Marked for Viktor Haragos
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Csákvár's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Csákvár has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Csákvár may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match29 Jul 2028
4 matches without a goal for Csákvár
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad31 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Csákvár
João Victor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
3 academy players handed senior numbers at Csákvár
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
Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Csákvár asked and Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market31 Jul 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nenad Kočović has his answer from Csákvár; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Viktor Haragos out for 54 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Csákvár will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market24 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Csákvár can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bekescsaba waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Csákvár is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Csákvár training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nyíregyháza have kept their man, and Csákvár go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Csákvár
Áron Doktorics and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Matheis Piskor
“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.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Csákvár have to sell first
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
Squad24 Jul 2028
“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 Csákvár will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Jul 2028
62 days out for Viktor Haragos after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Csákvár will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
No thanks: Kadir Gicić rejects the move
Csákvár had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at IMT, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Csákvár asked and Zeleznicar Pancevo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Márton Radics 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.
Market17 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Bendegúz Héninger again, and this time the name on the line is Bekescsaba. Csákvár are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
9 new faces, and Csákvár 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
Crisis
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Csákvár
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad10 Jul 2028
69 days out for Viktor Haragos after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Csákvár will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 Jul 2028
“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.
Market10 Jul 2028
Csákvár say no — this time
The offer from ZTE for Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
András Perczel has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Csákvár they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Csákvár
Márton Lorentz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Csákvár asked and Ferencvaros said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market10 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: Paksi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Danylo Sydorenko. The answer from Csákvár has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Viktor Haragos out for 76 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Csákvár will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Andras Dibusz has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The Csákvár board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market3 Jul 2028
“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.
Market3 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: ZTE have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Krisztián Keresztes. The answer from Csákvár has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Csákvár
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krisztián Keresztes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad3 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Csákvár this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Zeleznicar Pancevo 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.
In brief
-
Boardroom
Intake day at the Csákvár academy
-
The dugout
The manager's exit leaves João Victor exposed
-
Squad
João Victor moves up the pecking order
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Viktor Haragos out for 83 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Csákvár will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Jun 2028
“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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
No deal for Balázs Bese at that price
Csákvár offered $91.0K; MTK Budapest said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Csákvár
Áron Doktorics and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Paksi 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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Ujpest 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.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Nobody arrives at Csákvár until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Csákvár this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jun 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jun 2028
Chiqui hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Csákvár can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
The deal with Karcag 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.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
An offer of $91.0K for Balázs Bese
Csákvár have gone to MTK Budapest 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Csákvár this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Csákvár
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krisztián Keresztes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Too much change too quickly at Csákvár
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Market19 Jun 2028
Csákvár have made Márton Lorentz available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Márton Lorentz 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
Pressure builds in the Csákvár boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Viktor Haragos out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Csákvár will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Jun 2028
“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 Csákvár, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces12 Jun 2028
Csákvár sell a favourite for $830.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Luka Lazin was one of the reasons people came, and $830.0K does not replace that by itself.
Market12 Jun 2028
András Perczel has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Csákvár they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
The deal with Ferencvaros 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.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Csákvár
Márton Lorentz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
In brief
-
Squad
A row about effort at Csákvár
-
Squad
Home is on Chiqui's mind
-
Boardroom
102% of the income goes out in wages at Csákvár
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Viktor Haragos out for 106 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Csákvár will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Andras Dibusz has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market5 Jun 2028
Luka Lazin hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Csákvár can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 Jun 2028
Ferencvaros come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Csákvár did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The Csákvár board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A move Josh Kelly would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Josh Kelly is living that version at Csákvár, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market5 Jun 2028
Kazincbarcika are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Csákvár will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Csákvár training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 May 2028
A fracture rules Viktor Haragos out for 113 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Csákvár will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets29 May 2028
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Csákvár training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Squad29 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Csákvár this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Csaba Szatmári, and the manager let it.
Boardroom29 May 2028
Csákvár have to sell first
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
Market29 May 2028
The loan was meant to give him football. 0 games and 0 goals later he is back at Csákvár no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
The dugout29 May 2028
Thomas Cox 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 Csákvár, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 May 2028
Dániel Karacs back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Csákvár has worked with Dániel Karacs before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 May 2028
A fracture rules Viktor Haragos out for 121 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Csákvár will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Csákvár this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
A row about effort at Csákvár
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krisztián Keresztes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 May 2028
Thomas Cox knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thomas Cox trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Avram Lukić, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 May 2028
Dániel Karacs back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Csákvár has worked with Dániel Karacs before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Market22 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Krisztofer Szerető’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market22 May 2028
Csákvár have let the market know Krisztián Keresztes can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad22 May 2028
Avram Lukić wants out of the dugout
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Csákvár will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom15 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Csákvár
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Csákvár is running low.
Squad15 May 2028
A fracture rules Viktor Haragos out for 128 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Csákvár will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market15 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Csákvár can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 May 2028
Words exchanged at Csákvár
Michael Okeke 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Csákvár training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Boardroom15 May 2028
Wages swallow 115% of the Csákvár income
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.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danylo Sydorenko, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 May 2028
Dániel Karacs back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Csákvár has worked with Dániel Karacs before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad15 May 2028
A season on the outside for Luka Kljajić
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Csákvár has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 May 2028
A fracture rules Viktor Haragos out for 136 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Csákvár will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market8 May 2028
“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.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nenad Kočović and Csákvár agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
A falling-out at Csákvár
Thomas Cox and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Csákvár training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krisztián Keresztes 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 dugout8 May 2028
“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 dugout8 May 2028
Matheis Piskor loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Matheis Piskor's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout8 May 2028
Dániel Karacs back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Csákvár has worked with Dániel Karacs before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Sep 2027
8 matches without a win for Csákvár
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Csákvár are no longer polite ones.
Match25 Sep 2027
8 matches without a goal for Csákvár
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market27 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Csákvár
Márton Lorentz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Csákvár
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krisztián Keresztes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Nenad Kočović
7.27, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Csákvár had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
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.” Andras Dibusz chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Sep 2027
No end in sight to Csákvár's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Csákvár has to find a result from somewhere.
Match11 Sep 2027
Csákvár cannot find the net
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad13 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Csákvár this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Csákvár
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krisztián Keresztes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
Csákvár asked and Ferencvaros said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market13 Sep 2027
No place for Raúl Stefan in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Raúl Stefan has his answer from Csákvár; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
13 new faces, and Csákvár 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Csákvár will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
In brief
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
The dugout
Michael Okeke knocks on the manager's door
-
Player ratings
Nobody could get near Viktor Haragos
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Aug 2027
Csákvár out of the cup
MTK Budapest ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match28 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Csákvár
5 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.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Barnabás Kozics: 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.” Csákvár have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match28 Aug 2027
The goals have deserted Csákvár
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Csákvár can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Csákvár
Márton Lorentz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Csákvár asked and Olympiakos Nicosia 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Viktor Haragos, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Jul 2027
“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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
$520.0K on the table at Puskas Akademia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Viktor Haragos and Csákvár agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
$46.0K on the table at Ajka. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Csákvár
Márton Lorentz 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Csákvár training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krisztián Keresztes 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 Jul 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Zsolt Pap
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Csákvár will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Viktor Haragos
“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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
The numbers do not look good at Csákvár
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Andras Dibusz has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 Jun 2027
Aurél Farkas hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Csákvár can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Csákvár
Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Csákvár
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Márk Helembai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
A loan move for Zsolt Pap is in the works
Csákvár have made the call to Karcag. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Tiszakécske 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.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Csákvár counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Csákvár now.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Márton Lorentz 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 May 2027
“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 Csákvár, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Csákvár this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Krisztián Keresztes 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.
Squad31 May 2027
20 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout31 May 2027
Márk Helembai knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Márk Helembai trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout31 May 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Andras Dibusz has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market3 May 2027
Márk Helembai hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Csákvár can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 May 2027
Krisztián Keresztes 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 May 2027
A row about effort at Csákvár
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dénes Szakály was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 May 2027
53 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Raúl Stefan
“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 dugout3 May 2027
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Krisztián Keresztes is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Squad3 May 2027
“I want to play”: Raúl Stefan speaks
“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.
Market3 May 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Viktor Haragos may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Csákvár
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Csákvár is running low.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Zalán Vancsa 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Csákvár
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krisztián Keresztes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dénes Szakály, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Wages eat 119% of everything Csákvár earn
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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Kisvárda
Joel Fameyeh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Kisvárda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandar Jovičić 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
71 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Andrija Milić 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
Samuel Petráš has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kisvárda 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Bálint Oláh
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Csákvár's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Csákvár has to find a result from somewhere.
Match17 Oct 2026
Csákvár cannot find the net
9 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Csákvár
Zalán Vancsa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dénes Szakály 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Luka Kljajić beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
He is 21 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 7.16. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Csákvár's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Csákvár has to find a result from somewhere.
Match26 Sep 2026
Csákvár cannot find the net
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Zalán Vancsa in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Csákvár this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Luka Lazin 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Csákvár training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Márk Helembai 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andras Dibusz after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 matches without a win for Csákvár
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Csákvár are no longer polite ones.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 matches without a goal for Csákvár
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Csákvár
Zalán Vancsa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Csákvár
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nenad Kočović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Luka Lazin has had enough of the bench
“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 Csákvár will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 7.16 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Csákvár had the best player on the pitch.
Market21 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Csákvár, another week without a signature from Luka Kljajić.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Andras Dibusz was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Csákvár dressing room was either.