Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Josip Iličič 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Koper told Florian Hartherz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Koper is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Koper close the window on a squad of their own making
12 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.
The bid was some way short and Koper did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Josip Iličič for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Koper will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Jablonec have kept their man, and Koper go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nik Omladič 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.
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
In brief
The dugoutBrice Negouai has become a man the manager trusts
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
NK Celje held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Koper answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
The offer from Olimpija Ljubljana for Leo Rimac 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.
1 for Leo Štulac, marked 7.75, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
A 1‑1 draw with Radomlje leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Vid Kampl was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Koper dressing room was either.
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.
Josip Iličič 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.
Koper asked and NK Domzale said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The name of Kamil Manseri has come up in conversations Koper were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vid Cerin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andraz Sikosek has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Filip Elsnik has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.