From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 The request is on a desk at Slaven Belupo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 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 Slaven Belupo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Karlo Špeljak 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Igor Lepinjica, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Sebastian Mai 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The name of Matija Jesenović has come up in conversations Slaven Belupo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 7.08 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Slaven Belupo had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slaven Belupo can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Squad24 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 Slaven Belupo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Dinamo Zagreb will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
HNK Rijeka come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Slaven Belupo did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ilija Nestorovski 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
Ljuban Crepulja 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marko Dabro. 1‑0 against Lokomotiva Zagreb, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Imotski have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Antun Marković. The answer from Slaven Belupo has not changed — yet.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
The afternoon belonged to Marko Dabro
7.60, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Slaven Belupo had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Čović, and the manager let it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Ernis Qestaj is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Slaven Belupo has been clear about where Ernis Qestaj stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ilija Nestorovski 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Filip Jović commits to Slaven Belupo for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Slaven Belupo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Lepinjica 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Alen Grgić
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ilija Nestorovski commits to Slaven Belupo for another 2 years.
Squad3 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 Slaven Belupo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Slaven Belupo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihail Caimacov 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mihail Caimacov, and the manager let it.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑1 to NK Osijek, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.