It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Radnicki 1923 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Radnicki 1923 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Louay Ben Hassine 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.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Buchta signs something — a contract at Radnicki 1923 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Petar Đuričković 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 Vukašin Krstić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Kabel know it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Marko Tadic after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Alfa Baldé
Petar Đuričković 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kabel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
He is 23 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 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.
Niclas Eliasson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Radnicki 1923 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Louay Ben Hassine 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mehmed Ćosić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Evandro is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mahmudu Bajo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Radnicki 1923 needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Buchta signs something — a contract at Radnicki 1923 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Vukašin Krstić 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 had been thinking. Dražen Dubačkić 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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 needed Slobodan Lazovic to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Mačva Šabac, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Marko Tadic after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kabel 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 Kabel 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 Vukašin Krstić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kabel asked and Cukaricki 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Novak Nastasic 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. Uros Ilic 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. Milan Jovanovic 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kabel can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Kabel close the window on a squad of their own making
22 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.
Kabel asked and Tekstilac Odžaci said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Vahid Gicić 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Kabel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Something was said to Vukašin Krstić and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
10 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.
Petar Đuričković 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.
Marked 9.15 — 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.
Kabel asked and Radnicki 1923 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kabel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
He is 18 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vukašin Krstić 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 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 Kabel know it.
11 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.
Petar Đuričković 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.
At 22 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Đorđe Popović. 2‑0 against Borac Čačak, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Kabel has been clear about where Mujab Animasahun stands, which is more than many ever get.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Filip Ivanović has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kabel 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 Kabel can pretend not to have heard.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Lucas Urriola has just signed for Kabel, and for once the answer mattered.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Kabel is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Radnicki Nis have kept their man, and Kabel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kabel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Everything agreed with Radnicki 1923, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Kabel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Partizan, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kabel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kabel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 122 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Radnicki 1923 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Shakhtar is saying, and nobody at Radnicki 1923 is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Radnicki 1923 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sigma Olomouc have kept their man, and Radnicki 1923 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Radnicki 1923 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Marjanović 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.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Radnicki 1923 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Radnicki 1923 can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Radnicki 1923 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 Radnicki 1923 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Radnicki 1923 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Louay Ben Hassine 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mehmed Ćosić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Radnicki 1923 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Radnicki 1923 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 Radnicki 1923 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 Louay Ben Hassine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Radnicki 1923 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 Issa Bah has written the date down.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Radnicki 1923 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Radnicki 1923 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Miloš Ristić 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Radnicki 1923 told Seol Yung-Woo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Radnicki 1923 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Radnicki 1923 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. David Buchta will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Radnicki 1923 escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Two goals and a mark of 8.20 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alfa Baldé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Radnicki 1923 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Radnicki 1923 can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Voždovac waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Radnicki 1923 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Olimpia is saying, and nobody at Radnicki 1923 is enjoying the guessing.
6 goals in one match, Louay Ben Hassine on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Radnicki 1923 and Crvena Zvezda.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Louay Ben Hassine was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Radnicki 1923 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 Radnicki 1923 can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Radnicki 1923 until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Joe Lewis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Radnicki 1923 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Louay Ben Hassine 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.
Radnicki 1923 asked and Akhmat Grozny said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Radnicki 1923 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Radnicki 1923 can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Radnicki 1923 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.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Radnicki 1923 will try not to make too much of it.
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.
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Mehmed Ćosić takes the afternoon — 8.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mehmed Ćosić provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.88 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Radnicki 1923, and it is not being withdrawn.
Joe Lewis 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.
Radnicki 1923 asked and St. Gallen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Dubočica have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Miloš Mladenović. The answer from Radnicki 1923 has not changed — yet.