Marked for Ivan Đorić
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rudes have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A move Frane Bobanović would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Frane Bobanović is living that version at Rudes, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Rudes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Poldrugač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Rudes
Kristijan Lovrić 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tedesco and Rudes agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market8 Feb 2027
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jurica Poldrugač trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josip Bralić, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Ivan Đorić gets picked when it counts
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 Ivan Đorić is on it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Rudes
Dominik Mulac 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Rudes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jurica Poldrugač 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Bruno Unušić
“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.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Dugo Selo to sit and watch. I want to come back to Rudes and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Rudes told Adiele Eriugo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Opatija in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Stefan Vukić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Ivan Đorić has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rudes 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Rudes money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match14 Oct 2026
Rudes bow out of the cup
Slaven Belupo go through and Rudes go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match17 Oct 2026
No mercy from Rudes
Sesvete will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Rudes were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.62 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Dominik Mulac pops up at the right end — 7.94
7.94, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ivor Ribar runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Rudes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Poldrugač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ivan Đorić reaches 200 appearances
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Rudes
Kristijan Lovrić 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Rudes
A 4‑0 win over Varteks, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.66 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market24 Aug 2026
Rudes say no — this time
The offer from Lokomotiva Zagreb for Jurica Poldrugač 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Rudes
Dominik Mulac 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Jurica Poldrugač 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.