The mood at Dubrava 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dubrava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dubrava can pretend not to have heard.
Amet Korça 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Youssef Mokhtari is living that version at Dubrava, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Poldrugač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dubrava know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dubrava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 The request is on a desk at Dubrava, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Marcin Urynowicz is living that version at Dubrava, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Patrice Čović 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.
12 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dubrava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Boško Jemo signs something — a contract at Dubrava or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 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 Dubrava can pretend not to have heard.
Amet Korça 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
Patrice Čović 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.
9 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dubrava, 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 Dubrava can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Dinamo Zagreb is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The deal that would have taken Rogan Ravenhill to Trnje has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Dubrava with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Poldrugač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dubrava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Dubrava know it.
Werder Bremen 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
“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 Dubrava, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Poldrugač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ivan Miličević 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.
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. Dubrava know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Dubrava, and it is not being withdrawn.
Amet Korça 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 Jurica Poldrugač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Filston Mawana has his answer from Dubrava; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Dubrava 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.
Hajduk Split next, and one man in the Dubrava dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Brayan obliged against Hrvatski Dragovoljac. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Dubrava.
“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 Dubrava, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Brayan, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.81
A mark of 7.81 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Dubrava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jurica Poldrugač 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.
Luka Romac 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.
At 21 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.
Amet Korça 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 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Dubrava asked and TSC 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Ante Matić 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.
Position 9 and 2 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.
“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 Dubrava, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
$83.0K settles it between the clubs for Marijan Šuto
HNK Vukovar 1991 have accepted the money. What Dubrava do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Lucko moved on, Josip Cundeković reports back to Dubrava, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. MFK Michalovce have kept their man, and Dubrava go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Luka Romac 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Dubrava training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Amar Pekarić
Player ratingsThe afternoon belonged to Dario Špikić
“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 Dubrava, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chase for Filip Jagarčec ended with $520.0K changing hands and NK Varazdin out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
3 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Zagreb have kept their man, and Dubrava go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ivan Miličević 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 deal with NK Varazdin is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sheffield Wednesday is saying, and nobody at Dubrava is enjoying the guessing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Dubrava go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Dubrava 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 Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Dubrava will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Dubrava had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at NK Varazdin, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rio Ave have kept their man, and Dubrava go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Dubrava 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 Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Sheffield Wednesday: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Dubrava and NK Varazdin have settled on $650.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Dubrava asked and Reggiana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ivan Miličević 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 Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Amet Korça 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.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dubrava, another week without a signature from Josip Zeljković.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dubrava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Dubrava asked and Segesta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Amar Pekarić 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Josip Zeljković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Dubrava had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Amet Korça 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 Amar Pekarić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Dubrava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ante Matić 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.
Words at Dubrava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boško Jemo 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 call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Dubrava would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Amet Korça 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 Mar 2027
Words at Dubrava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ante Matić 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
8 new faces, and Dubrava 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.
“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.
Nobody at Dubrava 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dubrava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Brayan has, at Dubrava, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boško Jemo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dubrava know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dubrava, and both men came out saying it was fine.
37 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 7 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Dubrava 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Steyn de Haan is living that version at Dubrava, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
Dubrava asked and Admira Wacker said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
A loan enquiry to Olimpija Ljubljana: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The deal with Dinamo Zagreb is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boško Jemo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Varazdin have kept their man, and Dubrava go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Amet Korça 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Dubrava are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“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.
Nobody at Dubrava 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.
Luka Romac 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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Dubrava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ante Matić 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 taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
22 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A brace, and Fran Brodić takes the afternoon — 8.27
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fran Brodić provided it, and the 8.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Boško Jemo 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.
Luka Romac 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 20 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.
22 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and Dubrava 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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Leon Grgić did not need any: 8.11, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 20 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Amar Pekarić 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.
A 1‑1 draw with Cibalia leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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.” Boris Horvat chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dubrava know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Boško Jemo did not need any: 7.83, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boško Jemo 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Dubrava will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
12 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 dugoutThe view from the dugout
SquadLeon Grgić is the weekend's best young player