Coaching Career
In the 2003–04 season, Stoichkov started a coaching career, serving as a forwards coach at Barça. After Bulgarian national team coach Plamen Markov resigned in the wake of the team's first-round exit from Euro 2004, the Bulgarian Football Union named him as the new national team coach on 15 July.
Stoichkov's coaching career got off to a bad start with him failing to qualify the Bulgarian national team for the 2006 World Cup. He brought his bad temper from his career as a player to the coaching bench. A couple of proven players quit the team due to personal differences with Stoichkov. The most notable scandal was on 5 September 2003, in a game against Sweden, where he was sent-off for insulting the referee.
The biggest blow to Stoichkov as a coach of the national team of Bulgaria came on 12 October 2006, when Stiliyan Petrov, the captain of the team, announced he would not play for Bulgaria as long as Stoichkov was manager. Petrov is the third player and the second captain in two years to leave the team because of differences with Stoichkov. However, on 17 March 2007, Stiliyan Petrov announced that he had had a private conversation with Stoichkov, in which they were able to work their differences out. As a result, Petrov would return to the team.
On 10 April 2007, the Bulgarian Football Union announced they had accepted the resignation of Stoichkov from the post of national coach. That was as a result of the poor performance of the team at the ongoing Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, followed by widely spread criticism and debate over the qualities of the coach. The specific game, which led to increased pressure on Stoichkov, was the 0–0 home draw with Albania (despite the fact that the Bulgarians generally controlled the game and hit the post twice). He had a short disappointing stint as manager at Celta Vigo, for which he was sacked following the team's slump that took them to the lower reaches of the Spanish Second Division. On 8 October 2007, he was replaced by ex-Real Madrid manager Juan Ramón López Caro. On 12 March 2009, Stoichkov visited the Manchester City training ground after requesting a visit.
On 14 May 2009, Iranian club Abu Moslem reported the signing of Stoichkov as coach. However Stoichkov then changed his mind due to the tense political situation in Iran, instead opting to move to Mamelodi Sundowns, where he replaced Henri Michel on 29 June 2009. On 16 March 2010 he quit Mamelodi Sundowns, with the former South African national team manager Trott Moloto named caretaker until a full-time replacement is found.
In 2011, Vietnam Football Federation invited him to become the first Bulgarian head coach of Vietnam national football team.
As of the 2011–12 season he works as an advisor at Russian team FC Rostov.
In March 2012, he was appointed as coach of Bulgarian side Litex replacing Lyuboslav Penev, who left to become head coach of the Bulgarian national football team.
Read more about this topic: Hristo Stoichkov
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