Marked for Ivan Kovacevic
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ivan Kovacevic
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jarun Zagreb lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Evan Humphries is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elton Bessunha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Feb 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces21 Feb 2028
The mood at Jarun Zagreb has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Ivan Kovacevic damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market21 Feb 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Jarun Zagreb, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Tomislav Baltić 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 dugout21 Feb 2028
Elton Bessunha 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
Squad14 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ivan Kovacevic
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jarun Zagreb lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market14 Feb 2028
“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.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
Still no name above the door at Jarun Zagreb
Day 13 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Rijeka have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Tomislav Baltić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mason Hunter, and the manager let it.
Market14 Feb 2028
The name of Abdoulaye Djiré keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Jarun Zagreb say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Petar Perko: “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 Jarun Zagreb will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Jul 2027
0‑3 against Cibalia, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad26 Jul 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Nick Ocvirek: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jarun Zagreb have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jarun Zagreb have done the hard part with Slaven Belupo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Jarun Zagreb
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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoulaye Djiré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Jarun Zagreb asked and Lokomotiva Zagreb said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Tomislav Baltić 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ivan Kovacevic 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.