Marked for Michael Pohl
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces5 May 2031
The mood at Borac Čačak 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.
Match5 May 2031
Every point is an argument now for Borac Čačak
Position 16 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Boardroom5 May 2031
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Borac Čačak
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom5 May 2031
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market5 May 2031
Michael Pohl hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borac Čačak can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 May 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aleksa Marković and Borac Čačak agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 May 2031
Petar Karaklajić 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.
Boardroom5 May 2031
$700.8K of the owner's money at Borac Čačak
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad5 May 2031
Words at Borac Čačak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Bogdanović 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Apr 2031
Petar Karaklajić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Words at Borac Čačak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Marković 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.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikola Petrić, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces7 Apr 2031
Anger at Borac Čačak spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match7 Apr 2031
Borac Čačak are in real trouble now
Position 16, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
Pressure builds in the Borac Čačak boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market7 Apr 2031
“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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Aleksa Čolović commits to Borac Čačak for another 4 years.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Aleksa Čolović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
$723.2K from the owner keeps Borac Čačak afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Marković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
Wages swallow 164% of the Borac Čačak income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Mar 2031
Words at Borac Čačak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Marković 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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Aslanbek Kumykov 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.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
The manager makes an example of Gjorgi Stoilov
“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.
Market31 Mar 2031
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Borac Čačak has been clear about where Aslanbek Kumykov stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
Michael Pohl knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Borac Čačak, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad31 Mar 2031
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom24 Mar 2031
Borac Čačak interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Nikola Bogdanović 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.
The dugout24 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Michael Pohl 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.
The dugout24 Mar 2031
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lautaro de León trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 Mar 2031
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikola Petrić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces10 Mar 2031
The mood at Borac Čačak 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.
Match10 Mar 2031
Borac Čačak are in real trouble now
Position 16, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market10 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Petar Karaklajić 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.
Boardroom10 Mar 2031
Borac Čačak still without a manager
9 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Aleksa Marković 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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Boardroom10 Mar 2031
Wages swallow 178% of the Borac Čačak income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Boardroom10 Mar 2031
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Feb 2031
17 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The terraces10 Feb 2031
The mood at Borac Čačak 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.
Match10 Feb 2031
Borac Čačak are in real trouble now
Position 16, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match8 Feb 2031
0‑3 against Radnicki 1923, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market10 Feb 2031
“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.
Transfer targets10 Feb 2031
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.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Words at Borac Čačak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Bogdanović 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.
Boardroom10 Feb 2031
187% of the income goes out in wages at Borac Čačak
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Boardroom10 Feb 2031
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces13 Jan 2031
Supporters organise against the Borac Čačak board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match11 Jan 2031
No end in sight to Borac Čačak's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Borac Čačak has to find a result from somewhere.
Match13 Jan 2031
Borac Čačak are in real trouble now
Position 16, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market13 Jan 2031
Michael Pohl hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borac Čačak can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings13 Jan 2031
A defender's goal wins it for Borac Čačak — 7.58
1 for Aleksa Marković, marked 7.58, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Transfer targets13 Jan 2031
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Radnik Surdulica keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Words at Borac Čačak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Marković 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 targets13 Jan 2031
Borac Čačak asked and Vojvodina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Sep 2030
18 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The terraces23 Sep 2030
The mood at Borac Čačak 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.
Squad23 Sep 2030
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Borac Čačak lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match23 Sep 2030
Every point is an argument now for Borac Čačak
Position 16 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match21 Sep 2030
0‑3 to Loznica, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad23 Sep 2030
32 days out for Sigurd Jensen after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Borac Čačak will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market23 Sep 2030
“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.
Squad23 Sep 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Petar Karaklajić commits to Borac Čačak for another 3 years.
Squad23 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borac Čačak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
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The dugout
Ranko Puškić gets it from the manager
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Boardroom
Inquest at Borac Čačak
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Sep 2030
Dušan Pantelić damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Market9 Sep 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borac Čačak can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Sigurd Jensen breaks a bone — 46 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market9 Sep 2030
Only the photograph left for Sigurd Jensen
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sigurd Jensen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borac Čačak the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom9 Sep 2030
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Sigurd Jensen has agreed terms with Zeleznicar Pancevo for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad9 Sep 2030
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Borac Čačak know it.
Boardroom9 Sep 2030
Wages eat 150% of everything Borac Čačak earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Pohl was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market9 Sep 2030
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces24 Sep 2029
The mood at Borac Čačak 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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Novak Lazovic
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borac Čačak lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match24 Sep 2029
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Vadim Pastushkov did the work nobody counts — 7.19
18 combined actions and 7.19. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Nikola Petrić 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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Aleksa Marković 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.
Match22 Sep 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom24 Sep 2029
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.