39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Niko Galešić 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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Ante Rebić 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bruno Bogojević signs something — a contract at HNK Gorica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutFilip Mrzljak knocks on the manager's door
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ante Rebić 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.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Borna Sosa 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.
0‑2 to NK Osijek, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Martin Srna to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 86 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica 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 HNK Gorica 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 Ante Rebić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Borna Sosa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. HNK Gorica know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
“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 HNK Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. HNK Gorica have done the hard part with NK Varazdin, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Ante Rebić 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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Borna Sosa 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.
HNK Gorica asked and Lokomotiva Zagreb said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
At 21 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and HNK Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Borna Sosa 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.
Slavia Prague 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bruno Bogojević is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. HNK Gorica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around HNK Gorica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jakov Filipović and HNK Gorica agree another 2 years.
Niko Galešić 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.
HNK Gorica asked and Argentinos Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at HNK Gorica is running low.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jakov Filipović and HNK Gorica agree another 2 years.
HNK Gorica asked and Krasnodar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at HNK Gorica, another week without a signature from Davor Matijaš.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around HNK Gorica people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 HNK Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ante Rebić 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.
At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Niko Galešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Everything agreed with Crvena Zvezda, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
HNK Gorica 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 Ante Rebić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Rocco Žiković 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.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Marin Kuzmanić is living that version at HNK Gorica, and it tends to show in the first month.
$920.0K was the most the club would pay and Hajduk Split were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Stevanović 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. HNK Gorica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at HNK Gorica
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Ante Rebić 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Niko Galešić 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 HNK Gorica can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at HNK Gorica, another week without a signature from Davor Matijaš.
HNK Gorica have made the call to FC Augsburg. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nizhniy Novgorod 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.
In brief
The dugoutAnte Rebić has become a man the manager trusts
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
Niko Galešić 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 Ante Rebić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roko Vojvodić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee HNK Gorica could ask drops and the wages Arno Van Keilegom can ask rise.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
Ante Rebić 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Niko Kazija has just signed for HNK Gorica, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad14 May 2029
Niko Galešić 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 never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Niko Galešić 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ante Rebić 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Tom Lacoux is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee HNK Gorica could ask drops and the wages Arno Van Keilegom can ask rise.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at HNK Gorica is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ante Rebić 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Niko Galešić 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.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ante Rebić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rocco Žiković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee HNK Gorica could ask drops and the wages Davor Matijaš can ask rise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica 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 Niko Galešić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Patrik Mijić is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
Lokomotiva Zagreb go through and HNK Gorica go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
Niko Galešić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Ante Rebić 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 never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
“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 HNK Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Niko Galešić 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.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Ante Rebić 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.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around HNK Gorica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ante Rebić 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Dino Modric 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. Marko Boric 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. Matej Bilic 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Stevanović 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Niko Galešić is on it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation HNK Gorica are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Abdoulaye Cissé has just signed for HNK Gorica, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Ante Rebić 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at HNK Gorica has been clear about where Ante Kuliš stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 HNK Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
HNK Gorica close the window on a squad of their own making
8 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Niko Galešić 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 Ante Rebić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
HNK Gorica asked and Krasnodar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
8 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.
In brief
The dugoutTom Lacoux has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Fran Stunja
The dugoutLuka Vrzić asks for a word with the manager
The words a physio says slowly. 69 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
Niko Galešić 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 Ante Rebić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ante Rebić is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrik Mijić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HNK Gorica lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 8 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica 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 Fran Brodić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Patrik Mijić will call it something else in private.