Marked for Aleksandar Kovačević
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 May 2027
The mood at Dinamo Vranje 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 May 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 Dinamo Vranje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Dinamo Vranje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Đorđe Belić 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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
136% of the income goes out in wages at Dinamo Vranje
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.
Squad17 May 2027
“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; Dinamo Vranje are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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 dugout17 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Vranje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout17 May 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Dinamo Vranje. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Vranje will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Sergej Tadic has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market3 May 2027
Joãozinho 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 Dinamo Vranje, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout3 May 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.
Squad3 May 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 Dinamo Vranje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 May 2027
“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
The terraces22 Mar 2027
The mood at Dinamo Vranje 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Vranje will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Filip Stamenković 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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages eat 167% of everything Dinamo Vranje earn
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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“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 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Filip Gligorijević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
Ivan Pavlovic damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Partizan have kept their man, and Dinamo Vranje go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Uroš Mojsilović 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Dinamo Vranje can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sabo Gambo, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Dinamo Vranje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Gligorijević 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dinamo Vranje lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Jan 2027
There were 8 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Joãozinho 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 Dinamo Vranje can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Veljko Vojvodić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Đorđe Belić 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 targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. IMT have kept their man, and Dinamo Vranje go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“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 dugout11 Jan 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Veljko Vojvodić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Đorđe Belić 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uroš Mojsilović, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Veljko Tadic after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Market14 Dec 2026
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Filip Gligorijević is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Point won or two lost for Dinamo Vranje?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against FAP Priboj? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead14 Dec 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Grafičar in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Anger at Dinamo Vranje spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match30 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Dinamo Vranje
Position 16 and 11 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Dinamo Vranje
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Sabo Gambo
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Dinamo Vranje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Đorđe Belić 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 189% of everything Dinamo Vranje earn
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.
Match28 Nov 2026
0‑1 to Zemun, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
Everything rides on OFK Vršac
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Dinamo Vranje know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Nikola Turanjanin 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Veljko Kostic damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Veljko Vojvodić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marko Stojanović, and the manager let it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Josh Tucker 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Filip Gligorijević is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Dubočica in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Dinamo Vranje's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Vranje has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Joãozinho 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 Dinamo Vranje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Dinamo Vranje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Đorđe Belić 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Ušće, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aleksandar Kovačević, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Veljko Tadic after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
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 Filip Gligorijević is on it.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
Tekstilac Odžaci next, and one man in the Dinamo Vranje dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.