Slaven Belupo

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7 Jan 2027
Thursday
Process
23 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Ilija Nestorovski

35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slaven Belupo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Tomislav Božić puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Slaven Belupo, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Ivan Cvetko breaks a bone — 33 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Ljuban Crepulja in a row with a teammate

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.

Transfer targets

Houston Dynamo tell Slaven Belupo: Diadié Samassékou is not for sale

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.

Market

HNK Gorica watching Karlo Išasegi

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Slaven Belupo have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

A row about effort at Slaven Belupo

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Čović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo ask about Antônio Carlos

A loan enquiry to Houston Dynamo: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo ask about Faustino Barone

A loan enquiry to Olimpia: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

Back issues
22 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Ilija Nestorovski out for 43 days

43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Slaven Belupo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Ivan Cvetko breaks a bone — 40 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A falling-out at Slaven Belupo

Ljuban Crepulja and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jon Mersinaj 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Itsuki Urata

“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 dugout

Dino Perić asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout

Arnór Gauti Jónsson has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slaven Belupo 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.

Match

Slaven Belupo have something to play for

Position 5 on 18 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.

Market

The Alen Grgić story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alen Grgić signs something — a contract at Slaven Belupo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

21 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Antun Marković keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Slaven Belupo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Slaven Belupo

Josip Mitrović 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Slaven Belupo

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Mersinaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Filip Jović

“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 dugout

Dino Perić knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slaven Belupo, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Igor Lepinjica story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Igor Lepinjica signs something — a contract at Slaven Belupo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

20 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Filip Jović: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slaven Belupo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Slaven Belupo

Mihail Caimacov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Slaven Belupo keep their word to Dominik Kovačić

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Filip Mažar

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Mažar, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Filip Mažar gets picked when it counts

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 Filip Mažar is on it.

Market

The Karlo Sentić question follows Slaven Belupo around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Karlo Sentić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

19 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ljuban Crepulja in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Slaven Belupo

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Mersinaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Karlo Išasegi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Karlo Išasegi and Slaven Belupo agree another 3 years.

Market

Leonard Žuta 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 Leonard Žuta stands, which is more than many ever get.

The dugout

Tomislav Božić asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

The Josip Mitrović story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Josip Mitrović signs something — a contract at Slaven Belupo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Market

Slaven Belupo and Lee Jenkins are talking past each other

“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.

The dugout

Vid Peša gets picked when it counts

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 Vid Peša is on it.

The dugout

The manager makes Itsuki Urata a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Slaven Belupo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

18 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

18 days out for Ivan Čović after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slaven Belupo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

A falling-out at Slaven Belupo

Ljuban Crepulja and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jon Mersinaj 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 dugout

Arnór Gauti Jónsson has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slaven Belupo 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.

Match

Slaven Belupo have something to play for

Position 5 on 18 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.

The dugout

Leonard Žuta asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout

The manager makes Itsuki Urata a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Slaven Belupo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Squad

Alen Grgić wants to know why he earns less

Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Slaven Belupo have no good answer.

Market

The Alen Grgić story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alen Grgić signs something — a contract at Slaven Belupo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

17 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

25 days out for Ivan Čović after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slaven Belupo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Lovro Banovec

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

The wait goes on for Slaven Belupo

4 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Slaven Belupo

4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Slaven Belupo can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slaven Belupo

Ljuban Crepulja 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.

Squad

Antonio Jakir signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Antonio Jakir commits to Slaven Belupo for another 4 years.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Lee Jenkins

“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 dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Marko Cop was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Slaven Belupo dressing room was either.

Match

No goals between Slaven Belupo and HNK Vukovar 1991

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. HNK Vukovar 1991 will be the happier side with the point.

In brief

16 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Ivan Čović out for 33 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slaven Belupo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Slaven Belupo

Ljuban Crepulja 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.

Squad

Words at Slaven Belupo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Mersinaj 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.

Player ratings

Josip Mitrović runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Jon Mersinaj stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.66 on the card, and the Slaven Belupo support went home talking about one name.

The dugout

No hiding place for Itsuki Urata

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Itsuki Urata, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Marko Cop: “We have to be better”

“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.

The dugout

Slaven Belupo pick somebody else ahead of Itsuki Urata

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.

Match

Point won or two lost for Slaven Belupo?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Istra 1961? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

In brief

15 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Ivan Čović breaks a bone — 40 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Ljuban Crepulja in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Slaven Belupo

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Mersinaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Slaven Belupo come up short against Hajduk Split

Hajduk Split left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Josip Mitrović beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Arnór Gauti Jónsson signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arnór Gauti Jónsson and Slaven Belupo agree another 4 years.

The dugout

Marko Cop: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

No place for Tomislav Božić on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Slaven Belupo pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

The dugout

Antun Marković 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.

In brief

14 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Filip Mažar sends Slaven Belupo through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Filip Mažar obliged against HNK Vukovar 1991. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Slaven Belupo.

Match

Slaven Belupo taken apart

0‑3 to HNK Rijeka, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

A fracture rules Ivan Čović out for 47 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slaven Belupo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Filip Mažar at 21 — 7.88

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Filip Mažar did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Lovre Lončar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Josip Mitrović in a row with a teammate

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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Filip Mažar

At 21 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 dugout

Tomislav Božić 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.

Squad

Arnór Gauti Jónsson stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Arnór Gauti Jónsson and Slaven Belupo agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

13 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Ivan Čović breaks a bone — 54 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

The wait goes on for Slaven Belupo

4 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.

Squad

Jon Mersinaj 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Slaven Belupo

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Slaven Belupo can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Mihail Caimacov in a row with a teammate

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.

Match

Slaven Belupo come up short against Dinamo Zagreb

Dinamo Zagreb left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Josip Mitrović runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Marko Cop to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Filip Jović

“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.

In brief

12 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Ivan Čović out for 63 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slaven Belupo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Antun Marković: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slaven Belupo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Slaven Belupo

Ljuban Crepulja 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.

Squad

Jon Mersinaj 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.

Player ratings

Lovro Banovec beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

A bad afternoon for Slaven Belupo against Lokomotiva Zagreb

0‑2 to Lokomotiva Zagreb, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for Karlo Sentić

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karlo Sentić, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Marko Cop answers for it

“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 dugout

Leonard Žuta dropped after a run of poor form

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.

In brief

11 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Ivan Čović out for 74 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slaven Belupo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Josip Mitrović runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ljuban Crepulja in a row with a teammate

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 dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Marko Cop was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Slaven Belupo dressing room was either.

The dugout

Itsuki Urata dropped after a run of poor form

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.

Squad

A Slaven Belupo teenager takes the young player award

Lovre Lončar is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.

Match

Slaven Belupo and HNK Gorica cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. HNK Gorica came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Looking ahead

Ljuban Crepulja faces his old club

Lokomotiva Zagreb next, and one man in the Slaven Belupo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

The dugout

The plan did not have a place for Tomislav Božić

Nobody at Slaven Belupo is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.

In brief

10 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ivan Čović breaks a bone — 81 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A falling-out at Slaven Belupo

Ljuban Crepulja and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Slaven Belupo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Mersinaj 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.

Squad

Slaven Belupo are still strangers to each other

9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

Match

Lovre Lončar rescues a point for Slaven Belupo

It needed Lovre Lončar to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against NK Osijek, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

Marko Cop: “We have to be better”

“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.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Itsuki Urata

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Josip Mitrović

Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Looking ahead

Josip Mitrović faces his old club

HNK Gorica next, and one man in the Slaven Belupo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

In brief

9 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ivan Čović breaks a bone — 88 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 88 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Slaven Belupo leave it late against NK Varazdin

Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and NK Varazdin spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.

The dugout

Tomislav Božić says Slaven Belupo went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slaven Belupo

Ljuban Crepulja 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Slaven Belupo

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Mersinaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Josip Mitrović was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 20. 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.

Match

Slaven Belupo get the job done against NK Varazdin

A 1‑0 win over NK Varazdin, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Karlo Sentić makes it 100

100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.

Match

Halfway: Slaven Belupo sit in position 4

14 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.

In brief

8 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ivan Čović breaks a bone — 96 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Lovro Banovec runs at them all day

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slaven Belupo

Josip Mitrović 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.

Squad

Mihail Caimacov 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 dugout

No hiding place for Itsuki Urata

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Itsuki Urata, and the manager let it.

Squad

The formation has left Lee Jenkins behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Slaven Belupo will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

The dugout

Marko Cop on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Marko Cop after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

The dugout

Slaven Belupo pick somebody else ahead of Itsuki Urata

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.

The dugout

Igor Lepinjica left out for tactical reasons at Slaven Belupo

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.

In brief

7 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

103 days out for Ivan Čović after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slaven Belupo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Slaven Belupo turn down Zadar for Dominik Kovačić

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

Vintage Ilija Nestorovski — 8.52

At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.52, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

Karlo Sentić keeps Slaven Belupo in it on his own

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.

Squad

Lee Jenkins arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Lee Jenkins has, at Slaven Belupo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo baulk at the price for Luka Škaričić

NK Varazdin wanted more than $440.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

A falling-out at Slaven Belupo

Josip Mitrović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Marko Dabro sends Slaven Belupo past Istra 1961

It finished 2‑1, and it was Marko Dabro’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Slaven Belupo.

The dugout

Josip Mitrović 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.

In brief

6 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Ivan Čović breaks a bone — 110 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 8 in, 3 out at Slaven Belupo

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Market

Zadar watching Dominik Kovačić

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Slaven Belupo have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Transfer targets

Logan Briggs turns down Slaven Belupo

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.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo make their move for Luka Škaričić

$440.0K on the table at NK Varazdin. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

A row about effort at Slaven Belupo

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Mersinaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Tempers go at Slaven Belupo

Mihail Caimacov 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.

Match

Slaven Belupo come up short against Hajduk Split

Hajduk Split left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Tomislav Božić

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomislav Božić, and the manager let it.

In brief

5 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ivan Čović breaks a bone — 118 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 118 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Slaven Belupo

A 1‑4 beating by HNK Rijeka was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

Karlo Sentić keeps Slaven Belupo in it on his own

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.

Market

Vinko Međimorec asks to leave Slaven Belupo

“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.

Player ratings

Ilija Nestorovski, 36, rolls back the years — 7.85

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.85 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Market

NK Varazdin 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slaven Belupo

Ljuban Crepulja 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.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo rebuffed over Ivan Radošević

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sesvete have kept their man, and Slaven Belupo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Karlo Sentić

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karlo Sentić, and the manager let it.

In brief

4 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Ivan Čović out for 127 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slaven Belupo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Slaven Belupo taken apart

0‑4 to Dinamo Zagreb, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

Karlo Sentić keeps Slaven Belupo in it on his own

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.

Market

Lokomotiva Zagreb 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.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo baulk at the price for Mislav Ćutuk

Dinamo Zagreb wanted more than $720.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slaven Belupo

Josip Mitrović 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jurica Poldrugač

Slaven Belupo asked and Rudes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Words at Slaven Belupo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Mersinaj 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.

Market

Slaven Belupo sell Ernis Qestaj for $90.0K

Ernis Qestaj has left for Imotski in a $90.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

In brief

3 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

134 days out for Ivan Čović after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slaven Belupo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Slaven Belupo say no — this time

The offer from HNK Rijeka for Ljuban Crepulja 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.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo make their move for Mislav Ćutuk

$720.0K on the table at Dinamo Zagreb. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

A falling-out at Slaven Belupo

Josip Mitrović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo rebuffed over Hadji Issa Moustapha

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Gorica have kept their man, and Slaven Belupo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Business is business: Matija Jesenović goes

Sibenik paid $160.0K and Slaven Belupo took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Squad

Words at Slaven Belupo training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Mersinaj 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.

Match

Marko Dabro the difference as Slaven Belupo beat Lokomotiva Zagreb

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Josip Mitrović

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

2 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

144 days out for Ivan Čović after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slaven Belupo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Dino Perić gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dino Perić has just signed for Slaven Belupo, and for once the answer mattered.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Josip Mitrović

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

Guilherme Santos will not be coming to Slaven Belupo

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at La Equidad is saying, and nobody at Slaven Belupo is enjoying the guessing.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin tell Slaven Belupo: Iuri Tavares is not for sale

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Slaven Belupo

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.

Market

One of our own: Duje Pjaca joins the Slaven Belupo first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Duje Pjaca is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Slaven Belupo promote Nikola Grbic from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nikola Grbic 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.

Market

Slaven Belupo promote Mato Lovren from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mato Lovren 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Slaven Belupo Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Ilija Nestorovski signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ilija Nestorovski commits to Slaven Belupo for another 2 years.

Squad

Ilija Nestorovski in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Jon Mersinaj 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.

Match

Slaven Belupo see off NK Osijek

Three points for Slaven Belupo, 2‑1 the final word against NK Osijek in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Market

Sibenik watching Matija Jesenović

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Slaven Belupo have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

Still no ink between Slaven Belupo and Ilija Nestorovski

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Slaven Belupo, another week without a signature from Ilija Nestorovski.

Market

The clock runs on Josip Mitrović's contract

49 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.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Josip Mitrović

7.96, 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.

Squad

Slaven Belupo are still strangers to each other

10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief