“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 The request is on a desk at Djakovo Croatia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Toni Vidović 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 Matija Kanceljak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Fran Ivan Marić. 1‑0 against Hrvace, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
16 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Djakovo Croatia, and it is not being withdrawn.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Djakovo Croatia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Toni Vidović 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Djakovo Croatia has to find a result from somewhere.
13 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Djakovo Croatia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Djakovo Croatia and Croatia Zmijavci, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Fran Ivan Marić 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 Matija Kanceljak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Djakovo Croatia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bojan Rebic has his answer from Djakovo Croatia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Petar Krišto
Player ratingsHenrique Martins did the work nobody counts — 7.27
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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Djakovo Croatia 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. King has, at Djakovo Croatia, 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 Bojan Rebic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Djakovo Croatia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Two goals and a mark of 8.77 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Djakovo Croatia, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
The deal with Lokomotiva 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.
Toni Vidović 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.
“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 Djakovo Croatia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karlo Darojković 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Djakovo Croatia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
Mahmoud Dunga 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Djakovo Croatia has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Djakovo Croatia could ask drops and the wages Matija Kanceljak can ask rise.
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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alexandr Pashkov scored, was marked 7.78, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Toni Vidović 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. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bojan Rebic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Pashkov. 1‑0 against Solin, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Toni Vidović 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 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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Djakovo Croatia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
5 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mahmoud Dunga has his answer from Djakovo Croatia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 Oct 2031
Mahmoud Dunga 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Djakovo Croatia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Djakovo Croatia can pretend not to have heard.
The target is Valentín Bianchi, the approach is real, and the compensation clause is the whole conversation. Clubs deny this kind of story right up until the photograph.
8 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.
Filip Pirš 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Djakovo Croatia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Toni Vidović 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 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 Radnik Krizevci: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Djakovo Croatia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Djakovo Croatia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Djakovo Croatia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Djakovo Croatia could ask drops and the wages Josip Buhinjak can ask rise.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Djakovo Croatia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Toni Vidović 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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
“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; Djakovo Croatia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tonći Mujan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Djakovo Croatia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.