Marked for Luka Krstović
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
Nemanja Stevanović 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 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Napredak
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Srećković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aleksandar Lutovac, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Dragan Čubra has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Dragan Čubra has written the date down.
Market22 Feb 2027
The shop window has Emmanuel Ini in it
Napredak have let the market know Emmanuel Ini can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Jan 2027
0‑3 to Crvena Zvezda, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match23 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Napredak's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Napredak has to find a result from somewhere.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Napredak, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Nemanja Stevanović 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
Napredak 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 targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sochi have kept their man, and Napredak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Looking ahead25 Jan 2027
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. Napredak know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
“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 Napredak, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Napredak's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Napredak has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Napredak
Nemanja Stevanović 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
Nikola Srećković 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 ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 targets11 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Hajduk Split: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The team sheet said everything about Nikola Bogdanovski
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Nikola Bogdanovski.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Luka Drobnjak
“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 dugout11 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Nenad Nastasic chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.