Marked for Fran Ćavar
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Opatija
Robert Mišković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Opatija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Korpar Japek 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 dugout19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bryan Dignef, and the manager let it.
Market19 Mar 2029
The Fran Ćavar story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fran Ćavar signs something — a contract at Opatija or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Nusret Shehu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Opatija 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.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Opatija, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A falling-out at Opatija
Robert Mišković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Opatija asked and Slaven Belupo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Opatija
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Korpar Japek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market19 Feb 2029
The Fran Ćavar story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fran Ćavar signs something — a contract at Opatija or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
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.
Market19 Feb 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Opatija, another week without a signature from Rodrigo Dias.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Opatija will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
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.
In brief
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The dugout
Val Bogolin knocks on the manager's door
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Squad
Nusret Shehu is not doing himself any favours
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Boardroom
The Opatija production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
The deal with Hajduk Split 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 targets22 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiva Zagreb have kept their man, and Opatija go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Marin Božanović 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.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Opatija know it.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Opatija
Lovre Travica 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.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
A loan enquiry to Slaven Belupo: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
89% of the income goes out in wages at Opatija
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
Borna Bilobrk asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Dec 2028
Opatija sink to position 11
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match9 Dec 2028
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Dugopolje, and it could have been more.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.58 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Robert Mišković 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.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Josip Budimir was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.66. 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.
Match9 Dec 2028
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Dugopolje tried to reorganise, Opatija did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Opatija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Božanović 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 dugout11 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Borna Bilobrk, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match25 Nov 2028
The drought breaks for Opatija
12 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and BSK Bijelo Brdo were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
160% of the income goes out in wages at Opatija
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Squad27 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Opatija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match25 Nov 2028
Three points for Opatija, 1‑0 the final word against BSK Bijelo Brdo in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad27 Nov 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Cristiano Giudici commits to Opatija for another 3 years.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Nobody on the pitch touched Anđelo Kordić
7.74, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Opatija had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Opatija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Korpar Japek 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 dugout27 Nov 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Matej Budimir on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Oct 2028
10 matches without a win for Opatija
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Opatija are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Opatija
Alexandr Ektov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
156% of the income goes out in wages at Opatija
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Noah Popović
“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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Opatija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Božanović 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.
Match28 Oct 2028
Opatija rescue it on 91 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Rudes had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Oct 2028
It needed Fran Ćavar to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Rudes, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
Half-satisfied: Matej Budimir on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Aug 2028
“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 ratings14 Aug 2028
Both of them Fran Ćavar's — 8.36
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.36, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad14 Aug 2028
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.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
The deal with Hajduk Split 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Opatija
Alexandr Ektov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Opatija go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match12 Aug 2028
Bjelovar made Opatija work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Opatija
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikition Delijaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 May 2028
Supporters organise against the Opatija board
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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
Pressure builds in the Opatija boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market29 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Opatija can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout29 May 2028
This is not rotation. Igor Ribić has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Opatija is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 May 2028
Words exchanged at Opatija
Robert Mišković 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.
Squad29 May 2028
“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; Opatija are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The numbers do not look good at Opatija
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.
Squad29 May 2028
A row about effort at Opatija
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeremi Espinoza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market29 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Fran Ćavar’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 May 2028
The mood at Opatija has turned into something else
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.
Boardroom1 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Opatija
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Opatija is running low.
Market1 May 2028
“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 Opatija, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout1 May 2028
This is not rotation. Igor Ribić has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Opatija is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 May 2028
Dominik Drk 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 Opatija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
David Mejía 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.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager's exit leaves Amer Gojak exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Amer Gojak is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Belts tighten at Opatija
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout1 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrik Prodanović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Apr 2028
Dominik Drk 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 Opatija can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Tin Cop out for 24 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Opatija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Igor Ribić has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Opatija is pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Anđelo Kordić commits to Opatija for another 4 years.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Opatija
David Mejía 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Opatija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mišković 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 dugout3 Apr 2028
A promise honoured for Igor Ribić
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Opatija told Igor Ribić something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Dino Vadnov 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 Opatija, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Mar 2028
40 days out for Petar Šimunić after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Opatija will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market6 Mar 2028
“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 Opatija, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Igor Ribić has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Opatija is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fran Ćavar and Opatija agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Opatija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Nikition Delijaj 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Opatija, another week without a signature from Petar Šimunić.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market6 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Fran Ćavar’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jan 2028
Petar Šimunić breaks a bone — 78 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match31 Jan 2028
Opatija sink to position 11
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market31 Jan 2028
HNK Gorica come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Opatija did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market31 Jan 2028
“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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The deal with NK Osijek 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Opatija
Amer Gojak 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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Robert Mišković 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.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Petar Šimunić out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Opatija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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 Opatija, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
The paperwork begins on Tino Jukić
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Opatija have done the hard part with Dinamo Zagreb, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Fran Ćavar 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 Opatija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Robert Mišković 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 targets24 Jan 2028
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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Dino Vadnov 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 Jan 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Franko Bosančić'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 dugout24 Jan 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Opatija, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
Petar Šimunić breaks a bone — 136 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 136 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match6 Dec 2027
Opatija are in real trouble now
Position 11, 11 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market6 Dec 2027
Leon Brlek 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 Opatija can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Opatija
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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Opatija
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Ribić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Wages swallow 91% of the Opatija income
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.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Marko Tešija
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
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.
Match20 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Opatija
4 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Amer Gojak 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Robert Mišković 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 ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fran Ćavar, and the manager let it.
Match20 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
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 Matej Budimir left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match13 Oct 2027
Opatija march on in the cup
HNK Vukovar 1991 are out and Opatija go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match16 Oct 2027
Jarun Zagreb will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Opatija were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match13 Oct 2027
Opatija win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 108th minute. HNK Vukovar 1991 will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Market18 Oct 2027
Igor Ribić 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 Opatija can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
A brace, and Amer Gojak takes the afternoon — 8.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Amer Gojak provided it, and the 8.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad18 Oct 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Filip Barisic: 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.” Opatija have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Opatija
Fran Ćavar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Opatija
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.
Market20 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Opatija can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Sep 2027
There were 6 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Opatija
Robert Mišković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match18 Sep 2027
Roko Brajković scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Dugopolje, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad20 Sep 2027
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Match18 Sep 2027
Opatija leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Dominik Drk
“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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Fran Ćavar runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Aug 2027
6 matches without a win for Opatija
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Opatija are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Dinamo Zagreb have accepted the money. What Opatija do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Fran Ćavar 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 Opatija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Aug 2027
1‑3 to BSK Bijelo Brdo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Opatija
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Mišković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Patrik Prodanović, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
A promise honoured at Opatija
Something was said to Leon Brlek and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The plan did not have a place for Dino Vadnov
Nobody at Opatija is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Opatija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Opatija asked and HNK Rijeka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match31 Jul 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Franjo Lazar and Opatija agree another 4 years.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Fran Ćavar 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Igor Ribić 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Opatija can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to NK Osijek: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jul 2027
21 days out for Goodness Ajayi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Opatija will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Dinamo Zagreb have accepted the money. What Opatija do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dinamo Zagreb keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Fran Ćavar 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Varazdin have kept their man, and Opatija go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Opatija
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leon Brlek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan move for Luka Posinković is in the works
Opatija have made the call to NK Varazdin. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market12 Jul 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Goodness Ajayi signs something — a contract at Opatija or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Rijeka have kept their man, and Opatija go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Opatija training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mišković 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Opatija
Franko Bosančić 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 dugout5 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Roko Brajković
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
67 days out for Goodness Ajayi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Opatija will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad31 May 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Opatija have had the benefit of it.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Opatija
Fran Ćavar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Jeremi Espinoza arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jeremi Espinoza has, at Opatija, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luka Špacapan, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 May 2027
Petar Šimunić asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market31 May 2027
The Fran Ćavar story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fran Ćavar signs something — a contract at Opatija or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout31 May 2027
Nusret Shehu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Opatija 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.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes Josip Budimir a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Opatija. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Goodness Ajayi out for 76 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Opatija will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Opatija
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.
Squad24 May 2027
64 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.