Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Norbert Benes is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom19 Jul 2032
10 academy players handed senior numbers at FK Senica
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomas Gyomber was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Michal Hošek 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Adam Hubocan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Samuel Duris has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Michal Bozenik has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lukas Sestak has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 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.
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.
10 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Andrej Hrosovsky 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.
Miroslav Pekarik 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Benfica have kept their man, and FK Senica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Petar Zajc’s negotiating for him
The dugoutJuraj Duris asks for a word with the manager
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miroslav Duris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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.
Miroslav Pekarik 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.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Tomas Gyomber 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.
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.
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FK Senica lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Miroslav Pekarik 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 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miroslav Duris was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Andrej Hrosovsky 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.
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.
Miroslav Pekarik 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomas Gyomber was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Yves Barbier is on it.
FK Senica and MFK Michalovce have settled on $38.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slovan Bratislava have kept their man, and FK Senica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 deal with Shakhtar is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miroslav Duris 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.
Michal Hošek 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Miroslav Pekarik signs something — a contract at FK Senica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
FK Senica had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at MFK Ruzomberok, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words at FK Senica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miroslav Duris 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Basel have kept their man, and FK Senica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Andrej Hrosovsky 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.
Add another name to the list: Spartak Myjava have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kristian Gyomber. The answer from FK Senica has not changed — yet.
FK Senica have made the call to Valencia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Miroslav Pekarik has come out of that comparison in the side, and FK Senica have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Albert Skriniar has his answer from FK Senica; what he does with it is the next window’s story.