Marked for Richard Pečarka
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Iverson Negouai will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stará Ľubovňa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Richard Pečarka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iverson Negouai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
A loan enquiry to Podbrezova: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
A loan move for Hélder Morim is in the works
Stará Ľubovňa have made the call to Tatran Prešov. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
A loan move for Aly Traoré is in the works
Stará Ľubovňa have made the call to Zlate Moravce. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Adrián Slančík is on it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Jul 2029
Michal Domik has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stará Ľubovňa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Podbrezova keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad9 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stará Ľubovňa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitry Pikatov and Stará Ľubovňa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
Stará Ľubovňa asked and AS Trencin said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Stará Ľubovňa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roy van der Leegte was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
The manager makes an example of Imran Thiam
“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 dugout9 Jul 2029
Richard Pečarka 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jun 2029
“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.
Market25 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Inter Bratislava waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stará Ľubovňa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Adrián Slančík 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 targets25 Jun 2029
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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Iverson Negouai 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 targets25 Jun 2029
A loan move for Francis Gomez is in the works
Stará Ľubovňa have made the call to AS Trencin. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
Michal Domik 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 Michal Domik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
“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.
Market25 Jun 2029
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Stará Ľubovňa could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jun 2029
Only the photograph left for Martin Kušnír
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martin Kušnír will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stará Ľubovňa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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 Stará Ľubovňa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Jun 2029
The name of Iverson Negouai has come up in conversations Stará Ľubovňa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Martin Kušnír 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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
$59.5K from the owner keeps Stará Ľubovňa afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
Stará Ľubovňa asked and KFC Komárno said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market4 Jun 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Richard Pečarka has his answer from Stará Ľubovňa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The borrowing at Stará Ľubovňa reaches $12.1M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $12.1M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 May 2029
Jozef Menich breaks a bone — 19 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 May 2029
Richard Pečarka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roy van der Leegte was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom28 May 2029
Wages eat 92% of everything Stará Ľubovňa 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.
Market28 May 2029
The loan was meant to give him football. 1 games and 0 goals later he is back at Stará Ľubovňa no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
Market28 May 2029
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Stará Ľubovňa money.
The dugout28 May 2029
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Stará Ľubovňa. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout28 May 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stará Ľubovňa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market28 May 2029
Stará Ľubovňa have made Gabriel Garin available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Apr 2029
A fracture rules Jozef Menich out for 47 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stará Ľubovňa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Adrián Slančík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Lukáš Remeň 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.
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
Wages eat 111% of everything Stará Ľubovňa 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Šimon Krahula and Stará Ľubovňa agree another 3 years.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
Michal Domik 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 Jan 2029
Kamil Manseri 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 MFK Ruzomberok can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MFK Ruzomberok is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Richard Pečarka 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 targets22 Jan 2029
No deal for Patrik Lukáč at that price
MFK Ruzomberok offered $41.0K; Tatran Prešov said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at MFK Ruzomberok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamil Manseri 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 targets22 Jan 2029
A loan enquiry to Luzern: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stará Ľubovňa can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
Everything agreed with AS Trencin, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Martin Kušnír and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
$93.7K of the owner's money at Stará Ľubovňa
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
Stará Ľubovňa asked and Slovan Bratislava said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The terraces8 Jan 2029
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match6 Jan 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Pa Assan Corr’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Stará Ľubovňa.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Dec 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
Jhonesy Vásquez: 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.” Stará Ľubovňa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
The game went through Jakub Port — 6.66
Marked 6.66 on 17 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad18 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stará Ľubovňa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Dec 2028
MSK Zilina B left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Iverson Negouai
“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.
Market18 Dec 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stará Ľubovňa have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market17 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stará Ľubovňa can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Richard Pečarka 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 targets17 Jul 2028
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.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
Wages swallow 99% of the Stará Ľubovňa income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Stará Ľubovňa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Pikatov 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.