The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Jarun Zagreb have lost him in all but the paperwork.
7 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.
Everything agreed with NK Varazdin, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Jarun Zagreb asked and Neman said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Alfie Whiteman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Wasim Hadidi 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 easiest signature of my career.” Luka Hrvojević and Jarun Zagreb agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jarun Zagreb can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Jarun Zagreb had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lokomotiva Zagreb, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Wasim Hadidi 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Sven Šunta 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.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Abdoulaye Djiré's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Jarun Zagreb asked and Hajduk Split said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vadim Yakimchik and Jarun Zagreb agree another 3 years.
Jarun Zagreb have made the call to Lokomotiva Zagreb. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luka Hrvojević trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
A loan enquiry to Lokomotiva Zagreb: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Jarun Zagreb have made the call to HNK Rijeka. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Jarun Zagreb will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jarun Zagreb know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jarun Zagreb can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Lukas Zubović has, at Jarun Zagreb, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jarun Zagreb have done the hard part with Lokomotiva Zagreb, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Jarun Zagreb asked and HNK Vukovar 1991 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lukas Zubović commits to Jarun Zagreb for another 3 years.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Abdoulaye Djiré's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jarun Zagreb is running low.
Alfie Whiteman 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 Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jarun Zagreb, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Roger Guerra has written the date down.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 39 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Jarun Zagreb is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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 Nick Ocvirek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Jarun Zagreb can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Wasim Hadidi 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Jarun Zagreb has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jarun Zagreb can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Alfie Whiteman 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
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Abdoulaye Djiré was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Krešimir Luetić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jarun Zagreb know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jarun Zagreb told Wasim Hadidi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Abdoulaye Djiré is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Jarun Zagreb would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diego Díaz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Alfie Whiteman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Supporters organise against the Jarun Zagreb board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Wasim Hadidi 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stanley Skipper and Jarun Zagreb agree another 4 years.
“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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
Alfie Whiteman 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 Jarun Zagreb can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
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.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Jarun Zagreb can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
90% of the income goes out in wages at Jarun Zagreb
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
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 dugoutNick Ocvirek knocks on the manager’s door
Alfie Whiteman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Wasim Hadidi 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jarun Zagreb, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Vito Matijević’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jarun Zagreb lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb 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 Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jarun Zagreb lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Abdoulaye Djiré's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jarun Zagreb told Malam Malu something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Diego Díaz
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jarun Zagreb lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
Alfie Whiteman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
“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.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Benjamin Brandt was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Jarun Zagreb dressing room was either.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
The mood at Jarun Zagreb 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.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 9 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Wasim Hadidi 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.
“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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Benjamin Brandt after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Alfie Whiteman 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 Feb 2028
Wasim Hadidi 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.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Vito Matijević was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. 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.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It needed Vito Matijević to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Mladost Zdralovi, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Jadran Luka Ploce next, and one man in the Jarun Zagreb dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.11 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Jarun Zagreb 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.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jarun Zagreb have done the hard part with NK Osijek, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jarun Zagreb can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Wasim Hadidi 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Sven Šunta has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The mood at Jarun Zagreb 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.
7 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jarun Zagreb have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jarun Zagreb have done the hard part with Istra 1961, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Hajduk Split is saying, and nobody at Jarun Zagreb is enjoying the guessing.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jarun Zagreb have made the call to Hajduk Split. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Jarun Zagreb have made the call to Hajduk Split. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
Jarun Zagreb had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo Zagreb, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
Alfie Whiteman 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Wasim Hadidi 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 kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Jarun Zagreb had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
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 Jarun Zagreb can tell you which week it ends in.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
Something was said to Mario Ljevar and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
Alfie Whiteman 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb 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 Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 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.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Alfie Whiteman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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: 19. 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Saša Nardić and Jarun Zagreb agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Benjamin Brandt to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Sven Šunta, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.30
A mark of 8.30 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. António Sousa is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Vito Matijević has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vito Matijević. 2‑0 against Djakovo Croatia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jarun Zagreb have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Alfie Whiteman 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 unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nick Ocvirek. 2‑1 against Segesta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nick Ocvirek has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Jarun Zagreb can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Wasim Hadidi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Position 11, 17 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Jarun Zagreb would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jarun Zagreb, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Jarun Zagreb can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Wasim Hadidi 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jarun Zagreb told Vito Matijević something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Marked 7.25 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Jarun Zagreb had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Benjamin Brandt chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Supporters organise against the Jarun Zagreb board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jarun Zagreb told Mario Maloča something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. António Sousa is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Benjamin Brandt was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Jarun Zagreb dressing room was either.
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.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Josip Bralić decided nobody was going anywhere. Mladost Zdralovi had no time left to answer.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
A brace, and Josip Bralić takes the afternoon — 8.76
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Josip Bralić provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Sven Šunta, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.22
A mark of 8.22 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Josip Bralić. 3‑2 against Mladost Zdralovi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 23 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Mladost Zdralovi were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Wasim Hadidi 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.
“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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
Lucko next, and one man in the Jarun Zagreb dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
Alfie Whiteman 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 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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Benjamin Brandt after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jarun Zagreb lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Wasim Hadidi 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Varteks scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Jarun Zagreb can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Roger Guerra is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Wasim Hadidi 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Benjamin Brandt after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alfie Whiteman signs something — a contract at Jarun Zagreb or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Alfie Whiteman 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Wasim Hadidi 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.
At 23 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Duje Knezevic has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Duje Orsic has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Dario Erceg is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Supporters organise against the Jarun Zagreb board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 32 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Jarun Zagreb 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.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Alfie Whiteman 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Wasim Hadidi 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.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jarun Zagreb lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Jarun Zagreb asked and NK Varazdin said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Wasim Hadidi 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jarun Zagreb told Vito Matijević something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Jarun Zagreb have made the call to Hajduk Split. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Dinamo Zagreb have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jarun Zagreb lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Jarun Zagreb asked and NK Osijek said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
16 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Benjamin Brandt after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Jarun Zagreb have made the call to Dinamo Zagreb. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
63 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jarun Zagreb lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Uskok spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdoulaye Djiré did not need any: 8.03, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
He is 21 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.
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.
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jarun Zagreb lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
9 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.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Rijeka have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Robert Pjaca is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Wasim Hadidi 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.
17 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.
Jarun Zagreb have made the call to Hajduk Split. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Jarun Zagreb lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Alfie Whiteman 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 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Jarun Zagreb asked and Rudes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mate Erceg 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. Antonio Orsic 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. Marin Stanisic 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stipe Perisic has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jarun Zagreb lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb 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 Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The bill for the sacking has arrived. Jack Young leaves with $509.9K for the time left on his deal, and that money buys the club nothing it can put on the pitch.
The words a physio says slowly. 118 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.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Jarun Zagreb
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Jarun Zagreb asked and HNK Rijeka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jarun Zagreb. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Dinamo Zagreb have accepted the money. What Jarun Zagreb do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Jarun Zagreb had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at NK Osijek, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Alfie Whiteman 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Osijek have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wasim Hadidi 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abdoulaye Djiré signs something — a contract at Jarun Zagreb or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jarun Zagreb can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Kimi Szwajcer is living that version at Jarun Zagreb, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb 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 Wasim Hadidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Abdoulaye Djiré is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.