Marked for Marko Galić
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Dino Perić 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 Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Zobnin 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
125% 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Oct 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Sven Sopić obliged against HNK Gorica. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Cibalia.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Roman Zobnin 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
125% 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Nothing got past Britto
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad2 Nov 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Duje Čop runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Cibalia told Roman Zobnin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
A one-man rearguard from Marko Galić
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Renato Kelić 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 Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hamidou Ba, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Marin Kuzminski'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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Imotski will be the happier side with the point.
Market31 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Marin Grujević may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Renato Kelić and Cibalia agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Renato Kelić 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Ante Kuliš
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. Cibalia will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Karlo Stapić's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.