Marked for Martín Dedes
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Mar 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 The request is on a desk at Spartak Tambov, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Murad Omarov 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.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Hossam El Sanea 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 dugout19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrey Maloletov, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Spartak Tambov can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Market19 Mar 2029
A stepping stone, not a home, for Martín Dedes
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Spartak Tambov were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Martín Dedes and Spartak Tambov agree another 3 years.
Market19 Mar 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pavel Khodeev signs something — a contract at Spartak Tambov or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
Argyris Darelas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aleksandar Miljković and Novi Pazar agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 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; Novi Pazar are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout8 May 2028
“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 dugout8 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Argyris Darelas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market8 May 2028
The name of Fejsal Mulić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Novi Pazar say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad8 May 2028
Ajia Yakub still has not settled
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Novi Pazar would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout8 May 2028
Ensar Brunčević has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Novi Pazar 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 dugout8 May 2028
Martín Dedes 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 Martín Dedes has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 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 Novi Pazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Aleksandar Miljković 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.
Market1 May 2028
“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.
Loan watch1 May 2028
“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 Novi Pazar, and 4 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Louis Jackson
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Novi Pazar would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Squad1 May 2028
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout1 May 2028
Kaheim Dixon 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 Kaheim Dixon trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout1 May 2028
Martín Dedes 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 Martín Dedes has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Apr 2028
Argyris Darelas 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Aleksandar Miljković 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 dugout24 Apr 2028
Martín Dedes 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 Apr 2028
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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Martín Dedes: “I am not a substitute”
“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 Novi Pazar will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Benjamin Gegić 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 Novi Pazar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Apr 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matías Jorquera and Novi Pazar agree another 4 years.
Loan watch17 Apr 2028
28 appearances at Napredak and the goals keep coming. Novi Pazar are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladimir Savić, and the manager let it.
Market17 Apr 2028
The Driton Camaj talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Novi Pazar know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Andrej Mandić 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
Squad20 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Darko Gojković
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Novi Pazar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Driton Camaj 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Novi Pazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandar Miljković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch20 Mar 2028
“I watch every Novi Pazar game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Vojvodina runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Loan watch20 Mar 2028
28 appearances at Napredak and the goals keep coming. Novi Pazar are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Argyris Darelas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martín Dedes, and the manager let it.
Market20 Mar 2028
The Driton Camaj talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Novi Pazar know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2027
Vladimir Savić 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Late, late show earns Novi Pazar a point
Minute 95, against Crvena Zvezda, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“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 Novi Pazar know it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
7 new faces, and Novi Pazar are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Match18 Sep 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.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Dusan Gacinovic was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Novi Pazar dressing room was either.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Martín Dedes
“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 ahead20 Sep 2027
Partizan next, and one man in the Novi Pazar dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market20 Sep 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Fejsal Mulić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
In brief
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The dugout
Jonny gets picked when it counts
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Player ratings
Fejsal Mulić beats them one at a time
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Player ratings
Half an hour was enough for Jonny