Marked for Andrei Burca
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Jul 2036
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Derek Mazou-Sacko had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market28 Jul 2036
Ilya Kirko has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Honved they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market28 Jul 2036
“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 The request is on a desk at Honved, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout28 Jul 2036
Djibril Shaqiri: 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.” Honved have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Jul 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Honved this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Jul 2036
Graduation day at Honved
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market28 Jul 2036
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Akos Szoboszlai is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match26 Jul 2036
Csákvár made Honved work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings28 Jul 2036
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 May 2036
Only the photograph left for Samuel Greško
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samuel Greško will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Honved the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 May 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Honved this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 May 2036
A row about effort at Honved
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Ihnatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 May 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Felix Benoit, and the manager let it.
Market26 May 2036
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Honved money.
Market26 May 2036
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Kevin Kállai’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Feb 2036
A falling-out at Honved
Stefan Stanojević and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Feb 2036
A row about effort at Honved
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boško Jemo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Feb 2036
Boško Jemo is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout25 Feb 2036
Runar Hauge 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.
The dugout25 Feb 2036
Samuel Greško 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 Honved, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market25 Feb 2036
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Derek Mazou-Sacko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market25 Feb 2036
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Honved could get for him.
Match25 Feb 2036
Honved have something to play for
Position 4 on 35 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Market25 Feb 2036
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Feb 2035
109 days out for Kevin Kállai after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Honved will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market19 Feb 2035
“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.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Tempers go at Honved
Luca Trombini 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 Feb 2035
Words at Honved training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robin Kelder 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.
Market19 Feb 2035
No place for Matěj Žitný in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Matěj Žitný has his answer from Honved; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout19 Feb 2035
Marko Mitrović has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Honved 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.
Market19 Feb 2035
Honved have let the market know Sándor Hidi M. can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout19 Feb 2035
The manager makes an example of Szabolcs Bese
“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.
Market19 Feb 2035
The name of Derek Mazou-Sacko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Honved say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jan 2035
A fracture rules Kevin Kállai out for 137 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Honved will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market22 Jan 2035
“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.
Market22 Jan 2035
Honved say no — this time
The offer from MTK Budapest for Milos Dimitrijevic 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.
Squad22 Jan 2035
Words exchanged at Honved
Harrison Dudziak 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.
Squad22 Jan 2035
Andrei Burca gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Andrei Burca has just signed for Honved, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom22 Jan 2035
Honved counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Honved now.
Squad22 Jan 2035
Baptiste Rolland 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 dugout22 Jan 2035
“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.
Market22 Jan 2035
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Osman Hadžikić has his answer from Honved; what he does with it is the next window’s story.