Marked for Laszlo Botka
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 May 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 The request is on a desk at Fehervar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 May 2029
Nikola Leković has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Fehervar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout14 May 2029
“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.
Squad14 May 2029
Donát Zsótér 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Fehervar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bálint Vécsei 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.
Squad14 May 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Laszlo Botka and Fehervar agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout14 May 2029
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.
Market14 May 2029
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Fehervar could get for him.
Squad14 May 2029
Uroš Ignjatović wants to know why he earns less
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 Fehervar have no good answer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Mar 2029
Only the photograph left for Dragan Čubra
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dragan Čubra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Fehervar the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Fehervar
Krisztián Kovács and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Bálint Vécsei 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.
Market12 Mar 2029
“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.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bence Babos, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
Dávid Zimonyi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Fehervar 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 dugout12 Mar 2029
Csaba Spandler 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.
Market12 Mar 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Bence Bedi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Donát Zsótér wants to know why he earns less
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 Fehervar have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Feb 2029
Laszlo Botka breaks a bone — 20 days out
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.
Market12 Feb 2029
Dragan Čubra 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 Fehervar can pretend not to have heard.
Market12 Feb 2029
Dragan Čubra has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Fehervar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
Fehervar had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Astra, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Gergely Nagy 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 Fehervar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Florent Hadergjonaj 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.
Market12 Feb 2029
“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.
The dugout12 Feb 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.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Feb 2029
29 days out for Laszlo Botka after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fehervar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Feb 2029
“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.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
Dragan Čubra: 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.” Fehervar have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market5 Feb 2029
So close: Dávid Zimonyi’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Bekescsaba moved on, Dávid Zimonyi reports back to Fehervar, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Fehervar close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 5 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
A move Dmytro Karliuk 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. Dmytro Karliuk is living that version at Fehervar, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market5 Feb 2029
Zsolt Kojnok has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Fehervar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Bálint Vécsei 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Fehervar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Florent Hadergjonaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Jan 2029
38 days out for Laszlo Botka after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fehervar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market29 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Fehervar can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Krisztián Kovács 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Fehervar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bálint Vécsei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
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.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Csaba Spandler, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
A loan move for Adrián Mosquera is in the works
Fehervar have made the call to Independiente Medellin. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
Gergely Nagy 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 Gergely Nagy is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jan 2029
Laszlo Botka breaks a bone — 46 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and MTK Budapest waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Fehervar is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Fehervar may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market22 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 Fehervar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Gergely Nagy 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 targets22 Jan 2029
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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Fehervar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Florent Hadergjonaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gergő Bánfalvi, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
NK Osijek 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Jan 2029
55 days out for Laszlo Botka after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fehervar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
Gergő Bánfalvi: 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.” Fehervar have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market15 Jan 2029
Only the photograph left for Dragan Čubra
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dragan Čubra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Fehervar the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
Fehervar asked and Ujpest said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market15 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 Fehervar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Jan 2029
42 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
The paperwork begins on Csaba Máté
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Fehervar have done the hard part with Paksi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Dragan Čubra has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Fehervar
Bálint Vécsei 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Jan 2029
Laszlo Botka breaks a bone — 63 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Jan 2029
Fehervar say no — this time
The offer from Diosgyor for Dávid Zimonyi 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.
Market8 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 Fehervar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
$5.0M on the table at Ujpest. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Laszlo Botka arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Laszlo Botka has, at Fehervar, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Fehervar
Gergely Nagy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Fehervar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bálint Vécsei 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Alejandro Gómez
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Aug 2028
Fehervar will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Haladas were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market7 Aug 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Polissia had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.63, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad7 Aug 2028
A fracture rules Laszlo Botka out for 74 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haladas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Aug 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Haladas have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match5 Aug 2028
Still nobody has beaten Haladas
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Balazs Bese, 33, rolls back the years — 8.35
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.35 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market31 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haladas can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jul 2028
82 days out for Laszlo Botka after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Haladas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad31 Jul 2028
There were 8 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.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
A brace, and Daniel Sallai takes the afternoon — 8.98
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Sallai provided it, and the 8.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market31 Jul 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Benedek Murka: 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.” Haladas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market31 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match29 Jul 2028
Whatever happens, Haladas do not lose
10 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Krisztian Dibusz is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Jul 2028
Laszlo Botka breaks a bone — 89 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Haladas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market24 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad24 Jul 2028
At 22 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.
Market24 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: Cesar Vallejo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Balazs Bese. The answer from Haladas has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
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.
Squad24 Jul 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 Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jul 2028
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
AEK 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Jul 2028
97 days out for Laszlo Botka after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Haladas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at PAOK is saying, and nobody at Haladas is enjoying the guessing.
Squad17 Jul 2028
At 20 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Haladas
Ilia Beriashvili and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Haladas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Sallai 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 targets17 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Dinamo Moscow: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
Daniel Sallai 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 Daniel Sallai is on it.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Janos Lang, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Laszlo Botka out for 105 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haladas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 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. Haladas have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market10 Jul 2028
Metalist come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Haladas did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Fee done, terms next for Habib Maïga
Haladas and Ferencvaros have settled on $910.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
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.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Haladas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market10 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Laszlo Botka
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Laszlo Botka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Haladas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
The deal with PAOK 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Haladas
Daniel Sallai 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 Jul 2028
Laszlo Botka breaks a bone — 112 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 Jul 2028
Terms done: Janos Lang is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Fehervar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Haladas is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match3 Jul 2028
Haladas refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 41 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market3 Jul 2028
Janos Lang 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 Haladas can pretend not to have heard.
Market3 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Balazs Bese again, and this time the name on the line is Sol de America. Haladas are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad3 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Haladas
Daniel Sallai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Norbert Dibusz 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 targets3 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Gorica have kept their man, and Haladas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Laszlo Botka out for 119 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haladas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Haladas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market26 Jun 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 Haladas, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Haladas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market26 Jun 2028
Dominik Sallai wants to know where this is going
“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 Haladas hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad26 Jun 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 Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andras Fiola and Haladas agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Haladas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Sallai 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.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Fehervar will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Roland Varga has pre-agreed a move to Haladas, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jun 2028
Laszlo Botka breaks a bone — 126 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 126 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jun 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Maccabi Netanya had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market19 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Daniel Sallai 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Haladas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Sallai 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 targets19 Jun 2028
Haladas asked and PAOK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Fiola and Haladas agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A loan move for Medin Gashi is in the works
Haladas have made the call to HNK Gorica. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Daniel Sallai 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 Daniel Sallai is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Laszlo Botka out for 133 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haladas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Jun 2028
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Janos Lang had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market12 Jun 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Haladas have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Astra keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dominik Sallai commits to Haladas for another 5 years.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Haladas
Daniel Sallai 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Haladas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Norbert Dibusz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Haladas asked and Sigma Olomouc 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 dugout12 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 May 2028
50 days out for Janos Sallai after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Haladas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad1 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 Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Haladas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Olivér Tamás 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 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
Laszlo Botka is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Haladas has been clear about where Laszlo Botka stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market1 May 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Laszlo Lisztes signs something — a contract at Haladas or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Janos Sallai out for 82 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haladas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Norbert Dibusz makes the wrong kind of headline
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Squad3 Apr 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 Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Raised voices on the training ground at Haladas
It involved Norbert Dibusz, it was loud enough to reach the car park, and it was over by lunch. Dressing rooms run hot; the ones that should worry you are the silent ones.
Market3 Apr 2028
He is 20, and nobody at Haladas signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout3 Apr 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Janos Sallai out for 97 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haladas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market20 Mar 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Haladas heard it as anything else.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Haladas
Daniel Sallai 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Norbert Dibusz 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A quiet fortnight at Haladas
With 5 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Ilia Beriashvili has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Haladas 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 dugout20 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Laurent Seji, and the manager let it.
Market20 Mar 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Haladas know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Haladas. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Janos Sallai out for 111 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Haladas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market6 Mar 2028
Laszlo Botka 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 Haladas can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Mar 2028
Haladas say no — this time
The offer from Helsingborg for Janos Lang 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.
Squad6 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 Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Norbert Dibusz and Haladas agree another 4 years.
The dugout6 Mar 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Haladas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álex Bermejo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market6 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.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
Daniel Sallai has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Haladas 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haladas can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Jan 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Haladas heard it as anything else.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Daniel Sallai 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Haladas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Norbert Dibusz 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 targets31 Jan 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.
The dugout31 Jan 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.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Laurent Seji 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.
Market31 Jan 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Laszlo Lisztes’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Haladas have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.