Marked for Nazar Kovalenko
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 May 2028
123 days out for Álex Vallejo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Diosgyor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom22 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Diosgyor
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Diosgyor is running low.
Squad22 May 2028
Words exchanged at Diosgyor
Ákos Kecskés 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.
Squad22 May 2028
A row about effort at Diosgyor
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Pitou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bence Daru, and the manager let it.
Market22 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ákos Kecskés’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2028
130 days out for Álex Vallejo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Diosgyor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces15 May 2028
Supporters organise against the Diosgyor board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market15 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Bence Bárdos
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bence Bárdos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Diosgyor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 May 2028
Words exchanged at Diosgyor
Dániel Lukács 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Diosgyor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ákos Kecskés 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 dugout15 May 2028
When it matters, Dávid Gróf plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vencel Lajcsik, and the manager let it.
Market15 May 2028
The name of Ante Roguljić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Diosgyor say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad15 May 2028
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 Diosgyor would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 2028
A fracture rules Álex Vallejo out for 145 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Diosgyor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 May 2028
A falling-out at Diosgyor
Ákos Kecskés and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout1 May 2028
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
A row about effort at Diosgyor
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Pitou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 May 2028
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Nazar Kovalenko, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch1 May 2028
“I watch every Diosgyor game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Budafoki MTE runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager's exit leaves Anrie Chase exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Anrie Chase is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout1 May 2028
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.
Market1 May 2028
The name of Dániel Lukács keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Diosgyor say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
Bence Daru breaks a bone — 61 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
Pressure builds in the Diosgyor boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Dániel Lukács 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Ákos Kecskés 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Dániel Lukács
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad27 Mar 2028
5 new faces, and Diosgyor are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces21 Feb 2028
Supporters organise against the Diosgyor board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Bence Daru breaks a bone — 99 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Feb 2028
Bence Bárdos has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Diosgyor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Diosgyor
Gabriel Sigua 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Diosgyor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ákos Kecskés 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.
Loan watch21 Feb 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Diosgyor, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Adrián Szőke
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Dávid Gróf has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Diosgyor 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 dugout21 Feb 2028
Álex Vallejo knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Diosgyor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Miljan Krpić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stefan Golubović 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kosta Janjić, and the manager let it.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Wages swallow 89% of the Mezőkövesd income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Market19 Apr 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Bence Keresztes has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mezőkövesd.
Market19 Apr 2027
The Mátyás Gresó talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mezőkövesd know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2027
“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 Mezőkövesd, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Nazar Kovalenko: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mezőkövesd have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Miljan Krpić 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.
The terraces1 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Miljan Krpić 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Sándor Vajda 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Marked 7.74. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Tamas Gulacsi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Mezőkövesd dressing room was either.