Georgi Nikolov Dermendziev (Bulgarian: Георги Николов Дерменджиев; born 4 January 1955) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player who played as a defender.
Coaching career
After managing Spartak Plovdiv as a head coach for one season,[1] he became an assistant at Litex Lovech under Ferario Spasov. He remained in this role for several years, followed by short spells at Botev Plovdiv and Sliven. He later briefly managed the latter during the 2010-11 A Group, but was unable to help them avoid relegation.
Ludogorets Razgrad
On July 31, 2014, Dermendzhiev replaced Stoycho Stoev as head coach at Ludogorets following the latter's disappointing 0-0 home draw against Partizan Belgrade in a Champions League qualifying match.
On 27 August 2014, Dermendzhiev became the second Bulgarian manager (after Stanimir Stoilov in 2006) to qualify a team from his country to the group stage of the Champions League.[2] On 22 October 2014 he became the first Bulgarian coach to achieve a win in the Champions League's group phase when Ludogorets beat Basel.[3]
He resigned from the team on 31 May 2015, but after Ludogorets was unsuccessfully led by his successors Bruno Ribeiro and Eduard Eranosyan, he was appointed again as manager on 6 November.[4]
On 22 January 2019, Dermendzhiev returned to Bulgaria, being appointed as head coach of Levski Sofia.[8] He was released from his duties on 29 April 2019.[9]
Bulgaria
In October 2019, Dermendzhiev was appointed as head coach of the national team to manage the side during the remaining Euro 2020 qualifiers.[10] In April 2020, his contract was extended for an additional six months, with the option for a further one year and a half.[11] In December 2020, the Football Union announced that Dermendzhiev will not continue in his position as manager after the national team failed to qualify for Euro 2020via the playoff route and was relegated from League B to League C in the Nations League.[12] Dermendzhiev had previously faced strong criticism by Minister of Youth and Sports Krasen Kralev due to the perceived failure to integrate more U-21 players into the senior team and the results attained, including the team's tendency to concede last-minute goals.[13]
Ludogorets Razgrad
In October 2023, Dermendzhiev was appointed manager of Ludogorets Razgrad for the third time.[14] He successfully led the team to a 13th consecutive league title. In August 2024, Dermendzhiev stepped down as head coach following the club's elimination from the Champions League by Azerbaijani team Qarabagh.[15]
