Marked for Arnis Ademi
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Oct 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cibalia can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Ivo Vukić in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.87, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match26 Oct 2030
Imotski made Cibalia work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad28 Oct 2030
35 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Arnis Ademi gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
A defender's afternoon for Ivo Vukić
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
Luan Santos leaves them behind him
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Oct 2030
The wait goes on for Cibalia
6 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.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Noel Kocijančić: 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.” Cibalia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Ivo Vukić in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
A defender's afternoon for Ivo Vukić
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Marko Galić left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Marko Galić will call it something else in private.
Match19 Oct 2030
Point won or two lost for Cibalia?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Lucko? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market21 Oct 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with David Žabec’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Sep 2030
There were 12 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Ivo Vukić in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom9 Sep 2030
Cibalia counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Cibalia now.
Match7 Sep 2030
Three points for Cibalia, 2‑1 the final word against Zadar in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
Marked 8.94 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad9 Sep 2030
30 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
Marked 8.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad9 Sep 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arnis Ademi, and the manager let it.
Boardroom9 Sep 2030
89% of the income goes out in wages at Cibalia
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Aug 2030
130 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Ivo Vukić 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.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Aug 2030
The manager makes an example of Douglas
“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.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.60 on the card, and the Cibalia support went home talking about one name.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Petar Brlek 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.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
The one thing Luan Santos could not do
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Match17 Aug 2030
Cibalia and Lucko cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Lucko came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Aug 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cibalia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Aug 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cibalia can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings12 Aug 2030
Defensive actions: 28, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings12 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Petar Brlek in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom12 Aug 2030
Cibalia counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Cibalia now.
Player ratings12 Aug 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad12 Aug 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arnis Ademi, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Petar Brlek knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cibalia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cibalia can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Petar Brlek in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom15 Jul 2030
Cibalia counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Cibalia now.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Arnis Ademi 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.
Squad15 Jul 2030
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Cibalia would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match27 May 2030
Cibalia refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 30 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad27 May 2030
Petar Brlek 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.
Squad27 May 2030
Tai Žnuderl claims the golden glove
The one award nobody else on the pitch can win goes to Tai Žnuderl, on 9 clean sheets across the season. Keepers wait a career for a season like it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Apr 2030
Petar Brlek 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.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Arnis Ademi gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Douglas knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cibalia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Mar 2030
Ivo Vukić puts it in writing
“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 Cibalia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match4 Mar 2030
Cibalia refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 30 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Karlo Vrljić: 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.” Cibalia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Feb 2030
Tai Žnuderl in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Feb 2030
The manager makes an example of Petar Brlek
“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.
Boardroom25 Feb 2030
Cibalia counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Cibalia now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Jan 2029
He is 20, he is averaging 7.05, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Renato Kelić 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonel Troncoso, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Jan 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cibalia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Renato Kelić in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arnis Ademi and Cibalia agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Jan 2029
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Cibalia have had the benefit of it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Renato Kelić 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Arnis Ademi
“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.