Marked for Iker Banda
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2028
No end in sight to NK Zavrc's wait for a win
27 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at NK Zavrc has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A one-man rearguard from Tadej Bonaca
There were 10 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.
Market14 Aug 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 The request is on a desk at NK Zavrc, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Pijus Širvys 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Luis Bonilla 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.
Match12 Aug 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A first senior shirt for Tadej Bonaca
Every debut is a small story about the future: Tadej Bonaca, 21 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
A mark of 5.63 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Jul 2028
The wait goes on for NK Zavrc
25 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.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
Pressure builds in the NK Zavrc boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market31 Jul 2028
“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.
Market31 Jul 2028
Igor João has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Zavrc they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Pijus Širvys 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 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Pijus Širvys
“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.
Match29 Jul 2028
0‑1 to NK Krka, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“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; NK Zavrc are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
5.76 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Jul 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 NK Zavrc, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Pijus Širvys 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 NK Zavrc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jul 2028
51 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Zavrc can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Øyvind Alseth
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Øyvind Alseth will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Zavrc the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 May 2028
Pijus Širvys 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 NK Zavrc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
“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 NK Zavrc know it.
Squad29 May 2028
Pijus Širvys 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 NK Zavrc, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market29 May 2028
NK Zavrc have made Jurgen Çelhaka available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 May 2028
“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.
Squad22 May 2028
Pijus Širvys 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.
Squad22 May 2028
“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; NK Zavrc are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 May 2028
NK Zavrc sink to position 10
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market8 May 2028
Rok Kajzer hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Zavrc can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Efrén Mendoza and NK Zavrc agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Pijus Širvys 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 May 2028
Igor João 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.
Squad8 May 2028
A season on the outside for Luis Bonilla
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at NK Zavrc has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Market3 Apr 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 NK Zavrc, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Market3 Apr 2028
Øyvind Alseth has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Zavrc they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Bassirou Ndiaye 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 Apr 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Linas Barauskas commits to NK Zavrc for another 3 years.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
NK Zavrc pull $1.8M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market3 Apr 2028
NK Zavrc have let the market know Jurgen Çelhaka can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad3 Apr 2028
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at NK Zavrc says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Pijus Širvys 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“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; NK Zavrc are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market27 Mar 2028
He is 18, and nobody at NK Zavrc signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Pijus Širvys has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Pijus Širvys keeps the shirt for now, at NK Zavrc's convenience rather than his own.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Iker Banda asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
Iebe Swers hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Zavrc can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Pijus Širvys 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 NK Zavrc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“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 NK Zavrc know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at NK Zavrc
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at NK Zavrc is running low.
Market29 Nov 2027
“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 Nov 2027
Jurgen Çelhaka 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Oct 2027
No end in sight to NK Zavrc's wait for a win
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at NK Zavrc has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at NK Zavrc
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at NK Zavrc is running low.
Market4 Oct 2027
Iker Banda hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Zavrc can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Efrén Mendoza and NK Zavrc agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Pijus Širvys 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“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 ratings4 Oct 2027
A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A performance of 8.22 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Sep 2027
14 matches without a win for NK Zavrc
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around NK Zavrc are no longer polite ones.
Market20 Sep 2027
Rok Frešer hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Zavrc can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Pijus Širvys 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Pijus Širvys 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 32 days on the sidelines for Jure Birsa, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“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; NK Zavrc are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Marked 5.71, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 2027
“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 NK Zavrc, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jul 2027
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.
Market19 Jul 2027
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.
Market19 Jul 2027
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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Rok Frešer 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 NK Zavrc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
89 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Luis Bonilla 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 NK Zavrc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
“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; NK Zavrc are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
Marko Maučec 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nemanja Gavrić, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Øyvind Alseth 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 NK Zavrc, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Mar 2027
NK Zavrc sink to position 8
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Luis Bonilla 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 NK Zavrc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iker Banda and NK Zavrc agree another 3 years.