From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ádin Molnár and MTK Budapest agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Nikola Maraš and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marko Stanojević, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
János Szépe 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 János Szépe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market8 Feb 2027
The Mihály Kata talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MTK Budapest know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad8 Feb 2027
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 MTK Budapest would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Ádám Zubor gets picked when it counts
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 Ádám Zubor is on it.
Market8 Feb 2027
The market said no: István Bognár stays put
MTK Budapest opened the door and nobody walked through it. So István Bognár stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around MTK Budapest people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” MTK Budapest may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market1 Feb 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market1 Feb 2027
The deal that would have taken Ilia Beriashvili to Bekescsaba has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to MTK Budapest with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Window shuts: 3 in, 2 out at MTK Budapest
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Nikola Maraš 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Nino Kukovec
“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
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and MTK Budapest did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market25 Jan 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 MTK Budapest, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sigma Olomouc keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Nikola Maraš 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ádin Molnár, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
DAC Dunajska Streda 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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Marin Jurina 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
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bekescsaba waiting with a shirt. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ujpest keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Nikola Maraš 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 MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to István Bognár, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market18 Jan 2027
MTK Budapest have let the market know István Bognár can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer from Podbeskidzie for Vladyslav Ostrovskyi 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 36 days on the sidelines for Róbert Polievka, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Nikola Maraš and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
MTK Budapest asked and Lokomotiv Sofia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and János Szépe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marko Stanojević, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan move for John Dembe is in the works
MTK Budapest have made the call to Sigma Olomouc. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The formation has left Nino Kukovec behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. MTK Budapest will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Artúr Horváth gets picked when it counts
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 Artúr Horváth is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer from Honved for Ilia Beriashvili 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Nikola Maraš 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Zalán Kerezsi again, and this time the name on the line is Honved. MTK Budapest are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. István Bognár 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 targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Ujpest: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
DAC Dunajska Streda 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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kristóf Hinora, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Dec 2026
Full time on the season at MTK Budapest
Position 6 on 31 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market28 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Nikola Maraš 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Mihály Kata 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 terraces28 Dec 2026
The crowd has taken to Ádin Molnár
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over Vasas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Marin Jurina 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Nikola Maraš 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 MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Dec 2026
Paksi made MTK Budapest work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad21 Dec 2026
János Szépe 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 ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
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.” Zoltan Nagy kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Balázs Jádi, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Nobody at MTK Budapest 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
13 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
No place in the plan for Mihály Kata
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
67 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Nikola Maraš and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marko Stanojević, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Marked 7.25 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, MTK Budapest had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Something was said to Vladyslav Ostrovskyi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout14 Dec 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.” Zoltan Nagy chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 43. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nikola Maraš 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 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of István Bognár
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Vladyslav Ostrovskyi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Hunor Németh
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Hunor Németh has come out of that comparison in the side, and MTK Budapest have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Half-satisfied: Zoltan Nagy on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
János Szépe dropped after a run of poor form
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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Point won or two lost for MTK Budapest?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Haladas? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Patrik Demjén: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match25 Nov 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Kolen Onder obliged against Fehervar. 3‑3 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is MTK Budapest.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market30 Nov 2026
“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 MTK Budapest, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match28 Nov 2026
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Bekescsaba. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Nikola Maraš was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ádin Molnár 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
A 1‑0 win over Bekescsaba, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match21 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Nikola Maraš 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 MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Nov 2026
0‑2 to Ujpest, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Nov 2026
István Bognár 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Krisztián Hegyi will call it something else in private.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Derick Ogbu gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
No end in sight to MTK Budapest's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at MTK Budapest has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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 ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match14 Nov 2026
Diosgyor left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout16 Nov 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 Vladyslav Ostrovskyi is on it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match7 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for MTK Budapest
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around MTK Budapest are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Nikola Maraš 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 dugout9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
János Szépe 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 ratings9 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Róbert Polievka at his very best
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at MTK Budapest.
Match7 Nov 2026
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 88. Puskas Akademia had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match7 Nov 2026
It needed Róbert Polievka to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Puskas Akademia, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
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.” Zoltan Nagy chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Derick Ogbu: 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.” MTK Budapest have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Mihály Kata pops up at the right end — 7.68
7.68, 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Nikola Maraš was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Krisztián Hegyi
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Mihály Kata makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match31 Oct 2026
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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Half-satisfied: Zoltan Nagy on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
“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 MTK Budapest, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Nikola Maraš 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 MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihály Kata 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilia Beriashvili, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 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 Zoltan Nagy to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Something was said to Marin Jurina and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The form table has caught János Szépe
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Nikola Maraš and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. János Szépe 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 Oct 2026
MTK Budapest are still strangers to each other
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 7.56. 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Stipe Radić's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Nobody at MTK Budapest 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Up for the corner, and Mihály Kata delivers — 7.66
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mihály Kata scored, was marked 7.66, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Match10 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play MTK Budapest right now
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Nikola Maraš 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 terraces12 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Gábor Jurek 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Marton Lisztes 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tamas Gazdag is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match10 Oct 2026
Vasas made MTK Budapest work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad12 Oct 2026
István Bognár 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 7.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nikola Maraš 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Mihály Kata’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to MTK Budapest.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Krisztián Hegyi, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Artúr Horváth and MTK Budapest agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Krisztián Hegyi dropped after a run of poor form
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Kristóf Csányi named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kristóf Csányi is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Zoltan Nagy: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nikola Maraš 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 MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Debrecen made MTK Budapest work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad28 Sep 2026
János Szépe 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 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
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.94 on the card, and the MTK Budapest support went home talking about one name.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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.” Zoltan Nagy, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for MTK Budapest
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around MTK Budapest are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Nikola Maraš 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
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Sep 2026
MTK Budapest are still strangers to each other
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 7.19. 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Zoltan Nagy: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match19 Sep 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Haladas defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Zalán Kerezsi gets picked when it counts
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 Zalán Kerezsi is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Sep 2026
“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 MTK Budapest, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nikola Maraš 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Norbert Nikolic 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Marton Botka 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Krisztián Hegyi
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout14 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.” Zoltan Nagy chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
MTK Budapest close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 2 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
No thanks: Filip Mevlja rejects the move
MTK Budapest had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at NK Domzale, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market7 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Honved moved on, Imre Antal Széles reports back to MTK Budapest, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
MTK Budapest offered $530.0K; Ujpest 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nikola Maraš 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and János Szépe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marko Stanojević, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match29 Aug 2026
A 0‑1 win over Diosgyor, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match26 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Diosgyor, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Zalán Kerezsi had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$470.0K on the table at Ujpest. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Nikola Maraš 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 MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Both jobs done by Ádin Molnár — 6.52
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 6.52, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
He is 23 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.00, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$820.0K was the most the club would pay and Haladas were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Nikola Maraš and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Mihály Kata 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilia Beriashvili, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
11 new faces, and MTK Budapest 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.
The dugout24 Aug 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Zoltan Nagy to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for MTK Budapest
A 0‑4 beating by Ferencvaros was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad17 Aug 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$1.4M was the most the club would pay and Debrecen were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Nikola Maraš 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Honved have kept their man, and MTK Budapest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Business is business: Tamás Fadgyas goes
Honved paid $180.0K and MTK Budapest took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and János Szépe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to János Szépe, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and MTK Budapest know which stage they are at.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 54. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.74, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
MTK Budapest have gone to Debrecen 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mihály Kata 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kristóf Hinora commits to MTK Budapest for another 3 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Honved made MTK Budapest work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Adam Lisztes 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mihály Kata and MTK Budapest agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Adrian Zeljković 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Zalán Kerezsi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.61. 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match1 Aug 2026
Fehervar made MTK Budapest work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
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.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
He is 23 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.