5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gergő Gyurkits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Bence Lisztes after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gergő Gyurkits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Paksi asked and Atromitos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
11 shut-outs in 26 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Barnabás Simon has been having a lot of them.
Ákos Debreceni 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.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Matej Tadič, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.63
A mark of 7.63 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Paksi close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 4 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.
Gergő Gyurkits 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 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 player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Jason Kerr will call it something else in private.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jason Kerr has, at Paksi, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The deal with Radnicki Nis 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.
Gábor Vas 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 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. Budafoki MTE have kept their man, and Paksi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Paksi have done the hard part with Olimpia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Paksi had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo Zagreb, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Milán Győrfi and Paksi agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
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 Bence Lisztes to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
Loan watchBarnabás Simon’s loan is measured in nothing happening
“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 Paksi, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for József Windecker, marked 7.69, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Paksi had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Honved, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. János Galambos has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi 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 Dominik Kocsis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Paksi, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Paksi have done the hard part with Debrecen, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The shirt still fits. János Hegedűs is back at Paksi, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Barna Tóth was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Paksi, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Balázs Tóth 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Denys Tesliuk is living that version at Paksi, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Barna Tóth was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Budafoki MTE have kept their man, and Paksi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I watch every Paksi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Fehervar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Gergő Gyurkits 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Paksi will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dominik Kocsis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 shut-outs in 19 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Barnabás Simon has been having a lot of them.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Bence Lisztes chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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 dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting József Szalai'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 was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Barna Tóth 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.
Minute 87, against Karcag, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Barna Tóth 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.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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.
9 clean sheets from 17 appearances at Ajka. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Nobody at Paksi 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Matej Tadič scored in the 88th minute, Kozármisleny had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Paksi took the lot.
Gergő Gyurkits 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 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Noel Keresztes 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dominik Kocsis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Dominik Kocsis 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.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Barna Tóth 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 Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Half the programme played, position 9, 19 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Bence Lisztes chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.98 for the rest of it.
Puskas Akademia left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Barna Tóth 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.
Noel Keresztes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
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 Bence Lisztes to a room that had heard them before.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Paksi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Matej Tadič is on it.
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.
Puskas Akademia next, and one man in the Paksi 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. Paksi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
100 goals for the club, every one of them filed away in the memory of a supporter somewhere.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Barna Tóth 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Paksi, and 4 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Barna Tóth. 1‑0 against Kecskeméti TE, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Paksi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Matej Tadič, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.90
A mark of 7.90 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 19 combined actions and a mark of 7.68, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Barna Tóth 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.
Kevin Bánáti 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 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Kristóf Papp 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.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than József Windecker
“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 Paksi, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi 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 Dominik Kocsis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Bence Lisztes could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Dominik Kocsis
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Barna Tóth 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.
Marked 8.13 — 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.
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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Barna Tóth 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.
“I watch every Paksi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Fehervar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Something was said to Matej Tadič and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
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 Matej Tadič is on it.
In brief
The dugoutÁdám Kovácsik asks for a word with the manager
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.
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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Gergő Gyurkits 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 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Paksi told Márk Kosznovszky something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than József Windecker
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paksi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paksi can pretend not to have heard.
Marked 7.40 on 17 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
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 Paksi 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 Barna Tóth was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 15 actions, 7.00, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Barna Tóth was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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.
Mario Simuţ 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paksi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Gergő Gyurkits 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 had been thinking. Dominik Kocsis 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Budafoki MTE have kept their man, and Paksi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
0‑1 to Tiszakécske, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Sep 2027
11 new faces, and Paksi 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.” Bence Lisztes after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutZsolt Haraszti has become a man the manager trusts
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 19 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at Paksi 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.
Paksi had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo Zagreb, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Balázs Tóth 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paksi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A 2‑0 win over Szeged-Csanád GA, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
“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 Paksi, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Matej Tadič did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Paksi have done the hard part with ETO Győr, 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 Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Barna Tóth 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
12 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Soroksár were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paksi can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paksi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gergő Gyurkits. 3‑1 against Soroksár, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Paksi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
12 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paksi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Barna Tóth 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi 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 Paksi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dinamo Zagreb keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Balázs Tóth 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 had been thinking. Barna Tóth 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 words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paksi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
10 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.
Everything agreed with NK Maribor, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Gábor Vas 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.
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Paksi asked and Racing Genk 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 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paksi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Paksi people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paksi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Barna Tóth 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.
Noel Keresztes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paksi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paksi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Paksi, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Dinamo Zagreb 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lommel is saying, and nobody at Paksi is enjoying the guessing.
Balázs Tóth 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 Barna Tóth was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ferencvaros have kept their man, and Paksi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Paksi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 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 Paksi can pretend not to have heard.
Paksi had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ludogorets, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Gergő Gyurkits was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ferencvaros have kept their man, and Paksi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I watch every Paksi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ajka runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Paksi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The deal with Ludogorets 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.
The fee is $95.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Kozármisleny drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The offer went to Soroksár this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
24 appearances and 7 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Barna Tóth 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.
Noel Keresztes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Paksi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 126 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paksi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Kozármisleny, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Paksi offered $4.0K; Soroksár 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 had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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.
65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paksi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paksi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Balázs Tóth 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 offer went to Soroksár this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Paksi asked and Kecskeméti TE said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Paksi is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paksi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paksi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paksi can pretend not to have heard.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Paksi have paid $630.0K for Dominik Kocsis, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
$34.0K on the table at Karcag. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Dominik Kocsis was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $630.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Szeged-Csanád GA pay $210.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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 arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paksi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 148 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Paksi asked and Ujpest said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paksi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 12 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paksi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gergő Gyurkits and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Kevin Horváth 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.
Vladyslav Kulach arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
The dugout31 May 2027
Áron Alaxai 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.
In brief
The dugoutOlivér Tamás knocks on the manager’s door
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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Balázs Tóth 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 had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paksi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 May 2027
Bálint Rideg 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.
7 goals in 24 games at Fehervar — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Paksi updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Paksi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Paksi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Paksi that is a harder question to answer.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Paksi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 111 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bence Lenzsér trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ádám Kovácsik has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Paksi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
119 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paksi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paksi 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 Gergő Gyurkits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mario Simuţ and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I watch every Paksi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Mezőkövesd runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The captaincy has been taken off Gábor Vas. Paksi will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Áron Alaxai'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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
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 Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in 29 games at Mezőkövesd — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Paksi updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Gergő Gyurkits 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Bálint Rideg 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.
7 goals in 24 games at Fehervar — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Paksi updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Bálint Vécsei has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Paksi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Questions about Zoltán Pesti on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
In brief
SquadDániel Böde is training like a man with a point to make
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gergő Gyurkits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Paksi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Paksi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutBálint Rideg knocks on the manager’s door
Position 12 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milán Szekszárdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paksi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gergő Gyurkits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at Paksi saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 39 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.
“I watch every Paksi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Mezőkövesd runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Áron Alaxai 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Paksi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Paksi the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Balázs Tóth 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 had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Bálint Rideg'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 Paksi will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Paksi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Horváth 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milán Szekszárdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paksi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 18 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Áron Alaxai 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 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.
In brief
The dugoutBalázs Balogh knocks on the manager’s door
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Paksi has been clear about where Balázs Balogh stands, which is more than many ever get.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Paksi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Balázs Tóth 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 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Zagreb have kept their man, and Paksi 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 Noel László was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Paksi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Paksi that is a harder question to answer.
Bálint Vécsei has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paksi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zaglebie have kept their man, and Paksi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Kevin Horváth
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Kevin Horváth has come out of that comparison in the side, and Paksi have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Balázs Tóth trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutÁron Alaxai is still paying for one afternoon at Paksi
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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mezőkövesd keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Paksi close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 1 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.
The fee is $190.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Nyíregyháza drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Gergő Gyurkits was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. DAC Dunajska Streda have kept their man, and Paksi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Horváth 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paksi can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Paksi have done the hard part with Nyíregyháza, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Partizan keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Gergő Gyurkits 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Áron Alaxai 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 12 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gergő Gyurkits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Noel Keresztes was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“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 dugout18 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Bence Lisztes to a room that had heard them before.
Position 12 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paksi can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milán Szekszárdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paksi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Paksi asked and Zaglebie said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Everybody at Paksi saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 39 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paksi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Gergő Gyurkits 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Paksi has been clear about where Bálint Vécsei stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
Dániel Böde 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 dugout28 Dec 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 0‑1 Bence Lisztes left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Milán Szekszárdi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Paksi needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutZoltán Stieber asks for a word with the manager
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.
Alex Lacza 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 found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Paksi pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
7 goals in 18 games at Mezőkövesd — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Paksi updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Áron Alaxai'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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Balázs Wiesner
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paksi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paksi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ákos Kinyik 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.
10 combined actions and 7.12. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Marked 8.03 — 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.
It needed Gergő Gyurkits to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against MTK Budapest, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Bence Lisztes chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
SquadWords at Paksi training over how hard people work
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paksi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Paksi can tell you which week it ends in.
Dániel Böde 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.
The dugout7 Dec 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 0‑1 Bence Lisztes left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Bálint Rideg'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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paksi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Gergő Gyurkits 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 Kevin Horváth was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 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 0‑1 Bence Lisztes left the room before anybody could ask which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kristóf Papp trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paksi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
At 23 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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Áron Alaxai 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milán Szekszárdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paksi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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.
Noel Keresztes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ákos Kinyik’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Paksi needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutZoltán Pesti knocks on the manager’s door
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Zsolt Haraszti’s exile
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A 1‑0 win over Puskas Akademia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Dániel Böde 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Bence Lisztes on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Bálint Rideg'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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bence Lisztes after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Gábor Vas is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Áron Alaxai 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 squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is János Hahn’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Paksi needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gergő Gyurkits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ákos Kinyik 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.
Half the programme played, position 12, 7 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bence Lisztes after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Paksi told Erik Silye something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutÁron Alaxai is still paying for one afternoon at Paksi
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paksi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
10 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Diosgyor were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Kevin Horváth, 21, 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 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milán Szekszárdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paksi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
At 23 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.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Paksi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Gergő Gyurkits 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ilann Petrisot has, at Paksi, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Paksi is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
“I watch every Paksi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Olimpia Satu Mare runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Something was said to Kristóf Papp and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Bálint Rideg 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Diosgyor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Paksi can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gergő Gyurkits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Paksi can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Horváth 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 Zoltán Stieber, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Bence Lisztes to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Milán Szekszárdi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Paksi needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutZoltán Pesti asks for a word with the manager
Position 12 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Milán Szekszárdi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paksi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Paksi have let the market know József Windecker can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Bence Lisztes was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Paksi dressing room was either.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Áron Alaxai 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paksi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
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.
In brief
The dugoutÁkos Kinyik dropped after a run of poor form
The dugoutÁron Alaxai is still being punished for one mistake
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paksi can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Paksi people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Paksi 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 had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Paksi will try again when the window opens; Vasas may not be selling by then.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Soroksár go through and Paksi go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
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.
Kazincbarcika pay $180.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Paksi will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Paksi have done the hard part with Csákvár, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Szeged-Csanád GA have kept their man, and Paksi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Noel Keresztes and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Add another name to the list: Budafoki MTE have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Márk Gyetván. The answer from Paksi has not changed — yet.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ferencvaros keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Gergő Gyurkits 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 name of Milán Szekszárdi has come up in conversations Paksi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Horváth was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to PAOK: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Kristóf Papp'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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Noel Keresztes is living that version at Paksi, and it tends to show in the first month.
The offer from Budafoki MTE for Olivér Tamás was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $15.0K — a club that wants Botond Baráth enough to be asked twice.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Paksi have done the hard part with Kisvárda, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
1‑5 to Ferencvaros, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
443 appearances across 18 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Balázs Balogh delivers — 7.26
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Balázs Balogh scored, was marked 7.26, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
6 goals in one match, Balázs Balogh on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Paksi and Ferencvaros.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gergő Gyurkits 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.
Paksi asked and Panathinaikos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.