27 Feb 2027
Saturday
Process
30 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Gomel watching Mateo Bačić

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Cibalia have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Christian Ilić 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Cibalia

Marko Pervan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ivo Vukić

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivo Vukić, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Petar Mišić 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 Petar Mišić is on it.

Market

David Žabec linked with a move away

The name of David Žabec keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Cibalia say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

A door opens for Marko Pervan

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.

Squad

Riccardo Di Trolio 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 Cibalia would admit. It shows on Saturdays.

Market

Josh Johnson placed on the list

Cibalia have made Josh Johnson available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

Back issues
29 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A row about effort at Cibalia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Renato Kelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cibalia

Marko Pervan 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Petar Brlek

“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.

Squad

Cibalia are still strangers to each other

13 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

Squad

No place for Bram van Driel in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Cibalia are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

Market

The Petar Brlek talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cibalia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Match

Cibalia have something to play for

Position 5 on 26 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.

The dugout

Ivan Lagundžić has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ivan Lagundžić has written the date down.

Market

The window shut and Marin Grujević is still in the building

Cibalia spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.

In brief

28 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Cibalia

Renato Kelić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A move Bram van Driel 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. Bram van Driel is living that version at Cibalia, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Christian Ilić 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Antonio Kasalo

“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.

Squad

No place for Lucas Gaona in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Cibalia are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

The dugout

Petar Brlek is still paying for one afternoon at Cibalia

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.

Market

A long bet from Cibalia on Jamal Mohammed

He is 20, and nobody at Cibalia signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.

Market

A long bet from Cibalia on Léo Izidoro

He is 20, and nobody at Cibalia signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.

The dugout

Marin Grujević 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.

In brief

27 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Window shuts: 7 in, 0 out at Cibalia

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Transfer targets

Lucas Gaona is a medical away from Cibalia

The deal with Temperley is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Squad

Christian Ilić 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.

Boardroom

Mateo Tomić will join Cibalia for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Mateo Tomić has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Cibalia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Transfer targets

All Boys tell Cibalia: Bruno Medina is not for sale

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 dugout

Ivan Lagundžić 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Cibalia

Britto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Manuel Severich is in the works

Cibalia have made the call to Gimnasia y Esgrima. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

When it matters, Marko Galić plays

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.

In brief

26 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Marin Grujević hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cibalia can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Dante Stipica is a medical away from Cibalia

The deal with Hajduk Split is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Transfer targets

Joel Lucero will not be coming to Cibalia

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Estudiantes is saying, and nobody at Cibalia is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Tempers go at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Transfer targets

Sibenik tell Cibalia: Josip Baturina is not for sale

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.

Squad

Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Grujević 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.

Boardroom

85% of the income goes out in wages at Cibalia

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.

Squad

The formation has left Charlie Robinson behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Cibalia will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

The dugout

Petar Mišić has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Cibalia 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.

In brief

25 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Renato Kelić in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Ilić 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.

Boardroom

Cibalia agree a free transfer for Josip Baturina

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Lovre Lončar

Cibalia asked and Slaven Belupo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Petar Brlek

“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.

Squad

No place for Dražen Jaman in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Cibalia are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Cibalia

6 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.

Market

No place for Petar Mišić in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Petar Mišić has his answer from Cibalia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

The dugout

Andrija Bubnjar 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.

In brief

24 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Mateo Bačić: 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.” Cibalia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Cibalia turn down Hapoel Acre for Mateo Bačić

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Jokūbaz Mažionis gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jokūbaz Mažionis has just signed for Cibalia, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Dražen Jaman in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Christian Ilić 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 targets

HNK Vukovar 1991 tell Cibalia: Robin Gonzalez is not for sale

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.

Market

One of our own: Duje Horvat joins the Cibalia first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Duje Horvat is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

Chris Alderden signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chris Alderden and Cibalia agree another 4 years.

The dugout

Petar Brlek is still paying for one afternoon at Cibalia

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.

In brief

23 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Petar Brlek keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cibalia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Transfer targets

Dražen Jaman is a medical away from Cibalia

The deal with NK Osijek is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo tell Cibalia: Josip Mitrović is not for sale

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 dugout

No hiding place for Marin Grujević

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marin Grujević, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Marko Galić has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Cibalia 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.

Squad

The formation has left Josh Tomlinson behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Cibalia will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

Market

The shop window has Marin Grujević in it

Cibalia have let the market know Marin Grujević can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

Market

Still no ink between Cibalia and Josh Tomlinson

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Cibalia, another week without a signature from Josh Tomlinson.

In brief

  • Boardroom Open for business: Cibalia enter the window
  • Squad Cibalia’s own kid cannot get a game
  • Squad Competition arrives for Christian Ilić
22 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Squad

The step up is real for Karlo Vrljić

At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Christian Ilić 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.

Boardroom

126% of the income goes out in wages at Cibalia

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.

The dugout

Petar Brlek 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 Petar Brlek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Petar Mišić has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Cibalia 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.

In brief

21 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Cibalia

Ivo Vukić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Ćurković 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.

Market

The David Žabec talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cibalia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Match

Continental football is in reach for Cibalia

26 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.

The dugout

Marin Grujević has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Marin Grujević has written the date down.

The dugout

Petar Mišić 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 Cibalia, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

20 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Cibalia

Renato Kelić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

One of our own: Dino Perisic joins the Cibalia first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Dino Perisic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Vukić 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 dugout

Petar Brlek is still paying for one afternoon at Cibalia

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ivo Vukić

“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.

Market

The Petar Brlek question follows Cibalia around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Petar Brlek’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

19 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Karlo Vrljić: 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.” Cibalia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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 dugout

No hiding place for Ivan Lagundžić

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Lagundžić, and the manager let it.

Squad

Karlo Vrljić signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Karlo Vrljić and Cibalia agree another 3 years.

Squad

Mateo Bačić slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Mateo Bačić is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

The dugout

When it matters, Marko Galić plays

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.

In brief

18 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Squad

Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Ilić 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.

Boardroom

128% of the income goes out in wages at Cibalia

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Marko Pervan

“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.

The dugout

Petar Mišić 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 Petar Mišić is on it.

Market

The Ante Kuliš story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ante Kuliš signs something — a contract at Cibalia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

17 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Andrija Bubnjar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 42. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Goran Pjaca

20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cibalia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Renato Kelić in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Ilić 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 dugout

The team sheet said everything about Marko Pervan

Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Marko Pervan.

The dugout

Mario Colak: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

The dugout

Cibalia pick somebody else ahead of Marin Grujević

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.

The dugout

The plan did not have a place for Petar Brlek

Nobody at Cibalia is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.

Match

Cibalia and Sibenik cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Sibenik came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

16 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Goran Pjaca out for 29 days

29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cibalia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Gabrijel Boban, 37, rolls back the years — 8.31

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.31 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

A falling-out at Cibalia

Renato Kelić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Petar Brlek 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.

Squad

Andrija Bubnjar makes it 200

200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.

Squad

A row about effort at Cibalia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivo Vukić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Petar Brlek'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.

The dugout

Cibalia keep their word to Andrija Bubnjar

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

Match

Cibalia and Zadar take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

15 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Segesta end the Cibalia run at 8

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Squad

Christian Ilić 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.

Market

Cibalia promote Andrej Knezevic from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrej Knezevic has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Match

Segesta take the points off Cibalia

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

No place for Petar Brlek on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Cibalia pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

The dugout

Mario Colak answers for it

“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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Christian Ilić

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Ivo Vukić 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.

In brief

14 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Marko Galić keeps Cibalia in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

The small margins put Cibalia out

Out, 1‑1 to Slaven Belupo, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Match

Cibalia are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 24 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Player ratings

Gabrijel Boban runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

8 unbeaten for Cibalia

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Cibalia did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Christian Ilić 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.

Match

Cibalia get the job done against Imotski

A 2‑0 win over Imotski, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Boardroom

128% of the income goes out in wages at Cibalia

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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from David Žabec

Marked 8.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

13 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Gabrijel Boban was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 27. 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.

Squad

Renato Kelić in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Whatever happens, Cibalia do not lose

6 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.

The dugout

Antonio Kasalo 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.

Squad

8 new faces, and Cibalia 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.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Karlo Stapić

7.74, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Cibalia had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

Squad

A row about effort at Cibalia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivo Vukić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Mario Colak on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mario Colak after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

The dugout

Cibalia pick somebody else ahead of Marin Grujević

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

12 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Both of them Ante Kuliš's — 8.96

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.96, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A falling-out at Cibalia

Renato Kelić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Cibalia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Cibalia see off Rudes

Three points for Cibalia, 2‑1 the final word against Rudes in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

No hiding place for Marin Grujević

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marin Grujević, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Cibalia keep their word to Karlo Kamenar

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Petar Brlek'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.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Mario Colak, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Christian Ilić

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

  • Squad The division's best last weekend was a Cibalia man
  • Player ratings An afternoon Petar Brlek will want back
  • Looking ahead A reunion for David Žabec
11 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Andrija Bubnjar was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 26. 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Squad

Real improvement from Karlo Vrljić at Cibalia

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Karlo Vrljić is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Ilić 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.

Market

One of our own: Boris Benko joins the Cibalia first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Boris Benko is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ante Kuliš

Marked 8.11 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Ante Kuliš answers Dugopolje immediately

Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Ante Kuliš had Cibalia level again within 4 minutes, and Dugopolje never got to play with a lead at all.

Match

Honours even between Cibalia and Dugopolje

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

Ivo Vukić 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.

In brief

  • The dugout Half-satisfied: Mario Colak on the draw
  • The dugout Somebody else is better right now than Marin Grujević
  • Looking ahead A test against the best for Cibalia
10 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Ante Kuliš scores twice — 9.13

Two goals and a mark of 9.13 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

Andrija Bubnjar was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 29. 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Match

Cibalia get the job done against Hrvatski Dragovoljac

A 2‑1 win over Hrvatski Dragovoljac, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 151% of the Cibalia income

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.

Match

No time for Hrvatski Dragovoljac to settle

The goal that put Hrvatski Dragovoljac ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Cibalia equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.

The dugout

Ivan Lagundžić 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.

Squad

Noa Godec makes the team of the month

Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

The dugout

Mario Colak: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.

In brief

9 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Andrija Bubnjar

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Renato Kelić in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Christian Ilić 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Mateo Bačić

“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.

Match

Cibalia at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 6, 13 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

Squad

8 new faces, and Cibalia 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 dugout

Mario Colak on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mario Colak after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

The dugout

Cibalia pick somebody else ahead of Marin Grujević

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.

Match

Cibalia and Sesvete cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Sesvete came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

8 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A falling-out at Cibalia

Renato Kelić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Cibalia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Cibalia rebuffed over Lucas Rodríguez

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Uruguay Montevideo have kept their man, and Cibalia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

David Žabec sends Cibalia past Sibenik

It finished 1‑0, and it was David Žabec’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Cibalia.

Player ratings

Karlo Kamenar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

No hiding place for Marin Grujević

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marin Grujević, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

David Žabec was the difference for Cibalia

Marked 7.89. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

The dugout

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.” Mario Colak kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

The form table has caught Marin Grujević

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

In brief

7 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

No deal for Karlo Išasegi at that price

Cibalia offered $370.0K; Slaven Belupo 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.

Transfer targets

Defensores tell Cibalia: Francisco Tcherkaski is not for sale

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.

Match

Cibalia come up short against Zadar

Zadar left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

Cibalia promote Goran Pjaca from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Goran Pjaca has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

The dugout

No hiding place for Marko Galić

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marko Galić, and the manager let it.

Squad

Tempers go at Cibalia

Ivo Vukić 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 dugout

Mario Colak answers for it

“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.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Marin Grujević

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.

Looking ahead

Marko Pervan faces his old club

Sibenik next, and one man in the Cibalia dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

In brief

6 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Mateo Bačić agrees terms with Rudar Velenje

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Cibalia people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 16 in, 1 out at Cibalia

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Milciades Adorno rejects the move

Cibalia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Guarani, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Transfer targets

Cibalia make their move for Karlo Išasegi

$370.0K on the table at Slaven Belupo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Player ratings

Gabrijel Boban was unplayable

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Squad

Christian Ilić 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 targets

Cibalia rebuffed over Miguel Ventos

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Boca Juniors have kept their man, and Cibalia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Cibalia see off Segesta

Three points for Cibalia, 1‑0 the final word against Segesta in a contest settled by the finer margins.

In brief

  • Player ratings David Žabec in the eights
  • Transfer targets A loan move for Lucas Rodríguez is in the works
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
5 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A brace, and Ante Kuliš takes the afternoon — 9.09

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ante Kuliš provided it, and the 9.09 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Transfer targets

Matías Kusmanis turns down Cibalia

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Central Espanol keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Renato Kelić in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Cibalia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Gabrijel Boban runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Filippo Alessio

Cibalia asked and Vicenza said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Cibalia get the job done against Imotski

A 2‑1 win over Imotski, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

8 new faces, and Cibalia 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 dugout

Mario Colak has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Mario Colak on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

In brief

4 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

11 saves: Marko Galić was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Gomel come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Cibalia did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Transfer targets

Joaquín Barolín turns down Cibalia

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Patronato keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

A falling-out at Cibalia

Renato Kelić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Legia tell Cibalia: Rafał Adamski is not for sale

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Cibalia against Lucko

1‑2 to Lucko, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Christian Ilić beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Antonio Kasalo 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.

Squad

This league is too small for Christian Ilić

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Cibalia will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

In brief

3 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for Cibalia

A 0‑5 beating by Rudes was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

Luka Ćurković gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Luka Ćurković has just signed for Cibalia, and for once the answer mattered.

Transfer targets

Cibalia rebuffed over Marko Dabro

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slaven Belupo have kept their man, and Cibalia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Cibalia

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Luka Ćurković stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Luka Ćurković and Cibalia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ivan Lagundžić

“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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Cibalia dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Market

Still no ink between Cibalia and Christian Ilić

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Cibalia, another week without a signature from Christian Ilić.

In brief

2 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Marko Pervan settles it late for Cibalia

The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Marko Pervan decided nobody was going anywhere. Dugopolje had no time left to answer.

Player ratings

Andrija Bubnjar beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Renato Kelić in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cibalia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

The town asked, and Cibalia paid $410.0K

Antonio Kasalo was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $410.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.

Transfer targets

Legia tell Cibalia: Antonio Čolak is not for sale

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.

Market

Daniel Erceg steps up from the Cibalia academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Daniel Erceg 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.

Market

One of our own: Darijo Kasalo joins the Cibalia first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Darijo Kasalo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

One of our own: Stipe Sucic joins the Cibalia first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Stipe Sucic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Cibalia promote Stipe Bjelica from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stipe Bjelica has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

1 Edition

The Cibalia Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Andrija Bubnjar runs at them all day

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.

Transfer targets

Cibalia make their move for Antonio Kasalo

$410.0K on the table at Zadar. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Renato Kelić signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Renato Kelić and Cibalia agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Cibalia

Renato Kelić 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.

Match

Hrvatski Dragovoljac take the points off Cibalia

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

Talks stall between Cibalia and Renato Kelić

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Mario Colak to a room that had heard them before.

Squad

Words at Cibalia training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Vukić 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 targets

A loan move for Antonio Čolak is in the works

Cibalia have made the call to Legia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief