“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rudar Velenje may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Rudar Velenje 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.
Rudar Velenje had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dynamo Kyiv, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Dejan Vokić 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.
Rudar Velenje asked and Jagiellonia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rudar Velenje 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 Rudar Velenje can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Dynamo Kyiv is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Lokomotiva Zagreb keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Rudar Velenje asked and Admira Wacker said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lejs Pličanić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Rudar Velenje have made the call to Jagiellonia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Marko Simić is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lukas Tomažič signs something — a contract at Rudar Velenje or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Adam Vošnjak 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 Rudar Velenje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody at Rudar Velenje 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.
Ante Kozina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Adam Vošnjak 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rudar Velenje, and 6 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
A loan enquiry to Lokomotiva Zagreb: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Rudar Velenje know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ante Kozina 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 Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Vokić 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.
Add another name to the list: ND Gorica have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Anas Ibrahimović. The answer from Rudar Velenje has not changed — yet.
Rudar Velenje have made the call to Olimpija Ljubljana. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Ante Kozina 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Dejan Vokić 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lukas Tomažič signs something — a contract at Rudar Velenje or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Ante Kozina
Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Vošnjak 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Francesco Tahiraj has his answer from Rudar Velenje; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rudar Velenje 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 Rudar Velenje can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Dejan Vokić 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.
Gašper Gaberšek Rotovnik was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rudar Velenje, and 6 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Francesco Tahiraj is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rudar Velenje 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.” Rudar Velenje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dejan Vokić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Rudar Velenje told Marko Simić something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Vošnjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rudar Velenje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Marko Simić is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Rudar Velenje will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Rudar Velenje. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lukas Tomažič signs something — a contract at Rudar Velenje or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jakob Štrukelj did not need any: 7.71, 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 Rudar Velenje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Dejan Vokić 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.
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.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Kevin Bijol on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
The dugoutDenny Tiganj has become a man the manager trusts
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dejan Vokić 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 Denny Tiganj, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Kevin Bijol to a room that had heard them before.
Something was said to Josip Perković and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“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 Rudar Velenje, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ante Kozina 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 Adam Vošnjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 20 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.
NK Zavrc made Rudar Velenje work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Adam Vošnjak was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rudar Velenje have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Dejan Vokić 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rudar Velenje, and 5 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dejan Vokić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Rudar Velenje can tell you which week it ends in.
15 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Vošnjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lukas Tomažič has his answer from Rudar Velenje; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Position 9 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
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.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tilen Rajter Krebs and Rudar Velenje agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Vokić 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.
Tijan Vasić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout12 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 Kevin Bijol left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Looking aheadA test against the best for Rudar Velenje
A brace, and Lejs Pličanić takes the afternoon — 8.49
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lejs Pličanić provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Ante Kozina 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.
6 goals in one match, Lejs Pličanić on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Rudar Velenje and NK Maribor.
2‑4 to NK Maribor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Vokić 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.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rudar Velenje this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Vošnjak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
15 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.
The dugout28 Sep 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 Kevin Bijol left the room before anybody could ask which.
Ante Kozina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dejan Vokić 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Aljaž Krefl’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Rudar Velenje needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rudar Velenje, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Slask keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Rudar Velenje are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dejan Vokić 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.
Rudar Velenje asked and Dinamo Zagreb said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rudar Velenje, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 18 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Rudar Velenje 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Rudar Velenje have done the hard part with Slask, 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: Dinamo Zagreb keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Adam Vošnjak 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“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 Rudar Velenje, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Rudar Velenje have done the hard part with Dinamo Zagreb, 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: Koper keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Vokić 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. AEK have kept their man, and Rudar Velenje go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
0‑1 to Koper, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Aug 2026
14 new faces, and Rudar Velenje 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Kevin Bijol after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Rudar Velenje have made the call to Slask. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Elmir Avdić obliged against NK Zavrc. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Rudar Velenje.
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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 117th minute. NK Zavrc will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Elmir Avdić, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.83
A mark of 7.83 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dejan Vokić 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. Admira Wacker have kept their man, and Rudar Velenje go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 22 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rudar Velenje people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Lejs Pličanić 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Vošnjak is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rudar Velenje can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Olimpija Ljubljana, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Lejs Pličanić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Rudar Velenje training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Vokić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Maribor have kept their man, and Rudar Velenje go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nejc Elsnik 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. Domen Brekalo 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Petar Cerin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Lejs Pličanić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The phone has started ringing about Ajdin Kadrić again, and this time the name on the line is ND Gorica. Rudar Velenje are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Adam Vošnjak 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Lejs Pličanić’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
11 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.