Alex Szabó and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2028
João Victor 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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Karcag have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Soroksár the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Karcag will enjoy reviewing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karcag can pretend not to have heard.
3‑4 to Soroksár, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Karcag training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Victor 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.
Marked 8.22 — 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Karcag, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Jan 2028
João Victor 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.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Karcag know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
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.
Tamás Szekszárdi 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karcag can pretend not to have heard.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sven van Doorm provided it, and the 8.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Karcag asked and Suduva said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. João Victor 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Csanád Fehér 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Andras Lisztes on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Karcag can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Alex Szabó 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 accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Karcag now.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Karcag training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Victor 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.
“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 Karcag, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Victor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Position 14, 14 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
9 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karcag can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Karcag will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karcag have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
BVSC-Zugló left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Karcag training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Csanád Fehér 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.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Karcag lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
4 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.
Alex Szabó 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.
Karcag asked and Dinamo Zagreb said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
51 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Karcag lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
0‑3 against Mezőkövesd, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Alex Szabó 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 Maximilian Hofmann was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. GKS Tychy have kept their man, and Karcag go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Karcag lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 Karcag, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Zsolt Pap, marked 7.66, 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.
Maximilian Hofmann 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.
4 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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 words a physio says slowly. 65 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Karcag have done the hard part with Kecskeméti TE, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karcag this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Karcag training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Victor 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.
Karcag asked and Vllaznia Shkodër said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 90 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Karcag interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Andras Lisztes keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
The phone has started ringing about Zsolt Pap again, and this time the name on the line is Kozármisleny. Karcag are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad5 Jul 2027
João Victor 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kecskeméti TE have kept their man, and Karcag go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Botond Baráth 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.
4 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.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Karcag lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 16 and 21 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.
The offer from Honved for Áron Girsik 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karcag this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vllaznia Shkodër have kept their man, and Karcag go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Roland Paku 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.
Karcag have made the call to Kecskeméti TE. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Karcag have made the call to Hajduk Split. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
142 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Karcag lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Karcag, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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; Karcag are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad17 May 2027
Roland Paku 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.
“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 Karcag, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karcag, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zsolt Pap signs something — a contract at Karcag or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karcag have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karcag, and both men came out saying it was fine.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Karcag has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Up for the corner, and Botond Baráth delivers — 7.39
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Botond Baráth scored, was marked 7.39, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at ETO Győr is saying, and nobody at Karcag is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karcag this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Karcag have gone to BVSC-Zugló with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Karcag asked and MTK Budapest said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Alex Szabó 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 door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by David Botka to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Tibor Szabó's mistake
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Ognjen Milošević, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.61
A mark of 7.61 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Róbert Csáki 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Fehervar scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Karcag training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Máté Kovalovszki 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.