NK Varazdin

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26 Sep 2027
Sunday
Process
60 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Iuri Tavares was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 34. 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 dugout

Silvio Ilinković says NK Varazdin 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.

Market

Fran Ivan Marić is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at NK Varazdin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

Matej Vuk stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Matej Vuk and NK Varazdin agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

NK Varazdin get the job done against Slaven Belupo

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

Squad

200 appearances for Ivan Đorić

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

Squad

Rüfət Abdullazadə 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

One of those days for Danny Butterworth

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

Back issues
59 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

Petar Bočkaj 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

Luka Škaričić signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Luka Škaričić commits to NK Varazdin for another 3 years.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Petar Bočkaj

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

No place for Leon Bičanić in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation NK Varazdin are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Niko Budimir was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the NK Varazdin dressing room was either.

Match

No goals between NK Varazdin and Istra 1961

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Istra 1961 will be the happier side with the point.

Looking ahead

Frane Maglica faces his old club

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

Market

The Robby McCrorie talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NK Varazdin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

58 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Fran Ivan Marić agrees terms with Hrvatski Dragovoljac

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around NK Varazdin people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Rüfət Abdullazadə

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 13 signed and 5 gone

That is the business done at NK Varazdin 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

Petar Bočkaj 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

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.

Match

Iuri Tavares the difference as NK Varazdin beat Hajduk Split

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iuri Tavares. 2‑1 against Hajduk Split, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Match

At last: NK Varazdin win one

5 matches without a win, and then this, against Hajduk Split. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Luka Mamić at his very best

Marked 8.11. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at NK Varazdin.

Squad

Mario Marina slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Mario Marina is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

In brief

57 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

The dugout

Roberto Punčec keeps the receipts

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

Match

The wait goes on for NK Varazdin

5 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

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Matej Vuk

31 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Player ratings

Iuri Tavares runs at them all day

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for NK Varazdin against HNK Rijeka

1‑2 to HNK Rijeka, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

Hrvatski Dragovoljac watching Fran Ivan Marić

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

Squad

Words at NK Varazdin training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rüfət Abdullazadə 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 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Niko Budimir to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

56 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Robby McCrorie keeps NK Varazdin in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

The wait goes on for NK Varazdin

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

Robby McCrorie 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for NK Varazdin against Dinamo Zagreb

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

Player ratings

Both jobs done by Aleksa Latković — 7.20

A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 7.20, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

The dugout

No hiding place for David Puclin

“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.

Loan watch

Filip Jagarčec has seen enough of Sesvete

“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 NK Varazdin, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.

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 Niko Budimir to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

55 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Mario Marina out for 17 days

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

Market

Fran Ivan Marić agrees terms with Sesvete

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around NK Varazdin people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Transfer targets

Adrian Pudić turns down NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Iuri Tavares

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

Player ratings

Stipe Jurić in the eights

A performance of 8.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Novak Tepšić 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

NK Varazdin rescue it on 92 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Lokomotiva Zagreb had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

In brief

54 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Mario Marina breaks a bone — 25 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Not going: Fran Ivan Marić stays at NK Varazdin

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Hrvatski Dragovoljac had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

The dugout

Fran Ivan Marić keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Iuri Tavares 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin rebuffed over Tino Agić

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

Squad

Stipe Jurić stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Stipe Jurić and NK Varazdin agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

A bad afternoon for NK Varazdin against HNK Gorica

1‑2 to HNK Gorica, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Robby McCrorie 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

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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

In brief

53 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

NK Varazdin break the bank for Danny Butterworth

$2.8M. No player has ever cost NK Varazdin more, and expectation arrives with him.

Squad

Mario Marina breaks a bone — 32 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Not going: Roberto Punčec stays at NK Varazdin

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Imotski had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Market

NK Varazdin get their man

The chase for Ivan Đorić ended with $110.0K changing hands and Rudes out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

The terraces

$2.8M for Danny Butterworth, and NK Varazdin supporters approve

Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Danny Butterworth from Fleetwood Town for $2.8M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

Ivan Đorić signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ivan Đorić and NK Varazdin agree another 2 years.

Match

NK Varazdin refuse to lose to NK Osijek

A point taken on 88 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.

In brief

52 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mario Marina breaks a bone — 41 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak turns Cibalia down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

The terraces

The mood at NK Varazdin has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Player ratings

A brace, and Iuri Tavares takes the afternoon — 8.77

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Iuri Tavares provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin make their move for Danny Butterworth

$2.8M on the table at Fleetwood Town. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Transfer targets

Yoël van den Ban will not be coming to NK Varazdin

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AZ is saying, and nobody at NK Varazdin is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Petar Bočkaj 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

5 academy players handed senior numbers at NK Varazdin

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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.

In brief

51 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

49 days out for Mario Marina after a fracture

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

Market

Roberto Punčec agrees terms with Imotski

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around NK Varazdin people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak asks to leave NK Varazdin

“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.

The dugout

Ivan Canjuga keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Transfer targets

Clermont Foot tell NK Varazdin: Luís Hemir 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

Rüfət Abdullazadə 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.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin ask about Yoël van den Ban

A loan enquiry to AZ: 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

A loan move for Mario Perlingieri is in the works

NK Varazdin have made the call to Benevento. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

50 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mario Marina breaks a bone — 56 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

NK Varazdin are in real trouble now

Position 8, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

Tomislav Duvnjak 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

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.

Transfer targets

Cremonese tell NK Varazdin: Marco Nasti 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

The Roberto Punčec conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Imotski will make the call about Roberto Punčec this week. NK Varazdin have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

The dugout

No hiding place for Roberto Punčec

“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.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin try to borrow Robin Mirisola

Racing Genk have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Market

The Tomislav Duvnjak talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NK Varazdin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

49 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

64 days out for Mario Marina after a fracture

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

Market

NK Varazdin say no — this time

The offer from Cibalia for Tomislav Duvnjak 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

Vladimir Ignatenko will not be coming to NK Varazdin

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Rubin is saying, and nobody at NK Varazdin is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Squad

Roberto Punčec signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roberto Punčec commits to NK Varazdin for another 2 years.

Squad

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.

Market

Filip Jagarčec attracts admirers

The name of Filip Jagarčec has come up in conversations NK Varazdin were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Boardroom

NK Varazdin sign 6 boys into the academy

None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.

The dugout

The manager makes Roberto Punčec a promise

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

In brief

48 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Mario Marina out for 71 days

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

The terraces

The mood at NK Varazdin has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Market

NK Varazdin turn down Dinamo Zagreb for Iuri Tavares

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

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at NK Varazdin

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at NK Varazdin is running low.

Squad

Real improvement from Ivan Canjuga at NK Varazdin

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ivan Canjuga is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

Tomislav Duvnjak has improved at 24, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Vladimir Ignatenko is in the works

NK Varazdin have made the call to Rubin. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Loan watch

Rüfət Abdullazadə keeps scoring at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona

25 appearances away from home and 8 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

47 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mario Marina breaks a bone — 78 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak turns Zadar down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

Market

Roberto Punčec has said yes to Imotski

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. NK Varazdin have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak asks to leave NK Varazdin

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

Real improvement from Luka Posinković at NK Varazdin

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Luka Posinković is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

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.

Market

The Iuri Tavares story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Iuri Tavares signs something — a contract at NK Varazdin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The terraces

Supporters make their feelings known about Iuri Tavares

The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. NK Varazdin would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.

In brief

46 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mario Marina breaks a bone — 85 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Filip Jagarčec

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

Match

NK Varazdin are in real trouble now

Position 8, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

The terraces

A $610.0K sale, and a town that did not want it

Mario Mladenovski has gone, the accounts have $610.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak attracts admirers

The name of Tomislav Duvnjak has come up in conversations NK Varazdin were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Market

Business is business: Mario Mladenovski goes

NK Osijek paid $610.0K and NK Varazdin took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Squad

Luka Mamić stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Luka Mamić and NK Varazdin agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Market

The Roberto Punčec conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Imotski will make the call about Roberto Punčec this week. NK Varazdin have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

45 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Mario Marina out for 93 days

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

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Filip Jagarčec

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

Market

Roberto Punčec hands in a written request

“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.

Transfer targets

Maxim Voronov will not be coming to NK Varazdin

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at CSKA Moscow is saying, and nobody at NK Varazdin is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

Silvio Ilinković signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Silvio Ilinković and NK Varazdin agree another 3 years.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Gabriel Słonina is in the works

NK Varazdin have made the call to Chelsea. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

Novak Tepšić 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 clock runs on Silvio Ilinković's contract

36 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.

In brief

44 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Mario Marina out for 100 days

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

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Filip Jagarčec

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

The terraces

The mood at NK Varazdin has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at NK Varazdin

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Squad

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.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Rüfət Abdullazadə’s exile

8 goals in 25 games at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at NK Varazdin updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Market

Robby McCrorie linked with a move away

The name of Robby McCrorie keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Silvio Ilinković 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 NK Varazdin, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

43 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

108 days out for Mario Marina after a fracture

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

Squad

Filip Jagarčec damages knee ligaments — 42 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak hands in a written request

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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 dugout

No hiding place for Ivan Canjuga

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

In brief

42 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mario Marina breaks a bone — 115 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Filip Jagarčec damages knee ligaments — 49 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 49 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

NK Varazdin sink to position 8

13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Iuri Tavares 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at NK Varazdin training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frane Maglica 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

The Tomislav Duvnjak talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NK Varazdin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

41 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mario Marina breaks a bone — 124 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 124 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Teo Novak

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

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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.

Market

No place for Mario Mladenovski in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mario Mladenovski has his answer from NK Varazdin; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Market

The Matej Vuk question follows NK Varazdin around

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

In brief

40 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at NK Varazdin has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at NK Varazdin

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at NK Varazdin is running low.

Squad

Robby McCrorie 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

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.

Market

No place for Roberto Punčec in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Roberto Punčec has his answer from NK Varazdin; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Rüfət Abdullazadə’s exile

8 goals in 25 games at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at NK Varazdin updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

The dugout

Roberto Punčec knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roberto Punčec trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Boardroom

$4.1M taken back off the NK Varazdin table

What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.

Market

Robby McCrorie linked with a move away

The name of Robby McCrorie keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

39 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

The dugout

Roberto Punčec 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

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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

In brief

38 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

NK Varazdin sink to position 8

13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

Petar Bočkaj 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 NK Varazdin

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.

Market

The Tomislav Duvnjak question follows NK Varazdin around

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

Market

NK Varazdin put Tomislav Duvnjak up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Tomislav Duvnjak may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

The dugout

Silvio Ilinković has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Silvio Ilinković has written the date down.

In brief

37 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Squad

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.

Market

The Matej Vuk talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NK Varazdin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

36 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak hands in a written request

“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.

Squad

Tomislav Duvnjak 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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

Squad

A step back for Danijel Zagorac at NK Varazdin

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Rüfət Abdullazadə’s exile

8 goals in 25 games at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at NK Varazdin updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Market

The Robby McCrorie story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Robby McCrorie signs something — a contract at NK Varazdin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

35 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

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.

Market

Iuri Tavares linked with a move away

The name of Iuri Tavares keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

34 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Every point is an argument now for NK Varazdin

Position 8 and 13 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.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Danijel Zagorac for 15 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. NK Varazdin will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

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.

The dugout

Ivan Canjuga 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.

Market

The Tomislav Duvnjak question follows NK Varazdin around

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

In brief

33 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Market

One of our own: Duje Kramaric joins the NK Varazdin first team

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

Market

Martin Kasalo steps up from the NK Varazdin academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martin Kasalo 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.

Market

One of our own: Daniel Juranovic joins the NK Varazdin first team

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

Market

NK Varazdin promote Mario Vrsaljko from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mario Vrsaljko 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.

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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

Squad

Josip Lovren out for 14 days

The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Josip Lovren, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

The dugout

No hiding place for Josip Silić

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

The dugout

Roberto Punčec has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Roberto Punčec has written the date down.

In brief

32 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak 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 NK Varazdin, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Mario Marina signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mario Marina commits to NK Varazdin for another 2 years.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

Robby McCrorie 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 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.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Rüfət Abdullazadə’s exile

8 goals in 25 games at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at NK Varazdin updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Market

The Robby McCrorie story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Robby McCrorie signs something — a contract at NK Varazdin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

31 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Danijel Zagorac asks to leave NK Varazdin

“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.

Squad

Iuri Tavares 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Danijel Zagorac 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

Words at NK Varazdin training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frane Maglica 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

Iuri Tavares linked with a move away

The name of Iuri Tavares keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

Squad

Leon Šipoš still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at NK Varazdin would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

In brief

30 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

NK Varazdin are in real trouble now

Position 8, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

Frane Maglica 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.

Market

The Tomislav Duvnjak question follows NK Varazdin around

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

The dugout

Danijel Zagorac has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Danijel Zagorac has written the date down.

The dugout

Luka Škaričić knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luka Škaričić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

29 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

Tomislav Duvnjak 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 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.

The dugout

A door opens for Danijel Zagorac

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Market

The Matej Vuk talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NK Varazdin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

Window shut, Mario Mladenovski still here

NK Varazdin spent the window trying to move Mario Mladenovski on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.

The dugout

The manager comes out for Aleksa Latković

Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Aleksa Latković has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.

In brief

28 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak asks to leave NK Varazdin

“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.

Market

NK Varazdin say no — this time

The offer from Zadar for Tomislav Duvnjak 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.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin rebuffed over Dante Stipica

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

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Rüfət Abdullazadə’s exile

8 goals in 24 games at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at NK Varazdin updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Market

The Robby McCrorie story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Robby McCrorie signs something — a contract at NK Varazdin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

A door opens for Danijel Zagorac

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

The dugout

Mateo Barać knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mateo Barać trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

27 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak attracts admirers

The name of Tomislav Duvnjak has come up in conversations NK Varazdin were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Boardroom

NK Varazdin close the window on a squad of their own making

1 in and 0 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.

Squad

Iuri Tavares 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Frane Maglica 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.

Squad

Jurica Poldrugač slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Jurica Poldrugač is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin ask about Dante Stipica

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

The dugout

No hiding place for Mario Mladenovski

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

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Rüfət Abdullazadə’s exile

7 goals in 23 games at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at NK Varazdin updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

Market

Iuri Tavares linked with a move away

The name of Iuri Tavares keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

26 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

NK Varazdin sink to position 8

13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Market

Mario Mladenovski asks to leave NK Varazdin

“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.

The dugout

Mario Mladenovski says NK Varazdin 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

Iuri Tavares pulls a muscle — 15 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Squad

The formation has left Jurica Poldrugač behind

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.

Squad

Words at NK Varazdin training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Canjuga 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

The Tomislav Duvnjak question follows NK Varazdin around

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

The dugout

A door opens for Danijel Zagorac

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

25 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Robby McCrorie 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin try to borrow Jurica Poldrugač

Rudes have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Rüfət Abdullazadə’s exile

6 goals in 21 games at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at NK Varazdin updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

The dugout

Danijel Zagorac has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Danijel Zagorac has written the date down.

Market

Stipe Jurić linked with a move away

The name of Stipe Jurić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

24 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Mateo Barać

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

Market

Not going: Tomislav Duvnjak stays at NK Varazdin

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Zadar had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak 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 NK Varazdin, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Transfer targets

Kalmar FF tell NK Varazdin: Emeka Nnamani 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.

The dugout

Roberto Punčec 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

Ivan Canjuga 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.

Market

Roberto Punčec placed on the list

NK Varazdin have made Roberto Punčec available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

Market

The Robby McCrorie story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Robby McCrorie signs something — a contract at NK Varazdin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

23 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mateo Barać damages knee ligaments — 24 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

NK Varazdin say no — this time

The offer from Sibenik for Tomislav Duvnjak 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.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

Tomislav Duvnjak 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Bruno Zdunić

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

Transfer targets

A loan move for Aaron Bibout is in the works

NK Varazdin have made the call to Racing Genk. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin try to borrow Aleks Stojaković

Dinamo Zagreb have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Squad

Words at NK Varazdin training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Logan Briggs 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 dugout

No hiding place for Luka Škaričić

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

Market

Iuri Tavares linked with a move away

The name of Iuri Tavares keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

22 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mateo Barać damages knee ligaments — 33 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 33 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Every point is an argument now for NK Varazdin

Position 8 and 13 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.

The dugout

Luka Škaričić says NK Varazdin 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 NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

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.

The dugout

The manager makes Danijel Zagorac a promise

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

In brief

21 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mateo Barać damages knee ligaments — 42 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

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.

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Ante Kovacevic

25 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Market

The Tomislav Duvnjak story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomislav Duvnjak signs something — a contract at NK Varazdin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

A door opens for Danijel Zagorac

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Squad

Frane Maglica 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 NK Varazdin have no good answer.

In brief

20 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Mateo Barać

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

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak asks to leave NK Varazdin

“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.

Squad

Petar Bočkaj signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Petar Bočkaj commits to NK Varazdin for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

NK Varazdin count the cost of losing Elvir Duraković

28 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The dugout

A promise honoured at NK Varazdin

Something was said to David Puclin and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

The dugout

No hiding place for Mario Mladenovski

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

The dugout

Petar Bočkaj knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Petar Bočkaj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Robby McCrorie story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Robby McCrorie signs something — a contract at NK Varazdin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

19 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Mateo Barać

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

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Mario Mladenovski signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mario Mladenovski commits to NK Varazdin for another 3 years.

The dugout

Roberto Punčec 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.

The dugout

Petar Bočkaj knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Petar Bočkaj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

18 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mateo Barać damages knee ligaments — 66 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 66 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

NK Varazdin sink to position 8

13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Squad

Ivan Canjuga 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

Leon Šipoš knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leon Šipoš trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

A door opens for Danijel Zagorac

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Market

Matej Vuk linked with a move away

The name of Matej Vuk keeps appearing in other people's back pages. NK Varazdin say nothing, which says plenty.

Loan watch

Rüfət Abdullazadə keeps scoring at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona

14 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Market

Still no signature from Mario Mladenovski

6 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what NK Varazdin could get for him.

In brief

17 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Mateo Barać

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

Player ratings

Both of them Iuri Tavares's — 8.91

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.91, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

The wait goes on for NK Varazdin

5 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

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Robby McCrorie

“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.

Match

NK Varazdin rescue it on 91 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Lokomotiva Zagreb had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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

Match

Iuri Tavares rescues a point for NK Varazdin

It needed Iuri Tavares to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Lokomotiva Zagreb, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

No place for Leon Šipoš 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 NK Varazdin pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

In brief

16 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Mateo Barać

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

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak asks to leave NK Varazdin

“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

Iuri Tavares 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.

Match

4 matches without a win for NK Varazdin

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around NK Varazdin are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tomislav Duvnjak 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

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.

The dugout

David Puclin 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.

Looking ahead

A six-pointer for NK Varazdin

Lokomotiva Zagreb next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Danijel Zagorac

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.

In brief

15 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Mateo Barać out for 89 days

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

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

Tomislav Duvnjak 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 NK Varazdin

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

Player ratings

Matej Vuk beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

No hiding place for Silvio Ilinković

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

The dugout

NK Varazdin keep their word to Leon Šipoš

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.

Match

NK Varazdin and NK Osijek take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

The dugout

David Puclin knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Puclin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Niko Budimir on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Niko Budimir after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

In brief

14 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Mateo Barać damages knee ligaments — 98 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 98 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

NK Varazdin taken apart

1‑5 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.

Match

The small margins put NK Varazdin out

Out, 0‑3 to Istra 1961, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Match

NK Varazdin are in real trouble now

Position 8, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Player ratings

Elvir Duraković beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The terraces

NK Varazdin are taken apart by Istra 1961 — 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.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about NK Varazdin and Dinamo Zagreb in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Mario Marina

“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

No place for Danijel Zagorac 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 NK Varazdin pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

In brief

13 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Mateo Barać out for 106 days

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

Match

NK Varazdin tear HNK Vukovar 1991 apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against HNK Vukovar 1991, and it could have been more.

Player ratings

A brace, and Matej Vuk takes the afternoon — 8.81

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matej Vuk provided it, and the 8.81 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Robby McCrorie 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Petar Bočkaj beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

One of those days for Iuri Tavares

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Roberto Punčec

“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.

Squad

NK Varazdin are still strangers to each other

6 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

12 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Mateo Barać

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

Player ratings

Iuri Tavares runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak 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 NK Varazdin, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Mateo Barać: 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.” NK Varazdin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

Late improvement for Robby McCrorie

At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

Match

Leon Šipoš’s goal not enough for NK Varazdin

Leon Šipoš scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Istra 1961, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

No hiding place for Robby McCrorie

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

Looking ahead

A six-pointer for NK Varazdin

HNK Vukovar 1991 next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.

In brief

11 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Mateo Barać out for 122 days

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

Squad

8 saves: Robby McCrorie was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Iuri Tavares 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for NK Varazdin against Hajduk Split

0‑1 to Hajduk Split, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Gregor Sikošek 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.

Player ratings

Iuri Tavares beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Ivan Canjuga 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

Niko Budimir: “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

The form table has caught Danijel Zagorac

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

In brief

10 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Mateo Barać out for 129 days

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

Squad

Robby McCrorie stands alone

10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

NK Varazdin are in real trouble now

Position 8, 7 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Player ratings

Iuri Tavares runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

A row about effort at NK Varazdin

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.

Match

Late, late show earns NK Varazdin a point

Minute 95, against HNK Rijeka, 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.

The dugout

NK Varazdin pick somebody else ahead of Danijel Zagorac

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

Iuri Tavares rescues a point for NK Varazdin

It needed Iuri Tavares to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against HNK Rijeka, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

9 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Mateo Barać out for 136 days

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

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Iuri Tavares

Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Match

Luka Mamić the difference as NK Varazdin beat Slaven Belupo

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luka Mamić. 1‑0 against Slaven Belupo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Match

NK Varazdin at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 9, 6 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

Player ratings

Luka Mamić takes the honours

Marked 7.80 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, NK Varazdin had the best player on the pitch.

Squad

Ivan Canjuga 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.

Squad

NK Varazdin are still strangers to each other

6 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.

The dugout

Danijel Zagorac 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

8 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Mateo Barać out for 145 days

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

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak asks to leave NK Varazdin

“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.

Match

Leon Šipoš wins it after the whistle should have gone

92 minutes played. Leon Šipoš found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Lokomotiva Zagreb went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Squad

Robby McCrorie stands alone

8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

NK Varazdin end the wait against Lokomotiva Zagreb

It had gone 7 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Match

NK Varazdin see off Lokomotiva Zagreb

Three points for NK Varazdin, 2‑1 the final word against Lokomotiva Zagreb in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Danijel Zagorac

“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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Matej Vuk at his very best

Marked 8.27. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at NK Varazdin.

In brief

7 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to NK Varazdin's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at NK Varazdin has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Petar Bočkaj was unplayable

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.

Match

HNK Gorica take the points off NK Varazdin

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Niko Budimir to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

The form table has caught Danijel Zagorac

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

The dugout

No hiding place for Mateo Barać

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

Squad

Logan Briggs is a square peg at NK Varazdin

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

The dugout

No place in the plan for David Puclin

The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

In brief

6 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

NK Varazdin sink to position 10

0 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Player ratings

Both of them Iuri Tavares's — 8.90

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.90, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

6 matches without a win for NK Varazdin

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around NK Varazdin are no longer polite ones.

Market

NK Varazdin turn down Dinamo Zagreb for Mario Mladenovski

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

Boardroom

Window shuts: 13 in, 0 out at NK Varazdin

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

Tempers go at NK Varazdin

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.

Match

Iuri Tavares’s goal not enough for NK Varazdin

Iuri Tavares scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to NK Osijek, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

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.

Transfer targets

Rostov tell NK Varazdin: Ivan Timoshenko 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.

In brief

5 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for NK Varazdin

5 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

Robby McCrorie 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 NK Varazdin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin rebuffed over Ivan Ignatjev

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

Match

Dinamo Zagreb take the points off NK Varazdin

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Niko Budimir to a room that had heard them before.

Squad

Fran Ivan Marić has had enough of the bench

“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 NK Varazdin will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

The dugout

No hiding place for Silvio Ilinković

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

The dugout

Danijel Zagorac 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.

Squad

Leon Šipoš is a square peg at NK Varazdin

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

In brief

4 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Tomislav Duvnjak hands in a written request

“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.

Player ratings

A brace, and Matej Vuk takes the afternoon — 8.65

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matej Vuk provided it, and the 8.65 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

No end in sight to NK Varazdin's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at NK Varazdin has to find a result from somewhere.

Transfer targets

Too dear: NK Varazdin walk away from Ibrahim Aliyu

$650.0K was the most the club would pay and Houston Dynamo were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Squad

NK Varazdin lose Roberto Punčec

28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Match

A bad afternoon for NK Varazdin against HNK Vukovar 1991

2‑3 to HNK Vukovar 1991, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

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.

Transfer targets

Rodina tell NK Varazdin: Kerfala Cissoko 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.

In brief

3 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

NK Varazdin say no — this time

The offer from HNK Rijeka for Gregor Sikošek 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Transfer targets

Too dear: NK Varazdin walk away from Boris Vrsaljko

$100.0K was the most the club would pay and Zadar were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Match

NK Varazdin cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin rebuffed over Antonio Čolak

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

Match

A bad afternoon for NK Varazdin against Istra 1961

0‑2 to Istra 1961, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for Robby McCrorie

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

Market

Talks stall between NK Varazdin and Danijel Zagorac

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

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 Niko Budimir to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

2 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for NK Varazdin

A 0‑3 beating by Hajduk Split was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

8 saves: Robby McCrorie was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Slaven Belupo come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and NK Varazdin did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Tomislav Duvnjak stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Tomislav Duvnjak and NK Varazdin agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at NK Varazdin

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

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin bid $110.0K for Davyd Fesyuk

The offer went to Hajduk Split 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.

Transfer targets

Slaven Belupo tell NK Varazdin: Matija Jesenović 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Iuri Tavares

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

Market

Josip Lovren steps up from the NK Varazdin academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Josip Lovren 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The NK Varazdin Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

7 saves: Robby McCrorie was the team

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.

Squad

Mario Marina signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mario Marina commits to NK Varazdin for another 2 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at NK Varazdin

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.

Squad

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.

Transfer targets

NK Varazdin rebuffed over Gustavo Varela

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

Match

HNK Rijeka take the points off NK Varazdin

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

NK Varazdin and Mario Marina 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

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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Niko Budimir to a room that had heard them before.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Antonio Čolak is in the works

NK Varazdin have made the call to Legia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief