There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Levente Szondi is living that version at MTK Budapest, and it tends to show in the first month.
Stipe Radić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Feb 2033
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Levente Szondi and MTK Budapest agree another 3 years.
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. MTK Budapest told Levente Szondi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MTK Budapest, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around MTK Budapest people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MTK Budapest can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Mihály Kata 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. Paris Saint-Germain have kept their man, and MTK Budapest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 Stipe Radić is on 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.
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. MTK Budapest have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 MTK Budapest, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Paris Saint-Germain: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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 Mihály Kata is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stipe Radić signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
90 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. MTK Budapest lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MTK Budapest will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 4 on 43 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MTK Budapest can pretend not to have heard.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.45 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Haladas will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. MTK Budapest were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Soma Szuhodovszki provided it, and the 9.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.99 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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 7.90 for the rest of it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Philippe Rommens and MTK Budapest agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Stipe Radić 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between MTK Budapest and Haladas, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The words a physio says slowly. 120 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Bekescsaba will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. MTK Budapest were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings29 Nov 2032
Ádin Molnár was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.44. 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.
Player ratings29 Nov 2032
Ibrahima Dabo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.38. 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 dugout29 Nov 2032
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.” Dominik Kleinheisler, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
135 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MTK Budapest will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Johan Skaarud provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Stipe Radić 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Stipe Radić 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 Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.73. 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.
Player ratings11 Oct 2032
Ibrahima Dabo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. 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.
Half the programme played, position 4, 18 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Honved moved on, Barnabás Németh reports back to MTK Budapest, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Stipe Radić 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.
Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MTK Budapest can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marin Jurina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around MTK Budapest the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Stipe Radić 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.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2032
$1.3M settles it between the clubs for Kylian Negri
Ujpest have accepted the money. What MTK Budapest do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The phone has started ringing about Daniel Johan Skaarud again, and this time the name on the line is NK Celje. MTK Budapest are listening politely and promising nothing.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.96, and 2 involvements.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jorge Ríos is living that version at MTK Budapest, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
Squad9 Aug 2032
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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.
MTK Budapest asked and Tondela said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Honved for Barnabás Németh 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.08 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
MTK Budapest moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Dominik Kleinheisler, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom2 Aug 2032
10 academy players handed senior numbers at MTK Budapest
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marin Jurina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around MTK Budapest the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The name of Barnabás Németh has come up in conversations MTK Budapest were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Mihály Kata 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Róbert Polievka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Róbert Polievka is on 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 MTK Budapest, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 MTK Budapest, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad12 Jul 2032
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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.
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 Philippe Rommens is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MTK Budapest know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 4, 41 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
In brief
The dugoutNime Sacko asks for a word with the manager
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MTK Budapest can pretend not to have heard.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Patrik Demjén and MTK Budapest agree another 2 years.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ádám Nyers will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around MTK Budapest the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
10 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
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 Ádin Molnár is on it.
The offer from DAC Dunajska Streda for Nime Sacko 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Catania is saying, and nobody at MTK Budapest is enjoying the guessing.
Patrik Demjén 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.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MTK Budapest know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dinamo Moscow keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 19 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Róbert Polievka 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.
Nobody at MTK Budapest 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2032
Mihály Kata 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 easiest signature of my career.” Ambrosii Chachua and MTK Budapest agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Ádin Molnár is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mihály Kata signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MTK Budapest. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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 MTK Budapest have no good answer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miloš Šatara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Stipe Radić
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Philippe Rommens and MTK Budapest agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Mihály Kata 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.
Squad3 May 2032
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Johan Skaarud 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.
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 Róbert Polievka is on 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.
Stipe Radić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Mihály Kata 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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MTK Budapest know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 4 on 41 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
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 Barnabás Németh has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MTK Budapest, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MTK Budapest can pretend not to have heard.
Mihály Kata and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Johan Skaarud 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 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mihály Kata signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Barnabás Németh has written the date down.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Johan Skaarud 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.
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
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 Philippe Rommens is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MTK Budapest know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 4, 41 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. MTK Budapest would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Mihály Kata 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.
Nobody at MTK Budapest 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.
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 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nime Sacko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around MTK Budapest the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Róbert Polievka and MTK Budapest agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Johan Skaarud was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at MTK Budapest can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Nobody at MTK Budapest 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MTK Budapest. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The offer from Malavan for Daniel Johan Skaarud 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.
14 seasons and 301 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at MTK Budapest heard it as anything else.
Stipe Radić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Feb 2032
Mihály Kata 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.
Nobody at MTK Budapest 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around MTK Budapest people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Máté Sajbán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around MTK Budapest the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The phone has started ringing about Daniel Johan Skaarud again, and this time the name on the line is Malavan. MTK Budapest are listening politely and promising nothing.
MTK Budapest had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at PSV, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Stipe Radić 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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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.
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 Philippe Rommens is on it.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether MTK Budapest can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Mihály Kata 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 phone has started ringing about Nime Sacko again, and this time the name on the line is Pogon. MTK Budapest are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and János Szépe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Ádin Molnár is on 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 MTK Budapest 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 Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Botond Kemenes and MTK Budapest agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Universitatea Craiova 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.
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 Róbert Polievka is on 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 Barnabás Németh has written the date down.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 41 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Stipe Radić 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.
11 goals and a season average of 7.41 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Mihály Kata 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.
A 1‑0 win over Vasas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings22 Dec 2031
Ádin Molnár was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.24. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Dominik Kleinheisler on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at MTK Budapest heard it as anything else.
Stipe Radić 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.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Mihály Kata 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 offer from Malavan for Daniel Johan Skaarud 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.
288 appearances across 14 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.93, and nobody on the pitch better.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
MTK Budapest close the window on a squad of their own making
29 in and 12 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.
MTK Budapest had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Barcelona, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Stipe Radić 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around MTK Budapest they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Milos Mladenovic is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Player ratings25 Aug 2031
Ádin Molnár was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.72. 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 is 17 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.
Match23 Aug 2031
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for MTK Budapest. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Debrecen waiting with a shirt. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 MTK Budapest, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. MTK Budapest have done the hard part with Catania, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Barnabás Németh and MTK Budapest agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Stipe Radić 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.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Poltava waiting with a shirt. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at MTK Budapest hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
MTK Budapest asked and Debrecen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Mihály Kata 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.
At 23 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Saboor Salim has, at MTK Budapest, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniel Johan Skaarud 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. MTK Budapest have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The name of Daniel Johan Skaarud has come up in conversations MTK Budapest were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
At 23 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Botond Kemenes will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around MTK Budapest the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Stipe Radić wants continental football; whether MTK Budapest can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Mihály Kata 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Catania have kept their man, and MTK Budapest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at MTK Budapest 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.
In brief
The dugoutMartin Urbán is still being punished for one mistake
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
“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 MTK Budapest, and it is not being withdrawn.
Stipe Radić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Mihály Kata 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.
MTK Budapest asked and Barcelona said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. MTK Budapest will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. MTK Budapest lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Lumezzane keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ahrobiznes have kept their man, and MTK Budapest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad23 Jun 2031
János Szépe 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mihály Kata signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 81 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.
Mihály Kata 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 János Szépe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Soma Szuhodovszki is on 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Johan Skaarud trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The words a physio says slowly. 90 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 want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at MTK Budapest hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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 Ibrahima Dabo is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MTK Budapest know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
106 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. MTK Budapest lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around MTK Budapest they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mihály Kata 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 János Szépe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 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
The dugoutRóbert Polievka has become a man the manager trusts
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Stipe Radić 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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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.
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 Soma Szuhodovszki is on it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Martin Urbán has his answer from MTK Budapest; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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
The dugoutDávid Banai knocks on the manager's door
BoardroomThe MTK Budapest production line keeps running
BoardroomThe MTK Budapest board put their names to it
The words a physio says slowly. 131 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 never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Johan Skaarud commits to MTK Budapest for another 5 years.
Squad31 Mar 2031
János Szépe 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mihály Kata signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.