Marked for Ivan Nemec
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout12 Feb 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Milan Suslov 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Dominique Petit and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Giovanni Severino commits to FK Senica for another 3 years.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; FK Senica are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
When it matters, Matej Mak plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
Ivan Nemec 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.
Market12 Feb 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FK Senica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giovanni Severino trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Sep 2028
Karol Rusnak 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
FK Senica asked and Spartak Trnava said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dominique Petit was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market11 Sep 2028
“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 Zac Williams.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Matej Mak 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 Matej Mak is on it.
The dugout11 Sep 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.
Market11 Sep 2028
The Matej Mak talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FK Senica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Looking ahead11 Sep 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against MFK Skalica in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FK Senica is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market17 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Karol Rusnak 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Orestis Kalemi is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad17 Jul 2028
At 29 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Milan Suslov 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 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.
Market17 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Patrik Richter again, and this time the name on the line is MFK Michalovce. FK Senica are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to FCSB: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around FK Senica people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market5 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Slovan Bratislava have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Matej Mak. The answer from FK Senica has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FK Senica have done the hard part with Spartak Trnava, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at FK Senica
Karol Rusnak 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Suslov 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 targets5 Jun 2028
FK Senica asked and Slavia Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Jun 2028
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Kristian Suslov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Sparta Prague 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.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
Matej Mak has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at FK Senica 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
Steady
Squad29 May 2028
The season belongs to Matej Mak
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 FK Senica have had the benefit of it.
Market29 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samuel Hrosovsky will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FK Senica the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 May 2028
Karol 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Orestis Kalemi 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 dugout29 May 2028
Karol Rusnak 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 Karol Rusnak is on it.
Market29 May 2028
A loan that did nothing for Ivan Nemec
4 appearances and 1 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at FK Senica no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
Words exchanged at FK Senica
Karol Rusnak 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jozef Dolný and FK Senica agree another 2 years.
Loan watch8 May 2028
“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 4 appearances in 36 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad8 May 2028
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Orestis Kalemi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 May 2028
Matej Mak has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at FK Senica 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 dugout8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uesli Arapi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at FK Senica
Karol Rusnak 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Milan Suslov 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.
Loan watch10 Apr 2028
“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 4 appearances in 32 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
When it matters, Matej Mak plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Norbert Benes, and the manager let it.
Market10 Apr 2028
The Matej Mak story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matej Mak signs something — a contract at FK Senica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Michal Jeřábek has written the date down.
Market10 Apr 2028
The clock does Michal Jeřábek’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee FK Senica could ask drops and the wages Michal Jeřábek can ask rise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Norbert Benes has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and FK Senica will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at FK Senica
Karol Rusnak 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Suslov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch13 Mar 2028
“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 4 appearances in 28 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
When it matters, Matej Mak plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout13 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.
Market13 Mar 2028
The Matej Mak story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matej Mak signs something — a contract at FK Senica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Zac Williams 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 FK Senica have no good answer.
Market13 Mar 2028
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs FK Senica money.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Denis Bero
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Boardroom
The FK Senica board put their names to it
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Feb 2028
Robert Mazuch 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 targets14 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Omonoia have kept their man, and FK Senica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch14 Feb 2028
“I watch every FK Senica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at MFK Skalica runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Orestis Kalemi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Matej Mak 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 Matej Mak is on it.
The dugout14 Feb 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The Matej Mak story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matej Mak signs something — a contract at FK Senica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Norbert Benes has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and FK Senica will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market14 Feb 2028
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs FK Senica money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” FK Senica may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Suslov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 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.
Squad17 Jan 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch17 Jan 2028
“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 4 appearances in 20 say he has earned the hearing.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Slavia Prague 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.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Matej Mak has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at FK Senica 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
The Matej Mak story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matej Mak signs something — a contract at FK Senica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market17 Jan 2028
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs FK Senica money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Dec 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match18 Dec 2027
12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad20 Dec 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Marked 9.54 — 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.
Match18 Dec 2027
Three points for FK Senica, 3‑1 the final word against MFK Skalica in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Milan Suslov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces20 Dec 2027
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Loan watch20 Dec 2027
“I watch every FK Senica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at MFK Skalica runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Milan Lobotka on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match20 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑4 by DAC Dunajska Streda, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match17 Nov 2027
FK Senica bow out of the cup
MSK Zilina go through and FK Senica go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Nobody could get near Matej Mak
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Nov 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Jozef Dolný 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.
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
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.
Loan watch22 Nov 2027
“I did not go to MFK Skalica to sit and watch. I want to come back to FK Senica and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 12 matches say the rest.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Milan Lobotka to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match11 Oct 2027
First, on 24 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Klevi Qefalija and FK Senica agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Dominique Petit and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“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 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Klevi Qefalija was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
When it matters, Matej Mak plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Orestis Kalemi
“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.
Market11 Oct 2027
Matej Mak linked with a move away
The name of Matej Mak keeps appearing in other people's back pages. FK Senica say nothing, which says plenty.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Martin Bačík’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and FK Senica needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
Jan Hellebrand damages knee ligaments — 56 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 56 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
No sign of nerves from Ivan Nemec at 19 — 7.71
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ivan Nemec did not need any: 7.71, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Ludha 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 terraces27 Sep 2027
The crowd has taken to Ivan Nemec
At 19 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match25 Sep 2027
Late, late show earns MFK Skalica a point
Minute 90, against Podbrezova, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Peter Guinari 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.
Market27 Sep 2027
Adam Morong told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Adam Morong has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at MFK Skalica.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match21 Aug 2027
FK Senica through in the cup
A 3‑0 win over Podbrezova, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match21 Aug 2027
Robert Mazuch wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Robert Mazuch found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Podbrezova went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A brace, and Robert Mazuch takes the afternoon — 9.36
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Robert Mazuch provided it, and the 9.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market23 Aug 2027
“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.
Market23 Aug 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. FK Senica have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Ivan Nemec, 19, steals the show — 7.60
Marked 7.60 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match21 Aug 2027
Nobody wants to play FK Senica right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Samuel Hrosovsky: 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.” FK Senica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A goal and an assist for Matej Mak — 7.75
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.75 beside his name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Aug 2027
There were 9 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.
Match18 Aug 2027
MFK Ruzomberok ended it 1‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market23 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around MFK Skalica people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match21 Aug 2027
No end in sight to MFK Skalica's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at MFK Skalica has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with FK Senica, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad23 Aug 2027
David Matei 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Nagy 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 dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of David Matei
“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.
Match21 Aug 2027
Spartak Trnava left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Aug 2027
There were 14 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
FK Senica win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. DAC Dunajska Streda will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Slavia Prague, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Karol 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 Aug 2027
Still nobody has beaten FK Senica
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
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.
Match14 Aug 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Matej Mak’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to FK Senica.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
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.
Market16 Aug 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Michal Jeřábek has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at FK Senica.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Aug 2027
The unthinkable, invoiced: Robert Duris sold
MFK Ruzomberok arrived with $110.0K 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around FK Senica people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The terraces2 Aug 2027
Robert Duris has gone, the accounts have $110.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad2 Aug 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 FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
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.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.22 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Suslov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vaclav Barak and FK Senica agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market2 Aug 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
Jozef Dolný 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondrej Rusnak is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout10 May 2027
Matej Mak has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at FK Senica will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Milan Skriniar signs something — a contract at FK Senica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout10 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Hrosovsky trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad10 May 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.