Markov A Good Coach?

Bulgarian Coach Plamen Markov today defended his decision to play Man City's Martin Petrov last week. But Mark Hughes is not a happy chappy after it was revealed that Petrov would be out for months with knee-ligament damage!


Petrov had only just returned from injury and was being eased into the team again by City's manager Mark Hughes. However this did not stop Bulgarian coach Plamen Markov from playing Petrov for 90 mins against Italy and from the start 3 days later (until he came off injured) against Georgia. That injury will now keep Petrov from Man City's starting line-up for months.

Petrov has been sent to see a specialist and Hughes is certainly not happy.

"He has ligament damage and the initial scans do not look good, Martin had 10 minutes in one game and 20 minutes in another before going to play his country. International managers are going to throw all of the players at their disposal on the pitch and the consequences from the player's point of view are not taken into consideration. " - Mark Hughes.

Markov's opinion on the matter is completely different, speaking to Bulgarian radio he claimed that Petrov was "fine" and had "no complaints." Markov is no stranger to controversy in the press; his appointment as Bulgaria's top dog was criticized as he seemingly lacked experience. He is now in his second spell as coach of the Bulgarian national team.



Markov: Managed second division teams before Bulgaria

The never-ending row over club and country rages on.

- Bigus/