Two goals and a mark of 8.72 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
11 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and GKS Katowice were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Rafał Gikiewicz 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleks Ławniczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 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.” Bartosz Piatek kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
14 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.
11 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roman Yakuba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zaglebie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Krasnodar keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Zaglebie asked and Oxford United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleks Ławniczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Mihael Mlinarić will call it something else in private.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zaglebie have done the hard part with Krasnodar, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Zaglebie asked and Spartak Moscow 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 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.
Endika 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bartosz Piatek after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dynamo Kyiv keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Arkadiusz Milik 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.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zaglebie lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
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.
1 for Damian Michalski, marked 7.69, 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.
The deal with Pogoń Siedlce 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.
Arkadiusz Milik 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 words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marcel Reguła is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Cyprian Popielec has agreed terms with Pogoń Siedlce for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Rafał Gikiewicz 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zaglebie has been clear about where Damian Michalski stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
Rafał Gikiewicz 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 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Bartosz Piatek after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Widzew Łódź? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Dąbrowski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout21 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Bartosz Piatek to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Rafał Gikiewicz’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Zaglebie needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zaglebie know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Position 11, 25 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.
The dugout14 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Bartosz Piatek to a room that had heard them before.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levente Szabó signs something — a contract at Zaglebie or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Michał Nalepa
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Piast scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Josip Ćorluka is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Bartosz Piatek after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Levente Szabó has moved up it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Arkadiusz Milik was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Filip Szymczak’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zaglebie.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damian Dąbrowski 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Bartosz Piatek on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Adam Radwański’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Zaglebie needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Josip Ćorluka has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Zaglebie. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levente Szabó signs something — a contract at Zaglebie or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Henrique Arreiol trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Rafał Gikiewicz 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zaglebie and Gornik Zabrze in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Dąbrowski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jakub Kolan has his answer from Zaglebie; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Arkadiusz Milik 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 Damian Dąbrowski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michał Nalepa, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Bartosz Piatek to a room that had heard them before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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 dugout28 Sep 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Bartosz Piatek to a room that had heard them before.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Zaglebie have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Arka Gdynia next, and one man in the Zaglebie dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Dąbrowski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Adam Radwański has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Zaglebie.
The dugout21 Sep 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.” Bartosz Piatek chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Marcel Reguła, 19, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Zaglebie would like this to lead.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slovan Bratislava have kept their man, and Zaglebie go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
17 combined actions and 6.60. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: HNK Rijeka keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Rafał Gikiewicz 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.
Zaglebie asked and Mallorca said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Three points for Zaglebie, 1‑0 the final word against Wisła Płock in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damian Dąbrowski 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.
8 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.
Zaglebie have made the call to Real Madrid. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Bartosz Piatek on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The offer went to Málaga this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud 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 Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Zaglebie asked and ŁKS Łódź 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Robert Piszczek has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Marcin Kaminski has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Filip Jozwiak has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Robert Blaszczykowski 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The offer from Slask for Levente Szabó 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastian Kowalczyk and Zaglebie agree another 4 years.
Rafał Gikiewicz 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. Toronto FC have kept their man, and Zaglebie go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Zaglebie had all but put away. Korona will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Still no offer on the table, and Josip Ćorluka’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.