Apparently, there's no boredom in Perugia. A coach's board, a photo of Alex Nikolov, and a few minutes on the internet were enough for the latest volleyball mini-saga to be born, which – of course – did not escape the keen eye of colleagues from the respected volleyball websiteVolleyball.it.
It all starts with a photo…
It's about that iconic photograph from Game 4 of the 2024/25 semi-final, when Lube's outside hitter and vice-world champion with Bulgaria, Alexander Nikolov, "invited" the Perugia crowd to some silence with the well-known gesture – a finger in front of his lips.
The photo was pinned in the corner of Angelo Lorenzetti's coaching board, and below it was a short, direct, and slightly "sour" motto:
"He who forgets, is an accomplice."
An internal message, supposedly just for the team. Nothing new under the sun – coaches have long used criticism, photos, headlines, and whatever else they can get their hands on to poke at the players' athletic egos.
But… the internet rarely respects the "locker room only" concept.
It's unclear how – apparently, some phone snapped at the right moment – but the image left the hall and instantly appeared on social media channels. From there, the fans' imagination exploded like Leon's serves on a good day:
“Wanted: alive or dead” posters appeared in a Western style, with Nikolov as the Bulgarian version of Jesse James;
others preferred a "mugshot" version, with a police height chart, as if Alex had just been "arrested" forexcessive talent.
And while Perugia probably sighed heavily ("Oh, that should have stayed internal…"), the internet collective had already placed the incident in the "volleyball fun 2025" gallery.
The colleagues from volleyball.it? Of course, they noticed!
As expected, the respected Italian volleyball websiteVolleyball.itdid not miss reporting the story.
And whenVolleyball.itcatches onto something – it officially moves into the category of "volleyball folklore".
In the end...
From a coaching trick, through photomontages, to a full-fledged internet comedy – all this just because of one photo of Nikolov and one marker sentence on a whiteboard.
But one thing is clear:
This time, Lorenzetti wasn't looking for motivation on social media...
But social media found its motivation on his board.
photos: volleyball.it
