Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Kolar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around ND Gorica the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ND Gorica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miha Žejen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at ND Gorica 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.
In brief
The dugoutMarko Musulin knocks on the manager’s door
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Miha Žejen
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at ND Gorica is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Marko Musulin 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.
Boardroom26 Nov 2029
Nobody left the ND Gorica dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
4 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Miha Žejen 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gregor Lovric after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at ND Gorica pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“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 ND Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gregor Lovric after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at ND Gorica has been clear about where Ladji Mory Kane stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutLuka Kolar has become a man the manager trusts
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around ND Gorica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ND Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Marko Musulin 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Timi Handanovic, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Gregor Lovric to a room that had heard them before.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Luka Guček has his answer from ND Gorica; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.06, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miha Žejen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at ND Gorica pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“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 ND Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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 easiest signature of my career.” Ladji Mory Kane and ND Gorica agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Gregor Lovric left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tien Goga provided it, and the 8.90 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Kolar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around ND Gorica the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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 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.
Marked 8.37. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at ND Gorica.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Karlo Tomašec 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.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Nura Salisu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
ND Gorica ran out of time with NK Celje. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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 Miha Žejen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout10 Sep 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Gregor Lovric left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Luka Kolar is on it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at ND Gorica has been clear about where Riccardo Di Trolio stands, which is more than many ever get.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Kolar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around ND Gorica the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs have shaken hands with NK Maribor; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. ND Gorica have done the hard part with NK Celje, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 12 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at ND Gorica 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.
Miha Žejen 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 Marko Musulin 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. Aris have kept their man, and ND Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
ND Gorica asked and NK Domzale said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica 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 Miha Žejen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Tien Goga did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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.
Minute 95, against NK Domzale, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Leon Bičanić has his answer from ND Gorica; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around ND Gorica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Timi Handanovic, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 7.60
A mark of 7.60 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Three points for ND Gorica, 3‑2 the final word against NK Krka in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and ND Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Timi Handanovic 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
ND Gorica and NK Celje have settled on $3.9M. 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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Tien Goga did not need any: 7.83, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Aljaž Zalaznik is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Koper have kept their man, and ND Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miha Žejen 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around ND Gorica people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around ND Gorica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Tien Goga did not need any: 8.30, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 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.
The clubs have shaken hands with Olimpija Ljubljana; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ND Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
At 22 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.
ND Gorica asked and NK Domzale said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Miha Žejen 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 25 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.
A conversation is coming this week. ND Gorica will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Marko Musulin 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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Domzale have kept their man, and ND Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miha Žejen 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.
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 Luka Kolar is on it.
$1.9M settles it between the clubs for Luka Brekalo
NK Domzale have accepted the money. What ND Gorica do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The name of Alen Korošec has come up in conversations ND Gorica were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Everything agreed with NK Domzale, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
ND Gorica had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Crvena Zvezda, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marko Musulin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Michael Pavlović is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marko Musulin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. ND Gorica told Luka Kolar something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marko Musulin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Karlo Tomašec are not good
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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.
Nobody at ND Gorica 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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee ND Gorica could ask drops and the wages Michael Pavlović can ask rise.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Taj Rožič Šuligoj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Aljaž Zalaznik and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miha Žejen 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.
Nobody at ND Gorica 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ND Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Luka Guček has written the date down.
Miha Žejen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marko Musulin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica 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 Miha Žejen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 Luka Guček has written the date down.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Miha Žejen
SquadLuka Baruca is the talk of the training ground
Aljaž Zalaznik and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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.
Nobody at ND Gorica 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at ND Gorica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Olimpija Ljubljana go through and ND Gorica go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica 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 Marko Musulin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout26 Feb 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Gregor Lovric left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Luka Kolar is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miha Žejen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica 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 Marko Musulin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
ND Gorica asked and Panathinaikos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 Michael Pavlović is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miha Žejen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Aljaž Zalaznik’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Marko Musulin 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.
ND Gorica asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miha Žejen 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gregor Sikosek is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jure Kampl has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Luka Balkovec is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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 Mattia Chiesa is on 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 ND Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
ND Gorica close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
ND Gorica asked and NK Domzale said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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 easiest signature of my career.” Luka Baruca and ND Gorica agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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 deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. ND Gorica will try again when the window opens; NK Domzale may not be selling by then.
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. Timi Handanovic has moved up it.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
The offer from Shooting Stars for Alen Korošec was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Everything agreed with Olimpija Ljubljana, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ajax is saying, and nobody at ND Gorica is enjoying the guessing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Prosper Obiora Nwachukwu and ND Gorica agree another 4 years.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
ND Gorica asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ND Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ND Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ND Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
$95.0K settles it between the clubs for Robert Ilicic
NK Domzale have accepted the money. What ND Gorica do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
ND Gorica asked and NK Domzale said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Pavlović 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.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Pavlović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ND Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. ND Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at ND Gorica 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Luka Kolar
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ND Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Pavlović 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ND Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at ND Gorica, another week without a signature from Kristjan Laščak.
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 Mattia Chiesa is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Pavlović 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.
He is 22 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.
4 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.
Alen Korošec 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Guček 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Gregor Lovric left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ND Gorica, 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 ND Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
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.
He is 23 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Luka Guček will call it something else in private.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Rene Prodanović 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ryley Reynolds will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around ND Gorica the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Pavlović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It needed Prosper Obiora Nwachukwu to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Rudar Velenje, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Marko Musulin 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ND Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Luka Baruca’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and ND Gorica needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Nura Salisu, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.06
A mark of 8.06 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ND Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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 Michael Pavlović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
“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 ND Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marko Musulin 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between ND Gorica and NK Maribor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Simon Van Lierde has, at ND Gorica, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Filip Pobi has gone, the accounts have $850.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
$300.0K settles it between the clubs for Lukas Tomažič
Rudar Velenje have accepted the money. What ND Gorica do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Olimpija Ljubljana paid $850.0K and ND Gorica took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
$110.0K was the most the club would pay and NK Domzale were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ND Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 ND Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with NK Domzale; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The phone has started ringing about Alen Korošec again, and this time the name on the line is Shooting Stars. ND Gorica are listening politely and promising nothing.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around ND Gorica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Fleetwood Town 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 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 ND Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
ND Gorica offered $680.0K; NK Domzale said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica 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 Marko Musulin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
ND Gorica have made the call to Milton Keynes Dons. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ND Gorica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer went to NK Domzale this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. ND Gorica have done the hard part with NK Maribor, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. ND Gorica will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Pavlović 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.
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 Tien Goga is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. ND Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutAlen Jurca asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and NK Domzale waiting with a shirt. Nobody at ND Gorica is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AEK is saying, and nobody at ND Gorica is enjoying the guessing.
Andrija Drljo 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 Jun 2028
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Baltika have kept their man, and ND Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A loan enquiry to Rayo Vallecano: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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 medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Mattia Chiesa, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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.
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 Tien Goga is on it.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Pavlović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at ND Gorica has been clear about where Karlo Tomašec stands, which is more than many ever get.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. ND Gorica told Domen Žur something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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 Tien Goga is on it.
In brief
The dugoutAndrija Drljo asks for a word with the manager
Rene Prodanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at ND Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Musulin 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at ND Gorica, another week without a signature from Michael Pavlović.
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 Tien Goga is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ND Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Karlo Tomašec 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.
“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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at ND Gorica would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alen Jurca will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around ND Gorica the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Alen Jurca has agreed terms with NK Maribor for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Aljaž Zalaznik 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 Marko Musulin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
ND Gorica ran out of time with Olimpija Ljubljana. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. ND Gorica will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.