Coby Ebere

Left Midfielder - Radnik Surdulica
1 Dec 2030
Sunday
Process

Marked for Coby Ebere

172 Edition

The Radnik Surdulica Courier

12 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for Radnik Surdulica

A 0‑3 beating by Partizan was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Match

The wait goes on for Radnik Surdulica

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.

The dugout

Coby Ebere says Radnik Surdulica went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Radnik Surdulica

Vukašin Bogdanović 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Radnik Surdulica

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Đorđe Jovanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Filip Samurović 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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Radnik Surdulica

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Milos Dimitrijevic left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Srđan Grabež

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

Back issues
162 Edition

The Radnik Surdulica Courier

3 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Not going: Stefan Vidaković stays at Radnik Surdulica

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Novi Pazar had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Filip Samurović

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.

Market

Vorskla come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Radnik Surdulica did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 10 signed and 11 gone

That is the business done at Radnik Surdulica 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Radnik Surdulica

Vukašin Bogdanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Radnik Surdulica

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Novaković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ben Vickery

Radnik Surdulica asked and Manchester City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Đorđe Jovanović at his very best

Marked 8.50. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Radnik Surdulica.

Squad

Coby Ebere signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Coby Ebere commits to Radnik Surdulica for another 4 years.

In brief

156 Edition

The Radnik Surdulica Courier

23 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Radnik Surdulica run out of patience with Luka Ivic

The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Luka Ivic clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.

Squad

26 days out for David Stojanović after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Radnik Surdulica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Stefan Vidaković agrees terms with Cukaricki

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Radnik Surdulica people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Boardroom

Milos Dimitrijevic minds the shop at Radnik Surdulica

“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Milos Dimitrijevic recited it perfectly.

Market

Ayouba Kosiah 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 Radnik Surdulica can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Milan Stamenković is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Radnik Surdulica is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Vukašin Bogdanović signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vukašin Bogdanović commits to Radnik Surdulica for another 4 years.

Squad

Real improvement from Coby Ebere at Radnik Surdulica

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Coby Ebere is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Tempers go at Radnik Surdulica

Vukašin Bogdanović 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.

In brief

144 Edition

The Radnik Surdulica Courier

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Ayouba Kosiah has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Radnik Surdulica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Vukašin Bogdanović 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 Radnik Surdulica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Radnik Surdulica

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Novaković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Mirza Ćatović linked with a move away

The name of Mirza Ćatović keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Radnik Surdulica say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

The manager makes Tamkin Nadirov a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Radnik Surdulica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

The dugout

Stefan Vidaković 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.

In brief

140 Edition

The Radnik Surdulica Courier

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Igor Ivanović keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Radnik Surdulica may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Only the photograph left for Ayouba Kosiah

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ayouba Kosiah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Radnik Surdulica the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tamkin Nadirov stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Tamkin Nadirov and Radnik Surdulica agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Radnik Surdulica

Tamkin Nadirov 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Radnik Surdulica

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Đorđe Jovanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Coby Ebere 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.

In brief

139 Edition

The Radnik Surdulica Courier

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Coby Ebere keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Radnik Surdulica may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Only the photograph left for Darije Markočević

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darije Markočević will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Radnik Surdulica the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Radnik Surdulica

Vukašin Bogdanović 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.

Squad

Đorđe Jovanović 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.

The dugout

Filip Jović 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.

The dugout

Pedro Empis has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Radnik Surdulica 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.

In brief

131 Edition

The Radnik Surdulica Courier

29 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Pedro Empis breaks a bone — 66 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Vukašin Bogdanović scores twice — 8.93

Two goals and a mark of 8.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Martin Novaković beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

Radnik Surdulica agree $80.0K for Nikola Vasiljević

The clubs have shaken hands with Javor-Matis; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Market

Only the photograph left for Darije Markočević

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darije Markočević will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Radnik Surdulica the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Radnik Surdulica

Vukašin Bogdanović 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.

Squad

Words at Radnik Surdulica training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Đorđe Jovanović 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.

Match

Vukašin Bogdanović the difference as Radnik Surdulica beat TSC

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vukašin Bogdanović. 2‑0 against TSC, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The dugout

Luka Ivic: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.

In brief