The mood at Cibalia has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Cibalia can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cibalia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Kralj 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” David Bosak has his answer from Cibalia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Cibalia can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Marko Pervan 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cibalia 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 Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domagoj Antolić 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivo Kralj, and the manager let it.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Andrija Bubnjar was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Domagoj Antolić 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Bruno Goda 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Bruno Goda 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domagoj Antolić 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cibalia can pretend not to have heard.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Domagoj Antolić 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 Jan 2028
Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Kralj 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.
The offer from HNK Vukovar 1991 for David Bosak 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.
Domagoj Antolić 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Bruno Goda 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Domagoj Antolić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Andrija Bubnjar 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 Jan 2028
Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Goda 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.
The phone has started ringing about David Bosak again, and this time the name on the line is HNK Vukovar 1991. Cibalia are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I did not go to Hrvatski Dragovoljac to sit and watch. I want to come back to Cibalia and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 29 matches say the rest.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kelian Le Pironnec is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cibalia, and 8 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
In brief
The terracesThe stands have heard the Luciano Pereyra talk too