Gerardo Natale

Left Wingback - Haladas
3 Feb 2027
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Gerardo Natale

19 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Haladas

11 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.

Squad

6 saves: Adam Lang was the team

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Haladas

Vitaliy Bolshakov 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.

Squad

Words at Haladas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bence Gergényi 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 dugout

Gerardo Natale 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 ratings

Pál Helmich ran the middle of the pitch — 7.38

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.38, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

Squad

David Gulacsi signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” David Gulacsi commits to Haladas for another 1 years.

The dugout

Gabor Fiola 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 Gabor Fiola is on it.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mate Orban chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

In brief

Back issues
18 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A chastening European night for Haladas

0‑6 against FC Copenhagen. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.

Match

The wait goes on for Haladas

10 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.

Squad

Adam Lang keeps Haladas in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Marton Botka is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.39 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market

Peter Nagy has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Haladas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Norbert Szélpál 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 Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

6 goals as Haladas and FC Copenhagen go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Haladas and FC Copenhagen, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

Dila take the points off Haladas

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Match

Haladas come up short against Ujpest

Ujpest left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

13 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Adam Lang stands alone

14 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Haladas

A 0‑3 beating by Lech was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Player ratings

Marton Botka scores twice — 9.21

Two goals and a mark of 9.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Match

Haladas come up short in Europe

0‑2 away to the standard of Elche. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.

Player ratings

Gerardo Natale beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Marton Botka

12 goals and a season average of 7.33 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Bence Gergényi 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.

Match

Marton Botka the difference as Haladas beat Fehervar

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marton Botka. 2‑1 against Fehervar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

A falling-out at Haladas

Bence Varga and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

12 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A brace, and Gerardo Natale takes the afternoon — 8.12

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gerardo Natale provided it, and the 8.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

Haladas are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 21 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

The dugout

Zsolt Nikolic: 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.

Match

6 goals as Haladas and Vasas go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Haladas and Vasas, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

A falling-out at Haladas

Vitaliy Bolshakov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Haladas and Vasas take a point apiece

It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

The dugout

Haladas keep their word to Norbert Szélpál

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.

The dugout

Bence Gergényi 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 dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mate Orban chose the glass-half-full version of 3‑3; the supporters left with the other one.

In brief

4 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Vitaliy Bolshakov asks to leave Haladas

“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.

Market

Haladas turn down Fehervar for Gerardo Natale

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

6 saves: Adam Lang was the team

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.

Market

Bence Varga is a Haladas player

The fee is $250.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Honved drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

Squad

A falling-out at Haladas

Vitaliy Bolshakov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Haladas walk away from Bálint Faragó

$73.0K was the most the club would pay and Vasas 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.

The terraces

The town asked, and Haladas paid $250.0K

Bence Varga was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $250.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.

Squad

Bence Gergényi 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 targets

Puskas Akademia tell Haladas: Michael Okeke is not for sale

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.

In brief

3 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Haladas say no — this time

The offer from Puskas Akademia for Vitaliy Bolshakov 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 targets

Haladas agree $250.0K for Bence Varga

The clubs have shaken hands with Honved; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Boardroom

Haladas go back to the board over Bálint Faragó

The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $77.9K — a club that wants Bálint Faragó enough to be asked twice.

Match

Haladas cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Words exchanged at Haladas

Vitaliy Bolshakov 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.

Transfer targets

An offer of $69.0K for Bálint Faragó

Haladas have gone to Vasas 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.

Transfer targets

Haladas rebuffed over Ákos Sigér

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Honved have kept their man, and Haladas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Marton Botka the difference as Haladas beat Honved

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marton Botka. 2‑1 against Honved, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The dugout

Gerardo Natale 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.

In brief

2 Edition

The Haladas Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Both of them Marton Botka's — 8.87

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.87, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Not going: Akos Lang stays at Haladas

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Obolon had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Squad

Gerardo Natale signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gerardo Natale commits to Haladas for another 4 years.

Squad

Vitaliy Bolshakov 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 Haladas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Gabor Fiola was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Words at Haladas training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bence Gergényi 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 targets

Dinamo Moscow tell Haladas: Milan Majstorović is not for sale

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.

Match

Marton Botka the difference as Haladas beat Fehervar

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marton Botka. 2‑1 against Fehervar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Vitaliy Bolshakov

“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.

In brief