Marked for Valentín Viola
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” HNK Gorica may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market10 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Jurica Pršir in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Jan 2028
Devin Padelford is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at HNK Gorica has been clear about where Devin Padelford stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad10 Jan 2028
65 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Loan watch10 Jan 2028
“I watch every HNK Gorica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Metalist runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market6 Sep 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 28 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match4 Sep 2027
Nobody wants to play HNK Gorica right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Jurica Pršir was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 110 days on the sidelines for Domagoj Pavičić, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match4 Sep 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ivan Mamut’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to HNK Gorica.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Aug 2027
Amer Gojak hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match31 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for HNK Gorica
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Monsef Bakrar was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Devin Padelford
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
The one thing Medin Gashi could not do
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Market2 Aug 2027
Théo Epailly is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at HNK Gorica has been clear about where Théo Epailly stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match31 Jul 2027
Point won or two lost for HNK Gorica?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Cibalia? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Jul 2027
Stefan Perić hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Iker Pozo in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valentín Viola, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Monsef Bakrar knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market5 Jul 2027
A conversation is coming this week. HNK Gorica will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market5 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.