Marked for Frane Šeperac
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Nov 2032
23 days out for Iva Gelashvili after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Panserraikos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match20 Nov 2032
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings22 Nov 2032
Hélder Suker, 33, rolls back the years — 8.25
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.25 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match20 Nov 2032
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Nestos Chrysoupoli were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings22 Nov 2032
Frane Šeperac goes up and wins it — 7.89
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.89 for the rest of it.
Squad22 Nov 2032
Matej Dvoršak 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.
Squad22 Nov 2032
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rui Pedro 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 terraces22 Nov 2032
At 22 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.
Player ratings22 Nov 2032
Nikos Trikatzis was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom27 Sep 2032
Panserraikos interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
The dugout27 Sep 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Panserraikos may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Iva Gelashvili 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.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Frane Šeperac gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Frane Šeperac has just signed for Panserraikos, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Words at Panserraikos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rui Pedro 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.
Match25 Sep 2032
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout27 Sep 2032
“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 dugout27 Sep 2032
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Panserraikos are still strangers to each other
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jul 2031
“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.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Luka Romac 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.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Tomislav Krizmanić 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 Jul 2031
Kustosija 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.
Squad14 Jul 2031
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Market14 Jul 2031
The phone has started ringing about Tobias Keller again, and this time the name on the line is Trnje. Kustosija are listening politely and promising nothing.
Loan watch14 Jul 2031
“I watch every Kustosija game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at BSK Bijelo Brdo runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
NK Varazdin 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 dugout14 Jul 2031
A promise honoured for Toni Gulam
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Kustosija told Toni Gulam something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Jun 2031
“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 Kustosija, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
The deal with HNK Rijeka 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Luka Romac 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
A row about effort at Kustosija
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomislav Krizmanić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
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.
Market9 Jun 2031
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Antonio Perisic 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.
Market9 Jun 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mario Srna 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
“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; Kustosija are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 May 2031
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market5 May 2031
“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 Kustosija, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 May 2031
Luka Romac 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 Kustosija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 May 2031
The numbers do not look good at Kustosija
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad5 May 2031
Words at Kustosija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomislav Krizmanić 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.
Market5 May 2031
“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.
The dugout5 May 2031
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Mathieu Acapandié was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout5 May 2031
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kustosija, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout5 May 2031
Filip Musa 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Apr 2031
Marko Budimir damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
Market7 Apr 2031
“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 Kustosija, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Luka Romac 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 Kustosija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
The numbers do not look good at Kustosija
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Tomislav Krizmanić 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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
“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; Kustosija are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout7 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Musa, and the manager let it.
Market7 Apr 2031
The name of Tomislav Krizmanić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Kustosija say nothing, which says plenty.
Market7 Apr 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Mar 2031
Dominik Połap damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Market17 Mar 2031
“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 Kustosija, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Luka Romac 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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Words at Kustosija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomislav Krizmanić 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 dugout17 Mar 2031
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kustosija, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
Milan Orsic 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 Milan Orsic is on it.
Market17 Mar 2031
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Filip Kovačević’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Match17 Mar 2031
Kustosija have something to play for
Position 6 on 32 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.
Market17 Mar 2031
Kustosija have made Simon Cletus available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Mar 2031
Dominik Połap damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Market10 Mar 2031
Toni Gulam 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 Kustosija can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Luka Romac 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 Kustosija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom10 Mar 2031
The numbers do not look good at Kustosija
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Tomislav Krizmanić 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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Kustosija will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Musa, and the manager let it.
Market10 Mar 2031
The name of Tomislav Krizmanić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Kustosija say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout10 Mar 2031
Stephen Ward 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 Kustosija, and both men came out saying it was fine.