33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. OFK Beograd lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Balša Popović and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yegor Prutsev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tayrell Wouter, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
5 new faces, and OFK Beograd are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. OFK Beograd 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 The request is on a desk at OFK Beograd, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from SKA Khabarovsk for Vasilije Grbović 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.
OFK Beograd had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Egnatia Rrogozhinë, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFK Beograd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at OFK Beograd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yegor Prutsev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KAA Gent have kept their man, and OFK Beograd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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 OFK Beograd can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luka Zarić did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at OFK Beograd until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: KV Mechelen keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Miloš Pantović 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mackenzie Maltby is living that version at OFK Beograd, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yegor Prutsev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Volos NPS have kept their man, and OFK Beograd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
Player ratingsJovan Šljivić beats them one at a time
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. OFK Beograd lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. OFK Beograd have done the hard part with KV Mechelen, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: NK Domzale keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at OFK Beograd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yegor Prutsev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PAOK have kept their man, and OFK Beograd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jovan Šljivić did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Everything agreed with NK Domzale, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Zugdidi is saying, and nobody at OFK Beograd is enjoying the guessing.
Balša Popović and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at OFK Beograd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yegor Prutsev 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.
OFK Beograd asked and Cukaricki said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
72 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. OFK Beograd lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Balša Popović 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at OFK Beograd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yegor Prutsev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Krasnodar have kept their man, and OFK Beograd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 OFK Beograd know it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Sasa Radonjic to a room that had heard them before.
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. OFK Beograd lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
IMT will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. OFK Beograd were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A brace, and Jovan Šljivić takes the afternoon — 8.47
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jovan Šljivić provided it, and the 8.47 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Yegor Prutsev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at OFK Beograd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Rodić 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nemanja Krsmanović 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 words a physio says slowly. 89 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.
Balša Popović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Edmund Addo 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saša Marković, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Sasa Radonjic left the room before anybody could ask which.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aleksej Vukičević trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. OFK Beograd lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jovan Šljivić did not need any: 7.95, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jovan Zogović. 3‑2 against Partizan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Edmund Addo 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 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Jovan Šljivić 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.
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. OFK Beograd lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at OFK Beograd, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” OFK Beograd 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 OFK Beograd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Milan Rodić 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. Slobodan Djuricic 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Sasa Radonjic left the room before anybody could ask which.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jovan Šljivić did not need any: 7.94, 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 OFK Beograd 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.” Stefan Despotovski and OFK Beograd agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Edmund Addo falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Radnicki 1923 had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Yacouba Silué has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Addo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Jovan Zogović was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Sasa Radonjic, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Kolawole Oladipo
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Balša Popović and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at OFK Beograd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Rodić 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 OFK Beograd, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sasa Radonjic after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
A brace, and Yegor Prutsev takes the afternoon — 8.52
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yegor Prutsev provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Balša Popović 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.
Three points for OFK Beograd, 3‑2 the final word against Novi Pazar in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at OFK Beograd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edmund Addo 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 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFK Beograd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Addo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 9, 18 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Sasa Radonjic left the room before anybody could ask which.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jovan Šljivić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Miloš Pantović and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Rodić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Napredak held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. OFK Beograd answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Yegor Prutsev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. OFK Beograd told Aleksej Vukičević something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Miloš Pantović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Edmund Addo 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 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yegor Prutsev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
17 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.
“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 OFK Beograd, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Balša Popović was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Miguel Salgado has, at OFK Beograd, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Edmund Addo 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uroš Stojanović, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Sasa Radonjic left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. OFK Beograd will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFK Beograd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Milan Rodić 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrija Mitrovic 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kolawole Oladipo, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Sasa Radonjic to a room that had heard them before.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Addo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 92, against Javor-Matis, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Aleksej Vukičević is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Balša Popović and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ethan Hoard. 3‑2 against Radnik Surdulica, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Edmund Addo 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
14 new faces, and OFK Beograd are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“I watch every OFK Beograd game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Wellington Phoenix runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. OFK Beograd scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Balša Popović was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Milan Rodić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 7.67. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Sasa Radonjic kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Miloš Pantović 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at OFK Beograd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edmund Addo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bogdan Jovanovic has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Luka Rajkovic 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.
Minute 87, against Zeleznicar Pancevo, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Miloš Pantović and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Edmund Addo 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.
OFK Beograd asked and Everton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Marked 8.08 — 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sasa Radonjic after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
1‑4 against Crvena Zvezda, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
7.69, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFK Beograd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at OFK Beograd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Rodić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bradford City have kept their man, and OFK Beograd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad31 Aug 2026
14 new faces, and OFK Beograd are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luka Zarić did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
$510.0K was the most the club would pay and Cukaricki were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Milan Rodić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Edmund Addo 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 know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Hapoel Acre had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.89 for the rest of it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The offer went to Cukaricki this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Milan Rodić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Addo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $290.0K has been paid because Nemanja Krsmanović is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OFK Beograd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Milan Rodić 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sinisa Nastasic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nikola Lukic 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 offer went to Spartak Subotica this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Milan Rodić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Addo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Still no offer on the table, and Miloš Pantović’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
In brief
SquadOFK Beograd are still strangers to each other