The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mihály Kata 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 István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Soma Szuhodovszki is on it.
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.
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.
Adrian Zeljković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
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.
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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
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 Florin Cicaldau is on it.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for MTK Budapest
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.
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 dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Patrik Demjén'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.
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.
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.
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.
Something was said to Ilia Beriashvili and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 Hunor Németh is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around MTK Budapest they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Adrian Zeljković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
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.
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 Soma Szuhodovszki is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MTK Budapest, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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.
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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
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.
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 Florin Cicaldau is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MTK Budapest will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andras Gazdag 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Krisztian Dibusz 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. Akos Dibusz 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MTK Budapest, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 György Komáromi is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around MTK Budapest they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; MTK Budapest are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MTK Budapest, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Mihály Kata 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 easiest signature of my career.” Marin Jurina and MTK Budapest agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
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.
Marked 7.76. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stipe Radić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MTK Budapest is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Utrecht have kept their man, and MTK Budapest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stipe Radić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at MTK Budapest has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MTK Budapest will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MTK Budapest, and both men came out saying it was fine.
30 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
MTK Budapest close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Lamine Kaba is living that version at MTK Budapest, and it tends to show in the first month.
Adrian Zeljković 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 Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
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.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Barnabás Németh and MTK Budapest agree another 3 years.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Róbert Polievka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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.
The fee is $640.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Vasas drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Adrian Zeljković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fakel have kept their man, and MTK Budapest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation MTK Budapest are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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.
$640.0K on the table at Vasas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vasas 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 MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slovan Bratislava have kept their man, and MTK Budapest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ilia Beriashvili has his answer from MTK Budapest; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. MTK Budapest have done the hard part with Vasas, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Miron Mucsányi has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means MTK Budapest have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Peter Gazdag 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. Zoltan Kleinheisler has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.71 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Ibrahima Dabo, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.20
A mark of 8.20 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Artúr Horváth 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.
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.
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.
3 groups that do not mix, and 2 players belonging to none of them. Nothing here can be fined or dropped, which is why it lasts longer than any row that can.
“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 did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Dominik Kleinheisler chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Something was said to Soma Szuhodovszki and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“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.
Mihály Kata 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 István Bognár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Dominik Kleinheisler after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Paksi in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for István Bognár
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Adrian Zeljković 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 Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Krisztián Hegyi has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The dugoutJános Szépe dropped after a run of poor form
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Florin Cicaldau, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 9.53
A mark of 9.53 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“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.
6 goals in one match, Florin Cicaldau on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of MTK Budapest and Fehervar.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
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.
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Róbert Polievka'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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Dominik Kleinheisler left the room before anybody could ask which.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Ilia Beriashvili.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 36. 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.
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.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Florin Cicaldau 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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Florin Cicaldau’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to MTK Budapest.
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.
Something was said to Florin Cicaldau and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Róbert Polievka has come out of that comparison in the side, and MTK Budapest have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Something was said to Kristóf Hinora and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Patrik Demjén
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Florin Cicaldau, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Róbert Polievka was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.51. 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.
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Dominik Kleinheisler to a room that had heard them before.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Mihály Kata 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
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.
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.
Something was said to Adrian Zeljković and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“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.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MTK Budapest lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
7.83, 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.
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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about MTK Budapest and Vasas in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Marked 8.09 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Half the programme played, position 6, 17 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
In brief
SquadMTK Budapest are still strangers to each other
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. MTK Budapest lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Paksi had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and MTK Budapest did not stop to explain themselves.
4 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.
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.
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.
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.
“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
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.
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.
1 for Mihály Kata, marked 7.95, 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.
Mihály Kata 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 18 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Successful dribbles: 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.
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.
The dugout21 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.” Dominik Kleinheisler, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Marin Jurina has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
In brief
SquadFlorin Cicaldau, 18, is the weekend’s best young player
Adrian Zeljković 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 Mihály Kata was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 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.
In brief
SquadThe division's best last weekend was a MTK Budapest man
The dugoutZalán Kerezsi has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutÁdin Molnár knocks on the manager's door
0‑3 against Ujpest, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
MTK Budapest close the window on a squad of their own making
16 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.
MTK Budapest offered $1.3M; Fehervar 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.
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 young player of the month award goes to a 18-year-old at MTK Budapest who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ibrahima Dabo did not need any: 7.98, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
MTK Budapest had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ajax, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
MTK Budapest offered $2.6M; Debrecen 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.
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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Levski have kept their man, and MTK Budapest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Ibrahima Dabo, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.92
A mark of 7.92 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Pandurii is saying, and nobody at MTK Budapest is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MTK Budapest this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ujpest have kept their man, and MTK Budapest go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
Successful dribbles: 37. 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 footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ibrahima Dabo has, at MTK Budapest, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: NK Domzale keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. David Nikolic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Szabolcs Nagy has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Norbert Fiola 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.
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.
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.
Still no offer on the table, and Patrik Demjén’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
7 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.