Marked for David Drljić
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market4 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Grodig, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Filip Frei and Grodig agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Jan 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 Grodig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Grodig training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uroš Ljubomirac 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Grodig signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Grodig's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Grodig has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Sebastian Bauer pops up at the right end — 7.31
7.31, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Uroš Ljubomirac 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Grodig
David Drljić 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Robert Völkl gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Grodig
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Grodig are no longer polite ones.
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a goal for Grodig
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Sebastian Bauer 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Peter Tschernegg, and the manager let it.
Match12 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Altach defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market14 Sep 2026
The window shut and David Drljić is still in the building
Grodig spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for Grodig
Position 10 and 1 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Grodig, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a win for Grodig
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Grodig are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a goal for Grodig
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Grodig training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastian Bauer 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Admira Wacker left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Sep 2026
33 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Grodig
15 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Grodig can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gabriel Lukačević and Grodig agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Grodig
Alexander Schwaighofer 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A muscle injury sidelines David Drljić for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Grodig will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Uroš Ljubomirac 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.