“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jadran Dekani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
They have worked together before and it did not end well. Nobody at Jadran Dekani expects the new manager to have forgotten, least of all Nicholas Pian.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $12.2M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jadran Dekani is running low.
They have worked together before and it did not end well. Nobody at Jadran Dekani expects the new manager to have forgotten, least of all Nicholas Pian.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Igor Kondić 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jadran Dekani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Jadran Dekani, another week without a signature from Demyan Oosterhuis.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jadran Dekani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
They have worked together before and it did not end well. Nobody at Jadran Dekani expects the new manager to have forgotten, least of all Nicholas Pian.
Vall Janković 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 Mar 2029
Igor Kondić 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 embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Anton Häggdahl has his answer from Jadran Dekani; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
They have worked together before and it did not end well. Nobody at Jadran Dekani expects the new manager to have forgotten, least of all Nicholas Pian.
Abel Marc 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.
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.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
114% of the income goes out in wages at Jadran Dekani
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.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
In brief
The dugoutJosh Taroni is still being punished for one mistake
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Igor Kondić 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.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $12.0M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
0‑3 against NK Domzale, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 25 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jadran Dekani is running low.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Demyan Oosterhuis has, at Jadran Dekani, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
In brief
Boardroom$235.2K from the owner keeps Jadran Dekani afloat
SquadWords at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Romeo Bric
8 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vall Janković will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Vall Janković has agreed terms with Bravo for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Abel Marc 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Celje have kept their man, and Jadran Dekani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Kondić 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.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 105% of everything Jadran Dekani earn
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
7 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ajid Muminović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Nicholas Pian is a Jadran Dekani player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A club from his own country has asked the question, and he has never pretended he did not want to be asked. Jadran Dekani have a conversation ahead of them that they will not win with money.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from NK Krka for Ilja Vsyakikh was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Jadran Dekani has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Jadran Dekani close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Erik Elsnik is a Jadran Dekani player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Jadran Dekani asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Kondić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Púchov for Kristiyan Velichkov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
4 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.
Abel Marc 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.
Jadran Dekani asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Igor Kondić 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jadran Dekani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Livio Legac will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Igor Kondić 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.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
In brief
Boardroom121% of the income goes out in wages at Jadran Dekani
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
Abel Marc 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivano Čančar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Romeo Bric has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jadran Dekani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jadran Dekani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Adrián Lutka on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Jadran Dekani and NK Krsko.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Agafontsev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 ratings11 Dec 2028
Up for the corner, and Robin Balla delivers — 7.57
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Robin Balla scored, was marked 7.57, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Abel Marc and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Kondić 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.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jadran Dekani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Jadran Dekani, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivano Čančar 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Vall Janković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Kondić 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jadran Dekani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
ND Gorica next, and one man in the Jadran Dekani dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jadran Dekani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jadran Dekani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivano Čančar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 13, 14 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Boardroom13 Nov 2028
Nobody left the Jadran Dekani dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Livio Legac will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Kondić 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.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
131% of the income goes out in wages at Jadran Dekani
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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vall Janković will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Abel Marc 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Kondić 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.
0‑1 to NK Krka, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Robert Stojanovic to a room that had heard them before.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Jadran Dekani will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ilja Vsyakikh signs something — a contract at Jadran Dekani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ajid Muminović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Oct 2028
Ivano Čančar was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vadim Agafontsev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Agafontsev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Kondić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kristiyan Velichkov has his answer from Jadran Dekani; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ivano Čančar is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jadran Dekani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abel Marc signs something — a contract at Jadran Dekani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Kondić 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Jadran Dekani can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Agafontsev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Vadim Agafontsev has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Dmytro Herasymchuk has, at Jadran Dekani, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Adrián Lutka scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Triglav Kranj, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Igor Kondić 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.
Abel Marc 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivano Čančar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Adrián Lutka has his answer from Jadran Dekani; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Jadran Dekani will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Jadran Dekani, another week without a signature from Ivano Čančar.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jadran Dekani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jadran Dekani people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Igor Kondić has, at Jadran Dekani, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Josh Taroni, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.13
A mark of 8.13 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 20 arrived, 17 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Jadran Dekani, and it is not being withdrawn.
7.67, 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ajid Muminović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jadran Dekani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It finished 3‑1, and it was Abel Marc’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Jadran Dekani.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Matija Burin 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.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ivano Čančar
The words a physio says slowly. 48 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from NK Domzale for Vall Janković was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jadran Dekani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Jadran Dekani offered $15.0K; Slovan Ljubljana said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jadran Dekani lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Damjan Pauković was one of the reasons people came, and $220.0K does not replace that by itself.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Damjan Pauković has left for Radomlje in a $220.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
115% of the income goes out in wages at Jadran Dekani
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.
In brief
MarketA stepping stone, not a home, for Erik Elsnik
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jadran Dekani lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Abel Marc 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Matija Burin 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.
Jadran Dekani asked and Rudar Velenje said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Jadran Dekani know it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jadran Dekani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Jadran Dekani will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jadran Dekani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Jadran Dekani, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with NK Maribor is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Theodoros Chrysostomou is living that version at Jadran Dekani, and it tends to show in the first month.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jadran Dekani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Not a month, not a run of form — a whole season of being the best 21-year-old anybody in this division could put on a pitch. This is the honour that gets mentioned for the rest of his career.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matija Burin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
The loan was meant to give him football. 0 games and 0 goals later he is back at Jadran Dekani no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
Alen Korošec and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 May 2028
Matija Burin 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jadran Dekani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Jadran Dekani, another week without a signature from Ilja Vsyakikh.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Nobody arrives at Jadran Dekani until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Jadran Dekani this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivano Čančar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Jadran Dekani has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Matija Burin 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jadran Dekani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Squad17 Apr 2028
6 new faces, and Jadran Dekani are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jadran Dekani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Jadran Dekani will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Erik Milošević has written the date down.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for Jadran Dekani
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matija Burin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Jadran Dekani, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Matija Burin 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 embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jadran Dekani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutRomeo Bric asks for a word with the manager
Ilja Vsyakikh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jadran Dekani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Romeo Bric has written the date down.
“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 Jadran Dekani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matija Burin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Jadran Dekani game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at NK Celje runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Something was said to Ervin Németh and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
In brief
The dugoutIlja Vsyakikh asks for a word with the manager
Abel Marc 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 6.77, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Tony Macan.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Robert Stojanovic after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivano Čančar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matija Burin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Robert Adams has, at Jadran Dekani, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jules Bournazeix and Jadran Dekani agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“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 Jadran Dekani, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Erik Milošević provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Abel Marc 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Erik Milošević has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Robert Stojanovic on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Damian Byrtek
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑3 to Nafta 1903, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Jadran Dekani, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abel Marc provided it, and the 8.09 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Abel Marc and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Andreas Šćulac has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jadran Dekani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Jadran Dekani had all but put away. Bilje will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Abel Marc will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Jadran Dekani escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Matija Burin 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.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Bistrica; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jadran Dekani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Erik Milošević, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.76
A mark of 7.76 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matija Burin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 22 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Jadran Dekani will try not to make too much of it.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Jadran Dekani were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Andreas Šćulac did not need any: 7.81, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7.46, 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.
Matija Burin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
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.
Position 11, 17 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jadran Dekani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
Alen Korošec and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Jadran Dekani now.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alen Korošec’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Jadran Dekani needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jadran Dekani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutNicholas Pian has become a man the manager trusts
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Andreas Šćulac, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.06
A mark of 8.06 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Matija Burin 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Andreas Šćulac has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jadran Dekani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Matija Burin 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jadran Dekani can pretend not to have heard.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
149% of the income goes out in wages at Jadran Dekani
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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Andreas Šćulac has come out of that comparison in the side, and Jadran Dekani have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jadran Dekani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 ratings13 Sep 2027
Andreas Šćulac, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.98
A mark of 7.98 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matija Burin 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Andreas Šćulac has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“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 Jadran Dekani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Jadran Dekani close the window on a squad of their own making
18 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matija Burin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Something was said to Erik Milošević and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
“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 Jadran Dekani, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Koper is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jadran Dekani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maj Rorič was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Armin Talić has his answer from Jadran Dekani; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Abel Marc and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Jadran Dekani and ND Gorica, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
David Kobesov scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑4 to ND Gorica, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maj Rorič 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.
Jadran Dekani asked and NK Celje said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Robert Stojanovic after 2‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Jadran Dekani may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Ilja Vsyakikh, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.72
A mark of 7.72 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Abel Marc 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.
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Maj Rorič 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ND Gorica have kept their man, and Jadran Dekani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Alen Korošec 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Kobesov and Jadran Dekani agree another 4 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maj Rorič 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ND Gorica have kept their man, and Jadran Dekani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Matija Burin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maj Rorič 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastian Bømark Hanssen and Jadran Dekani agree another 3 years.
“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.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Damjan Pauković's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Ilirija 1911 have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
He is 20, and nobody at Jadran Dekani signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Jadran Dekani had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Damian Byrtek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Jadran Dekani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maj Rorič 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ivano Čančar is on it.
In brief
The dugoutDamian Byrtek asks for a word with the manager