Sabur Ali

Right Back - Rudar Velenje
29 Jan 2027
Friday
Process

Marked for Sabur Ali

26 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Francesco Tahiraj hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rudar Velenje can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Shola Ogundana is a medical away from Rudar Velenje

The deal with Dynamo Kyiv 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.

Transfer targets

Mate Antunović turns down Rudar Velenje

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Lokomotiva Zagreb keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Rok Kidrič

Rudar Velenje asked and Admira Wacker said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

A row about effort at Rudar Velenje

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lejs Pličanić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Dawid Drachal is in the works

Rudar Velenje have made the call to Jagiellonia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

Marko Simić gets picked when it counts

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 Marko Simić is on it.

The dugout

Tilen Rajter Krebs 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 Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Lukas Tomažič story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lukas Tomažič signs something — a contract at Rudar Velenje or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

Back issues
25 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Dejan Kuzmanović says Rudar Velenje went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Adam Vošnjak 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 targets

NK Celje tell Rudar Velenje: Florjan Jevšenak is not for sale

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.

Squad

Tijan Vasić 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 Rudar Velenje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Tilen Rajter Krebs'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.

The dugout

Denny Tiganj has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Rudar Velenje 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

24 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at Rudar Velenje

Ante Kozina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Adam Vošnjak 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 targets

NK Celje tell Rudar Velenje: Artemijus Tutyškinas is not for sale

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.

Loan watch

Ajdin Kadrić has seen enough of ND Gorica

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rudar Velenje, and 6 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.

Transfer targets

Rudar Velenje ask about Nik Prelec

A loan enquiry to Jagiellonia: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

Rudar Velenje ask about Mate Antunović

A loan enquiry to Lokomotiva Zagreb: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Squad

Davit Kobouri has outgrown this division

There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Rudar Velenje know it, and so does everybody who watches him.

The dugout

When it matters, Francesco Tahiraj plays

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 dugout

Sabur Ali 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 Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

23 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Rudar Velenje 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.

Market

Sabur Ali asks to leave Rudar Velenje

“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.

Market

Rudar Velenje turn down Koper for Tomislav Knežević

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rudar Velenje

Ante Kozina 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.

Squad

Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Vokić 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.

Market

ND Gorica join the queue for Anas Ibrahimović

Add another name to the list: ND Gorica have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Anas Ibrahimović. The answer from Rudar Velenje has not changed — yet.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Josip Perković

“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.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Davit Kobouri is in the works

Rudar Velenje have made the call to Olimpija Ljubljana. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

Rudar Velenje try to borrow Artemijus Tutyškinas

NK Celje 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.

In brief

20 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Tomislav Knežević: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rudar Velenje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Anas Ibrahimović hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rudar Velenje can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Dejan Vokić 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Rudar Velenje

Gašper Gaberšek Rotovnik 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.

Loan watch

Ajdin Kadrić has seen enough of ND Gorica

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rudar Velenje, and 6 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.

The dugout

Ante Kozina 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 Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Francesco Tahiraj gets picked when it counts

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 Francesco Tahiraj is on it.

Squad

Tijan Vasić wants out of the dugout

“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Rudar Velenje will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.

Market

The Sabur Ali question follows Rudar Velenje around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sabur Ali’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

18 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A row about effort at Rudar Velenje

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Vošnjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Sabur Ali 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 Rudar Velenje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Gašper Gaberšek Rotovnik

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gašper Gaberšek Rotovnik, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Marko Simić gets picked when it counts

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 Marko Simić is on it.

The dugout

Sabur Ali 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 Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

Marko Simić has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Rudar Velenje will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

The dugout

The manager makes Dejan Kuzmanović a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Rudar Velenje. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Market

Josip Perković placed on the list

Rudar Velenje have made Josip Perković available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

Market

The Lukas Tomažič story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lukas Tomažič signs something — a contract at Rudar Velenje or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

16 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Both of them Dejan Vokić's — 8.45

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.45, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A falling-out at Rudar Velenje

Ante Kozina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

NK Krka take the points off Rudar Velenje

Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

A row about effort at Rudar Velenje

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dejan Vokić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Sabur Ali runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

No hiding place for Denny Tiganj

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Denny Tiganj, and the manager let it.

The dugout

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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Kevin Bijol to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Rudar Velenje

Something was said to Josip Perković and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

Squad

Tilen Rajter Krebs, 20, is the weekend’s best young player

Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Rudar Velenje would like this to lead.

In brief

12 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Sabur Ali

Successful dribbles: 42. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

No end in sight to Rudar Velenje's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rudar Velenje has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Denny Tiganj keeps Rudar Velenje in it on his own

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Rudar Velenje

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Vošnjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for Rudar Velenje against NK Domzale

0‑2 to NK Domzale, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Dejan Kuzmanović

“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 dugout

Kevin Bijol answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Market

No place for Lukas Tomažič in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lukas Tomažič has his answer from Rudar Velenje; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Squad

“I want to play”: Gašper Gaberšek Rotovnik speaks

“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.

In brief

11 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Every point is an argument now for Rudar Velenje

Position 9 and 4 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.

Match

The wait goes on for Rudar Velenje

8 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.

Market

Josip Perković asks to leave Rudar Velenje

“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 ratings

Sabur Ali was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 23. 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.

Squad

Tilen Rajter Krebs signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tilen Rajter Krebs and Rudar Velenje agree another 4 years.

Squad

Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Vokić 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.

Match

NK Krsko take the points off Rudar Velenje

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rudar Velenje

Tijan Vasić 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 dugout

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 Kevin Bijol left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

8 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Denny Tiganj

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

5 matches without a win for Rudar Velenje

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Rudar Velenje are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A falling-out at Rudar Velenje

Ante Kozina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Dejan Vokić 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.

Match

Olimpija Ljubljana take the points off Rudar Velenje

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

Kevin Bijol: “No excuses”

“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.

Looking ahead

Aljaž Krefl goes back to face NK Celje

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Aljaž Krefl’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Rudar Velenje needing him to play as if none of it matters.

Market

The shop window has Sabur Ali in it

Rudar Velenje have let the market know Sabur Ali can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

The dugout

Dejan Kuzmanović 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 Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

7 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Rudar Velenje sink to position 8

4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Transfer targets

Wiktor Kamiński turns down Rudar Velenje

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Slask keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Match

4 matches without a win for Rudar Velenje

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Rudar Velenje are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Dejan Vokić 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Sabur Ali

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Luka Stojković

Rudar Velenje asked and Dinamo Zagreb said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

A bad afternoon for Rudar Velenje against NK Krka

0‑1 to NK Krka, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for Josip Perković

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josip Perković, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Kevin Bijol: “No excuses”

“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.

In brief

5 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Sabur Ali puts it in writing

“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 Rudar Velenje, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Sven Šunta

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Rudar Velenje have done the hard part with Dinamo Zagreb, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Transfer targets

Haris Mujanić turns down Rudar Velenje

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Koper keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Vokić 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.

Transfer targets

Rudar Velenje rebuffed over Jan Repas

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AEK have kept their man, and Rudar Velenje go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

A bad afternoon for Rudar Velenje against Koper

0‑1 to Koper, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

14 new faces, and Rudar Velenje 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 dugout

Kevin Bijol faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Kevin Bijol after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Wiktor Kamiński is in the works

Rudar Velenje have made the call to Slask. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

4 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Elmir Avdić sends Rudar Velenje through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Elmir Avdić obliged against NK Zavrc. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Rudar Velenje.

Squad

Denny Tiganj keeps Rudar Velenje in it on his own

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.

Match

Rudar Velenje win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 117th minute. NK Zavrc will replay every second of the added time for a week.

Player ratings

Elmir Avdić, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.83

A mark of 7.83 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.

Player ratings

Marko Simić runs at them all day

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Rudar Velenje

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dejan Vokić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Rudar Velenje rebuffed over Rok Kidrič

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Admira Wacker have kept their man, and Rudar Velenje go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

ND Gorica take the points off Rudar Velenje

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The terraces

One of their own: Rocco Vicol

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.

In brief

2 Edition

The Rudar Velenje Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Sabur Ali runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Anas Ibrahimović hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rudar Velenje can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Tijan Vasić due for a Rudar Velenje medical

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Rudar Velenje

Lejs Pličanić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Vokić 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.

Transfer targets

Rudar Velenje rebuffed over Matej Tadič

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Maribor have kept their man, and Rudar Velenje go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Nejc Elsnik steps up from the Rudar Velenje academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nejc Elsnik 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.

Market

Domen Brekalo steps up from the Rudar Velenje academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Domen 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.

Market

One of our own: Petar Cerin joins the Rudar Velenje first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Petar Cerin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

In brief