49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Javor-Matis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Javor-Matis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
David Čolina 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Something was said to Louis Enahoro-Marcus and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The words a physio says slowly. 56 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
David Čolina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stefan Milošević 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.
5 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
63 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Javor-Matis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A brace, and Eric Ocansey takes the afternoon — 9.27
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eric Ocansey provided it, and the 9.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dušan Pantelić and Javor-Matis agree another 2 years.
Stefan Milošević and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Čolina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to David Čolina and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout4 Oct 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.” Novak Mladenovic, on a 3‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
71 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Javor-Matis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Javor-Matis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
David Čolina 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stefan Milošević 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.
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.
A point taken on 92 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Javor-Matis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Javor-Matis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Javor-Matis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
David Čolina 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 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 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.
“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.
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Javor-Matis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Čolina 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. Krasnodar have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Javor-Matis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everything agreed with OFK Beograd, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Javor-Matis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Javor-Matis 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.
Javor-Matis 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.
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Javor-Matis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Crvena Zvezda go through and Javor-Matis 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.05 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
1 for Stefan Milošević, marked 7.50, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Eric Ocansey 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.
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stefan Milošević 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 words a physio says slowly. 109 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Javor-Matis had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at NK Domzale, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Javor-Matis 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 David Čolina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Puskas Akademia have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Javor-Matis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Javor-Matis have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nemanja Nastasic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Petar Lukic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Javor-Matis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bayéré Junior Loué has gone, the accounts have $660.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Javor-Matis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Partizan paid $660.0K and Javor-Matis took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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 words a physio says slowly. 107 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Javor-Matis scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Eric Ocansey 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 name of Bayéré Junior Loué has come up in conversations Javor-Matis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Čolina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Javor-Matis asked and Universitatea Craiova 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: Bayéré Junior Loué. 2‑1 against Crvena Zvezda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The words a physio says slowly. 114 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Javor-Matis can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Add another name to the list: Radnicki Nis have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mass Sise. The answer from Javor-Matis has not changed — yet.
David Čolina 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.
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
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. Lecce have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 122 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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. Dynamo Kyiv have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Lazar Konstantinov has come up in conversations Javor-Matis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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 Bayéré Junior Loué is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 129 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Javor-Matis people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Javor-Matis can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ferencvaros is saying, and nobody at Javor-Matis is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Javor-Matis 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 David Čolina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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. Javor-Matis will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
136 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Javor-Matis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Louis Enahoro-Marcus has just signed for Javor-Matis, and for once the answer mattered.
The offer from Slavia Mozyr for Lazar Konstantinov 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Javor-Matis have done the hard part with Zaglebie, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Benjamin Acquah 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 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.
144 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Javor-Matis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Javor-Matis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Al Ain 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 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Pantelić 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 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Javor-Matis can pretend not to have heard.
Stefan Milošević 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Pantelić 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. Dinamo Bucharest have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AFC Leopards waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Javor-Matis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Javor-Matis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Mateja Premović has come up in conversations Javor-Matis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Benjamin Acquah and Javor-Matis agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Javor-Matis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Pantelić 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.
Javor-Matis asked and Dynamo Kyiv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Javor-Matis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Eric Ocansey 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 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. Dynamo Kyiv have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Javor-Matis have made the call to Al Ain. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“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.
Eric Ocansey 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 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.
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 Stefan Vilotić is on it.
Eric Ocansey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Pantelić 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.
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 Kayode Saliman is on it.
“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 Javor-Matis will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Javor-Matis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Javor-Matis can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aleksa Radonjić 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 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 Bayéré Junior Loué is on it.
Position 14 and 23 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Miroslav Mitrovic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Slobodan Dimitrijevic 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mass Sise signs something — a contract at Javor-Matis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutOgnjen Lukić has become a man the manager trusts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Javor-Matis may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Pantelić 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.
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 Stefan Vilotić is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lazar Mićić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Hussain Ali Al-Khalsan has his answer from Javor-Matis; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Javor-Matis says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Javor-Matis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Javor-Matis has been clear about where Kayode Saliman stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutLazar Mićić asks for a word with the manager
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.
Nobody at Javor-Matis 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Benjamin Acquah signs something — a contract at Javor-Matis 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 Javor-Matis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Eric Ocansey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sasa Simic 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. Djordje Markovic 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Javor-Matis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Javor-Matis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Eric Ocansey 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Dimitrije Stevanović is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Pantelić 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aleksa Radonjić 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 Javor-Matis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Javor-Matis 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Javor-Matis 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.
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 Bayéré Junior Loué is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adrien Thibaut trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Benjamin Acquah signs something — a contract at Javor-Matis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Javor-Matis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Javor-Matis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Javor-Matis can pretend not to have heard.
Eric Ocansey 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Pantelić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Javor-Matis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andrija Kostic 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Javor-Matis, another week without a signature from Joke Efevwerha.
“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 Javor-Matis know 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 Javor-Matis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Pantelić 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.
0 appearances, 0 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument Javor-Matis will have this month.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Javor-Matis, another week without a signature from Adrien Thibaut.
“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 Javor-Matis will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Javor-Matis. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Position 14 and 23 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.
Eric Ocansey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Vasiljević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Javor-Matis will not try tonight.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Lazar Mićić
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boubacari Doucouré 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nenad Pavlovic 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Javor-Matis pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“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 Javor-Matis, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bayéré Junior Loué provided it, and the 9.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
That is the business done at Javor-Matis 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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Javor-Matis will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Everything agreed with São Paulo, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić 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. Atlético Mineiro have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Aleksa Radonjić 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 medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Javor-Matis have done the hard part with Crvena Zvezda, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Eric Ocansey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boubacari Doucouré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Javor-Matis pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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 0‑1 Novak Mladenovic left the room before anybody could ask which.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Javor-Matis have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cruzeiro is saying, and nobody at Javor-Matis is enjoying the guessing.
Eric Ocansey 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Thiab Mohamed is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boubacari Doucouré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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. Javor-Matis know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The offer from El-Kanemi Warriors for Joke Efevwerha was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deal with Cruzeiro 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 Javor-Matis 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 Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Javor-Matis, another week without a signature from Joke Efevwerha.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bayéré Junior Loué. 1‑0 against Cukaricki, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Novak Mladenovic could afford to be generous.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Two goals and a mark of 8.79 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boubacari Doucouré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Javor-Matis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mamane Moustapha Sabo and Javor-Matis agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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. Javor-Matis know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
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 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aleksa Radonjić and Javor-Matis agree another 4 years.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Javor-Matis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
0‑3 to Zeleznicar Pancevo, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boubacari Doucouré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Novak Mladenovic after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 Stefan Vilotić is on it.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Eric Ocansey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić 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: Mass Sise. 2‑1 against Partizan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mass Sise 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.
13 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.
Eric Ocansey 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boubacari Doucouré 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.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Javor-Matis told Stefan Vilotić something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Javor-Matis 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Javor-Matis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Javor-Matis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boubacari Doucouré is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Predrag Savic 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.
Half the programme played, position 15, 8 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“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 Javor-Matis, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The 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.
Minute 95, against Mladost Lucani, 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.
Aleksa Radonjić 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Javor-Matis told Mateja Zuvić something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
A 1‑1 draw with Mladost Lucani leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout2 Nov 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.” Novak Mladenovic chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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 92. TSC had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“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 Javor-Matis know it.
A 1‑1 draw with TSC leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout26 Oct 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.” Novak Mladenovic chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Mladost Lucani next, and one man in the Javor-Matis dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
In brief
The dugoutMateja Zuvić knocks on the manager's door
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hussain Ali Al-Khalsan is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boubacari Doucouré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Oct 2026
15 new faces, and Javor-Matis 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
8 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.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.91 beside his name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Javor-Matis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dušan Pantelić 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 watch every Javor-Matis game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Shinnik runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Djordje Ivic 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.
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.
7.38, 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.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Novak Mladenovic after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Mamane Moustapha Sabo 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.
Position 14 and 4 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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Eric Ocansey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boubacari Doucouré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A brace, and Eric Ocansey takes the afternoon — 8.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eric Ocansey provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Eric Ocansey 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 Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
Radnicki Nis next, and one man in the Javor-Matis dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The offer from Dinamo Minsk for Ognjen Lukić was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Botafogo is saying, and nobody at Javor-Matis is enjoying the guessing.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Benjamin Acquah commits to Javor-Matis for another 3 years.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boubacari Doucouré 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. NK Domzale have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Novak Maksimovic has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boubacari Doucouré 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. Flamengo have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Ognjen Lukić again, and this time the name on the line is Dinamo Minsk. Javor-Matis are listening politely and promising nothing.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Radnik Surdulica kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Javor-Matis will be asked about the last half hour all week.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bayéré Junior Loué provided it, and the 9.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Javor-Matis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Boubacari Doucouré, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Mass Sise was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. 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.
It needed Bayéré Junior Loué to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Radnik Surdulica, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Panathinaikos keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boubacari Doucouré 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. Cukaricki have kept their man, and Javor-Matis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kayode Saliman 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.
1 for Marko Kolaković, marked 6.98, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Javor-Matis had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Botafogo, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Javor-Matis 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 Boubacari Doucouré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Javor-Matis asked and Levadiakos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Bekescsaba have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ognjen Lukić. The answer from Javor-Matis has not changed — yet.
A point taken on 91 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Javor-Matis, another week without a signature from Joke Efevwerha.
In brief
Squad14 new faces, and Javor-Matis are still learning each other
The deal with Botafogo 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.
Eric Ocansey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dušan Pantelić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Novak Milenkovic 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. Vladimir Maksimovic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
7.51, 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.
The offer from Andijon for Ognjen Lukić 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.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Javor-Matis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boubacari Doucouré 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 name of Dimitrije Stevanović has come up in conversations Javor-Matis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.