Marked for Kobe Agbude
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Loznica is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout7 May 2029
This is not rotation. Nikola Vujičić has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Loznica is pretending otherwise.
Squad7 May 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ljubiša Pecelj and Loznica agree another 2 years.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Loznica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vido Marković 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.
Squad7 May 2029
Words exchanged at Loznica
Ljubiša Pecelj 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.
Squad7 May 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 Loznica know it.
The dugout7 May 2029
Pavle Radojković has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Loznica 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 dugout7 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucio Muller, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 May 2029
Kaden Rodney knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kaden Rodney trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market1 Jan 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Loznica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match30 Dec 2028
Nobody wants to play Loznica right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Aleksandar Pavlović has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Loznica is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Vido Marković 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.
Match30 Dec 2028
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Loznica. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Match30 Dec 2028
A 1‑0 win over OFK Vršac, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“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; Loznica are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Loznica
Uroš Zdjelarić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Marked 7.58 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Loznica had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Dec 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Loznica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Uroš Zdjelarić has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Loznica is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Loznica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vido Marković 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Ljubiša Pecelj 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kobe Agbude commits to Loznica for another 4 years.
Squad11 Dec 2028
25 shut-outs in 70 appearances. A keeper’s career is counted in games where nothing happened, and none of it happened by accident.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
Pavle Radojković has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Loznica 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Marked 7.70 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Marko Radojević has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Loznica is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Loznica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vido Marković 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 terraces27 Nov 2028
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words exchanged at Loznica
Kobe Agbude 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 dugout27 Nov 2028
A promise honoured at Loznica
Something was said to Miloš Zekić and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Match25 Nov 2028
It needed Mateja Prokopijević to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Kabel, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout27 Nov 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.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
Loznica counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Loznica now.