Marked for Martinko Macák
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Jun 2028
$1.1M — a new record at KFC Komárno
No footballer has ever cost this club more, and the number will be read out every time he misplaces a pass for the next two years.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Kevor Palumets has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at KFC Komárno is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
$400.0K on the table at Šamorín. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market26 Jun 2028
The fee is $420.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. MFK Michalovce drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
The offer went to Pohronie 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Kevor Palumets and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces26 Jun 2028
KFC Komárno spend $1.1M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $1.1M for Lois Ndema, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Transfer targets26 Jun 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Ondřej Rudzan 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout1 May 2028
This is not rotation. Kevor Palumets has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at KFC Komárno is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 May 2028
Dantaye Gilbert 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arouna Ouattara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 May 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; KFC Komárno are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout1 May 2028
Nándor Tamás gets it from the manager
“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 May 2028
Adam Krčík gets picked when it counts
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 Adam Krčík is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Apr 2028
Norbert Kucka damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
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.
Market10 Apr 2028
Jack McMillan has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KFC Komárno they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Matej Trusa 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 KFC Komárno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A muscle injury sidelines Martin Šimko for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. KFC Komárno will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Kristóf Domonkos has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at KFC Komárno is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at KFC Komárno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arouna Ouattara 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 dugout10 Apr 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.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Nándor Tamás has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at KFC Komárno 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.
Market10 Apr 2028
The name of Kevor Palumets keeps appearing in other people's back pages. KFC Komárno say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout27 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Ondřej Rudzan has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at KFC Komárno is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Dantaye Gilbert and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Zyen Jones 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
Šimon Šmehyl has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at KFC Komárno 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.
Market27 Mar 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jack McMillan may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market27 Mar 2028
The clock does Jack McMillan’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee KFC Komárno could ask drops and the wages Jack McMillan can ask rise.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Mário Hollý 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 KFC Komárno, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market27 Mar 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Christian Emmanuel Nguidjol Bayemi signs something — a contract at KFC Komárno or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KFC Komárno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Dantaye Gilbert 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Kristóf Domonkos has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at KFC Komárno is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at KFC Komárno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arouna Ouattara 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Arvid Holgén
“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 dugout13 Mar 2028
Nándor Tamás gets picked when it counts
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 Nándor Tamás is on it.
Market13 Mar 2028
The name of Kevor Palumets keeps appearing in other people's back pages. KFC Komárno say nothing, which says plenty.
Match13 Mar 2028
KFC Komárno have something to play for
Position 4 on 34 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.
Market13 Mar 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout6 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Kevor Palumets has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at KFC Komárno is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Dantaye Gilbert 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ondřej Rudzan commits to KFC Komárno for another 4 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Zyen Jones 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
KFC Komárno release $1.4M for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martinko Macák, and the manager let it.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
Adam Krčík has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at KFC Komárno 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Market6 Mar 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
$1.2M — a new record at KFC Komárno
No footballer has ever cost this club more, and the number will be read out every time he misplaces a pass for the next two years.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KFC Komárno can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zlate Moravce have kept their man, and KFC Komárno go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
An offer of $79.0K for Papa Diouf
KFC Komárno have gone to AS Trencin with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Kevor Palumets 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 terraces28 Jun 2027
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Artur Gajdoš from Slovan Bratislava for $1.2M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Jack McMillan 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 dugout28 Jun 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Too much change too quickly at KFC Komárno
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 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 KFC Komárno, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$1.2M on the table at Slovan Bratislava. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A move Ivan Shilenok would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ivan Shilenok is living that version at KFC Komárno, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$5.0K was the most the club would pay and Tatran Prešov were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at KFC Komárno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zyen Jones 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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
KFC Komárno asked and Hradec Králové said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Martin Gamboš 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 dugout21 Jun 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
This league is too small for Matej Trusa
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. KFC Komárno will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Jun 2027
The offer from DAC Dunajska Streda for Filip Balaj 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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zlate Moravce have done the hard part with DAC Dunajska Streda, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Wasiu Jimoh 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 Zlate Moravce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market21 Jun 2027
KFC Komárno paid $93.0K and Zlate Moravce took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Noa Cervantes 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
When it matters, Jan Kadlec 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
Zoran Ivanics asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.