2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Mark Gliha will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at NK Krka escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nenad Damjanoski did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Mark Gliha was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“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 Krka can pretend not to have heard.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
NK Krsko go through and NK Krka go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
The terraces28 Aug 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 10 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Krka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Andraž Lipec 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.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Mark Gliha, marked 7.85, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nenad Damjanoski is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“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 Krka know it.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Nemanja Gavrić has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Žan Kovačevič is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Andraž Lipec was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NK Krka know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Konrad Poprawa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Tomas Bijol has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gregor Oblak is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rok Lovric has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Tomas Lovric has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“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 Krka can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matej Pučko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Krka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nenad Damjanoski is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadNemanja Gavrić has improved at 25, which nobody expected
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at NK Krka can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kenan Hadžibegović and NK Krka agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
6 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Gregor Medle has his answer from NK Krka; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matej Pučko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Krka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Matej Pučko has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Andraž Lipec was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Timi Kurtovic has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 Krka are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Konrad Poprawa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matej Pučko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at NK Krka can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Andraž Lipec was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 May 2028
Matej Pučko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Andraž Lipec 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 58 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matej Pučko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 65 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadLuka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matej Pučko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Matej Pučko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 95 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Andraž Lipec 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 102 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Timi Kurtovic has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matej Pučko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Žan Leban 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 words a physio says slowly. 46 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The words a physio says slowly. 55 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMatej Pučko falls out with a teammate over standards
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at NK Krka can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
NK Krka spent the window trying to move Matej Pučko on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Krka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Andraž Lipec 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.
In brief
SquadLuka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The chase for Artemijus Tutyškinas ended with $1.3M changing hands and NK Celje out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: 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 NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Artemijus Tutyškinas from NK Celje for $1.3M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
In brief
SquadLuka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka 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 Krka know it.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee NK Krka could ask drops and the wages Matej Pučko can ask rise.
The words a physio says slowly. 98 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Timi Kurtovic has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Domen Žur falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 107 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces27 Dec 2027
The mood at NK Krka has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Jaša Hribar has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jaša Hribar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Krka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The words a physio says slowly. 114 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Krka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 121 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. NK Krka told Kamil Manseri something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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 NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
SquadNenad Damjanoski is the division's best young player this month
The mood at NK Krka has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with NK Maribor the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that NK Krka will enjoy reviewing.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.25, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matej Pučko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka 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 Krka are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Marko Brkić has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match13 Nov 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for NK Krka. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Nenad Damjanoski, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.79
A mark of 8.79 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Konrad Poprawa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 19 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. NK Krka will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The mood at NK Krka has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nenad Damjanoski did not need any: 8.27, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 Krka, 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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domen Žur is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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 Žan Leban.
In brief
Player ratingsAn afternoon Bruno Župan will want back
“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 Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nenad Damjanoski did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“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 Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Nenad Damjanoski, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.42
A mark of 8.42 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Nenad Damjanoski has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The goal that put Olimpija Ljubljana ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when NK Krka equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
15 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Domen Žur falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at NK Krka has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces4 Oct 2027
The mood at NK Krka has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Žan Leban 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.
10 combined actions and 6.97. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Position 9 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at NK Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 9, 6 points, and a crowd that arrives already braced. Relegation seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere, and everybody who has lived through one recognises it immediately.
Konrad Poprawa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. NK Domzale moved on, Jaša Hribar reports back to NK Krka, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Krka know it.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Domen Žur falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Tadej Bonaca: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Hunter Olson obliged against NK Krsko. 2‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is NK Krka.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 8.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Krka can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at NK Krka has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It needed Maciej Bortniczuk to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Olimpija Ljubljana, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Krka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Krka 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 NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” João Forelle and NK Krka agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domen Žur is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at NK Krka has been clear about where Perica Guskić stands, which is more than many ever get.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. ND Gorica defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Marked 5.78. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Konrad Poprawa 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.” João Forelle and NK Krka agree another 4 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at NK Krka has been clear about where Tilen Mlakar stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” NK Krka may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The terraces26 Jul 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 35 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
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 NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at NK Krka can tell you which week it ends in.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Krka can pretend not to have heard.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Domen Žur falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Erik Balkovec has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Andraž Lipec 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.
In brief
SquadLuka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Krka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Krka can pretend not to have heard.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
ND Gorica paid $56.0K and NK Krka took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Žan Leban is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at NK Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
In brief
The terracesNK Krka spend $1.2M on the signing the town wanted
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at NK Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Rudar Velenje moved on, Aleksa Petrović reports back to NK Krka, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadNemanja Gavrić has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Konrad Poprawa 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Matej Pučko has his answer from NK Krka; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Žan Leban falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aleksa Petrović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Krka 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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadLuka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
SquadThe manager has not finished forgetting Luka Čadež's mistake
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 9 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Žan Leban is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Krka 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.” NK Krka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” NK Krka 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 Krka 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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadLuka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
SquadThe manager has not finished forgetting Luka Čadež's mistake
Position 9 and 16 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.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I 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 Krka, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Andraž Lipec 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marko Brkić signs something — a contract at NK Krka 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 NK Krka 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 Krka 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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Žan Leban falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Niko Domjanić has his answer from NK Krka; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at NK Krka will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 Krka are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
In brief
SquadThe manager has not finished forgetting Luka Čadež's mistake
Squad5 new faces, and NK Krka are still learning each other
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Krka, 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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Krka can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aleksa Petrović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Krka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Krka know it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason NK Krka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
João Forelle falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Andraž Lipec 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Luka Čadež's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at NK Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aleksa Petrović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around NK Krka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Jaša Hribar has agreed terms with NK Celje for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Hunter Olson 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Domen Žur is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He 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 Krka will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
In brief
SquadWords at NK Krka training over how hard people work
SquadYaya Dukuly has become a man the manager trusts
The offer from NK Zavrc for Aleksa Petrović 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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Noah Ek commits to NK Krka for another 3 years.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Luka Čadež's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at NK Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around NK Krka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Aleksa Petrović has agreed terms with NK Celje for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Konrad Poprawa 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.
Rudar Velenje will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Martin Plavec Marković has pre-agreed a move to NK Krka, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad11 Jan 2027
João Forelle falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 Krka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Žan Leban 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
In brief
SquadYaya Dukuly has become a man the manager trusts
SquadGregor Medle asks for a word with the manager
“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 Krka know it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tilen Mlakar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Luka Čadež's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Konrad Poprawa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
In brief
SquadYaya Dukuly has become a man the manager trusts
SquadAleksa Petrović falls out with a teammate over standards
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Luka Čadež's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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 Krka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Position 8, 16 points, and a crowd that arrives already braced. Relegation seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere, and everybody who has lived through one recognises it immediately.
Marko Brkić 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NK Krka know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at NK Krka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Čadež is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
8.25. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Matej Pučko will call it something else in private.
“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 Krka are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
In brief
Boardroom91% of the income goes out in wages at NK Krka
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. NK Maribor will replay every second of the added time for a week.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.51 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mark Gliha scored, was marked 7.78, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Hunter Olson 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 finished 3‑2, and it was Matej Pučko’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to NK Krka.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Luka Čadež falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. NK Krka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Konrad Poprawa 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.