“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 The request is on a desk at Karlovac 1919, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zlatan Koščević and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bautista Alonso is on it.
34 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Borna Pernar signs something — a contract at Karlovac 1919 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 The request is on a desk at Karlovac 1919, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Toni Brajković will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karlovac 1919 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zlatan Koščević 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Antonio Mionić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Karlovac 1919 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Zlatan Koščević 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 Vilim Krušlin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Robert Mudražija trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Borna Pernar is on it.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Karlovac 1919 have no good answer.
“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 Karlovac 1919, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Josip Perajica will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karlovac 1919 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ivan Križanović 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Will Sutton has, at Karlovac 1919, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Mudražija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
Matej Gašpar is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Robert Mudražija trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Karlovac 1919 will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Yannick Touré 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 Robert Mudražija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A new partner, a signature and a photograph nobody will remember. It funds a fortnight of wages, which is more than most headlines on this page can say for themselves.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
34 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Borna Pernar signs something — a contract at Karlovac 1919 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrik Mrkela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Lenny Ilečić
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Karlovac 1919 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ivan Križanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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.
Something was said to Franjo Prce and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabrijel Stepinac trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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.
Franjo Prce 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.
“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 dugout12 Mar 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Matej Gašpar'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.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zlatan Koščević trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Karlovac 1919 will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karlovac 1919 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Karlovac 1919 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karlovac 1919 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Patrik Mrkela is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ivan Križanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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.
This is not rotation. Ante Buneta has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Karlovac 1919 is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
87% of the income goes out in wages at Karlovac 1919
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.
Something was said to Uwem Alexander and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karlovac 1919 can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Yannick Touré 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vilim Krušlin 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 dugout12 Feb 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Matej Gašpar'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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karlovac 1919 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Karlovac 1919 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Karlovac 1919 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Lenny Ilečić 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 Robert Mudražija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Yannick Touré and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Djakovo Croatia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karlovac 1919 can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Mudražija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Jadran Luka Ploce have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Josip Brkić. The answer from Karlovac 1919 has not changed — yet.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Dražen Dubačkić'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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Patrik Mrkela is on it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Karlovac 1919 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Karlovac 1919, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Zagreb is saying, and nobody at Karlovac 1919 is enjoying the guessing.
Ivan Križanović 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 Robert Mudražija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Domagoj Regetaš is on it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Karlovac 1919 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 Karlovac 1919 can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Karlovac 1919 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer from Triglav Kranj for Matej Momčilovski 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dinamo Zagreb keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Bartosz Żelazowski has agreed terms with Dubrava for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Ivan Križanović 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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Karlovac 1919 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karlovac 1919 can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karlovac 1919 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against HNK Vukovar 1991; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
“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.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
97% of the income goes out in wages at Karlovac 1919
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Robert Mudražija's mistake
“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 Karlovac 1919, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
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.
Franjo Prce 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Yannick Touré in the middle of it, and Solin unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Two goals and a mark of 8.61 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Josip Brkić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karlovac 1919 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Zlatan Koščević and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Vilim Krušlin 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Josip Perajica will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karlovac 1919 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Matej Gašpar has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Vilim Krušlin
Marked 7.02 on 14 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Mudražija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karlovac 1919 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dražen Dubačkić 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.
Something was said to Domagoj Regetaš and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Domagoj Regetaš trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Borna Pernar is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karlovac 1919 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Karlovac 1919 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ivan Križanović 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 Robert Mudražija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. BSK Bijelo Brdo had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Domagoj Regetaš is on it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karlovac 1919 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Mudražija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martin Barisic after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Yannick Touré is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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.
Franjo Prce 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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.
Franjo Prce 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.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
Dubrava next, and one man in the Karlovac 1919 dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Karlovac 1919, another week without a signature from Bartosz Żelazowski.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Zlatan Koščević 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dražen Dubačkić 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 7.23, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Position 6, 15 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Ivan Križanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Tin Miljak has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
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.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Martin Barisic kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Karlovac 1919 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Ivan Križanović 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Elvir Šehić has just signed for Karlovac 1919, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Mudražija 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.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutUwem Alexander is still being punished for one mistake
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Karlovac 1919 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Josip Brkić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karlovac 1919 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Yannick Touré 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Karlovac 1919 can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dražen Dubačkić 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 words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Robert Mudražija provided it, and the 8.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karlovac 1919 can pretend not to have heard.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
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.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Karlovac 1919 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at NK Varazdin is saying, and nobody at Karlovac 1919 is enjoying the guessing.
$540.0K on the table at HNK Gorica. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Zlatan Koščević 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dražen Dubačkić 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.
Karlovac 1919 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.
Add another name to the list: Nafta 1903 have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Matej Momčilovski. The answer from Karlovac 1919 has not changed — yet.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
114 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Karlovac 1919 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Karlovac 1919, and it is not being withdrawn.
Jarun Zagreb have accepted the money. What Karlovac 1919 do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
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.
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.
Karlovac 1919 and NK Varazdin have settled on $250.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karlovac 1919 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: NK Varazdin keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Arsić 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.
“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; Karlovac 1919 are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Karlovac 1919 have made the call to Dugopolje. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Karlovac 1919 know which stage they are at.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Karlovac 1919, and it is not being withdrawn.
Karlovac 1919 and Uljanik Pula have settled on $41.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
$320.0K on the table at NK Osijek. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Karlovac 1919 offered $58.0K; Mladost Zdralovi said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Roko Valinčić has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Karlovac 1919 have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Arsić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karlovac 1919 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 Vladimir Arsić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 2, 38 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Luka Poredoš 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 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.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
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.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Karlovac 1919 would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Zlatan Koščević 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 Domagoj Pavičić 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karlovac 1919 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrik Mrkela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Robert Mudražija plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Ante Buneta are not good
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karlovac 1919 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 Domagoj Pavičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Rocco Žiković 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 Domagoj Pavičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Filip Brekalo is on 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karlovac 1919 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Rocco Žiković 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domagoj Pavičić 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 Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karlovac 1919 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domagoj Pavičić 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 Zlatan Koščević trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Karlovac 1919 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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Karlovac 1919 would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Rocco Žiković 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 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karlovac 1919, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $18.5K of what Karlovac 1919 paid for Dražen Bagarić is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Karlovac 1919 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Karlovac 1919 close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Karlovac 1919 had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo Zagreb, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karlovac 1919 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 Domagoj Pavičić 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. FCSB have kept their man, and Karlovac 1919 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Vilim Krušlin is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karlovac 1919 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Zlatan Koščević and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domagoj Pavičić 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.
A loan enquiry to Bayer Leverkusen: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Bjelovar will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Zlatan Koščević and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domagoj Pavičić 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Karlovac 1919 will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karlovac 1919 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 Domagoj Pavičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Toni Brajković is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Zlatan Koščević 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 Robert Mudražija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Karlovac 1919 pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
There were 86 minutes on the clock and Croatia Zmijavci had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Karlovac 1919 did not stop to explain themselves.
Two goals and a mark of 8.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Przemysław Tytoń and Karlovac 1919 agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Mudražija 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Zlatan Koščević has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Antonio Mionić 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karlovac 1919 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Toni Brajković 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Karlovac 1919 told Filip Brekalo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
HNK Vukovar 1991 next, and one man in the Karlovac 1919 dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Karlovac 1919 would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karlovac 1919 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Rocco Žiković 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 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Opatija next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
A 2‑1 win over Mladost Zdralovi, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.20, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Domagoj Regetaš, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.05
A mark of 8.05 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Vladimir Arsić 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Karlovac 1919 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domagoj Pavičić 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.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Zlatan Koščević 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 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.
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dražen Bagarić, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Martin Barisic was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Karlovac 1919 dressing room was either.
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
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Karlo Zulfić
132 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Zagreb lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Zagreb can pretend not to have heard.
1 for Moris Valinčić, marked 7.83, 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.
Nikola Čavlina 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.
Karlovac 1919 had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lokomotiva Zagreb, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The fee is $810.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Dinamo Zagreb drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The chase for Josip Brkić ended with $260.0K changing hands and Hrvatski Dragovoljac out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Karlovac 1919 have gone to Rudes with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Zlatan Koščević 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 terraces23 Aug 2027
Karlovac 1919 spend $810.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $810.0K for Robert Mudražija, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Josip Budimir has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Karlovac 1919 have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Zlatan Koščević provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Karlovac 1919 and Dinamo Zagreb have settled on $810.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Karlovac 1919 had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at HNK Gorica, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Rijeka have kept their man, and Karlovac 1919 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Zagreb have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Dinamo Zagreb hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Fredrik Sjøvold and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Taiyo Koga 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikola Čavlina and Dinamo Zagreb agree another 4 years.
29 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Dinamo Zagreb now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.