From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Aug 2027
8 matches without a win for Cibalia
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Cibalia are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Honours even between Cibalia and Lucko
1-1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad16 Aug 2027
The shirt belongs to Dawid Bugaj now
At 23 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Cibalia have a decision that made itself.
Market16 Aug 2027
Jhonathan placed on the list
Cibalia have made Jhonathan available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Ivan Jurković, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cibalia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“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
Steady
Market14 Jun 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Ante Kuliš 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.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
110% of the income goes out in wages at Cibalia
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market14 Jun 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jhonathan may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A new face in his position, and Giovanni Jerolimov suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Cibalia have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cibalia can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Britto: 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.” Cibalia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Cibalia and Jhonathan are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Somebody is after Renato Kelić’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Renato Kelić suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Cibalia have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market4 Jan 2027
The David Bosak talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cibalia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.