Marked for Patrick Karhan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
Martin Nagy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petr Pudhorocký 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for MFK Skalica is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Matej Strelec to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Martin Nagy's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 88% of everything MFK Skalica earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Richard Ludha makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Age has not caught Roman Potočný yet — 7.83
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Petr Pudhorocký 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Nagy 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Patrick Karhan, and the manager let it.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with MFK Ruzomberok leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Matej Strelec after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
A promise honoured for Adam Morong
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. MFK Skalica told Adam Morong something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
When it matters, Adam Morong plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
MFK Skalica close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 3 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petr Pudhorocký 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 targets7 Sep 2026
MFK Skalica asked and Pribram said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Adrián Kopičár was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Petr Pudhorocký has moved up it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Erik Riška 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.