Marked for Filip Kucka
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
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.
Match23 Dec 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation FK Senica did not have in the autumn.
Squad25 Dec 2028
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.
Match23 Dec 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Mario Bonaventura’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to FK Senica.
Squad25 Dec 2028
50 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Marked 8.00 — 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
David Hillebrand 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 dugout25 Dec 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Miroslav Lobotka kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lukas Gyomber, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Dec 2028
“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.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“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.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Filip Kucka beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Ivan Valjent 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.
Match16 Dec 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation FK Senica did not have in the autumn.
Match16 Dec 2028
FK Senica make home a hard place to visit
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Mario Bonaventura was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
David Hillebrand 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.
Match16 Dec 2028
A 1‑1 draw with MFK Skalica leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Nov 2028
“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.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Filip Kucka and FK Senica agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Ivan Valjent and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Karol Duda runs at them all day
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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
David Hillebrand 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 dugout13 Nov 2028
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.” Miroslav Lobotka chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Market13 Nov 2028
“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.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match4 Nov 2028
3‑0, and Mario Bonaventura took the headlines on an afternoon when everything FK Senica tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Match4 Nov 2028
The drought breaks for FK Senica
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Spartak Myjava were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Karol Blaško 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 terraces6 Nov 2028
The crowd has taken to Filip Kucka
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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Everybody at FK Senica saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Ninety minutes of Karol Duda at his very best
Marked 8.28. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at FK Senica.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Ninety minutes of Filip Kucka at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at FK Senica.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at FK Senica can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad6 Nov 2028
David Hillebrand 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
Market2 Oct 2028
“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 ratings2 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Match30 Sep 2028
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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Valjent and FK Senica agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match30 Sep 2028
Still nobody has beaten FK Senica
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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
25 shut-outs in 53 appearances. A keeper’s career is counted in games where nothing happened, and none of it happened by accident.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Hillebrand was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.51 on the card, and the FK Senica support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Sep 2028
“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.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 13 gone
That is the business done at FK Senica until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Karol Blaško 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Valjent was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kristian Hubocan, and the manager let it.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Aug 2028
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Kristian Valjent: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match23 Aug 2028
FK Senica bow out of the cup
Podbrezova go through and FK Senica go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Ivan Valjent and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Aug 2028
The medical room confirms 30 days on the sidelines for Martin Gyomber, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad28 Aug 2028
26 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
The kick that got away from Samuel Nemec
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Nobody on the pitch touched Filip Kucka
7.80, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. FK Senica had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Transfer targets28 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Aug 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.
Market21 Aug 2028
The bid was some way short and FK Senica did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market21 Aug 2028
Tomas Hubocan 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.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
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.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Ivan Valjent 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 terraces21 Aug 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Filip 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.
Match19 Aug 2028
Podbrezova made FK Senica work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Ivan Valjent 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 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to DAC Dunajska Streda: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
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 dugout17 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Denis Kubica
“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.
Market17 Jul 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Karol Blaško’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market17 Jul 2028
FK Senica have let the market know Tomas Hubocan can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad17 Jul 2028
David Hillebrand is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jul 2028
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.
Market10 Jul 2028
“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.
Market10 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Erik Suslov and FK Senica agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to DAC Dunajska Streda: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
Filip Kucka 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and FK Senica will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Jul 2028
Tomas Hubocan 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.
Market3 Jul 2028
The name of Tomas Hubocan has come up in conversations FK Senica were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Ivan Valjent and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Leicester City have kept their man, and FK Senica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Aston Villa 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.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Racing Santander: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Intake day at the FK Senica academy
9 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
Ivan Valjent 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.
Market3 Jul 2028
“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
Market12 Jun 2028
The unthinkable, invoiced: Kristian Benes sold
Slovan Bratislava arrived with $1.2M 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
“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.
Market12 Jun 2028
The bid was some way short and FK Senica did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The terraces12 Jun 2028
Kristian Benes has gone, the accounts have $1.2M 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Filip Kucka 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. David Hillebrand has just signed for FK Senica, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
Spartak Myjava will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Will Evans has pre-agreed a move to FK Senica, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartak Myjava have kept their man, and FK Senica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 May 2028
Ivan Valjent 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 dugout22 May 2028
Filip Kucka 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 May 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout1 May 2028
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.
Squad1 May 2028
Ivan Valjent 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.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Samuel Nemec
“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.
The dugout1 May 2028
Martin Bednár 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.
Squad1 May 2028
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at FK Senica has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market1 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Filip Kucka’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The terraces1 May 2028
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.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes Denis Kubica a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at FK Senica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 2028
“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.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Karol Duda commits to FK Senica for another 4 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
At 20 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Karol Blaško and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout6 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Feb 2028
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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
At 18 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
At 24 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Denis Mak commits to FK Senica for another 3 years.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“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.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Connor Cook, and the manager let it.
Market21 Feb 2028
The name of Mario Bonaventura keeps appearing in other people's back pages. FK Senica say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout21 Feb 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.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
FK Senica keep producing them
9 graduates from an academy now rated 11 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Samuel Nemec: 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martin Bednár, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luigi Forciniti and FK Senica agree another 4 years.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
DAC Dunajska Streda 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 dugout24 Jan 2028
Filip Kucka knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Filip Kucka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 Jan 2028
The name of Mario Bonaventura keeps appearing in other people's back pages. FK Senica say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout24 Jan 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
The FK Senica production line keeps running
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Match
Nothing left to play for but pride at FK Senica
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Squad
Samuel Nemec is training like a man with a point to make
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Jan 2028
“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.
Match10 Jan 2028
FK Senica finish in position 7
31 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Market10 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and MFK Michalovce waiting with a shirt. Nobody at FK Senica is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market10 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
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.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Gustavo Nogueira: 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.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
The deal with Zlate Moravce died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at FK Senica
Filip Kucka 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. FK Senica will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Ivan Valjent 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gustavo Nogueira and FK Senica agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
MSK Zilina 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.
Transfer targets3 Jan 2028
Zlate Moravce 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.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Marked 7.38. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Karol Blaško named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Karol Blaško is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Dec 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.
The dugout13 Dec 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.
Match12 Dec 2027
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.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
A defender's goal wins it for FK Senica — 7.30
1 for Jébril Moumen, marked 7.30, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad13 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.
Match12 Dec 2027
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Martin Bednár, and the manager let it.
Match12 Dec 2027
A 2‑2 draw with Slovan Bratislava leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Miroslav Lobotka was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the FK Senica dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Dec 2027
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.
Match4 Dec 2027
4 matches without a goal for FK Senica
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Ivan Valjent 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.
Match4 Dec 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Filip Kucka 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.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Miroslav Lobotka after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Karol Duda
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Karol Duda has come out of that comparison in the side, and FK Senica have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Dmitry Bakay 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
“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 Tom Lockyer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Nov 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.
The dugout15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Ivan Valjent 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Miroslav Weiss and FK Senica agree another 3 years.
Squad15 Nov 2027
FK Senica are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
FK Senica take on the side everybody is chasing
DAC Dunajska Streda arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Jan Bozenik
“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.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against DAC Dunajska Streda in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market15 Nov 2027
The Filip Kucka story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Filip Kucka signs something — a contract at FK Senica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Nov 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation FK Senica did not have in the autumn.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Ivan Valjent 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.
The terraces8 Nov 2027
He is 22 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.
Match6 Nov 2027
FK Senica make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Karol Blaško is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. FK Senica will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Jébril Moumen
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Jébril Moumen has come out of that comparison in the side, and FK Senica have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match30 Oct 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 12 matches without defeat is a foundation FK Senica did not have in the autumn.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Ivan Valjent and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Karol Duda beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Bakay
“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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“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 Tom Lockyer.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad1 Nov 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Match30 Oct 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. MSK Zilina will be the happier side with the point.
Looking ahead1 Nov 2027
Spartak Myjava next, and one man in the FK Senica dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Oct 2027
Whatever happens, FK Senica do not lose
11 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Kristian Benes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 7.29. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match23 Oct 2027
Point won or two lost for FK Senica?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Spartak Trnava? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead25 Oct 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against MSK Zilina in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market25 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ivan Valjent’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Match25 Oct 2027
Continental football is in reach for FK Senica
20 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Oct 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation FK Senica did not have in the autumn.
The dugout18 Oct 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Ivan Valjent 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Filip Kucka and FK Senica agree another 5 years.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
At 22 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.
Match18 Oct 2027
FK Senica at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 5, 19 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Marked 7.86 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, FK Senica had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match25 Sep 2027
Mario Bonaventura wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Mario Bonaventura found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and MFK Michalovce went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A brace, and Mario Bonaventura takes the afternoon — 8.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mario Bonaventura provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match25 Sep 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation FK Senica did not have in the autumn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“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.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Miroslav Lobotka could afford to be generous.
Squad27 Sep 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Looking ahead27 Sep 2027
Zlate Moravce next, and one man in the FK Senica dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces13 Sep 2027
Supporters organise against the FK Senica board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.79, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market13 Sep 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Spartak Myjava moved on, Kristian Hubocan reports back to FK Senica, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Ivan Valjent 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Samuel Nemec is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Match11 Sep 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 targets13 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. DAC Dunajska Streda have kept their man, and FK Senica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces13 Sep 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Filip 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mario Bonaventura. 2‑0 against Slovan Bratislava, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces19 Jul 2027
Supporters organise against the FK Senica board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market19 Jul 2027
FK Senica say no — this time
The offer from Spartak Myjava for Kristian Hubocan 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Kristian Benes 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
9 academy graduates step up at FK Senica
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Market19 Jul 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Kristian Benes has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at FK Senica.
Market19 Jul 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Robert Hubocan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market19 Jul 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Andrej Mazuch is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Norbert 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.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“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
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Boardroom
FK Senica turn down the training-ground plan
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The dugout
Milan Duda gets picked when it counts
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Squad
Filip Kucka wants to know why he earns less
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
Jan Gyomber 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lukas Gyomber and FK Senica agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at FK Senica
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Bonaventura was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
FK Senica asked and Zbrojovka Brno 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 Jul 2027
“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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the FK Senica academy
9 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Kristian Hubocan loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Kristian Hubocan's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces26 Apr 2027
The mood at FK Senica has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad26 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.
Squad26 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
FK Senica have made Kristian Hubocan available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market26 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Filip Kucka’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Word from the training ground: Samuel Nemec
The sharpest man in every session this week, by all accounts. Lines like this run the week before somebody’s run in the side begins.