Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Anthony Rogalski is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Shota Nonikashvili 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 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.
Nobody at Gornik Zabrze 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gornik Zabrze, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roberto Massimo signs something — a contract at Gornik Zabrze or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Legia next, and one man in the Gornik Zabrze dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Pogon had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Gornik Zabrze did not stop to explain themselves.
Position 3, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Salko Hamzić 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.
At 20 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Pogon were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Roberto Massimo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gornik Zabrze have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gornik Zabrze this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Bruno Durdov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
He is 20 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.
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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
At 22 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.
3‑0. Nights like this are why clubs spend decades trying to qualify for this competition, and they arrive perhaps twice in that time. Everybody who was in the ground will describe it badly for years.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
A brace, and Bruno Durdov takes the afternoon — 8.59
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bruno Durdov provided it, and the 8.59 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.53 for the rest of it.
Salko Hamzić 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Bruno Durdov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Michał Rakoczy. 1‑0 against Bruk-Bet Termalica, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Roberto Massimo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Gornik Zabrze pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gornik Zabrze can pretend not to have heard.
Thodoros Tsirigotis 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gornik Zabrze told Bruno Durdov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Tomasz Lewandowski left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksander Gajgier was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
1 for Shota Nonikashvili, marked 7.61, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Gornik Zabrze close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 35 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Paweł Bochniewicz and Gornik Zabrze agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Zmrzlý was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Salko Hamzić has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Gornik Zabrze training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Zmrzlý 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.
Shota Nonikashvili 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Gornik Zabrze told Borislav Rupanov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Tomasz Lewandowski after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gornik Zabrze lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Salko Hamzić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Gornik Zabrze training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Zmrzlý 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 words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Shota Nonikashvili scored, was marked 7.66, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gornik Zabrze this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Zmrzlý was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. GKS Tychy have kept their man, and Gornik Zabrze go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Gornik Zabrze, another week without a signature from Borislav Rupanov.
GKS Tychy will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Gornik Zabrze were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Erik Janža reports back to Gornik Zabrze with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and GKS Tychy were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Ondřej Zmrzlý 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Radomiak Radom have kept their man, and Gornik Zabrze go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Shota Nonikashvili 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Bruno Durdov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
This is not rotation. Paweł Bochniewicz has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Gornik Zabrze is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Ondřej Zmrzlý 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.
Gornik Zabrze asked and Chrobry Głogów said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Gornik Zabrze are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“I watch every Gornik Zabrze game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Gornik Zabrze that is a harder question to answer.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Gornik Zabrze lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Gornik Zabrze, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
Shota Nonikashvili 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gornik Zabrze, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roberto Massimo signs something — a contract at Gornik Zabrze or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Gornik Zabrze lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gornik Zabrze they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kacper Urbański and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Zmrzlý was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gornik Zabrze, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Gornik Zabrze would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
6 goals in 22 games at MFK Michalovce — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Gornik Zabrze updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Nobody at Gornik Zabrze 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 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and MFK Michalovce know it.
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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
In brief
The dugoutAdam Žulevič knocks on the manager's door
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gornik Zabrze can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kryspin Szcześniak will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gornik Zabrze the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Gornik Zabrze training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Amadio 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.
6 goals in 22 games at MFK Michalovce — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Gornik Zabrze updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Nobody at Gornik Zabrze 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.
Words at MFK Michalovce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Kričfaluši 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Michalovce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at MFK Michalovce 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kai Brosnan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Martin Koscelník signs something — a contract at MFK Michalovce or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gornik Zabrze can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Gornik Zabrze training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Zmrzlý 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.
Krzysztof Kubica 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Tomasz Lewandowski after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Alex Amadio.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Borislav Rupanov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Tornike Dzotsenidze 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 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.
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.
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 Kai Brosnan has written the date down.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. MFK Michalovce have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
“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.
“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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
MFK Michalovce close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
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.
MFK Michalovce asked and Plymouth Argyle said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Samuel 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Samuel Kováčik is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. MFK Michalovce will try very hard not to make too much of it.
A loan enquiry to AS Saint-Etienne: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Bruno Durdov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Jakub Pira 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 20 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jakub Pira. 1‑0 against MFK Skalica, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.75 on the card, and the MFK Michalovce support went home talking about one name.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Peter Valjent kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adam Jakubech trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Michalovce, and it is not being withdrawn.
Tornike Dzotsenidze was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Kričfaluši was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Matej Malenšek has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Peter Valjent, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. MFK Michalovce lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Michalovce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at MFK Michalovce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Kričfaluši 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.
A 1‑0 win over Petržalka, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Samuel was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Peter Valjent could afford to be generous.
Nobody at MFK Michalovce 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 words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gornik Zabrze can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Gornik Zabrze training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Zmrzlý 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Gornik Zabrze know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Gornik Zabrze would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at MFK Michalovce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Kričfaluši 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Michalovce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at MFK Michalovce 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Patrik Lukáč has his answer from MFK Michalovce; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Bruno Durdov, 19, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where MFK Michalovce would like this to lead.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Martin Bednár’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and MFK Michalovce needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Michalovce, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Jakub Pira will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at MFK Michalovce escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at MFK Michalovce has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Bruno Durdov, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.84
A mark of 7.84 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Tornike Dzotsenidze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at MFK Michalovce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Kričfaluši 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.
Tornike Dzotsenidze 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at MFK Michalovce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Kričfaluši 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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Adam Jakubech is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
In brief
SquadBruno Durdov is the weekend's best young player
Tornike Dzotsenidze and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Kričfaluši was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 19 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.
Minute 89, against MFK Ruzomberok, 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. MFK Michalovce told Kai Brosnan something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MFK Michalovce will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Orestis Kalemi and MFK Michalovce agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. MFK Michalovce told Matej Malenšek something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at MFK Michalovce, another week without a signature from Martin Bednár.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Michalovce will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at MFK Michalovce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakub Pira 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.
MFK Michalovce asked and Dinamo Bucharest said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Michalovce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Samuel. 2‑0 against AS Trencin, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Slávia TU Košice had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MFK Michalovce will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Jakub Pira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at MFK Michalovce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Kričfaluši is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Banik Ostrava have kept their man, and MFK Michalovce go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 19 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.
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. MFK Michalovce will try not to make too much of it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A brace, and Jakub Pira takes the afternoon — 8.12
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jakub Pira provided it, and the 8.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bruno Durdov did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” MFK Michalovce have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Ludogorets is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Michalovce will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Michalovce, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Kričfaluši was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Red Bull Salzburg have kept their man, and MFK Michalovce go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Michalovce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and MFK Michalovce know which stage they are at.
West Ham United 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Gornik Zabrze have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Gornik Zabrze, and it is not being withdrawn.
Kacper Urbański 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.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Peter Federico signs something — a contract at Gornik Zabrze or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Púchov had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. MFK Michalovce have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with Gornik Zabrze is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Add another name to the list: Spartak Trnava have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Franck Bahi. The answer from MFK Michalovce has not changed — yet.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at MFK Michalovce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakub Pira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Feyenoord have kept their man, and MFK Michalovce go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Tornike Dzotsenidze 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 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.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Stal Rzeszów waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Gornik Zabrze is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Michał Rakoczy had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The offer from Znicz Pruszków for Marcel Kalemba 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Radomiak Radom have kept their man, and Gornik Zabrze go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gornik Zabrze have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Gornik Zabrze will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Nobody at Gornik Zabrze 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Loren Maružin signs something — a contract at Opatija or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
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.
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.
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 Dino Kapitanović has written the date down.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Opatija, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rajan Žlibanović is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Mihael Mladen 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Opatija pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bruno Durdov did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Opatija will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Opatija this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sesvete have kept their man, and Opatija go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Dino Kapitanović will call it something else in private.