Marked for David Pejičić
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
Words at NK Maribor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petar Stojanović 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Lan Vidmar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 May 2027
A promise honoured at NK Maribor
Something was said to Bradley M'Bondo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Loan watch17 May 2027
10 goals on loan for Tine Čuk
28 appearances at Ilirija 1911 and the goals keep coming. NK Maribor are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Loan watch17 May 2027
The goals keep arriving from Nik Belovič’s exile
9 goals in 22 games at Jadran Dekani — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at NK Maribor updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout17 May 2027
Čedomir Bumbić has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at NK Maribor 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.
Market17 May 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NK Maribor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Match17 May 2027
NK Maribor in the hunt for Europe
Position 4, 26 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Loan watch17 May 2027
The goals keep arriving from Orphé Mbina’s exile
5 goals in 21 games at Sabah — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at NK Maribor updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 May 2027
Čedomir Bumbić has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Maribor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 May 2027
Petar Stojanović 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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
9 clean sheets on loan for Urban Trobec
24 appearances at Hrvatski Dragovoljac and the goals have stopped going in. NK Maribor lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Market10 May 2027
The name of Mark Španring keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Maribor say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout10 May 2027
Isaac Tshipamba has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at NK Maribor 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 dugout10 May 2027
Žiga Repas has been promised minutes
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 Žiga Repas has written the date down.
Squad10 May 2027
Čedomir Bumbić has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Squad10 May 2027
The language is coming and there is somebody to talk to in the dressing room. A footballer who feels at home plays like one, and it never shows up in a scouting report.
The dugout10 May 2027
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Mark Španring has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Luka Mlakar commits to NK Maribor for another 4 years.
Squad3 May 2027
Petar Stojanović 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 dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Luka Mlakar
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Stefan Melentijević 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. David Pejičić has moved up it.
Market3 May 2027
The name of Luka Zahovič keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Maribor say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout3 May 2027
When it matters, Ali Reghba plays
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.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes Hilal Soudani a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at NK Maribor. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Loan watch3 May 2027
26 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Čedomir Bumbić
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Čedomir Bumbić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Maribor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Maribor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at NK Maribor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stefan Melentijević 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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
Urban Trobec’s loan is measured in nothing happening
9 clean sheets from 24 appearances at Hrvatski Dragovoljac. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Žiga Repas 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mark Španring signs something — a contract at NK Maribor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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 Isaac Tshipamba is on it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
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 Hilal Soudani has written the date down.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
David Pejičić is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at NK Maribor
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Melentijević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
10 goals on loan for Tine Čuk
28 appearances at Ilirija 1911 and the goals keep coming. NK Maribor are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
22 appearances at Jadran Dekani and the goals keep coming. NK Maribor are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Hilal Soudani 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 Mar 2027
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 Čedomir Bumbić is on it.
Market22 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Caolan Boyd-Munce’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Match22 Mar 2027
Continental football is in reach for NK Maribor
26 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
21 appearances at Sabah and the goals keep coming. NK Maribor are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” NK Maribor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
David Pejičić is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Petar Stojanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
No hiding place for Tio Cipot
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tio Cipot, and the manager let it.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Lan Vidmar again, and this time the name on the line is Bistrica. NK Maribor are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at NK Maribor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Rekik 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.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I did not go to Jesenice to sit and watch. I want to come back to NK Maribor and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Nov 2026
0‑3 to Koper, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match28 Nov 2026
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 12 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Caolan Boyd-Munce 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Petar Stojanović 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Erik Cerin after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at NK Maribor pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stefan Melentijević, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Nov 2026
NK Maribor refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 26 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Still nobody has beaten NK Maribor
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Isaac Tshipamba: 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.” NK Maribor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Jean Michaël Seri 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 terraces23 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. David Pejičić 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hilal Soudani, and the manager let it.
Match21 Nov 2026
Primorje made NK Maribor work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at NK Maribor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Rekik 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 7.69. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Jan Mlakar runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Petar Stojanović 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Maribor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
7.19, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. NK Maribor had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Erik Cerin was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the NK Maribor dressing room was either.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of David Pejičić
“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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Point won or two lost for NK Maribor?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Bravo? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.