From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match31 Oct 2026
The cup run ends for Aluminij
1‑1 against Primorje, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match2 Nov 2026
27 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Rok Schaubach 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Josip Pejić was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Aluminij have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Matic Vrbanec
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Matic Vrbanec has come out of that comparison in the side, and Aluminij have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Aluminij training over how hard people work
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The dugout
Half-satisfied: Vid Bijol on the draw
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The dugout
Behar Feta dropped after a run of poor form
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market26 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aluminij is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play Aluminij right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Aluminij training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matic Vrbanec 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 terraces26 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Emir Saitoski 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Matic Vrbanec’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Aluminij.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.31, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and Aluminij are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Vid Bijol on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match17 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play Aluminij right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Aluminij
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matic Vrbanec was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matic Vrbanec. 1‑0 against NK Maribor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 39, 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Matic Vrbanec at his very best
Marked 8.19. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Aluminij.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Eric Taylor reaches 100 appearances
100 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Behar Feta runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Vid Bijol could afford to be generous.
Squad19 Oct 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Aluminij lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Emir Saitoski and Aluminij agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Aluminij
Rok Schaubach 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Aluminij training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anej Dukarić 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 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomislav Jagić, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Behar Feta 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 Behar Feta is on it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
NK Maribor next, and one man in the Aluminij dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market12 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Aluminij know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Behar Feta wants to know why he earns less
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 Aluminij have no good answer.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Aluminij. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Oct 2026
20 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Match3 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Aluminij did not have in the autumn.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Aluminij
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matic Vrbanec was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 2‑1 win over Bravo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Nal Lan Koren 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aluminij this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Oct 2026
Halfway: Aluminij sit in position 1
20 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 7.81. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Uroš Korun is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Uroš Korun 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.
In brief
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Squad
Matjaž Rozman makes the team of the month
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Rok Schaubach gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aluminij is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match26 Sep 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Aluminij did not have in the autumn.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Aluminij
Matic Vrbanec and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Emir Saitoski’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Aluminij.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.88 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Aluminij had the best player on the pitch.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Aluminij
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Vid Bijol: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Aluminij
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Domen Zajšek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, Aluminij do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aluminij this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Osijek have kept their man, and Aluminij go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match19 Sep 2026
After 5 games, Aluminij finally taste it again
The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against NK Celje; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
The big one: Koper come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Aluminij will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.33 on the card, and the Aluminij support went home talking about one name.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Aluminij training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anej Dukarić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Half-satisfied: Vid Bijol on the draw
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match14 Sep 2026
Aluminij refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 13 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Aluminij cannot stop winning
5 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The phone has started ringing about Emir Saitoski again, and this time the name on the line is NK Maribor. Aluminij are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Aluminij
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matic Vrbanec was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
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.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
Aluminij supporters have found a favourite in Behar Feta
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Behar Feta 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jaka Domjan. 1‑0 against NK Domzale, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.95 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Aluminij had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 13 gone
That is the business done at Aluminij 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: RWDM keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Aluminij
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matic Vrbanec was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sabadell have kept their man, and Aluminij go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Rok Schaubach named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Rok Schaubach is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market7 Sep 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Aluminij will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match29 Aug 2026
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Matic Vrbanec scored in the 89th minute, Radomlje had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Aluminij took the lot.
Market31 Aug 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aluminij they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Aluminij, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match29 Aug 2026
Aluminij make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Aluminij have 4 straight wins of it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Lokomotiva Zagreb keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Stefanos Evangelou has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Aluminij asked and Cracovia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Aluminij, 1‑0 the final word against Radomlje in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Aluminij march on in the cup
Beltinci are out and Aluminij go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match19 Aug 2026
Simon Rogina wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Simon Rogina found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Beltinci went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Nal Lan Koren had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match22 Aug 2026
Aluminij make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Aluminij have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Aluminij
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matic Vrbanec was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Aluminij go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Emir Saitoski 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Aluminij have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Matic Vrbanec 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AEK have kept their man, and Aluminij go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match15 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Simon Rogina’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Aluminij.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Jaka Domjan 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Matic Vrbanec ran the middle of the pitch — 7.30
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.30, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Aluminij
Matjaž Rozman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Luzern: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Dravinja waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Aluminij is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market10 Aug 2026
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Aluminij
Matic Vrbanec and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Behar Feta runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Both jobs done by Jaka Domjan — 7.14
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 7.14, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Nal Lan Koren has come up in conversations Aluminij were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rok Handanovic has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matic Vrbanec and Aluminij agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Aluminij training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matic Vrbanec 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑1 to NK Maribor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Blaž Petriško again, and this time the name on the line is Dravinja. Aluminij are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aluminij this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Sparta Prague have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.