Ivan Benko

Striker - Varteks U18
15 Apr 2029
Sunday
Process
Overview Personal Contract News 2 Transfers Relations Events 67 Awards Matches History

Marked for Ivan Benko

95 Edition

The Varteks Post

22 May 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces22 May 2028

The mood at Varteks 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.

Squad22 May 2028

A falling-out at Varteks

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

Squad22 May 2028

A row about effort at Varteks

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

The dugout22 May 2028

The manager has not finished forgetting Mateo Lekaj's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

Boardroom22 May 2028

Belts tighten at Varteks

The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.

The dugout22 May 2028

Mikołaj Pomagalski 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 dugout22 May 2028

Vid Peša 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 Vid Peša trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout22 May 2028

Tomás Cabrera has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Varteks 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.

Squad22 May 2028

“I want to play”: Mikołaj Pomagalski speaks

“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.

In brief

Back issues
52 Edition

The Varteks Post

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match24 Jul 2027

No end in sight to Varteks's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Varteks has to find a result from somewhere.

The dugout26 Jul 2027

Sebastian Samarin keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Varteks may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

The dugout26 Jul 2027

Mihael Mačković frozen out at Varteks

This is not rotation. Mihael Mačković has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Varteks is pretending otherwise.

Transfer targets26 Jul 2027

Roko Vojvodić is a medical away from Varteks

The deal with Hajduk Split is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Match24 Jul 2027

The goals have deserted Varteks

4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Varteks can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad26 Jul 2027

A falling-out at Varteks

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

Boardroom26 Jul 2027

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Varteks

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.

Transfer targets26 Jul 2027

Hajduk Split tell Varteks: Dominik Babić 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.

Squad26 Jul 2027

A row about effort at Varteks

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

In brief