contract have anything to do with his decision?Osmany signed a contract last year and reached whatever deal he wanted with the management.It's not like they were negotiating together and only one got what he wanted,so the other one's leaving.He just got a better offer,so he's moving on.(Sorry if I made you puke,kate ? jk )

edit:Just read you post,NightFox - I promise I didn't "steal" that thing about Mosna,we were just thinking the same ?
Also,you're spot on about the reason Trento's contemplating getting Zaytsev as a replacement.

@pearl - ciao,cara ? I was quite busy,but hopefully we''ll be "seeing" each other more now ?
I know Osmany's not Italian...Duh! ? That's why I thought it was so funny when I saw Trento's site calling him "Italian-Cuban",just because he's been a citizen for a few months.I totally agree with you that there's a HUGE difference between him and Zaytzev ?

Juantorena got passport last year.

But that's not stopping Trento's site from calling him "l’italo-cubano" haha

@handan - Well,yeah,but it's a matter of hours 'till they make a joint statement like Omrcen and Macerata.I guess it's normal to announce those things around that time of the season(there's gotta be a whole bunch of stuff and logistics surrounding transfers that I don't know about or don't understand ? ),I was just saying that I was expecting him to reveal his choice after V-day ?