IN January of last year, when the fixtures for this World Cup qualifying group were being thrashed out in lengthy round-table talks in Sofia, the local blazers -- half-joking and half-serious -- mocked their visitors from Ireland.

With the anomaly of the availability of Croke Park responsible for a significant impasse, a member of the Bulgarian negotiating team, slipping out for a quick cigarette, stumbled across a hack from these shores and exclaimed, "You Irish, you have no stadium, you have no weather, you are impossible!"

The sentiment, essentially, was that the FAI -- then immersed in the infamous 117-day manager hunt -- needed to get their house in order. Fourteen months on, the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) is in no position to be dispensing wisecracks.

Sure, it is far from rosy out in the garden in Abbotstown with the sale of 10-year tickets for the new Lansdowne Road chugging down the hard shoulder rather than motoring along the fast lane. Nevertheless, their troubles are nothing compared to the chaos which has engulfed Bulgarian football over the course of the past year. Their campaign may only be three games old, but it has thrown up enough drama to construct a particularly far-fetched soap opera. And the roots go back much further.

Where do we start? Actually, it's 1994. The crowning moment in Bulgarian football history, when they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in the United States, memorably eliminating Germany from the last-eight with the winning goal provided by the bald pate of Yordan Letchkov.

Italy brought an end to the adventure, but the legendary status of a squad packed with diverse personalities was secured. The enigmatic Hristo Stoichkov was the star, but characters like his strike partner Emil Kostadinov, the unmistakable Trifon 'Wolf' Ivanov at left-full, and the talented Krassimir Balakov commanded their fair share of attention. And then there was Borislav Mihailov.

The goalkeeper, as renowned for his wig as his prowess between the sticks, made a bizarre career move the year after that idyllic summer in the US. He became Reading's record signing, but failed to make much of an impression in a couple of years in Berkshire, lining out a mere 24 times and writing himself into their supporters' history books as one of their worst ever signings. "Call me Bobby," he told them, but after prancing around in tracksuit bottoms looking distinctly unimpressed by the physical nature of life in the English lower leagues, they called him far worse.

All the same, the ungraceful rolling around in muck must have given Bobby a desire to try his luck in football administration. He returned to Bulgaria and, bar a brief stint in Switzerland, has spent the last decade progressing through the ranks to his current position as president of the BFU. Indeed, most of that '94 team have dabbled in that general area, be it in management or further behind the scenes with either the BFU or Levski Sofia. Letchkov is a vice-president of the union, Stoichkov has already had a crack at managing the national team; basically the same characters pop up in different guises.

Controversy is never far away. With their place in history secured, the heroes of 15 years ago have been unsympathetic towards the failings of subsequent generations. Despite his position, Letchkov publicly slaughtered Dimitar Berbatov after October's draw with Italy, questioning his commitment to the cause, which prompted a round of dirty washing being aired in public as barbs flew left, right and centre.

Meanwhile, opponents of Mihailov are currently challenging the legitimacy of his tenure through the courts in Bulgaria, with reference to his re-election as president in January when his rival, colourful businessman Ivailo Drazhev, was deemed an unsuitable candidate due to what the BFU described as "inaccurate documentation". Drazhev is appealing and argues that, while the process is pending, any subsequent decisions by Mihailov should be considered illegal, including the appointment of Stanimir Stoilov as a replacement for the deposed Plamen Markov, who was dumped amid speculation of a player mutiny following the November friendly thrashing at the hands of Serbia.

Markov was fighting a losing battle from the outset. Before the September opener against Montenegro, the Bulgarian squad launched into a dispute with the BFU over bonuses, which overshadowed their preparation, and he was left in the middle, eventually losing the support of both.

It's a messy business and Stoilov, who incidentally pipped Balakov to the post, may have inherited a thankless task. Then again, managing Bulgaria isn't even his day job as he juggles the duties with his full-time commitment as boss of Litex Lovech, a name which may resonate in these parts as they were Longford Town's first ever European opponents back in 2001.

Litex are perennial mid-table dwellers in the Bulgarian league and have been struggling of late so, understandably, Stoilov has plenty on his mind. This is his second stint in the national team dug-out -- he held the post briefly as a caretaker for two games after Stoichkov walked away in 2007 -- and the signs were good when they enjoyed a morale-boosting draw in Switzerland last month. The optimism has been dampened in the run-up to this week.

Berbatov was present and correct on that occasion but is absent this time, and with the principal striking alternatives out of the picture as well Stoilov is operating with a severely makeshift group. To add insult to the injuries, the BFU lost a dispute with Hertha Berlin over the release of promising forward Valeri Domovchiyski as they failed to provide adequate notice of his call-up.

Certainly, if Stoilov produces a result at Croke Park tomorrow, then it will do the mission to restore his managerial name no harm. His reputation is built upon a trophy-laden four-year stint at Levski Sofia, where the crowning glory was qualification for the Champions League group stages in 2006 -- the first Bulgarian club ever to achieve that feat.

Last summer, he was unceremoniously sacked, along with executive director Nasko Sirakov (another '94 veteran, who was replaced, typically, by former team-mate Daniel Borimirov), amid further political in-fighting; a blow to the ego of a man who was nicknamed 'Mury' by sections of the Bulgarian media as their answer to Jose Mourinho.

Known as a severe coach -- he managed to fit a training ground row with Berbatov into his stand-in role two years ago -- Stoilov's critics argue that he is too loyal to the mainstays of that Levski team, thirtysomethings Dimitar Telkiyski, Elin Topuzakov and repatriated Croatian Igor Tomasic who are all now based in Israel and in the frame to start tomorrow evening. Telkiyski and Topuzakov had a chequered relationship with Markov.

On the flip side, Stoilov has cultivated a good understanding with winger-cum-attacker Ivelin Popov, who scored against the Swiss last month and just happens to ply his trade for Litex.

The 21-year-old will be asked to provide the spark at Croke Park, while in behind the experience of Stiliyan Petrov and the set piece deliveries of Bible-loving playboy Blagoy Georgiev will be the two main threats for Ireland to counteract.

At the back, the promise for the future comes in the shape of Ivan Ivanov, who has a better chance of being involved now that Jivko Milanov is a doubt. Milanov is another who made the breakthrough at Levski under Stoilov and, in a further complex twist, has a child with the daughter of Mihailov. Cruelly enough, he has been dubbed as the 'son-in-law' in Bulgaria but it looks as though Ireland will be unable to benefit from his perceived weakness.

Still, given the desperate state the Bulgarians have dug themselves into, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. It's hard to escape the conclusion that the second seeds are a shadow of the team they could be.

While the shadow of their illustrious predecessors continues to linger, that might always be the case.