Atanas Marinov's life revolves around football. His love for the game can be detected from the unmistakable glint in his eye every time the conversation turns to his favourite theme... football.
For those with a short memory or with scant knowledge of Maltese football in the last decade, Marinov is a Bulgarian coach who was in charge of a host of local teams in the last 13 years.
Having been lured to Malta by St Patrick in the mid-nineties, Marinov went on to coach some of the country's leading clubs, including Birkirkara, who he steered to their first Premier League title in 1999-2000, Ħamrun Spartans, Valletta and Marsaxlokk.
A highly-respected individual, both on and off the pitch, Marinov was widely expected to have another crack at Premier League football after masterminding Ħamrun Spartans' promotion to the top flight in 2006-07 but this failed to materialise.
Talks over an improved contract stalled, prompting Marinov to put plans of extending his coaching spell in Malta on the backburner in search of pastures new in his homeland.
Contrary to popular belief, Marinov's long association with the oft-derided Maltese football served him in good stead for a few months after his return to Bulgaria, he was named coach of the country's under-18 national team.
Marinov takes up the story. "After the end of season 2006-07, I had a year remaining on my deal with Ħamrun Spartans," Marinov, who is currently enjoying a short holiday in Malta, told The Times.
"The contract comprised a clause giving the two parties the option to discuss new terms before the second year. I had discussions with Ħamrun but we couldn't reach an agreement and I decided to return to Bulgaria.
"I must stress that talks with the club were very amicable and I left Ħamrun on good terms.
"Once in Bulgaria, Borislav Mihailov, the president of the Bulgarian FA who was my team-mate with the Bulgarian U-21 side many years ago, contacted me. At the time, the FA were working on a new coaching set-up for the national teams and they had just appointed Plamen Markov as coach of the senior side.
"I was asked if I would be interested in taking over the U-21s or the U-18s. Eventually, the association's board of directors decided to offer the U-21 job to a Bulgarian who had had a spell in Indonesia and I was named U-18 coach."
Marinov inked a two-year contract to prepare Bulgaria's upcoming stars, boys born in 1991, for their UEFA U-18 qualifying tournament which will be played in November. Bulgaria have been drawn with Bosnia Herzegovina, who will host the competition in their capital Sarajevo, Northern Ireland and Iceland.
Marinov is understandably pleased to have been granted the opportunity to become part of Bulgaria's national coaching set-up after 17 years away from the country.
"When I was offered the job, I saw it as a very exciting challenge," Marinov remarked. "I left Bulgaria in 1991 and five years later, I came to Malta to become coach of St Patrick.
"Having been away from the country for such a long time, I must admit that I was positively surprised to be chosen to coach the Bulgarian U-18 national team.
"Of the six coaches employed by the FA, I'm the only one to be based outside Sofia. I live in Plovdiv, my home town, and on taking up the U-18 job, I told my bosses that I had no intention of spending a lot of time working from our offices in Sofia.
"I wanted to monitor the boys' progress with the clubs and one of my top priorities was to enhance the level of communication with the club coaches.
"I made it a point to go and meet the coaches, I didn't expect them to come to me. In our discussions, we addressed certain sensitive issues which in the past had led to conflicts between the clubs and the national coaches.
"For example, there were occasions when the clubs refused to release their best players because they didn't want them to be spotted by scouts."
Marinov said most of the members of his U-18 squad are based in Bulgaria but recently, he gave a trial to a player who is with Milan's youth teams, Antonio Mihailov, and another who plays in Spain.
"Selection of players for the national teams is an open and on-going process," Marinov said.
In addition to his mentoring duties, Marinov, who recently attended a coaching clinic in Coverciano as part of his UEFA Pro Licence course, has also been on scouting trips for Bulgaria's senior team.
"The FA and the national coach asked me to study some of Bulgaria's opponents in Group Eight of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign," Marinov said. "I've been to Wales to watch Wales vs Georgia and also saw the Georgia-Cyprus qualifier. When I visited Georgia, I waited for the arrival of our national team and discussed my analysis with the coach and the players.
"It's a new experience and an added responsibility but I relish new challenges."
During his long spell in Maltese football, Marinov, like any coach, had his ups and downs. Asked if he had any regrets about his work here, Marinov said: "I have no regrets.
"I tried my best at every club I worked for and enjoyed every experience. Malta is my second home. I'm grateful for the support and affection I received from most of the people I've met and they had and still have my respect because I'm that kind of person. In football, as in life, you pass through difficult times but the positives outweigh the negatives."
Marinov's contract with the Bulgarian FA runs out in February 2010, by which time he will most probably have acquired his UEFA Pro Licence and will be in a position to aim for higher targets.
"At present, I'm only concentrating on my job as U-18 national coach," Marinov replied to a question about his future plans. "I want the team to do well in the next UEFA tournament to make up for the disappointment of losing all three qualifiers in the last edition which was held in Bulgaria."
Bulgaria's senior team are also gunning to improve after a poor start in Group Eight of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers yielded only three points from three matches. Markov no longer holds the reins of the team after he was sacked last month.
Bulgaria trail world champions Italy by seven points but Marinov has not given up on his side's chances of reaching next year's finals in South Africa.
"I still think we can qualify," Marinov said. "We have an important match away to Ireland at the end of March and a win there could change our fortunes."
Although Marinov is happy with his current job, he doesn't rule out a return to Maltese football in the future. "I have this feeling that one day I will return to work in Malta," Marinov said.
"I feel proud and privileged to be working for the Bulgarian FA and I think my job here could open up new opportunities in the future."