There are several things we know about the Bulgarian team in 2016 already. First, Plamen Konstantinov will continue to be coach of the team, regardless of the lack of results and wins. Bulgaria enjoyed a decent ECH, but they failed to win the World League's second division and were disastrous in Berlin in January. Injuries are seen as the first excuse for the failure(s), although this is surely not the only reason. Good that Konstantinov admitted that himself. Besides, he is still acting strangely in favour of the same federation he was once fighting against, the same one that almost ruined his career and was going to put him out oj Beijing 2008... Topic closed, he stays, more strange roster choices are expected and perhaps more bad luck. Surprisingly or not, Bulgaria's major success in 2015 was achieved in Baku at the European Games under the guidance of another coach (Nikolay Zhelyazkov).
Regarding players, Vladimir Nikolov played his last NT match for Bulgaria against Russia at the European qualifiers. He wanted to play against France as well, but was not given the opportunity. We don't know yet what the future of Teodor Salparov in the NT is. We are expecting Tsvetan Sokolov to finally recover and play for the NT in 2016. Meanwhile, Nikolay Nikolov and Todor Aleksiev are said to have requested some rest during the World League. We will perhaps not see them play for the NT in 2016. Aleksiev's case is a curious one. He is rumoured to have been relatively fit for the matches in Berlin in January, but he declined participation because he was not happy with the way the head coach Konstantinov and the volleyball audience reacted in favour of Vlado Nikolov, who was more or less considered the only hero in Bulgaria at the recent ECH and took the otherwise granted to him team captainship. Whether this is true or not, remains a mystery.
Regarding tournaments, Bulgaria will not play any home matches in 2016 due to the new World League formula. The federation has applied for the European League and there is an idea to form two groups of players this summer as well. One to take part in the World League, the other - probably younger and less experienced, to take part in the European League upon approval by CEV.
Regarding rankings, I already posted in the World Rankings thread here in the forum that Bulgaria will be the biggest loser in the world at the end of 2016. Semifinalist at the London Games, Bulgaria will be seriously damaged by the lack of points from Rio.
Regarding focus, there is nothing really more important in Bulgarian volleyball now than to slowly prepare a team for the WCH at home and in Italy in 2018. Unfortunately, we need youngsters to integrate into the national team as fast as possible in order to recover the lost positions in rankings and tournaments. I am afraid there are tough times approaching Bulgarian volleyball. The missed Olympics is just the start of a circle I hope our volleyball would one day recover from.