Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Orijent 1919 next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Marked 8.11 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Nick Ocvirek 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.
Orijent 1919 go through and Jarun Zagreb go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Abdoulaye Djiré, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.86
A mark of 7.86 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yannick Touré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
James Wright 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.
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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Krešimir Luetić was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Half the programme played, position 4, 17 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of James Wright
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Jarun Zagreb may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Yannick Touré 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alfie Marriott has his answer from Jarun Zagreb; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abdoulaye Djiré signs something — a contract at Jarun Zagreb or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jarun Zagreb, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdoulaye Djiré did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 medical room confirms 22 days on the sidelines for Tin Knezevic, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nick Ocvirek 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 weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Jarun Zagreb prefer.
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yannick Touré 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.
James Wright 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Jarun Zagreb can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yannick Touré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
James Wright 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.
Minute 92, against Hrvace, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Supporters organise against the Jarun Zagreb board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Marked 7.13 on 20 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Abdoulaye Djiré and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Nick Ocvirek 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. BSK Bijelo Brdo had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Yannick Touré'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.
“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 Jarun Zagreb, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Jarun Zagreb until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Yannick Touré 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.
Jakov Miholić 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Jarun Zagreb, another week without a signature from Martim Barradas.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Matej Gagulić did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The deal with HNK Rijeka 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Josh Bickerton is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yannick Touré 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jarun Zagreb told Yannick Touré something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
7 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.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Nick Ocvirek 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 7.98. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
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.” Hrvoje Corluka, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Looking ahead23 Aug 2027
Jarun Zagreb take on the side everybody is chasing
Dinamo Zagreb arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Alfie Marriott
The mood at Jarun Zagreb 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.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yannick Touré 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. Juve Stabia have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Jakov Miholić 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 goal that put Dubrava ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Jarun Zagreb equalised, 1 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martim Barradas, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Hrvoje Corluka to a room that had heard them before.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdoulaye Djiré did not need any: 8.12, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The deal with HNK Rijeka 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Yannick Touré 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.
Nick Ocvirek 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 21 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 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 Jarun Zagreb will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Matej Gagulić did not need any: 7.79, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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. Dinamo Zagreb have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Matej Gagulić scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Orijent 1919, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Nick Ocvirek 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 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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
12 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hrvoje Corluka after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jarun Zagreb have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Jarun Zagreb
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luka Ćurković and Jarun Zagreb agree another 4 years.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Yannick Touré 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.
Luka Ćurković 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Luka Ćurković 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martin 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.
Supporters organise against the Jarun Zagreb board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Everything agreed with Orijent 1919, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Yannick Touré 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiva Zagreb have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Jakov Miholić 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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Jarun Zagreb would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jarun Zagreb know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Jarun Zagreb 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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Jarun Zagreb will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Jarun Zagreb will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nick Ocvirek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
In brief
The dugoutYanis Daoud knocks on the manager's door
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Hrvoje Corluka has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jarun Zagreb have done the hard part with Dinamo Zagreb, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ivan Tuškan has just signed for Jarun Zagreb, and for once the answer mattered.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jordan Willis commits to Jarun Zagreb for another 2 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yannick Touré 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. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Olimpija Ljubljana 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Viktor Lobotka is in the works
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jarun Zagreb can pretend not to have heard.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Jarun Zagreb 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Gojko Jelić 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jarun Zagreb is running low.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Križanović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jarun Zagreb the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with NK Varazdin 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Zagreb have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tin Miljak 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.
Jarun Zagreb have made the call to Dinamo Zagreb. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Jarun Zagreb asked and HNK Gorica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Amir Hossein Reyvandi 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.
Jarun Zagreb have made the call to Istra 1961. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Jarun Zagreb will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jarun Zagreb, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Hrvoje Corluka has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Yanis Daoud has just signed for Jarun Zagreb, and for once the answer mattered.
Everything agreed with NK Osijek, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 10 and 20 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.
“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 Jarun Zagreb, and it is not being withdrawn.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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 footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Alessandro Lamorte has, at Jarun Zagreb, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad31 May 2027
Tin Miljak 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.
Squad31 May 2027
5 new faces, and Jarun Zagreb 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 speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Jarun Zagreb would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Jarun Zagreb, another week without a signature from Alessandro Lamorte.
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Luka Ćurković
43Edition
The Jarun Zagreb Sentinel
24 May 2027
From our football correspondentUneasy
The terraces24 May 2027
Supporters organise against the Jarun Zagreb board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Jarun Zagreb
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 88 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jarun Zagreb will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ivan Križanović 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jarun Zagreb is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Martim Barradas has, at Jarun Zagreb, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad10 May 2027
Jakov Miholić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jarun Zagreb will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Position 10 and 20 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jarun Zagreb can pretend not to have heard.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Abdoulaye Djiré's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Supporters organise against the Jarun Zagreb board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jarun Zagreb is running low.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jarun Zagreb will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Nick Ocvirek 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Križanović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Gojko Jelić are not good
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jarun Zagreb will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vito Matijević and Jarun Zagreb agree another 4 years.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakov Miholić 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jarun Zagreb know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jarun Zagreb is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ivan Križanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Jarun Zagreb could ask drops and the wages Ivan Križanović can ask rise.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
In brief
SquadLuka Ćurković is training like a man with a point to make
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jarun Zagreb can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Position 10 and 20 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Jarun Zagreb than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The mood at Jarun Zagreb 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Jarun Zagreb is running low.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Ivan Križanović 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gojko Jelić 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.
3 groups that do not mix, and 2 players belonging to none of them. Nothing here can be fined or dropped, which is why it lasts longer than any row that can.
“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 Jarun Zagreb, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ivan Križanović 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jarun Zagreb, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jarun Zagreb know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Križanović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jarun Zagreb the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoulaye Djiré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
James Wright 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Križanović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Hrvoje Corluka has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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 Gojko Jelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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; Jarun Zagreb are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb 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 Antonio Klarić-Kukuz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Abdoulaye Djiré was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Antonio Klarić-Kukuz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jarun Zagreb can pretend not to have heard.
Abdoulaye Djiré and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Jakov Miholić 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.
In brief
The dugoutGojko Jelić asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Križanović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jarun Zagreb the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gojko Jelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Jarun Zagreb can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ivan Križanović has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Jarun Zagreb who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Abdoulaye Djiré has come out of that comparison in the side, and Jarun Zagreb have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrik Jug trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The mood at Jarun Zagreb 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Jarun Zagreb
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The offer from Karlovac 1919 for Ivan Križanović 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Jarun Zagreb until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Ivan Križanović 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 Abdoulaye Djiré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Olimpija Ljubljana: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“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 Jarun Zagreb, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with HNK Rijeka, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Jakov Miholić 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Križanović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jarun Zagreb know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Jarun Zagreb the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Everything was agreed with HNK Rijeka and then the doctor spoke. Jarun Zagreb have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Hajduk Split keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jarun Zagreb, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Križanović signs something — a contract at Jarun Zagreb or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 10 and 20 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.
The 89th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Abdoulaye Djiré decided nobody was going anywhere. Karlovac 1919 had no time left to answer.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jarun Zagreb have done the hard part with Hajduk Split, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
Jarun Zagreb asked and Dinamo Zagreb 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: Abdoulaye Djiré. 2‑1 against Karlovac 1919, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Supporters organise against the Jarun Zagreb board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Jarun Zagreb
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jarun Zagreb will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
“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 Jarun Zagreb know it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jarun Zagreb 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 Jarun Zagreb can pretend not to have heard.
Ivan Križanović 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.
At 20 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.
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. Jarun Zagreb know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jarun Zagreb told Abdoulaye Djiré something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jarun Zagreb will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gojko Jelić 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 found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Jarun Zagreb pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The mood at Jarun Zagreb 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Jarun Zagreb
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.74 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A point taken on 93 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.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Dominik Celija
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jarun Zagreb 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 Jarun Zagreb can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoulaye Djiré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nick Ocvirek 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Jakov Miholić, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 8.14
A mark of 8.14 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
At 17 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Gojko Jelić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The goal that put Dugopolje ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Jarun Zagreb equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Position 12 and 9 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jarun Zagreb will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Dugopolje next, and one man in the Jarun Zagreb dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A new face in his position, and Ivan Križanović suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Jarun Zagreb have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Ivan Križanović 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 Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hrvoje Corluka after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jarun Zagreb 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. Jarun Zagreb 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 Jarun Zagreb can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoulaye Djiré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Antonio Klarić-Kukuz 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Hrvoje Corluka left the room before anybody could ask which.
He is 18, and nobody at Jarun Zagreb signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jarun Zagreb will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Position 11, 9 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.
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Jarun Zagreb 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jarun Zagreb told Matej Gagulić something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jarun Zagreb will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Karlovac 1919 will replay every second of the added time for a week.
10 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Karlovac 1919 were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Klarić-Kukuz 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jarun Zagreb know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
Looking aheadLooking ahead: the trip to Karlovac 1919
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jarun Zagreb will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Abdoulaye Djiré and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Borna Orlić
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Borna Orlić has come out of that comparison in the side, and Jarun Zagreb have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 120 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
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.
10 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 is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Croatia Zmijavci? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jarun Zagreb will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 12 and 3 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.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Borna Orlić 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
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
7.43, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Jarun Zagreb had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Hrvoje Corluka was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Jarun Zagreb dressing room was either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 136 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Matej Gagulić, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.85
A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vito Matijević and Jarun Zagreb agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
He is 18 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bruno Erceg has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vedran Erceg has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Tin Knezevic has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jarun Zagreb 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 Jarun Zagreb, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Jarun Zagreb close the window on a squad of their own making
21 in and 14 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Antonio Klarić-Kukuz has just signed for Jarun Zagreb, and for once the answer mattered.
Ivan Križanović 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Jarun Zagreb will try again when the window opens; Rudes may not be selling by then.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Jarun Zagreb training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gojko Jelić 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Luka Ćurković is living that version at Jarun Zagreb, and it tends to show in the first month.
Jarun Zagreb and Rudes have settled on $85.0K. 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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Jarun Zagreb 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hrvoje Corluka after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $32.2K — a club that wants Lukas Murica enough to be asked twice.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jarun Zagreb have done the hard part with NK Osijek, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Petar Katalinić has, at Jarun Zagreb, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Jarun Zagreb offered $3.0K; Grobnican 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.
Jarun Zagreb asked and Slaven Belupo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout24 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Hrvoje Corluka to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Jakov Miholić is in the works
The deal with Istra 1961 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jarun Zagreb this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$28.0K on the table at HNK Rijeka. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Varazdin have kept their man, and Jarun Zagreb go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hrvoje Corluka after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Martin Benko, 14 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Roko Peroš
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $32.2K — a club that wants Lovro Kitin enough to be asked twice.
Abdoulaye Djiré 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.
Jarun Zagreb have gone to HNK Rijeka 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.
Jarun Zagreb asked and Lokomotiva Zagreb said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hrvoje Barisic has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Duje Grbic 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 Pasalic 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. Petar Babic 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.82 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdoulaye Djiré and Jarun Zagreb agree another 5 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoulaye Djiré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Ivan Križanović 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.