Marked for Peter Botka
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Feb 2027
Haladas up to position 3
37 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market1 Feb 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 The request is on a desk at Haladas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Gustavo Merino 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marton Sallai commits to Haladas for another 5 years.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
“I watch every Haladas game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ferencvaros runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Peter Botka 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
Debrecen arrived with $1.8M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Market25 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Haladas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Haladas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Ilias Chatzitheodoridis 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Roland Botka has left for Paksi in a $170.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Dávid Bobál 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match4 Jan 2027
Haladas up to position 3
37 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market4 Jan 2027
Ujpest 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The season belongs to Mate Orban
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Haladas have had the benefit of it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Andras Bese: 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Roland 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Norbert Szélpál 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
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 2026
“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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Still nobody has beaten Haladas
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Mate Orban
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The team sheet said everything about Gustavo Merino
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Gustavo Merino.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 108% of everything Haladas earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match26 Dec 2026
Honours even between Haladas and Paksi
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
5.80 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Peter Botka 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 Haladas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Dec 2026
Haladas are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 32 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market7 Dec 2026
“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.
Match5 Dec 2026
5 matches without a win for Haladas
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Haladas are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Dec 2026
Still nobody has beaten Haladas
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ilias Chatzitheodoridis 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.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I watch every Haladas game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ferencvaros runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Mate Orban
6 goals and a season average of 7.37 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Dibusz, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ilias Chatzitheodoridis 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zsombor Bévárdi, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The team sheet said everything about Gustavo Merino
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Gustavo Merino.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“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 Haladas, and 2 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Match21 Nov 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Diosgyor leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Marked 8.82 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gustavo Merino, and the manager let it.
Match14 Nov 2026
It needed Laszlo Szalai to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Puskas Akademia, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market2 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 2‑1 win over Honved, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 8.78 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 116% of everything Haladas earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The month belongs to Mate Orban
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Haladas have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad2 Nov 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Andras Nikolic knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match24 Oct 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Fehervar, and it could have been more.
Market26 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
There were 6 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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Gustavo Merino 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 9.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.76 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.64 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
Janos Gulacsi: 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mate Orban commits to Haladas for another 4 years.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Haladas against Vasas
0‑1 to Vasas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Kleinheisler, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Oct 2026
Haladas up to position 2
21 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market12 Oct 2026
“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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Haladas make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Haladas have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Laszlo Szalai and Haladas agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ilias Chatzitheodoridis 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Paksi made Haladas work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 9.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Ferencvaros to sit and watch. I want to come back to Haladas and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Norbert Szélpál 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Dávid Bobál
“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.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Bekescsaba, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.36, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Haladas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market28 Sep 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Adam Kleinheisler may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Haladas's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Haladas has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Gustavo Merino 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every Haladas game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ferencvaros runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market14 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 5.64, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Haladas
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Haladas are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
133% of the income goes out in wages at Haladas
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Róbert Litauszki, and the manager let it.
Market7 Sep 2026
Diosgyor are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Haladas will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.66, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Aug 2026
Ferencvaros 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
“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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Daniel Lisztes has come up in conversations Haladas were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ilias Chatzitheodoridis 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 9.55 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Honved, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 9.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Andras Bese
“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.