Marked for István Katona
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with MTK Budapest; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market19 Jun 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 Kazincbarcika can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $100.1K — a club that wants Zsombor Menyhárt enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Kazincbarcika have gone to Fehervar with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Đorđe Jovanović 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 targets19 Jun 2028
Ferencvaros wanted more than $150.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Market19 Jun 2028
István Katona has left for Kisvárda in a $240.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Daniel Arzani 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
The offer went to Ferencvaros 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
The chase for István Katona ended with $240.0K changing hands and Kazincbarcika out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Kisvárda
Tonislav Yordanov 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Kisvárda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bogdan Melnyk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Jasmin Mešanović has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kisvárda will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Alex Hrabina'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.
Market19 Jun 2028
The Damir Redžić talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kisvárda know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Kisvárda would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market19 Jun 2028
Kisvárda have let the market know Tonislav Yordanov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kazincbarcika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Alexis Vossah 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Daniel Arzani 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Kazincbarcika is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Martin Šlogar has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kazincbarcika will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Martin Šlogar 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.
Market24 Apr 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daniel Arzani signs something — a contract at Kazincbarcika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market24 Apr 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Kristóf Polgár may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad24 Apr 2028
The language is coming and there is somebody to talk to in the dressing room. A footballer who feels at home plays like one, and it never shows up in a scouting report.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
31 days out for Roland Vólent after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kazincbarcika will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Alexis Vossah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Daniel Arzani 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Đorđe Jovanović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market13 Mar 2028
The name of Martin Šlogar keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Kazincbarcika say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Zsombor Nagy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kazincbarcika will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Feb 2028
A fracture rules Roland Vólent out for 67 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kazincbarcika will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Feb 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Karcag waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kazincbarcika is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Kazincbarcika close the window on a squad of their own making
2 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.
Market7 Feb 2028
So close: István Katona’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Nyíregyháza moved on, István Katona reports back to Kazincbarcika, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Bersant Celina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Kazincbarcika will try again when the window opens; Csákvár may not be selling by then.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Daniel Arzani 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 targets7 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Empoli have kept their man, and Kazincbarcika go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch7 Feb 2028
“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 Kazincbarcika, and 9 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jan 2028
Roland Vólent breaks a bone — 84 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 Jan 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kazincbarcika have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A season average of 7.10 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Kazincbarcika know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Alexis Vossah 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 dugout24 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Kristóf Polgár has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Kazincbarcika is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Daniel Arzani 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 targets24 Jan 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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Szeged-Csanád GA 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Roland Vólent out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kazincbarcika will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match17 Jan 2028
The season ends: position 8 for Kazincbarcika
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 25 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
No sign of nerves from Dušan Jovanović at 21 — 8.09
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dušan Jovanović did not need any: 8.09, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“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.
Market17 Jan 2028
The paperwork is done: Bersant Celina joins from ZTE in a deal worth $2.2M. Now comes the harder part.
Market17 Jan 2028
“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.
Market17 Jan 2028
The offer from Kecskeméti TE for István Katona 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 targets17 Jan 2028
Everything agreed with Crvena Zvezda, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Alexis Vossah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
98 days out for Roland Vólent after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kazincbarcika will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Karcag waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kazincbarcika is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Sodiq Rasheed: 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.” Kazincbarcika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets10 Jan 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.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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 Kazincbarcika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jan 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 Kazincbarcika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A move Mirko Laketić would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mirko Laketić is living that version at Kazincbarcika, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Daniel Arzani 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.
Market10 Jan 2028
The name of István Katona has come up in conversations Kazincbarcika were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match25 Aug 2027
1‑1 against Paksi, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Nemanja Žunić: 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.” Kazincbarcika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market30 Aug 2027
Dino Dolmagić 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 Kazincbarcika can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Karcag waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kazincbarcika is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
No sign of nerves from Dušan Jovanović at 21 — 7.69
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dušan Jovanović did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Đorđe Jovanović 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 targets30 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hull City have kept their man, and Kazincbarcika go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces30 Aug 2027
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match28 Aug 2027
ZTE made Kazincbarcika work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Aug 2027
Sodiq Rasheed 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.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Abdellah Raihani: 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.” Kazincbarcika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market16 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kazincbarcika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Aug 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Predrag Medić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
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 dugout16 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Kazincbarcika are still strangers to each other
8 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.