From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against NK Osijek, and it could have been more.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Rene Hrvatin at 19 — 8.11
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rene Hrvatin did not need any: 8.11, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Istra 1961 have gone to Ural with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Istra 1961 sell a favourite for $2.5M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Silvio Goričan was one of the reasons people came, and $2.5M does not replace that by itself.
Market24 Aug 2026
Téo Barišić arrives at Istra 1961 in a $1.5M statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Istra 1961 have paid $1.5M for Téo Barišić, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Market24 Aug 2026
Silvio Goričan has left for Slaven Belupo in a $2.5M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Istra 1961 asked and Noah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Istra 1961 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with HNK Rijeka; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market17 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Jarun Zagreb had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kocaelispor have kept their man, and Istra 1961 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market17 Aug 2026
NK Osijek did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $1.4M for Yannick Touré, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Market17 Aug 2026
Kustosija come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Istra 1961 did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Yannick Touré scored one and made one — 7.52
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.52, and 2 involvements.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Vinko Rozić 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
2‑3 to NK Varazdin, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamed Nasraoui, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with NK Osijek is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vinko Rozić and Istra 1961 agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mohamed Nasraoui and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Istra 1961
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Advan Kadušić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Domzale have kept their man, and Istra 1961 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
One of their own: Isaac
He is 22 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Diego Saina again, and this time the name on the line is Jarun Zagreb. Istra 1961 are listening politely and promising nothing.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑6 to Dinamo 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The offer went to NK Osijek 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Varteks come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Istra 1961 did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Josip Radošević commits to Istra 1961 for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Istra 1961 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Aug 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Istra 1961 and Dinamo Zagreb in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Istra 1961
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vinko Rozić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Istra 1961 asked and Farul Constanța said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.