Marked for Žan Kovačevič
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Jul 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against NK Zavrc, and it could have been more.
Match31 Jul 2027
At last: NK Krka win one
13 matches without a win, and then this, against NK Zavrc. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around NK Krka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market2 Aug 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at NK Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Domen Žur: 10 seasons and counting
125 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and NK Krka know exactly what they have.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Andraž Lipec in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Šimunović 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Feb 2027
NK Krka sink to position 8
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at NK Krka
Luka Šimunović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at NK Krka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gašper Vodeb was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tilen Kovačić, and the manager let it.
Market22 Feb 2027
The Luka Čadež story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Luka Čadež signs something — a contract at NK Krka or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout22 Feb 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
The shop window has Andraž Lipec in it
NK Krka have let the market know Andraž Lipec can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Jakob Štrukelj knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at NK Krka, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Žan Kovačevič is not doing himself any favours
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
11 matches without a win for NK Krka
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around NK Krka are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The knee: Erik Oblak out for 40 days
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. NK Krka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market16 Nov 2026
“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 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Marko Brkić, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.63
A mark of 7.63 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Andraž Lipec in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at NK Krka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luka Šimunović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match14 Nov 2026
1‑2 to Rudar Velenje, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
No hiding place for Nik Kapun
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nik Kapun, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
13 saves: Luka Čadež was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match24 Oct 2026
8 matches without a win for NK Krka
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around NK Krka are no longer polite ones.
Match24 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted NK Krka
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at NK Krka can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Šimunović 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.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
NK Krka face NK Krsko in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A defender's afternoon for Gašper Vodeb
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
No hiding place for Tai Meze
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tai Meze, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and NK Krka 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match17 Oct 2026
7 matches without a win for NK Krka
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around NK Krka are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Šimunović 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Jan Cedilnik 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Leon Bičanić
“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 dugout19 Oct 2026
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 Sandi Skubic left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for NK Krka
Position 8 and 6 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
5 matches without a win for NK Krka
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around NK Krka are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at NK Krka
Andraž Lipec 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
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 Oct 2026
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Šimunović 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
95% of the income goes out in wages at NK Krka
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Match3 Oct 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Niko Domjanić
“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.
Market5 Oct 2026
NK Krka and Nik Kapun are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Luka Šimunović 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Rudar Velenje left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vid Brekalo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Benjamin Kampl has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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 Sandi Skubic left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Kobi Bajc 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match29 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against NK Krsko, and it could have been more.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.51 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A defender's goal wins it for NK Krka — 7.58
1 for Domen Žur, marked 7.58, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
No deal for Alen Jurca at that price
NK Krka offered $330.0K; ND Gorica 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Luka Šimunović 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at NK Krka
Jan Cedilnik 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 terraces31 Aug 2026
NK Krka supporters have found a favourite in Marko Brkić
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Marko Brkić 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
Andraž Lipec 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at NK Krka
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Aug 2026
Sesvete come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and NK Krka did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$880.0K on the table at NK Maribor. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad17 Aug 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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
NK Celje wanted more than $240.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Dynamo Kyiv 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Žan Kovačevič, 20, steals the show — 7.98
Marked 7.98 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at NK Krka
Andraž Lipec and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at NK Krka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luka Šimunović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tomas Bijol has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jure Janza 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Timi Sesko 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.85, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luka Čadež and NK Krka agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at NK Krka
Andraž Lipec 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
ND Gorica left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Gregor Medle 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and NK Krka 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 dugout3 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
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Squad
Tilen Mlakar falls out with a teammate over standards
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Žiga Pečjak is in the works
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Kobi Bajc is in the works