Marked for Edvin Kuč
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 May 2032
“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.
The dugout24 May 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad24 May 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sibenik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2032
Words at Sibenik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvin Kuč 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 dugout24 May 2032
Lucas Soratto asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market24 May 2032
The clock does Bachirou Yaméogo’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sibenik could ask drops and the wages Bachirou Yaméogo can ask rise.
Market24 May 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sibenik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout24 May 2032
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.
Squad24 May 2032
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Apr 2032
“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 The request is on a desk at Sibenik, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sibenik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Apr 2032
“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; Sibenik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Zvonimir Josić 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 dugout12 Apr 2032
The manager makes an example of Charles Agada
“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.
Squad12 Apr 2032
A row about effort at Sibenik
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edvin Kuč was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
Lucas Soratto knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Soratto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Apr 2032
The clock does Charles Agada’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sibenik could ask drops and the wages Charles Agada can ask rise.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
A promise honoured for Enzo Rotela
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sibenik told Enzo Rotela something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Mar 2032
First, on 34 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market22 Mar 2032
“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.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Words exchanged at Sibenik
Zvonimir Josić 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.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Henri De Clercq arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Henri De Clercq has, at Sibenik, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
“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.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Edvin Kuč falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
Pius Igwe asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Sibenik will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market22 Mar 2032
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Charles Agada’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout15 Mar 2032
Lucas Soratto: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sibenik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Mar 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sibenik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2032
A row about effort at Sibenik
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nkanyiso Shinga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sai Sachdev, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
Pius Igwe knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pius Igwe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market15 Mar 2032
The clock does Charles Agada’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sibenik could ask drops and the wages Charles Agada can ask rise.
Squad15 Mar 2032
A season on the outside for Lucas Soratto
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sibenik has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
Alexandr Mironov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sibenik 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.
Squad15 Mar 2032
A new face in his position, and Bachirou Yaméogo suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Sibenik have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2032
“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.
The dugout1 Mar 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad1 Mar 2032
Words exchanged at Sibenik
Zvonimir Josić 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.
The dugout1 Mar 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bachirou Yaméogo, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Mar 2032
Edvin Kuč is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Edvin Kuč 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.
Squad1 Mar 2032
A row about effort at Sibenik
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edvin Kuč was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market1 Mar 2032
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market1 Mar 2032
The name of Karlo Špeljak keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sibenik say nothing, which says plenty.
Market1 Mar 2032
The clock does Bachirou Yaméogo’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sibenik could ask drops and the wages Bachirou Yaméogo can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Feb 2032
A falling-out at Sibenik
Bachirou Yaméogo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Words at Sibenik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nkanyiso Shinga 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 Feb 2032
Mads Samson gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
Charles Agada knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sibenik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market16 Feb 2032
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Sibenik could get for him.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
Alexandr Mironov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sibenik 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.
Squad16 Feb 2032
A wage question at Sibenik
Nkanyiso Shinga has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Edvin Kuč remains an outsider
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 Sibenik would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Jan 2032
The view from the top for Sibenik
34 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market26 Jan 2032
“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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
A falling-out at Sibenik
Zvonimir Josić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets26 Jan 2032
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Words at Sibenik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sai Sachdev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets26 Jan 2032
A loan enquiry to NK Osijek: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout26 Jan 2032
“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 dugout26 Jan 2032
Lucas Soratto 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 Lucas Soratto is on it.
The dugout26 Jan 2032
Pius Igwe asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.