Marked for Leonardo Martínez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Oct 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom29 Oct 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Podbeskidzie
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad29 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Podbeskidzie may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podbeskidzie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Oct 2029
He is 21, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match27 Oct 2029
Three points for Podbeskidzie, 1‑0 the final word against Korona in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
A defender's afternoon for Mateo Casares
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Squad4 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podbeskidzie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jun 2029
49 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podbeskidzie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Konrad Forenc 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 Podbeskidzie, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Feb 2029
19 matches without a win for Podbeskidzie
The run now stands at 19, and the questions being asked around Podbeskidzie are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Feb 2029
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad12 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podbeskidzie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Feb 2029
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom12 Feb 2029
Still no name above the door at Podbeskidzie
Day 11 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
A performance of 8.82 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Dziwniel, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Mathias Sauer
7 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Jan 2029
17 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.
Boardroom29 Jan 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Podbeskidzie
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Podbeskidzie is running low.
Market29 Jan 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Podbeskidzie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podbeskidzie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
A mark of 7.89, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Mathias Sauer is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.20 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2028
7 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.
Market21 Aug 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podbeskidzie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Dziwniel, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Aug 2028
The medical room confirms 58 days on the sidelines for Jan Klimek, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Podbeskidzie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podbeskidzie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
“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 Podbeskidzie know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Apr 2028
Kornel Osyra has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Podbeskidzie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Podbeskidzie may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Dalibor Takáč 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Kornel Osyra
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kornel Osyra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Podbeskidzie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podbeskidzie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“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.