Marked for Denis Lobotka
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 48 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for FK Senica
8 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Viktor Sestak, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Hrosovsky 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 55 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match14 Nov 2026
7 matches without a win for FK Senica
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around FK Senica are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Stefan Rusnak 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Slovan Bratislava left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.75, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I did not go to MSK Zilina to sit and watch. I want to come back to FK Senica and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Miroslav Strelec 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. FK Senica have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 62 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match9 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for FK Senica
Position 10 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match7 Nov 2026
6 matches without a win for FK Senica
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around FK Senica are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch9 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 FK Senica, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Timotej Kudlička was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.44. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Suslov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
Denis Lobotka breaks a bone — 70 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to FK Senica's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at FK Senica has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Sharani Zuberu 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 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
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Denis Lobotka breaks a bone — 77 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for FK Senica
4 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.
Squad26 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Jan Hrosovsky
“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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Dominik Benes knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Denis Lobotka breaks a bone — 84 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Sharani Zuberu 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Karol Nemec among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Karol Nemec on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FK Senica and Spartak Myjava.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Pekarik, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Timotej Kudlička was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Match17 Oct 2026
It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I did not go to MSK Zilina to sit and watch. I want to come back to FK Senica and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
8 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 92 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 10 of the 33 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad12 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Sharani Zuberu
“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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.42, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Hrosovsky 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.
Loan watch12 Oct 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 FK Senica, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Oct 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A chastening introduction for Tomas Mazuch — 5.69
It is a hard way to meet a crowd. Marked 5.69 on the day he was handed the shirt, and the important thing now is what the next one looks like.
Player ratings5 Oct 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Stefan Rusnak 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 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Viktor Sestak
“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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at FK Senica, another week without a signature from Denis Lobotka.
Match3 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
4.95 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Denis Lobotka breaks a bone — 107 days out
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.
Squad28 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Viktor Sestak at his very best
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at FK Senica.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Martin Hubocan's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Denis Lobotka breaks a bone — 114 days out
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.
Player ratings21 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sharani Zuberu 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ivan Pekarik. 3‑1 against Zlate Moravce, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Jan Hrosovsky 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 122 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match14 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for FK Senica
Position 12 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for FK Senica
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around FK Senica are no longer polite ones.
Market14 Sep 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 FK Senica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Sharani Zuberu 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Xavier Adang 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 terraces14 Sep 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Sharani Zuberu
“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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.64, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 129 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a win for FK Senica
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around FK Senica are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market7 Sep 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 FK Senica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Sharani Zuberu 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Viktor Sestak 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ivan Pekarik 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A defender's afternoon for Jan Hrosovsky
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match5 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. MFK Skalica came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 136 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Slovan Bratislava, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for FK Senica
6 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.
Market31 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 FK Senica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Viktor Sestak 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martin Mak, and the manager let it.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 143 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market24 Aug 2026
$770.0K from MFK Skalica for Jan Valjent. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Match19 Aug 2026
FK Senica bow out of the cup
Zlate Moravce go through and FK Senica go home, 1‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market24 Aug 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 FK Senica can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
FK Senica sell a favourite for $770.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Jan Valjent was one of the reasons people came, and $770.0K does not replace that by itself.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to FK Senica's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at FK Senica has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A first appearance Miroslav Strelec will want to forget — 5.42
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.42, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Denis Lobotka out for 152 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FK Senica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Marek Kucka at 21 — 8.19
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Marek Kucka did not need any: 8.19, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: MFK Skalica have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jan Valjent. The answer from FK Senica has not changed — yet.
Squad17 Aug 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Marek Kucka has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Stefan Rusnak
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Miroslav Strelec and FK Senica agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match15 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.