Jonatan Lima 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mladost Lucani 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 Mladost Lucani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for 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 Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“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 The request is on a desk at Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikola Boranijašević and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years.
Nemanja Milojević 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 David Đokić has come up in conversations Mladost Lucani were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Marked 9.20 — 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marked 9.50 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Miloš Krunić 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 Kristofer Käit trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
The offer from TSC for David Đokić 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 16 and 12 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jonatan Lima and Mladost Lucani agree another 1 years.
Jonatan Lima 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.33 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mladost Lucani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nemanja Milojević 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 was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Mladost Lucani lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mladost Lucani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Fidel Tourn
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mladost Lucani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Marked 9.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Katlego and Mladost Lucani agree another 4 years.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mladost Lucani is running low.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mladost Lucani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Miloš Krunić 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.
Marked 9.46 — 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ognjen Alempijević. 2‑0 against OFK Beograd, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
22 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 team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Đokić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mladost Lucani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
David Katlego 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.
1‑5 to Vojvodina, 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Nemanja Milojević 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.
Marked 9.01 — 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
19 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.
2‑5 to Javor-Matis, 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mladost Lucani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Nemanja Milojević 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.
Marked 8.15 — 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.
18 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mladost Lucani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
David Katlego 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.
Marked 8.24 — 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.
Miloš Krunić 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jalil Traoré and Mladost Lucani agree another 4 years.
16 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 Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It needed Veljko Kijevčanin to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Zeleznicar Pancevo, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mladost Lucani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mladost Lucani is running low.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Miloš Krunić 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.
Marked 8.57 — 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.
14 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Đokić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mladost Lucani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Marked 8.04 — 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.
Position 16 and 5 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.
Nemanja Milojević 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.
Marked 8.28 — 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.
“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 Mladost Lucani will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
12 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 Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ricardo Santos and Mladost Lucani agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Marked 8.03 — 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mladost Lucani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Miloš Krunić and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mladost Lucani, another week without a signature from David Katlego.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.48 — 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.
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.
Miloš Krunić 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 defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marked 9.16 — 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.
David Katlego 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.
Mladost Lucani interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Andrija Tadic keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fidel Tourn will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mladost Lucani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer from Napredak for David Đokić 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.
Nemanja Milojević 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ivan Mladenovic and Mladost Lucani agree another 3 years.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mladost Lucani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.78 — 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.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 5 saves does not settle it either way.
In brief
Player ratingsThe cruellest goal, and it is Jovan Ćirić's
Nemanja Milojević 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 left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Sinisa Mladenovic is a Mladost Lucani player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
David Katlego 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fidel Tourn will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mladost Lucani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikola Boranijašević and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Miloš Krunić 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.
Day 8 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mladost Lucani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Andrija Tadic recited it perfectly.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikola Boranijašević and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Mladost Lucani will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mladost Lucani 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 Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fidel Tourn trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Add another name to the list: Vojvodina have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ognjen Alempijević. The answer from Mladost Lucani has not changed — yet.
Nemanja Milojević 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 easiest signature of my career.” Antonis Tsitsilas and Mladost Lucani agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mladost Lucani is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of David Đokić has come up in conversations Mladost Lucani were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 18, and nobody at Mladost Lucani signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nair Tiknizyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mladost Lucani is running low.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nair Tiknizyan 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mladost Lucani, 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 Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nair Tiknizyan 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mladost Lucani 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 Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikola Leković and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Mladost Lucani interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Nikola Mladenovic keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Nair Tiknizyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Position 16 and 25 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 Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nair Tiknizyan 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
11 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
“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 Mladost Lucani know 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 Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nair Tiknizyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Position 16 and 25 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mladost Lucani is running low.
“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 Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nair Tiknizyan 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Miloš Krunić and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mladost Lucani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Mladost Lucani can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The fee is $340.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Partizan drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Nair Tiknizyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mladost Lucani is running low.
“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 Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from TSC for Fidel Tourn 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.87 — 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.
Nair Tiknizyan 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.
Crvena Zvezda pay $840.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
A 1‑0 win over Zeleznicar Pancevo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
He is 20, and nobody at Mladost Lucani signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Alagie Sanyang.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Aleksandar Petrovic has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nair Tiknizyan 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Milan De Weerdt is a Mladost Lucani player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jonatan Lima and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Mladost Lucani has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“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 Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nair Tiknizyan 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 player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Dušan Cvetinović will call it something else in private.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Napredak defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani 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 Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
14 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.
“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 Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nair Tiknizyan 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 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.
“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 Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikola Boranijašević and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
12 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nair Tiknizyan 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.
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.
It needed Mihailo Oreščanin to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against OFK Beograd, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Mladost Lucani are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Radnicki Nis? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
10 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 team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nair Tiknizyan 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.
9 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 Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maksymilian Krzewiński and Mladost Lucani agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 35 with 99 appearances behind him, and Mladost Lucani have to plan for both answers.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nemanja Milojević signs something — a contract at Mladost Lucani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
Player ratingsOff the bench and decisive: Irfan Hadžić
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
Nair Tiknizyan 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maksymilian Krzewiński and Mladost Lucani agree another 3 years.
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.14 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It needed Fidel Tourn to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Radnik Surdulica, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mladost Lucani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nair Tiknizyan 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 Nikola Boranijašević trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nemanja Milojević signs something — a contract at Mladost Lucani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
Nair Tiknizyan 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
William Thomsen is 20, and Mladost Lucani have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
A new face in his position, and Nair Tiknizyan suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Mladost Lucani have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Nair Tiknizyan 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.
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Radnicki 1923? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“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.
Nair Tiknizyan 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.
Marked 8.80 — 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The shirt still fits. Ilja Mironov is back at Mladost Lucani, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikola Leković and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Partizan go through and Mladost Lucani go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 28 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
Dušan Cvetinović was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I 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 Mladost Lucani know it.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Nikola Boranijašević 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 fee is $130.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. IMT drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Kasper Solhaug 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.
Marked 8.46 — 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.
Beaten 4 times, with 4 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
“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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
307 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Nikola Boranijašević 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikola Andrić and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
Joey Groenbast 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 Dušan Cvetinović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Vojvodina? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Novak Kostic is a Mladost Lucani player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The shirt still fits. Dejan Lukic is back at Mladost Lucani, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Branislav Lazovic is a Mladost Lucani player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Fidel Tourn was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
Kasper Solhaug 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.
“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 Mladost Lucani, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mladost Lucani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mladost Lucani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: FC Augsburg have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ognjen Bondžulić. The answer from Mladost Lucani has not changed — yet.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mladost Lucani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Aleksandar Petrovic has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mladost Lucani can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Antonis Tsitsilas is 20, and Mladost Lucani have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Veljko Kijevčanin signs something — a contract at Mladost Lucani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Mladost Lucani would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mladost Lucani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Žarko Udovičić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mladost Lucani is running low.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Filip Žunić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mladost Lucani the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Mladost Lucani can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikola Boranijašević and Mladost Lucani agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Joey Groenbast was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I watch every Mladost Lucani game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Apollon runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mladost Lucani have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Mladost Lucani is running low.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mladost Lucani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Žarko Udovičić 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 Dušan Cvetinović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mladost Lucani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.