Marked for Dylan Timber
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom31 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Brinje Grosuplje
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad31 May 2027
Žan Leban and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Gal Lubej Fink
“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.
Squad31 May 2027
Jesse Debrah 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.
The dugout31 May 2027
Samo Matjaž knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samo Matjaž trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market31 May 2027
The Žan Leban story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Žan Leban signs something — a contract at Brinje Grosuplje or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Brinje Grosuplje is running low.
Squad3 May 2027
Žan Leban and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vid Koderman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Luka Badžim
“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.
The dugout3 May 2027
Vid Koderman without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Vid Koderman was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout3 May 2027
Gal Lubej Fink 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 Brinje Grosuplje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market3 May 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stian Džumhur signs something — a contract at Brinje Grosuplje or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matej Pučko and Brinje Grosuplje agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Žan Leban 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 Brinje Grosuplje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Gašper Vodeb 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.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
No hiding place for Žan Leban
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Žan Leban, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
37 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Mar 2027
Matija Burin 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 Brinje Grosuplje can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
No sign of nerves from Tais Šabotić at 19 — 7.63
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Tais Šabotić did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Žan Leban 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Brinje Grosuplje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vid Koderman 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
Tais Šabotić scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Dravinja, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gal Lubej Fink, and the manager let it.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Triglav Kranj to sit and watch. I want to come back to Brinje Grosuplje and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad1 Mar 2027
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Brinje Grosuplje know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Gal Lubej Fink and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match12 Dec 2026
Jesenice left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Jesse Debrah 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dylan Timber and Brinje Grosuplje agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Gal Lubej Fink
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.