Marked for Lucas Daubenfeld
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kabel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kabel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Kabel
Petar Đuričković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Kabel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vukašin Krstić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Nikola Terzić's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market13 Mar 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
A promise honoured at Kabel
Something was said to Lucas Daubenfeld and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Ian Kamga 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Kabel. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
Andrija Savić damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Squad22 Mar 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 Kabel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“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
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kabel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Kabel
Miljan Momčilović 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
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Kabel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Kabel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Strahinja Pantić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
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 dugout15 Mar 2027
Strahinja Pantić is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kabel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Mar 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.