“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Domzale can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Maribor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Maribor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. NK Domzale will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Ažbe Jug 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.
Luka Verbic has left for NK Zavrc in a $140.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at NK Domzale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matic Brekalo 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at NK Maribor, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Maribor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at NK Maribor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and NK Domzale have had the benefit of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Domzale this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 2, 31 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at NK Maribor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Rekik 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Maribor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Omar Rekik 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and NK Maribor will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
James Furlong 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at NK Domzale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zan Bijol 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.
Position 1, 42 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
14 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about NK Domzale and NK Zavrc in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“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 NK Domzale, and 4 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
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 Omar Rekik.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Nejc Viher is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Maribor training over how hard people work
SquadRobert Bijol dropped after a run of poor form
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dario Vizinger. 1‑0 against NK Krka, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.38 — 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ali Reghba 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
In brief
SquadNik Belovič is the weekend's best young player
Player ratingsHilal Soudani changes it off the bench
The terracesThe press have found their man in Dario Vizinger
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Maribor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Tio Cipot 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Žiga Repas. 1‑0 against Rudar Velenje, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Two goals and a mark of 8.43 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Jure Sesko 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Zan Bijol. 2‑1 against NK Celje, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at NK Domzale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Badžim 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.