Martin Colak

Striker - Zadar
4 Sep 2026
Friday
Process

Marked for Martin Colak

5 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

10 saves: Darijo Petkov was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Martin Colak asks to leave Zadar

“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.

Match

Nobody wants to play Zadar right now

5 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.

Transfer targets

Santino Andino will not be coming to Zadar

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Panathinaikos is saying, and nobody at Zadar is enjoying the guessing.

Match

Zadar see off Rudes

Three points for Zadar, 3‑2 the final word against Rudes in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Transfer targets

Zadar rebuffed over Shola Ogundana

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dynamo Kyiv have kept their man, and Zadar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Player ratings

Stipe Livaja in the eights

A performance of 8.33 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Fran Topić

Marked 8.23 — 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Darijo Modric

Marked 8.02 — 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.

In brief

Back issues
3 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Darijo Petkov

There were 9 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.

Market

Zadar turn down BATE for Martin Colak

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Dino Horvat yet — 7.90

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Fran Topić

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zadar have done the hard part with Dinamo Zagreb, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Transfer targets

An offer of $460.0K for Domagoj Begonja

Zadar have gone to NK Varazdin with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Squad

A falling-out at Zadar

Marcelo Ivanovic and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Zadar see off Sibenik

Three points for Zadar, 3‑1 the final word against Sibenik in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Martin Colak was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.11. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

The dugout

Marcelo Ivanovic 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.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Zadar training over how hard people work
  • Player ratings Stipe Livaja beats them one at a time
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
2 Edition

The Zadar Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

No mercy from Zadar

Segesta will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zadar were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Market

Tomislav Sucic has said yes to NK Osijek

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zadar have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Player ratings

Vintage Dino Horvat — 8.12

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.12, and nobody on the pitch better.

Market

Nikola Barisic asks to leave Zadar

“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.

Squad

Marcelo Ivanovic stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Marcelo Ivanovic and Zadar agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Zadar

Darijo Petkov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Zadar

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcelo Ivanovic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Olympiacos tell Zadar: Joel Roca is not for sale

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 terraces

One of their own: Darijo Modric

He is 22 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.

In brief

  • Player ratings Martin Colak was on a different afternoon to everybody else
  • Player ratings Fran Stanisic was on a different afternoon to everybody else
  • The dugout Fran Erceg gets it from the manager