5 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 Uljanik Pula this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leonard Vuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 6.78, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Position 14, 11 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Enrik Ostrc was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Matic Ivanšek 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.
Nobody at Bravo 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Christian Ilić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Radomlje next, and one man in the Bravo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Bravo has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Uljanik Pula lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uljanik Pula this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Leonard Vuk 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Uljanik Pula, and 1 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
A 1‑1 draw with Trnje leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Tomislav Brekalo was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Uljanik Pula dressing room was either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bravo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matic Ivanšek 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 used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Aluminij in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Uljanik Pula lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uljanik Pula this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Uljanik Pula, and 1 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Uljanik Pula training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Pavlak 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Septemvri waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Bravo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bravo can pretend not to have heard.
5 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Kerfala Cissoko from Maritzburg United for $5.9M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Enrik Ostrc was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Uljanik Pula lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
7.85, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Uljanik Pula have done the hard part with Slaven Belupo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
13 combined actions and 6.65. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slaven Belupo have kept their man, and Uljanik Pula go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Leonard Vuk 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.
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Uljanik Pula lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uljanik Pula this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Uljanik Pula 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leonard Vuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Uljanik Pula, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The offer went to NK Celje 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.
Nikola Jovićević 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 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Gašper Jovan 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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Bravo will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
A season-long audition: Uljanik Pula still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Bravo's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
144 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Uljanik Pula 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 Uljanik Pula can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at HNK Rijeka is saying, and nobody at Uljanik Pula is enjoying the guessing.
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.
Uljanik Pula have made the call to Dinamo Zagreb. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The offer from Radomlje for Luka Lukanić 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.
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $1.4M for Nikola Jovićević, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Matic Ivanšek 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.
Bravo have made the call to Uljanik Pula. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Bravo know which stage they are at.
Dinamo Zagreb have accepted the money. What Uljanik Pula do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Uljanik Pula had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Hajduk Split, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Fran Ćavar 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.
Uljanik Pula asked and Istra 1961 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Add another name to the list: Bravo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Leonardo Draguzet. The answer from Uljanik Pula has not changed — yet.
Uljanik Pula have made the call to NK Osijek. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uljanik Pula this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Leo Perić 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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 36, with 264 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Uljanik Pula can pretend not to have heard.
Josip Tomašević 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Uljanik Pula training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonard Vuk 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Leonard Vuk
Josip Tomašević 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 Apr 2027
Words at Uljanik Pula training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonard Vuk 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 Uljanik Pula 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.
Position 5 on 49 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Uljanik Pula, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uljanik Pula this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Uljanik Pula training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonard Vuk 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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 Ivano Kolarik is on it.
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 Uljanik Pula would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“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.
HNK Rijeka asked and NK Varazdin said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at HNK Rijeka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anel Husić 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 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Rijeka know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Uljanik Pula this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. All Boys have kept their man, and Uljanik Pula go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Leo Perić 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.
Köln arrived with $20.3M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Karlovac 1919 had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Toni Fruk has gone, the accounts have $20.3M 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.
“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 HNK Rijeka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
HNK Rijeka 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anel Husić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Yusuf Kabadayı 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.