Miljan Krpić 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.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Mezőkövesd
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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Urho Nissilä 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Marton Kleinheisler 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Istvan Szalai 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 offer from ETO Győr for Ádám Pintér 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.
Miljan Krpić 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 Jul 2028
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dávid Bobál 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.
Mezőkövesd asked and Tigre said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Mezőkövesd have made the call to Dynamo Kyiv. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Alessandro Nenna has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mezőkövesd lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Mezőkövesd rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Szeged-Csanád GA had no answer to any of it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Marked 7.80. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: János Galambos. 3‑2 against Szeged-Csanád GA, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mátyás Gresó was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Position 3, 48 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mezőkövesd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Mezőkövesd did not have in the autumn.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Urho Nissilä 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.
Mezőkövesd asked and Antofagasta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mezőkövesd lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Miljan Krpić 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Valentin Liénard has just signed for Mezőkövesd, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Urho Nissilä 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. Kisvárda have kept their man, and Mezőkövesd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mezőkövesd lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mezőkövesd have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
3 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Urho Nissilä was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Mezőkövesd will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Mátyás Gresó was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Roman Pidkivka
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Mezőkövesd asked and Kisvárda 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. Antonio Blažanović 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.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
85 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mezőkövesd lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Urho Nissilä 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. MTK Budapest have kept their man, and Mezőkövesd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mezőkövesd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Tamas Gulacsi left the room before anybody could ask which.
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mezőkövesd lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from ZTE for Kosta Janjić 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.
Miljan Krpić 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Urho Nissilä 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. Cambuur have kept their man, and Mezőkövesd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
The phone has started ringing about Dániel Winter again, and this time the name on the line is BVSC-Zugló. Mezőkövesd are listening politely and promising nothing.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mezőkövesd lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mezőkövesd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Urho Nissilä 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Luca Pichin Wayttorn has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
118 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mezőkövesd lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 9.72 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Miljan Krpić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Urho Nissilä 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.
126 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mezőkövesd lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mezőkövesd can pretend not to have heard.
Miljan Krpić 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.
Marked 8.29 — 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.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Tamas Gulacsi, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mezőkövesd, and both men came out saying it was fine.
133 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mezőkövesd lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luca Pichin Wayttorn did not need any: 8.10, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Urho Nissilä was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Luca Pichin Wayttorn 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.
At 21 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.
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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
123% of the income goes out in wages at Mezőkövesd
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.
141 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mezőkövesd lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mezőkövesd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Urho Nissilä was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Kozármisleny scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Miljan Krpić 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Urho Nissilä 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 Zoltán Varjas is on it.
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Mezőkövesd would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Miljan Krpić 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Urho Nissilä 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Tamas Gulacsi after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
9 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mezőkövesd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Tamas Gulacsi could afford to be generous.
Something was said to Stefan Golubović and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Urho Nissilä 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mezőkövesd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mezőkövesd, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Mezőkövesd will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Nobody at Mezőkövesd 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kazincbarcika in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
They sit in position 3 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
7.89, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
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.
Tiago Benzi 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. OFK Beograd have kept their man, and Mezőkövesd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Mezőkövesd know which stage they are at.
Something was said to Tiago Benzi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mezőkövesd have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Miljan Krpić 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Urho Nissilä 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.
Mezőkövesd asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Mezőkövesd will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Sep 2027
9 new faces, and Mezőkövesd 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.
Nobody at Mezőkövesd 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ádám Pintér’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Mezőkövesd needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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 Mezőkövesd, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mezőkövesd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Mezőkövesd and Kozármisleny in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Szeged-Csanád GA have kept their man, and Mezőkövesd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
SquadWords at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mezőkövesd can pretend not to have heard.
The chase for Bálint Rehó ended with $180.0K changing hands and Budafoki MTE out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Miljan Krpić 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.
Bálint Rehó was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $180.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Plaza Colonia have kept their man, and Mezőkövesd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sándor Vajda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Mezőkövesd are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Miljan Krpić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miloje Jelenić 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. Central Espanol have kept their man, and Mezőkövesd go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mezőkövesd know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Mezőkövesd have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Luca Pichin Wayttorn arrives from All Boys with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Miljan Krpić 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 chase for Viktor Sejben ended with $89.0K changing hands and Ajka out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miloje Jelenić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Mezőkövesd is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Clermont Foot 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Mezőkövesd are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mezőkövesd, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Miljan Krpić 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.
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.
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mezőkövesd have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Mezőkövesd close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miloje Jelenić 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.
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
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.” Tamas Gulacsi kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Zsombor Gruber provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The offer from Vasas for Mátyás Gresó 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mezőkövesd can pretend not to have heard.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
7.93, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Miljan Krpić 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 Miloje Jelenić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 32. 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 phone has started ringing about Gergő Csatári again, and this time the name on the line is Paksi. Mezőkövesd are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sándor Vajda 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.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Tamas Gulacsi was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Mezőkövesd dressing room was either.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mezőkövesd have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Zsombor Gruber. 2‑0 against Kecskeméti TE, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sándor Vajda 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mezőkövesd may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Mezőkövesd training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miloje Jelenić 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Attila Lőrinczy. 2‑1 against Honved, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Nobody at Mezőkövesd is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Sándor Vajda 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.
In brief
Looking aheadMezőkövesd take on the side everybody is chasing
Miljan Krpić 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ádám Pintér. 1‑0 against Ajka, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mezőkövesd.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Sándor Vajda 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Tamas Gulacsi could afford to be generous.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mezőkövesd has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Up for the corner, and Miljan Krpić delivers — 7.99
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Miljan Krpić scored, was marked 7.99, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Miljan Krpić 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 Miloje Jelenić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Golubović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mezőkövesd has been clear about where Attila Lőrinczy stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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.” Tamas Gulacsi chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miloje Jelenić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mezőkövesd this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Szeged-Csanád GA had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.” Tamas Gulacsi chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Miloje Jelenić signs something — a contract at Mezőkövesd or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.