The HNK Gorica Herald
Market14 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Ante Kavelj
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ante Kavelj will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around HNK Gorica the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
Ante Kavelj has agreed to leave HNK Gorica for nothing
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Tempers go at HNK Gorica
Luka Stojković 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Jurica Pršir 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Antonio Lovren steps up from the HNK Gorica academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Antonio Lovren has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market14 Feb 2028
One of our own: Daniel Cop joins the HNK Gorica first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Cop is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Feb 2028
Robert Bjelica steps up from the HNK Gorica academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Robert Bjelica has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Karlo Žiger
“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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Roger Andretty 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 HNK Gorica would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
In brief
- The dugout When it matters, Ivan Delić plays
- The dugout Dušan Stevanović knocks on the manager's door
- Squad Marko Aščić has had enough of the bench