Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Radnicki Nis waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Cukaricki is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bogdan Kostić did not need any: 8.35, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cukaricki have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Cukaricki close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
A season average of 7.10 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Cukaricki know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cukaricki this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Radnicki 1923 waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Cukaricki is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cukaricki this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Cukaricki have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Cukaricki training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Clifton 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Radnicki 1923 have kept their man, and Cukaricki go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 94. OFK Beograd had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Cukaricki will not try tonight.
The dugoutBogdan Kostić has become a man the manager trusts
25Edition
The Cukaricki Post
18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondentUpbeat
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A brace, and Bogdan Kostić takes the afternoon — 8.51
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bogdan Kostić provided it, and the 8.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Cukaricki, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Rodina keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Srđan Mijailović 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Cukaricki people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Srđan Mijailović 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Cukaricki training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harry Clifton 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Miroslav Sergej 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.
A point taken on 92 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Napredak will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Cukaricki were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A brace, and Milan Pavkov takes the afternoon — 8.75
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Milan Pavkov provided it, and the 8.75 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Cukaricki have had the benefit of it.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Cukaricki know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cukaricki this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Cukaricki can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Cukaricki asked and Radnik Surdulica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.33 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cukaricki this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladimir Bubanja, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Nenad Tomović 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.
Marked 7.52 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cukaricki will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Clifton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Stefan Ranđelović 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.
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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cukaricki will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
“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 Cukaricki, and it is not being withdrawn.
Harry Clifton 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Nikola Mladenovic 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nenad Tomović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cukaricki will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Cukaricki, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cukaricki have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nenad Tomović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cukaricki will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
98 minutes played. Veljko Radosavljević found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Partizan went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Veljko Radosavljević provided it, and the 7.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cukaricki this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Clifton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Veljko Radosavljević 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cukaricki will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Cukaricki, and it is not being withdrawn.
Srđan Mijailović was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nenad Tomović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Cukaricki are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Petar Lazovic after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
Looking aheadCukaricki take on the side everybody is chasing
The dugoutBogdan Kostić has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Lazar Mijović
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cukaricki will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.54 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.85, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Srđan Mijailović 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bogdan Kostić. 3‑2 against Radnicki 1923, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marko Docić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cukaricki will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Cukaricki, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Srđan Mijailović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Cukaricki training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marko Docić 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Cukaricki know it.
A 2‑1 win over Mladost Lucani, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cukaricki will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Harry Clifton and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Cukaricki training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nenad Tomović 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cukaricki, and 10 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cukaricki will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Harry Clifton and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 7 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nenad Tomović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cukaricki will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Uroš Nikolić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Clifton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 18 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.
Something was said to Lazar Tufegdžić and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cukaricki will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
6 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.
“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 Cukaricki, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nikola Stanković 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Uroš Nikolić. 2‑0 against OFK Beograd, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stefan Petrovic 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
SquadWords at Cukaricki training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ardian Bajrami
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cukaricki this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Radnicki Nis made Cukaricki work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Cukaricki training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nenad Tomović 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.
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 dugout5 Oct 2026
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.” Petar Lazovic, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ardian Bajrami has just signed for Cukaricki, and for once the answer mattered.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Cukaricki offered $430.0K; OFK Beograd 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.
Srđan Mijailović 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Harry Clifton 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.
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A brace, and Milan Pavkov takes the afternoon — 8.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Milan Pavkov provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Srđan Mijailović 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Uroš Miladinović 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Nenad Tomović 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.
Successful dribbles: 51. 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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Javor-Matis spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cukaricki this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Mateo Maravić 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Milos Krsticic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Three points for Cukaricki, 1‑0 the final word against Javor-Matis in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Cukaricki training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nenad Tomović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
13 new faces, and Cukaricki 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.
In brief
The dugoutHarry Clifton dropped after a run of poor form
Successful dribbles: 36. 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 22 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The offer went to OFK Beograd this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Harry Clifton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cukaricki asked and Cortulua said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Zlatan Šehović 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cukaricki can pretend not to have heard.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Uroš Nikolić 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.
Cukaricki offered $22.0K; OFK Beograd 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Radnik Surdulica have kept their man, and Cukaricki go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Emmanuel Dzigbah has come up in conversations Cukaricki were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
IMT left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Nenad Tomović 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The offer from Pribram for Uroš Miladinović was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The fee is $160.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. TSC drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Srđan Mijailović 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.
$24.0K on the table at OFK Beograd. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Bogdan Kostić 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Harry Clifton has just signed for Cukaricki, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$160.0K settles it between the clubs for Nikola Bursać
TSC have accepted the money. What Cukaricki do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Cukaricki have done the hard part with Partizan, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Marko Docić 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Harry Clifton 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The offer from Zeleznicar Pancevo for Luka Đorđević was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at TSG Hoffenheim is saying, and nobody at Cukaricki is enjoying the guessing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Srđan Mijailović and Cukaricki agree another 2 years.
Srđan Mijailović 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 chase for Stefan Ranđelović ended with $140.0K changing hands and Radnik Surdulica out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The name of Ismaël Maïga has come up in conversations Cukaricki were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Strahinja Mladenovic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cukaricki this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nenad Tomović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.