Position 3, 28 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.02 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Iuri Tavares 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.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Mario Marina.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then HNK Gorica scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Successful dribbles: 56. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match7 Nov 2026
Antonio Čolak wins it after the whistle should have gone
94 minutes played. Antonio Čolak found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and NK Osijek went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A brace, and Antonio Čolak takes the afternoon — 8.99
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Antonio Čolak provided it, and the 8.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iuri Tavares was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
Minute 86, against Dinamo Zagreb, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
A brace, and Fran Topić takes the afternoon — 9.05
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fran Topić provided it, and the 9.05 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 4‑3 win over HNK Vukovar 1991, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about NK Varazdin and HNK Vukovar 1991 in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Iuri Tavares 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.
1 for Petar Bočkaj, marked 7.93, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Iuri Tavares 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Fran Topić 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 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.74 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matej Vuk. 2‑1 against Hajduk Split, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Hajduk Split spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roberto Punčec, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and NK Varazdin 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 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
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Petar Bočkaj's mistake
Player ratingsIuri Tavares beats them one at a time
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Robby McCrorie was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iuri Tavares was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.46 — 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.
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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stipe Sutalo, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Fran Topić had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Slaven Belupo were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Iuri Tavares 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 Fran Topić 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 David Puclin, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Fran Topić was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. 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.
Fran Topić had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Lokomotiva Zagreb were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two goals and a mark of 8.69 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” David Puclin has his answer from NK Varazdin; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I watch every NK Varazdin game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sibenik runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Robby McCrorie 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Iuri Tavares falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and NK Varazdin 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 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at NK Varazdin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Successful dribbles: 43. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what NK Varazdin can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
NK Varazdin close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Robby McCrorie 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at NK Varazdin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iuri Tavares 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. LNZ have kept their man, and NK Varazdin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. NK Varazdin will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Ivan Canjuga is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Iuri Tavares wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Iuri Tavares found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Dinamo Zagreb went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sporting CP keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Iuri Tavares 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.
NK Varazdin asked and Venezia 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
Matej Vuk was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.46. 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.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. NK Varazdin have paid $2.0M for Fran Topić, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
The offer went to Slaven Belupo this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
NK Varazdin asked and Zadar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
NK Varazdin spend $2.0M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $2.0M for Fran Topić, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Iuri Tavares 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.
$1.7M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Dinamo Zagreb have accepted the money. What NK Varazdin do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
He is going to HNK Rijeka, the club has $1.7M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Robby McCrorie 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.
NK Varazdin asked and Slaven Belupo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. NK Varazdin will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
3‑6 to Hajduk Split, 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Luka Kukić is living that version at NK Varazdin, and it tends to show in the first month.
NK Varazdin have gone to Dinamo Zagreb with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Bologna keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aleksa Latković and NK Varazdin agree another 3 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about NK Varazdin and Hajduk Split in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Tomislav Duvnjak 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at NK Varazdin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Marina 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 90. HNK Rijeka had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.