Marked for Peter Weiss
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for FK Senica
Position 10 and 20 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.
Loan watch17 May 2027
23 appearances away from home and 20 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad17 May 2027
Karol Blaško 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 May 2027
Eymard Bationo 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Peter Rusnak commits to FK Senica for another 3 years.
Market17 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Miroslav Skriniar signs something — a contract at FK Senica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout17 May 2027
Peter Weiss 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 May 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. David Bozenik may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout17 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kristian Valjent trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market3 May 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 FK Senica can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 May 2027
Brent Kruglov breaks a bone — 27 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at FK Senica
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at FK Senica is running low.
The dugout3 May 2027
This is not rotation. Kristian Hubocan has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at FK Senica is pretending otherwise.
Squad3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Norbert Strelec 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 dugout3 May 2027
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Miroslav Skriniar was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad3 May 2027
Jébril Moumen moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at FK Senica than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Apr 2027
Every point is an argument now for FK Senica
Position 10 and 20 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.
Market19 Apr 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.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
23 appearances at Botev Vratsa and the goals keep coming. FK Senica are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Kristian Hubocan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Eymard Bationo 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
The name of Miroslav Skriniar keeps appearing in other people's back pages. FK Senica say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
When it matters, Peter Weiss 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 terraces19 Apr 2027
The stands have heard the Karol Blaško talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. FK Senica would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Mar 2027
FK Senica are in real trouble now
Position 10, 20 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market22 Mar 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 FK Senica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
23 appearances at Botev Vratsa and the goals keep coming. FK Senica are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Miroslav Skriniar commits to FK Senica for another 5 years.
Squad22 Mar 2027
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Kristian Hubocan 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Norbert Strelec was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market22 Mar 2027
The name of Miroslav Skriniar keeps appearing in other people's back pages. FK Senica say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Peter Weiss 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
Uneasy
Match22 Feb 2027
FK Senica are in real trouble now
Position 10, 20 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market22 Feb 2027
David Bozenik 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 FK Senica can pretend not to have heard.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
The goals keep arriving from Mario Bonaventura’s exile
20 goals in 22 games at Botev Vratsa — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at FK Senica updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Karol Duda 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eymard Bationo 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Tom Lockyer 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 FK Senica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Miroslav Skriniar keeps appearing in other people's back pages. FK Senica say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
When it matters, Peter Weiss 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
FK Senica have let the market know Kristian Hubocan can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Jan 2027
FK Senica sink to position 10
20 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
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 FK Senica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
FK Senica had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Slavia Prague, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Loan watch25 Jan 2027
18 appearances away from home and 17 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Kristian Hubocan 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 targets25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Eymard Bationo 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Luigi Forciniti is 20, and FK Senica have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad25 Jan 2027
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation FK Senica are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Dec 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted FK Senica
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at FK Senica can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at FK Senica
Karol Blaško 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eymard Bationo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
13 appearances away from home and 9 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michal Hamsik, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
4 matches without a win for FK Senica
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around FK Senica are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at FK Senica
Kristian Hubocan 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Norbert Strelec 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Peter Weiss and FK Senica agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Michal Sestak: 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at FK Senica
Ivan Valjent 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Norbert Strelec 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Kristian Hubocan asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Kristian Benes
“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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Miroslav Skriniar’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Peter Weiss 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 Peter Weiss is on it.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
The goals keep arriving from Mario Bonaventura’s exile
5 goals in 8 games at Botev Vratsa — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at FK Senica updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Market16 Nov 2026
FK Senica have made Kristian Hubocan available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
5 matches without a win for FK Senica
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around FK Senica are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Oct 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Kristian Hubocan 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 terraces5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Norbert Strelec was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Karol Duda beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Peter Weiss commits to FK Senica for another 1 years.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 7.32. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.