Marked for Šime Erceg
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Grobnican
Tonći Mujan 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Grobnican training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Kapitanović 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 dugout24 Apr 2028
Dorian Anušić faces a manager he fell out with
They have worked together before and it did not end well. Nobody at Grobnican expects the new manager to have forgotten, least of all Dorian Anušić.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
The Grobnican debt reaches $11.6M
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.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Šime Erceg 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.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Luka Orlović 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 Grobnican, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Aug 2027
Albert Masson decides it from twelve yards
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.
Match25 Aug 2027
Grobnican march on in the cup
Dugo Selo are out and Grobnican go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market30 Aug 2027
Jurica Jurčec 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 Grobnican can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
No thanks: Luka Hodak rejects the move
Grobnican 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Jurica Jurčec and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Grobnican
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dario Čanađija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match28 Aug 2027
Grobnican cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
Dino Kapitanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A move Šime Erceg would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Šime Erceg is living that version at Grobnican, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Grobnican
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dario Čanađija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mateo Kocijan, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luiz Felipe and Grobnican agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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.
Market7 Jun 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market7 Jun 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Grobnican signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market7 Jun 2027
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.