Marked for Steyn de Haan
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Apr 2028
Steyn de Haan 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 Segesta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Luka Kožić 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 Segesta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Luka Hodak is the real thing at 21
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Segesta know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
Wages swallow 130% of the Segesta 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
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.
Loan watch17 Apr 2028
“I did not go to Cibalia to sit and watch. I want to come back to Segesta and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 40 matches say the rest.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Lovro Herceg back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Segesta has worked with Lovro Herceg before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Leon Ivančić
“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 dugout17 Apr 2028
Karlo Lukman 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Segesta close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market7 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Segesta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Feb 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 Segesta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tonći Kukoč-Petraello and Segesta agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets7 Feb 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 dugout7 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Ivan Kešina
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Segesta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tonći Kukoč-Petraello 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.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Marked 8.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Segesta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Uwem Alexander 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Segesta
Steyn de Haan 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.
Looking ahead13 Dec 2027
Top-of-the-table clash for Segesta
Hrvatski Dragovoljac next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Everybody at Segesta saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Match11 Dec 2027
A goal on 93 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Match11 Dec 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Nov 2027
Bartol Kunert has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Segesta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Nov 2027
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 dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karlo Lukman, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
Bjelovar next, and one man in the Segesta dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout15 Nov 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
The Frano Medić talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Segesta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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.
Market15 Nov 2027
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Segesta money.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Segesta would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Segesta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout8 Nov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Segesta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uwem Alexander 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Segesta
Steyn de Haan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Vilim Gec beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tonći Kukoč-Petraello, and the manager let it.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Marked 7.77 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Segesta had the best player on the pitch.
Loan watch8 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Cibalia to sit and watch. I want to come back to Segesta and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Ivan Ćubelić
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ivan Ćubelić has come out of that comparison in the side, and Segesta have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matthijs van Nispen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Segesta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Uwem Alexander 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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages swallow 153% of the Segesta 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.
Squad1 Nov 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 Segesta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Oct 2027
0‑1 to Uljanik Pula, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Ivan Kešina
“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 dugout1 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Bruno Benko to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Uwem Alexander 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
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Segesta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Segesta
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.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Vilim Gec runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Steyn de Haan 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.
The terraces25 Oct 2027
The crowd has taken to Luka Hodak
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Segesta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tonći Kukoč-Petraello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.58 on the card, and the Segesta support went home talking about one name.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Petar Ivančan
“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 dugout25 Oct 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Bruno Benko after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Segesta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Vilim Gec beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match2 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Segesta's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Segesta has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Luka Kožić 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
160% of the income goes out in wages at Segesta
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.
Market4 Oct 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Steyn de Haan has his answer from Segesta; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout4 Oct 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Segesta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacey Pansa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Marked 7.47. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market13 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Nikša Čulina
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikša Čulina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Segesta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match11 Sep 2027
A bad afternoon for Segesta against Uskok
1‑3 to Uskok, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Transfer targets13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Segesta
Steyn de Haan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Uwem Alexander
“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.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Segesta, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Segesta are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 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.
Market6 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Segesta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A move Josip Brkić 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. Josip Brkić is living that version at Segesta, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Segesta close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 21 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets6 Sep 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Segesta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uwem Alexander 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.
Squad6 Sep 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 Segesta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Wages swallow 119% of the Segesta 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 Sep 2027
Leon Ivančić 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Segesta people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.69, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market26 Jul 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.
The dugout26 Jul 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.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Vilim Gec beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market26 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Segesta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match24 Jul 2027
Nobody wants to play Segesta 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Segesta
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Segesta asked and NK Osijek said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Jun 2027
Segesta say no — this time
The offer from Hrvace for Vilim Gec was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market14 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Segesta have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Vlatko Martinović had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Supporters turn on the $150.0K sale of Stipo Marković
He is going to Lokomotiva Zagreb, the club has $150.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market14 Jun 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Everything agreed with Dinamo Zagreb, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Segesta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dino Špehar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Wages swallow 120% of the Segesta 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.
Squad14 Jun 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 Segesta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match31 May 2027
Segesta are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 46 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad31 May 2027
Dino Špehar is named among the best
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Segesta will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Segesta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stipo 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.
Market31 May 2027
26 games and 1 goals away from here, and a man the manager did not have last summer. The loan did what loans are supposed to do and almost never do.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Segesta
Steyn de Haan 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 dugout31 May 2027
Luka Nižić 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Segesta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stipo Marković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
182% of the income goes out in wages at Segesta
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Segesta
Steyn de Haan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I watch every Segesta game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Karlovac 1919 runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karlo Lukman, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Uwem Alexander 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 Uwem Alexander trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Luka Nižić 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 Luka Nižić has written the date down.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
25 starts now, an average of 6.86, and the team sheet at Uskok has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Segesta will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Segesta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stipo 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Luka Kožić 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Petar Ivančan, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout22 Mar 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Dino Špehar 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Segesta
Luka Kožić 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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 204% of the Segesta 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
Luka Nižić 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market1 Mar 2027
Luka Nižić 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 Segesta can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.30, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Segesta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dino Špehar 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
Solin made Segesta work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Vilim Gec beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad1 Mar 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 Segesta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Matthijs van Nispen is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Bruno Benko kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Petar Ivančan
“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
Upbeat
Market1 Feb 2027
Luka Nižić 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 Segesta can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Segesta until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A move Steyn de Haan 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. Steyn de Haan is living that version at Segesta, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Stipo 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiva Zagreb have kept their man, and Segesta go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Luka Kožić 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.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Segesta supporters have found a favourite in Vilim Gec
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Vilim Gec has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match30 Jan 2027
Segesta get the job done against Trnje
A 1‑0 win over Trnje, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Steyn de Haan and Segesta agree another 3 years.