From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
10 saves: Karlo Žiger was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sesvete this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
Zadar left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
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.
The dugout21 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 Mario Knezevic left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Duje Reić gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Sesvete
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marko Ivan Gašparac was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Sep 2026
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Antonio Čolak has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Tino Agić’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sesvete needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.12, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Antonio Čolak 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
A row about effort at Sesvete
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Karlo Žiger was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Sesvete asked and Feyenoord said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Antonio Čolak. 2‑0 against Imotski, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.00 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
Top-of-the-table clash for Sesvete
Zadar next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Ilan Pejić runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Ivan Radošević gets it from the manager
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Boardroom
Sesvete counting the cost
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Sep 2026
Rudes punish Sesvete for switching off
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Antonio Čolak will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Sesvete escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Squad7 Sep 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match7 Sep 2026
Sesvete up to position 3
13 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 16 in, 4 out at Sesvete
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Sesvete had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Radnicki Nis, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Sesvete
Antonio Čolak 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.21, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Sesvete
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Karlo Žiger was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santiago Wanderers have kept their man, and Sesvete go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.39, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Amad Keita, 20, steals the show — 7.73
Marked 7.73 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The deal with Radnicki Nis 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Sesvete
Karlo Žiger and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 4‑2 win over Hrvatski Dragovoljac, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market31 Aug 2026
Sibenik pay $40.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Sesvete asked and Lechia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.28 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Antonio Kuš
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Player ratings
Ilan Pejić beats them one at a time
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Sesvete
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
Match19 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Sesvete
0‑3 against Lucko, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Sesvete are taken apart by Lucko — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Sesvete
Moses Zambrang Barnabas 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
A row about effort at Sesvete
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Karlo Žiger was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Sesvete asked and OFK Beograd said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Both of them Amad Keita's — 9.00
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.00, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The deal with Legia 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Sesvete
Moses Zambrang Barnabas 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Sesvete and Segesta, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 4‑2 win over Segesta, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Sesvete asked and Rodina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Karlo Žiger
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sesvete this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
Sesvete supporters have found a favourite in Amad Keita
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Amad Keita 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Sesvete get the job done against Lucko
A 2‑0 win over Lucko, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Marko Kasalo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bojan Pasalic 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Kasalo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Josip Knezevic 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tino Agić commits to Sesvete for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Moses Zambrang Barnabas 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 Aug 2026
Karlo Žiger 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Jeremiah Olaleke has come up in conversations Sesvete were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Dugopolje, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sesvete, another week without a signature from Tino Agić.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Sesvete 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.
The dugout3 Aug 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 Mario Knezevic left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Ilan Pejić beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.