Marked for Jack Fanning
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom23 Jul 2029
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
The terraces23 Jul 2029
Anger at Uskok spills outside the ground
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.
Boardroom23 Jul 2029
A stranger takes charge at Uskok
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
Market23 Jul 2029
Mihael Bužić hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Market23 Jul 2029
Ante Žužul has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Uskok they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom23 Jul 2029
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
The dugout23 Jul 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Uskok may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Boardroom23 Jul 2029
Graduation day at Uskok
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 May 2029
Only the photograph left for Lovro Gubijan
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lovro Gubijan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Uskok the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market21 May 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Uskok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 May 2029
Tempers go at Uskok
Karlo Darojković 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 dugout21 May 2029
This is not rotation. Hjalte Froholdt has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Uskok is pretending otherwise.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Uskok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Bužić 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.
Boardroom21 May 2029
Uskok cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Market21 May 2029
David Vydra is 18, and Uskok have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout21 May 2029
Lovro Gubijan knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lovro Gubijan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 May 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom14 May 2029
Pressure builds in the Uskok boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market14 May 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 May 2029
Tempers go at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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 May 2029
Mihael Bužić 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.
Boardroom14 May 2029
115% of the income goes out in wages at Uskok
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.
Squad14 May 2029
A last season at home is what Michele Diana is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout14 May 2029
Vito Čilić gets picked when it counts
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 Vito Čilić is on it.
The dugout14 May 2029
Lovro Gubijan asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout14 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jack Fanning, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom16 Apr 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Uskok
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market16 Apr 2029
Tiago Duarte hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Mihael Bužić 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.
Boardroom16 Apr 2029
Wages eat 128% of everything Uskok earn
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.
Market16 Apr 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Uskok, another week without a signature from Ante Žužul.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Vito Čilić has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Uskok 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 dugout16 Apr 2029
Mihael Bužić asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Apr 2029
Marko Zubaj has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Uskok they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market9 Apr 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom9 Apr 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Marko Zubaj has agreed terms with Kustosija for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad9 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uskok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Uskok
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihael Bužić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom9 Apr 2029
The borrowing at Uskok reaches $9.7M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $9.7M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Market9 Apr 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“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 Uskok know it.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
Karlo Darojković has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Uskok 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
Pressure builds in the Uskok boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market19 Mar 2029
Tiago Duarte hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uskok can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Mihael Bužić 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.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
Wages eat 142% of everything Uskok earn
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.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Vito Čilić has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Uskok 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 dugout19 Mar 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Karlo Darojković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Mar 2029
Still no signature from Ante Žužul
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Uskok could get for him.
Market19 Mar 2029
The name of Marin Kuzmanić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Uskok say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Mar 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Uskok
Karlo Darojković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Mihael Bužić 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.
Boardroom12 Mar 2029
The borrowing at Uskok reaches $9.8M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $9.8M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Market12 Mar 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Uskok, another week without a signature from Lovro Gubijan.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
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 Karlo Darojković is on it.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Karlo Darojković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Mar 2029
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Uskok are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jack Fanning, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces13 Nov 2028
The mood at Uskok 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.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
Jack Fanning: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Uskok have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad13 Nov 2028
A falling-out at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Uskok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Bužić 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom13 Nov 2028
The Uskok debt reaches $9.4M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Match13 Nov 2028
Halfway: Uskok sit in position 14
13 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Market13 Nov 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Uskok, another week without a signature from Karlo Darojković.
Squad13 Nov 2028
8 new faces, and Uskok are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces16 Oct 2028
The mood at Uskok 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.
Market16 Oct 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Uskok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uskok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Uskok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Bužić 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.
Boardroom16 Oct 2028
The Uskok debt reaches $9.2M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Uskok are still strangers to each other
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Karlo Darojković has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Uskok 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 dugout16 Oct 2028
Karlo Darojković asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Jack Fanning
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 May 2028
Every point is an argument now for Uskok
Position 14 and 29 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.
Market22 May 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 May 2028
Tempers go at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan 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.
Boardroom22 May 2028
The numbers do not look good at Uskok
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The dugout22 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Jack Fanning
“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.
Squad22 May 2028
A row about effort at Uskok
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathis Romder was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 May 2028
Karlo Darojković asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout22 May 2028
The manager makes Tiago Duarte a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Uskok. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad22 May 2028
The penny has dropped for Filip Mažar
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Uskok the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Feb 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Uskok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Uskok
Lovro Gubijan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Jack Fanning gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jack Fanning has just signed for Uskok, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Uskok asked and Istra 1961 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Uskok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Bužić 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 terraces14 Feb 2028
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.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
Wages eat 126% of everything Uskok earn
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.
Market14 Feb 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Nobody on the pitch touched Lovro Gubijan
7.41, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Uskok had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.