Marked for Benjamin Budimir
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom22 Jul 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Sesvete
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match20 Jul 2030
Nowhere to hide for Sesvete
0‑3 against Cibalia, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market22 Jul 2030
“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.
The terraces22 Jul 2030
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 29 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad22 Jul 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match20 Jul 2030
The wait goes on for Sesvete
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.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Tino Agić 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.
Market22 Jul 2030
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market22 Jul 2030
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Jun 2030
“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.
Market17 Jun 2030
Only the photograph left for Borna Cik
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Borna Cik will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sesvete the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Tino Agić 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 Sesvete this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jan 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sesvete they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market7 Jan 2030
“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 Sesvete, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jan 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marko Pajač and Sesvete agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Pablo Rossi 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 Sesvete this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Marko Pajač 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 Sesvete, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Pablo Rossi is doing the arithmetic
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Sesvete says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Dec 2029
“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 Sesvete, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Stavros Pnevmonidis was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Dec 2029
28 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad3 Dec 2029
“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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sesvete, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Oct 2029
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.
Market29 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sesvete have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market29 Oct 2029
Only the photograph left for Borna Cik
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Borna Cik will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sesvete the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Pablo Rossi 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 Sesvete this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Oct 2029
Three points for Sesvete, 2‑1 the final word against HNK Gorica in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.60 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Oct 2029
20 matches without a win for Sesvete
The run now stands at 20, and the questions being asked around Sesvete are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 Oct 2029
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.
Market15 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sesvete is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market15 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sesvete have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Pablo Rossi 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 Sesvete this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.91, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad15 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Elvir Šehić
“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.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.45, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 Oct 2029
No end in sight to Sesvete's wait for a win
19 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sesvete has to find a result from somewhere.
Market8 Oct 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sesvete can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Pablo Rossi 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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
The medical room confirms 49 days on the sidelines for Zachary Scerri, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
A mark of 7.86, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zachary Scerri and Sesvete agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“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.
Market8 Oct 2029
Sesvete bring in an old head
Zachary Scerri is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Sesvete's wait for a win
18 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sesvete has to find a result from somewhere.
Market1 Oct 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sesvete can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sesvete is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Pablo Rossi 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 Sesvete this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Sep 2029
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Marked 8.90 — 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.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.67, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Lovre Šimić 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Marko Pajač 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 Sesvete, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Apr 2029
“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 Sesvete, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Sesvete
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Juan José Córdoba 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Moses Zambrang Barnabas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Sesvete will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Nov 2028
“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 Sesvete, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match11 Nov 2028
The wait goes on for Sesvete
5 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Juan José Córdoba 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.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Nov 2028
The cup run ends for Sesvete
1‑1 against NK Osijek, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Karlo Žiger is the hero from the spot
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Karlo Žiger: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Market6 Nov 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Hagelskjær will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sesvete the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match4 Nov 2028
The wait goes on for Sesvete
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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sesvete this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
A performance of 8.93 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“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 ratings6 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.37, and no argument anywhere in the ground.