Marked for Robert Duris
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Dec 2026
Al-Shoulla will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Hazem were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Omar Al-Somah, 37, rolls back the years — 9.57
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.57 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Omar Al-Somah
19 goals and a season average of 7.37 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match12 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play Al-Hazem 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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; Al-Hazem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Nov 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Omar Al-Somah, 37, rolls back the years — 8.35
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.35 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Omar Al-Somah
16 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
213% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Hazem
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aboubacar Bah 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Robert Duris commits to Al-Hazem for another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
213% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Hazem
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Hazem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bonheur Mugisha 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match17 Oct 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.87 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Hazem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“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; Al-Hazem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad19 Oct 2026
14 goals and a season average of 7.30. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Afimico Pululu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
Experience through the door at Al-Hazem
Robert Duris arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Erik Skriniar breaks a bone — 87 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FK Senica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to MFK Skalica to sit and watch. I want to come back to FK Senica and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shean Garlito 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
5 new faces, and FK Senica are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 56. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Stefan 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Miroslav Pekarik 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Robert Duris and FK Senica agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Miroslav Pekarik 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Adam Rusnak is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at FK Senica has been clear about where Adam Rusnak stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match1 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Spartak Myjava defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market3 Aug 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stefan Hubocan signs something — a contract at FK Senica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Robert Duris's contract
12 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.