“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Bakić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Moussa Samaké. 2‑1 against NK Osijek, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and HNK Gorica will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Ivica Boric could afford to be generous.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Aleksandar Zeljković is living that version at HNK Gorica, and it tends to show in the first month.
Patrik Mijić 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Jurica Pršir 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.
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. HNK Gorica told Toni Silić something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ivica Boric after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mario Matković
0‑3 to Lokomotiva Zagreb, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Two goals and a mark of 8.56 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luka Vrzić did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Patrik Mijić 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Bakić 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.
“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 HNK Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one HNK Gorica will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Lokomotiva Zagreb in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. HNK Gorica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Marko Jug 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Lovro Dukić is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
0‑5 to Hajduk Split, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Jurica Pršir 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.
Marko Aščić 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.
Position 7, 10 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutOgnjen Bakić asks for a word with the manager
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Patrik Mijić 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Bakić 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
7.72, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Pršir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
HNK Gorica asked and Juve Stabia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Patrik Mijić. 2‑1 against Slaven Belupo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. HNK Gorica will try again when the window opens; Cibalia may not be selling by then.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Luka Vrzić 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Uskok waiting with a shirt. Nobody at HNK Gorica is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $554.0K of what HNK Gorica paid for Mario Mladenovski is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
“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 HNK Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with Cibalia; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
HNK Gorica close the window on a squad of their own making
23 in and 19 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Uskok keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The deal that would have taken Jakov Filipović to Cibalia has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to HNK Gorica with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 8, 7 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
$200.0K settles it between the clubs for Roko Mavra
Uskok have accepted the money. What HNK Gorica do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Marijan Čabraja 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Djakovo Croatia have kept their man, and HNK Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Krešimir Kovačević has, at HNK Gorica, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Patrik Mijić 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jurica Pršir 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.
HNK Gorica asked and Dinamo Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Nobody left the HNK Gorica 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Stefan Perić
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Pršir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juve Stabia have kept their man, and HNK Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
18 new faces, and HNK Gorica 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.
NK Varazdin will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. HNK Gorica were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Add another name to the list: Jadran Luka Ploce have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mateo Leš. The answer from HNK Gorica has not changed — yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cibalia have kept their man, and HNK Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ognjen Bakić and HNK Gorica agree another 4 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Bakić 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.
He is 20 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Tom Lacoux scored, was marked 7.66, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Shakhtar keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Patrik Mijić 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.
Hajduk Split paid $380.0K and HNK Gorica took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Pršir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wisła Płock have kept their man, and HNK Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Legia keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Marijan Čabraja 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at HNK Gorica
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Pršir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. HNK Gorica have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. HNK Gorica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rostov have kept their man, and HNK Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Bakić 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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 HNK Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica 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 Jurica Pršir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
HNK Gorica asked and Juve Stabia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Hrvace waiting with a shirt. Nobody at HNK Gorica is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason HNK Gorica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
HNK Gorica had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Shakhtar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Patrik Mijić 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jurica Pršir 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.
HNK Gorica asked and Slavia Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
17 appearances and 3 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Bruno Bogojević's mistake
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with BSK Bijelo Brdo; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Nyíregyháza is saying, and nobody at HNK Gorica is enjoying the guessing.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luka Miočić has, at HNK Gorica, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
HNK Gorica asked and Korona said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
17 appearances and 3 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ognjen Bakić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
Squad10 new faces, and HNK Gorica are still learning each other
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around HNK Gorica people have started saying his name in the past tense.
HNK Gorica and Lokomotiva Zagreb have settled on $10.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Slaven Belupo paid $360.0K and HNK Gorica took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Pršir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kawasaki Frontale have kept their man, and HNK Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 33, 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.
Add another name to the list: Varteks have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mateo Leš. The answer from HNK Gorica has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jurica Pršir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The offer from Djakovo Croatia for Ante Kavelj 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Darijan Žarkov reports back to HNK Gorica with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Dušan Stevanović 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at HNK Gorica has been clear about where Jakov Filipović stands, which is more than many ever get.
16 games and 3 goals away from here, and a man the manager did not have last summer. The loan did what loans are supposed to do and almost never do.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ognjen Bakić 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ivan Cvijanović 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.
Stefan Perić 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 Jurica Pršir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The loan was meant to give him football. 0 games and 0 goals later he is back at HNK Gorica no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
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 Domagoj Pavičić is on it.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Fran Stunja’s exile
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prosper Obah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Luka Vrzić is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
4 goals in 27 games at Uskok — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at HNK Gorica updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at HNK Gorica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Patrik Mijić signs something — a contract at HNK Gorica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
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.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 17 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Matej Orsic 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mislav Majer is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Marin Petkov 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mateo Barisic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HNK Gorica lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prosper Obah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mateo Leš trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
6 goals in 26 games at NK Krsko — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at HNK Gorica updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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 Noel Bodetić is on it.
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.
A few words of the language, a friend at the next peg, and a training ground that has stopped feeling foreign. Nothing measurable, and everything visible on Saturdays.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Prosper Obah 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for HNK Gorica is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
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.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I watch every HNK Gorica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Karlovac 1919 runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
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.
Patrik Mijić 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 Prosper Obah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Ivan Križanović has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means HNK Gorica have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
“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 HNK Gorica, and 1 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Bruno Bogojević'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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jakov Filipović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Marijan Čabraja 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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 HNK Gorica, and 7 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
6 goals in 26 games at NK Krsko — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at HNK Gorica updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
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.
4 goals in 27 games at Uskok — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at HNK Gorica updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prosper Obah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every HNK Gorica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Karlovac 1919 runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at HNK Gorica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 David Virgili is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prosper Obah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every HNK Gorica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sesvete runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Théo Epailly is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mateo Leš trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 HNK Gorica would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at HNK Gorica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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 HNK Gorica have no good answer.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zvonimir Šarlija and HNK Gorica agree another 3 years.
Patrik Mijić 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Marco Lovren 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tomislav Babic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Marco Orsic 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Marcelo Cop is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at HNK Gorica would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
6 goals in 26 games at NK Krsko — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at HNK Gorica updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica 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 Prosper Obah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 HNK Gorica, and 17 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at HNK Gorica than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
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 HNK Gorica would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
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 Ante Erceg has written the date down.
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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 HNK Gorica, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
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 David Virgili is on it.
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 Ante Erceg has written the date down.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
Marijan Čabraja 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.
HNK Gorica asked and DAC Dunajska Streda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I watch every HNK Gorica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sesvete runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at HNK Gorica has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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 Ante Erceg has written the date down.
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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.
HNK Gorica asked and Spartak Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I watch every HNK Gorica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at NK Varazdin runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at HNK Gorica, another week without a signature from Théo Epailly.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation HNK Gorica are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ognjen Bakić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 HNK Gorica would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bjelovar had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
HNK Gorica asked and NK Osijek said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. HNK Gorica will try again when the window opens; Lokomotiva Zagreb may not be selling by then.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Ognjen Bakić 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.
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.
The offer went to Lokomotiva Zagreb 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for HNK Gorica is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Wisdom Sule 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.
HNK Gorica have made the call to NK Osijek. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. BSK Bijelo Brdo have kept their man, and HNK Gorica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
$11.0K was the most the club would pay and Lokomotiva Zagreb were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Bruno Bogojević'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.
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 Théo Epailly is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Ante Erceg has written the date down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Add another name to the list: BSK Bijelo Brdo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Stefan Perić. The answer from HNK Gorica has not changed — yet.
Zvonimir Šarlija 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 offer went to Lokomotiva Zagreb 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Prosper Obah 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.
HNK Gorica asked and NK Varazdin said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sesvete will make the call about Domagoj Pavičić this week. HNK Gorica have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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 Wisdom Sule is on 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 HNK Gorica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sesvete will make the call about Ivan Cvijanović this week. HNK Gorica have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wisdom Sule was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 HNK Gorica, and 12 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
HNK Gorica have made the call to Darmstadt 98. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Luka Vrzić is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Jakov Filipović 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prosper Obah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zoran Arsenić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
3 goals in 15 games at Jarun Zagreb — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at HNK Gorica updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I watch every HNK Gorica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at NK Varazdin runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ivica Boric after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wisdom Sule was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 7.40, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Marked 8.19 — 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 HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Dušan Stevanović.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
The mood at HNK Gorica has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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.
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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Wisdom Sule 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.
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 Jakov Filipović.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 8 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Zvonimir Šarlija 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. HNK Gorica know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wisdom Sule 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jakov Filipović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HNK Gorica lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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.
Dušan Stevanović 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.
Nobody at HNK Gorica 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.
Istra 1961 next, and one man in the HNK Gorica dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HNK Gorica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
Jakov Filipović 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“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 HNK Gorica, and 7 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugoutDomagoj Pavičić has become a man the manager trusts
14Edition
The HNK Gorica Herald
2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondentSteady
The terraces2 Nov 2026
The mood at HNK Gorica has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Zoran Arsenić 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. Prosper Obah 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.
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wisdom Sule 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 HNK Gorica, and 4 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Luka Vrzić has come out of that comparison in the side, and HNK Gorica have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Prosper Obah 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at HNK Gorica has been clear about where Mateo Leš stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 dugout26 Oct 2026
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 Ivica Boric to a room that had heard them before.
A 4‑0 win over Radnik Krizevci, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A brace, and Bartol Kardum takes the afternoon — 8.68
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bartol Kardum provided it, and the 8.68 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.57 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Luka Vrzić, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.74
A mark of 7.74 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prosper Obah 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 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Bartol Kardum 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Radnik Krizevci tried to reorganise, HNK Gorica did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
9 combined actions and 6.58. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” HNK Gorica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Cvijanović and HNK Gorica agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Wisdom Sule 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. HNK Gorica told Prosper Obah something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
13 new faces, and HNK Gorica 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Lokomotiva Zagreb in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HNK Gorica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Prosper Obah 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at HNK Gorica has been clear about where Jakov Filipović stands, which is more than many ever get.
Half the programme played, position 9, 10 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
0‑3 to NK Osijek, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what HNK Gorica can pretend not to have heard.
Patrik Mijić 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
Words at HNK Gorica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prosper Obah 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.
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. 11 actions, 6.56, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica 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 Wisdom Sule was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Domagoj Pavičić, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ivica Boric was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the HNK Gorica dressing room was either.
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 shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. NK Varazdin defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against NK Osijek in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between HNK Gorica and HNK Vukovar 1991, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A 4‑2 win over HNK Vukovar 1991, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Prosper Obah 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.
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.
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
13 new faces, and HNK Gorica 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Bruno Bogojević'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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Hadji Issa Moustapha had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
HNK Gorica close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 6 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.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prosper Obah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
HNK Gorica asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Mario Mladenovski 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 chase for Mario Mladenovski ended with $740.0K changing hands and NK Varazdin out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
HNK Gorica asked and HNK Rijeka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jakov Filipović, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Medin Gashi 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.
A point taken on 86 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.
Hadji Issa Moustapha 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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ante Kavelj had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $760.0K has been paid because David Virgili is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. HNK Gorica have done the hard part with Widzew Łódź, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The fee is $260.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. HNK Rijeka drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Zvonimir Šarlija 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 Jurica Pršir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
HNK Gorica asked and Shakhtar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Tin Došen had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$260.0K settles it between the clubs for Noel Bodetić
HNK Rijeka have accepted the money. What HNK Gorica do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HNK Gorica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Jurica Pršir 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.
9 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.
It needed Patrik Mijić to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against HNK Rijeka, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ivica Boric chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Stefan Perić
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.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Rudar Velenje had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
HNK Gorica asked and UTC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dušan Stevanović 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.
Add another name to the list: Rudar Velenje have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Medin Gashi. The answer from HNK Gorica has not changed — yet.
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Jurica Pršir 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Jurica Pršir’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
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 Ivica Boric to a room that had heard them before.