Marked for Tomáš Buchwaldek
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Aug 2028
Michal Suslov damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
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.
Market28 Aug 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at MFK Ruzomberok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match23 Aug 2028
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 99th minute. Baník Lehota pod Vtáčnikom will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Squad28 Aug 2028
49 days out for Tomáš Buchwaldek after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MFK Ruzomberok will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.69, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market28 Aug 2028
The fee is $1.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Dukla Banská Bystrica drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Match26 Aug 2028
9 matches without defeat, and then DAC Dunajska Streda. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Martin Šulek 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Aug 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Michal Suslov
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MFK Ruzomberok lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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
A fracture rules Tomáš Buchwaldek out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Ruzomberok will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Both of them Koke's — 8.51
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.51, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market21 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Martin Šulek has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at MFK Ruzomberok is pretending otherwise.
Match19 Aug 2028
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.
Match19 Aug 2028
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Koke in a row with a teammate
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 Ruzomberok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Aug 2028
Michal Suslov damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Market14 Aug 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around MFK Ruzomberok people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A fracture rules Tomáš Buchwaldek out for 67 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Ruzomberok will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Aug 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at MFK Ruzomberok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Aug 2028
No end in sight to MFK Ruzomberok's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at MFK Ruzomberok has to find a result from somewhere.
Match12 Aug 2028
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Martin Šulek 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
Lukáš Jendrek gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Lukáš Jendrek has just signed for MFK Ruzomberok, and for once the answer mattered.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Aug 2028
A fracture rules Tomáš Buchwaldek out for 75 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Ruzomberok will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Aug 2028
Hugo Pávek hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Ruzomberok can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
$410.0K settles it between the clubs for Lukáš Jendrek
Považská Bystrica have accepted the money. What MFK Ruzomberok do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market7 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Martin Šulek in a row with a teammate
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 Ruzomberok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Aug 2028
Whatever happens, MFK Ruzomberok do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Vanja Dragojević falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lommel have kept their man, and MFK Ruzomberok go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match5 Aug 2028
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. MSK Zilina had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Tomáš Buchwaldek out for 84 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Ruzomberok will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at MFK Ruzomberok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Spartak Trnava wanted more than $390.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Martin Šulek was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market31 Jul 2028
The name of Adrián Slávik has come up in conversations MFK Ruzomberok were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Vanja Dragojević 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 dugout31 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Martin Bačík has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at MFK Ruzomberok is pretending otherwise.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ondřej Šašinka, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Jul 2028
92 days out for Tomáš Buchwaldek after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MFK Ruzomberok will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
No thanks: Ousman Kujabi rejects the move
MFK Ruzomberok had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Šamorín, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Martin Šulek has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at MFK Ruzomberok is pretending otherwise.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market24 Jul 2028
The bid was some way short and MFK Ruzomberok did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
$390.0K on the table at Spartak Trnava. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
No deal for Marek Fábry at that price
MFK Ruzomberok offered $700.0K; AS Trencin said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Martin Šulek 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.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
5 academy graduates step up at MFK Ruzomberok
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Jul 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market17 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. MFK Ruzomberok have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
The offer went to AS Trencin this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. MFK Ruzomberok have done the hard part with Spartak Trnava, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at MFK Ruzomberok can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Market17 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MFK Ruzomberok is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Dukla Banská Bystrica wanted more than $110.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Market17 Jul 2028
Martin Boďa has left for Tatran Prešov in a $260.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at MFK Ruzomberok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vanja Dragojević 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Jul 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market10 Jul 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Stará Ľubovňa had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market10 Jul 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Martin Šulek in a row with a teammate
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 Ruzomberok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Vanja Dragojević falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market10 Jul 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. MFK Ruzomberok have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Spartak Trnava: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market10 Jul 2028
Tatran Prešov are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. MFK Ruzomberok will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 Jul 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. MFK Ruzomberok have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
The deal with MSK Zilina 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.
Market3 Jul 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Martin Šulek commits to MFK Ruzomberok for another 3 years.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Koke and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
MFK Ruzomberok asked and Vojvodina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Martin Bačík has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at MFK Ruzomberok is pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Tomáš Buchwaldek out for 122 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Ruzomberok will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Jun 2028
Vojtěch Novák hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Ruzomberok can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces26 Jun 2028
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Lois Ndema was one of the reasons people came, and $1.1M does not replace that by itself.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Martin Šulek has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at MFK Ruzomberok is pretending otherwise.
Market26 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market26 Jun 2028
Lois Ndema has left for KFC Komárno in a $1.1M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Martin Šulek 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 Jun 2028
Dominik Kostka falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zurich have kept their man, and MFK Ruzomberok go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Tomáš Buchwaldek out for 132 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Ruzomberok will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Jun 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and MFK Skalica waiting with a shirt. Nobody at MFK Ruzomberok is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market19 Jun 2028
Daniel Prekop hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Ruzomberok can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Market19 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MFK Ruzomberok is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market19 Jun 2028
The chase for Alex Húdok ended with $150.0K changing hands and AS Trencin out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Martin Šulek and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
MFK Ruzomberok offered $150.0K; MFK Michalovce said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Dominik Kostka 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.