“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at NK Celje hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Nikita Iosifov 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.
Iason Georgakopoulos 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.
Nikita Iosifov 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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at NK Celje that is a harder question to answer.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at NK Celje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Iason Georgakopoulos 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 3, 30 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Celje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nikita Iosifov 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nikita Iosifov 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 NK Celje can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje 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 NK Celje 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 NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Nikita Iosifov 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje 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 NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at NK Celje hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Nikita Iosifov 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mark Zabukovnik signs something — a contract at NK Celje or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 NK Celje, 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Koper moved on, Benjamin Verbic reports back to NK Celje, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer from NK Zavrc for Tilen Letonja 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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. NK Celje will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. NK Celje will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The offer from Rudar Velenje for Valters Lūsis 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every NK Celje game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Jagiellonia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nikita Iosifov 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nikita Iosifov 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 NK Celje, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tilen Letonja will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nikita Iosifov 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.” NK Celje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.75 — 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.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 NK Celje, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at NK Celje heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 NK Celje, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 NK Celje know it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tilen Letonja will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nikita Iosifov 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 3, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.81 — 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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Nikita Iosifov 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 9.02 — 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: Milot Avdyli. 2‑0 against NK Zavrc, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.71 — 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Infante will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nikita Iosifov 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: 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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing James Bogere could not do
Position 3, 21 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jan Repas 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Nikita Iosifov 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 9.16 — 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.
Marked 8.83 — 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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Infante will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Marked 8.30 — 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 NK Celje they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer from Koper for Valters Lūsis 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.
Nikita Iosifov 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.” NK Celje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Position 3, 11 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Celje can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tilen Mlakar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nikita Iosifov 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 9.20 — 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.
Add another name to the list: Koper have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Valters Lūsis. The answer from NK Celje has not changed — yet.
Marked 8.20 — 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.
$3.2M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The name of Tilen Letonja has come up in conversations NK Celje were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Infante will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at NK Celje heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Gregor Lovric is a NK Celje 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Celje can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: NK Zavrc have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Tilen Letonja. The answer from NK Celje has not changed — yet.
Armandas Kučys was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. NK Celje will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Celje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Armandas Kučys 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.
Jan Repas 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 NK Celje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at NK Celje, another week without a signature from Facundo Infante.
Armandas Kučys 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 $190.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Koper drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matej Poplatnik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Celje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The phone has started ringing about Valters Lūsis again, and this time the name on the line is NK Krka. NK Celje are listening politely and promising nothing.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and NK Celje have had the benefit of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rudi Požeg Vancaš will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Celje they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 NK Celje can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje 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 NK Celje 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; NK Celje are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I watch every NK Celje game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Paksi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 NK Celje game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at ND Gorica runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Celje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Valters Lūsis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every NK Celje game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Paksi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Florjan Jevšenak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 Artemijus Tutyškinas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Valters Lūsis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every NK Celje game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at NK Maribor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 52 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
A 1‑0 win over Olimpija Ljubljana, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 8.58 — 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Celje can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every NK Celje game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at NK Maribor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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 NK Celje, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Felipe Curcio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Rudi Požeg Vancaš is still in the building
“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 NK Celje, 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 NK Celje 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; NK Celje are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 NK Celje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Celje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 NK Celje, 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer from ND Gorica for Valters Lūsis 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Felipe Curcio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juho Lähteenmäki was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. NK Celje know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. NK Celje will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 NK Celje 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.” NK Celje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Marked 8.00 — 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tilen Letonja will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Ivan Ćalušić will call it something else in private.
“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 NK Celje, and it is not being withdrawn.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 9.45 — 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 will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Matej Poplatnik is 36, with 63 appearances behind him, and NK Celje will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
In brief
BoardroomNK Celje sign a deal worth $769.3K a year
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Bruno Mišura will call it something else in private.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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.
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 Matej Poplatnik.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.76 — 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 wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. NK Celje have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 8.53 — 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.
Marked 8.49 — 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 NK Celje, 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 NK Celje 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; NK Celje are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 29 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Celje is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Juho Lähteenmäki 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 9.32 — 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: Svit Sešlar. 1‑0 against NK Domzale, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at NK Celje would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“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 NK Celje, and it is not being withdrawn.
Juho Lähteenmäki was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. NK Celje will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. NK Celje have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Celje can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tilen Letonja will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Celje the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jan Repas 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 8.49 — 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Armandas Kučys was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Armandas Kučys 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 Valters Lūsis has come up in conversations NK Celje were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Armandas Kučys signs something — a contract at NK Celje or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Celje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 NK Celje know it.
Marked 9.00 — 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Jure Vipotnik is a NK Celje player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The shirt still fits. Benjamin Brekalo is back at NK Celje, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The shirt still fits. Tomas Janza is back at NK Celje, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The name of Luka Kolar has come up in conversations NK Celje were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje 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 NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer from Paide for Rudi Požeg Vancaš 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 NK Celje 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.” Damjan Vuklišević and NK Celje agree another 2 years.
A new face in his position, and Armandas Kučys suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. NK Celje have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Armandas Kučys 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 Nino Vukasović has come up in conversations NK Celje were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Celje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
NK Domzale paid $620.0K and NK Celje took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The phone has started ringing about Rudi Požeg Vancaš again, and this time the name on the line is Paide. NK Celje are listening politely and promising nothing.
Armandas Kučys 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.