“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Romelu Castagne made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mats Frans has agreed terms with Lokomotiva Zagreb for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ante Majstorović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpija Ljubljana have kept their man, and HNK Rijeka go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
HNK Rijeka ran out of time with NK Osijek. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Fran Topić. 1‑0 against Hajduk Split, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
That is the business done at HNK Rijeka until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Everything agreed with NK Osijek, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Words at HNK Rijeka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ante Majstorović 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around HNK Rijeka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
5 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 offer went to Dinamo Zagreb this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ante Majstorović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
HNK Rijeka asked and Chornomorets said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
NK Osijek have accepted the money. What HNK Rijeka do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at HNK Rijeka is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Rijeka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Rijeka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mladen Devetak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at HNK Rijeka has been clear about where Jakov Puljić stands, which is more than many ever get.
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; HNK Rijeka are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mladen Devetak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Position 6 on 22 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Tiago Dantas has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dario Melnjak and HNK Rijeka agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at HNK Rijeka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mladen Devetak 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ante Oreč signs something — a contract at HNK Rijeka or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Gerardo Martínez is 38, with 6 appearances behind him, and HNK Rijeka will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
HNK Gorica go through and HNK Rijeka go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Mate Juranovic could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.39
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.39, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around HNK Rijeka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Rijeka can pretend not to have heard.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and HNK Rijeka go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mladen Devetak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Ante Oreč 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ante Majstorović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Tino Jukić.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Getting past Ivan Nevistić has become the hardest job in the division
7 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Up for the corner, and Téo Barišić delivers — 7.87
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Téo Barišić scored, was marked 7.87, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ante Majstorović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Petar Brekalo on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at HNK Rijeka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mladen Devetak 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Abdallah Aberkane's mistake
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Rijeka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around HNK Rijeka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Ante Oreč 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at HNK Rijeka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ante Majstorović 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at HNK Rijeka can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” NK Osijek had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
The phone has started ringing about Komnen Andrić again, and this time the name on the line is NK Osijek. HNK Rijeka are listening politely and promising nothing.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Level with 95 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon HNK Rijeka had all but put away. NK Osijek will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around HNK Rijeka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Two goals and a mark of 8.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Rijeka can pretend not to have heard.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.94 for the rest of it.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Baltika have kept their man, and HNK Rijeka go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mladen Devetak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ivan Nevistić has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HNK Rijeka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Niko Janković 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.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at HNK Rijeka has been clear about where Mile Škorić stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Rijeka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at HNK Rijeka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Niko Janković 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Nevistić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Rijeka know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HNK Rijeka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Rijeka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from Obolon for Cherno Saho was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Libertad have kept their man, and HNK Rijeka go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at HNK Rijeka, another week without a signature from Amer Gojak.
The words a physio says slowly. 107 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at HNK Rijeka until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Rijeka can pretend not to have heard.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mats Frans is living that version at HNK Rijeka, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at HNK Rijeka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anel Husić 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.
HNK Rijeka asked and Bayer Leverkusen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
HNK Rijeka have made the call to Libertad. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The words a physio says slowly. 148 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Rijeka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at HNK Rijeka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Ťapaj 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Rijeka, and both men came out saying it was fine.
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Rijeka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Dejan Petrovič 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Dominik Ťapaj 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Nevistić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anel Husić signs something — a contract at HNK Rijeka or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HNK Rijeka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mladen Devetak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.