The words a physio says slowly. 97 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at MTK Budapest, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 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.
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.
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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mihály Kata signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gábor Jurek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody writes a headline about a tutor. Nobody has to be told, either, what happens to a signing who spends two years being the man nobody can talk to at lunch.
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.
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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and István Bognár trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Squad10 May 2027
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.
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.
7 goals in 20 games at Kazincbarcika — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at MTK Budapest updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ilia Beriashvili trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Supporters organise against the MTK Budapest board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Joel Fameyeh and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 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.
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 Gábor Jurek is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ilia Beriashvili trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
“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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mihály Kata signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“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.
György Komáromi 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 János Szépe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to János Szépe, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting György Komáromi'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.
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.
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.
Stipe Radić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MTK Budapest. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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 Benedek Varju was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at MTK Budapest, another week without a signature from Marin Jurina.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marin Jurina trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
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.
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.
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. Daniel Sallai 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. Attila Nagy 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. Attila 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Laszlo Nagy is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
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.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kristóf Lépő is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Benedek Varju 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 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 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bohdan Liedniev signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Joel Fameyeh 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miljan Krpić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at MTK Budapest would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
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.
Squad1 Mar 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.
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 Kristóf Hinora is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miljan Krpić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Adrian Zeljković’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Mihály Kata and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at MTK Budapest training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benedek Varju 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 Patrik Demjén is on 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mihály Kata signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and MTK Budapest know it.
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.
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.
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 Joel Fameyeh is on it.
7 goals in 20 games at Kazincbarcika — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at MTK Budapest updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at MTK Budapest would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bohdan Liedniev signs something — a contract at MTK Budapest or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Karcag moved on, Kristóf Hinora reports back to MTK Budapest, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Róbert Polievka 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Ognjen Laušević is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MTK Budapest can pretend not to have heard.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” MTK Budapest may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at MTK Budapest until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
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.
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.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Fabio Abiuso has moved up it.
MTK Budapest asked and Budafoki MTE said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and János Szépe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Bekescsaba will make the call about Kristóf Hinora this week. MTK Budapest have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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 dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting György Komáromi'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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and MTK Budapest will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
In brief
The dugoutIstván Bognár knocks on the manager’s door
Joel Fameyeh 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.
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.
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.
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 Marin Jurina.
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. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.91 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
ETO Győr left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
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.
MTK Budapest asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MTK Budapest can pretend not to have heard.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. MTK Budapest will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Add another name to the list: Vasas have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Zalán Kerezsi. The answer from MTK Budapest has not changed — yet.
The deal with Carrarese is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout28 Dec 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than János Szépe
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad21 Dec 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.
Stipe Radić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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.
Joel Fameyeh 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 János Szépe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Bohdan Liedniev'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.
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 István Bognár.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Artúr Horváth
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.49 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Joel Fameyeh in the middle of it, and Puskas Akademia unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ognjen Laušević has come out of that comparison in the side, and MTK Budapest have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benedek Varju was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Dominik Dibusz to a room that had heard them before.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Squad23 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Dominik Dibusz after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
MTK Budapest take on the side everybody is chasing
Ferencvaros arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ujpest next, and one man in the MTK Budapest dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Róbert Polievka. 1‑0 against Diosgyor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mihály Kata, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
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.
“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.
Joel Fameyeh 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.
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.
17 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Squad26 Oct 2026
12 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Dominik Dibusz 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.
“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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and MTK Budapest know 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Patrik Demjén, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Benedek Varju 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
Patrik Demjén is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Dominik Dibusz after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Everybody at MTK Budapest saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal 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.
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.
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.
ETO Győr next, and one man in the MTK Budapest dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Zalán Kerezsi has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutArtúr Horváth knocks on the manager’s door
Two goals and a mark of 8.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ognjen Laušević did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Bohdan Liedniev 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 young player of the month award goes to a 20-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.
Marked 7.49 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
In brief
BoardroomWages swallow 98% of the MTK Budapest income
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Ognjen Laušević 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.
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.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
MTK Budapest take on the side everybody is chasing
Debrecen arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Ognjen Laušević, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.98
A mark of 7.98 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation MTK Budapest did not have in the autumn.
Match19 Sep 2026
After 5 games, MTK Budapest finally taste it again
The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Nyíregyháza; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad21 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zalán Kerezsi and MTK Budapest agree another 4 years.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Joel Fameyeh. 2‑1 against Paksi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
12 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.
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.
“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.
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.
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 Kristóf Hinora 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.
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.
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 accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Ádin Molnár was one of the reasons people came, and $1.3M does not replace that by itself.
The phone has started ringing about Miljan Krpić again, and this time the name on the line is Torpedo-BelAZ. MTK Budapest are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The fee is $1.4M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Puskas Akademia drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The chase for György Hursán ended with $670.0K changing hands and Bekescsaba out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Róbert Polievka 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Joel Fameyeh from Puskas Akademia for $1.4M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Miljan Krpić 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $500.6K — a club that wants Pál Helmich enough to be asked twice.
$440.0K 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.
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.
Karcag paid $73.0K 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Róbert Polievka. 1‑0 against Ujpest, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Benedek Varju 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 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.
10 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Miljan Krpić has just signed for MTK Budapest, and for once the answer mattered.
MTK Budapest have gone to Puskas Akademia 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.4M — a club that wants Joel Fameyeh enough to be asked twice.
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 asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gabor 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Peter Sallai 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ognjen Laušević has, at MTK Budapest, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ádám Zubor did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about MTK Budapest and Kazincbarcika in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.