Marked for Sergio López
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
Johan Gastien breaks a bone — 144 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 144 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 May 2027
Arnel Jakupović 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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
“I watch every NK Osijek game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dinamo Zagreb runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Apr 2027
NK Osijek are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 27 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” NK Osijek may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Arnel Jakupović 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at NK Osijek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Vrbančić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marko Zubaj and NK Osijek agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at NK Osijek, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Mar 2027
NK Osijek refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Nicolas Cozza 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at NK Osijek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Johan Gastien is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Mar 2027
NK Osijek are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 27 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Osijek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Luka Vrbančić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Sergio López
“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.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I watch every NK Osijek game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Imotski runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market1 Mar 2027
The loan was meant to give him football. 0 games and 0 goals later he is back at NK Osijek no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Feb 2027
NK Osijek refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Osijek this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Luka Vrbančić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Sergio López
“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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Arnel Jakupović’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A season on the outside for Johan Gastien
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at NK Osijek has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Yannick Touré: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Osijek have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Arnel Jakupović 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.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at NK Osijek, and 0 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.