Two goals and a mark of 9.52 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zoltan Gulacsi and Puskas Akademia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Puskas Akademia and Diosgyor in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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.
Zsolt Nagy 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.
Squad13 Oct 2031
Laros Duarte 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 easiest signature of my career.” Kevin Mondovics and Puskas Akademia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“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; Puskas Akademia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mikael Soisalo
0‑4 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.
“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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Patrick Iyinbor and Puskas Akademia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Dániel Lukács 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 Zsolt Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Viktor Lang after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Wojciech Golla is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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.
Dániel Lukács 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.
Squad29 Sep 2031
Zsolt Nagy 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 easiest signature of my career.” Antonello Vona and Puskas Akademia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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.
A 1‑1 draw with Honved leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout29 Sep 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Viktor Lang was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Puskas Akademia dressing room was either.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Ferencvaros.
Zsolt Nagy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Laros Duarte 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 Dániel Lukács is on it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.40 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zsolt Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Janos Gazdag and Puskas Akademia agree another 4 years.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Viktor Lang on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Puskas Akademia will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Dániel Lukács 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Zsolt Nagy 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 András Németh is on it.
“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 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 words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.02 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
Puskas Akademia close the window on a squad of their own making
28 in and 10 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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bence Ötvös was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2031
$2.4M settles it between the clubs for Aliou Thiaré
Ferencvaros have accepted the money. What Puskas Akademia do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.07 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Puskas Akademia can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Puskas Akademia 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 Zsolt Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ferencvaros is saying, and nobody at Puskas Akademia is enjoying the guessing.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puskas Akademia 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 8.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Puskas Akademia and Ujpest have settled on $1.2M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The offer went to Ferencvaros this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
6 goals in one match, Kevin Mondovics on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Puskas Akademia and Ujpest.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ádám Varga
Player ratingsNinety minutes of András Németh at his very best
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
448 appearances across 11 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.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Puskas Akademia has been clear about where Artem Favorov stands, which is more than many ever get.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ákos Perczel has just signed for Puskas Akademia, and for once the answer mattered.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Marton Gulacsi 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Istvan Szalai is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bence Bese 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.
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Puskas Akademia and Ferencvaros have settled on $2.7M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Zsolt Nagy 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.
$280.0K was the most the club would pay and Honved were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
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.
In brief
The dugoutDániel Lukács has become a man the manager trusts
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
$280.0K on the table at Honved. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Dániel Lukács 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.
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 best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Giacomo Iuliani arrives at Puskas Akademia with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Martin Kern and Puskas Akademia agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Dániel Lukács 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.
9 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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 Palkó Dárdai signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia 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. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Zsolt Nagy 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 words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A 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 Imre Antal Széles has written the date down.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Krisztián Necula may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puskas Akademia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets16 Jun 2031
$910.0K settles it between the clubs for Ronan Hale
Ferencvaros have accepted the money. What Puskas Akademia do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Roland Sági has just signed for Puskas Akademia, and for once the answer mattered.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. András Németh wants continental football; whether Puskas Akademia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Dániel Lukács 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 at Puskas Akademia 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 Laros Duarte signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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 Puskas Akademia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Puskas Akademia have done the hard part with Dinamo Bucharest, 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Laros Duarte 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 Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Palkó Dárdai signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Paulo Mesías arrives at Puskas Akademia with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia 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. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Antonello Vona has, at Puskas Akademia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zbrojovka Brno have kept their man, and Puskas Akademia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 András Németh is on it.
Something was said to Antonello Vona and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dániel Lukács signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Puskas Akademia, another week without a signature from Antonello Vona.
The words a physio says slowly. 50 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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. Puskas Akademia will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Puskas Akademia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 Mikael Soisalo.
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 Dániel Lukács is on it.
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Laros Duarte 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 Palkó Dárdai is on it.
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia 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.
Dániel Lukács 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.
Squad12 May 2031
Zsolt Nagy 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 Puskas Akademia 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 Palkó Dárdai signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puskas Akademia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zsolt Nagy 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 András Németh is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dániel Lukács signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Zsolt Nagy 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 Laros Duarte was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 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. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Dániel Lukács 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.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Zsolt Nagy 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 Palkó Dárdai is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Laros Duarte signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Dániel Lukács 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.
In brief
SquadZsolt Nagy falls out with a teammate over standards
The dugoutZsolt Nagy has become a man the manager trusts
99 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
393 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Puskas Akademia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zsolt Nagy and Puskas Akademia agree another 2 years.
Zsolt Nagy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Puskas Akademia, another week without a signature from Ádám Varga.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ádám Varga is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dániel Lukács signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
106 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Zsolt Nagy 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 easiest signature of my career.” Alpha Kubota-Sawaneh and Puskas Akademia agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Dániel Lukács is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Puskas Akademia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Puskas Akademia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
44 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Dániel Lukács
113 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Zsolt Nagy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Laros Duarte 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.
120 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Laros Duarte 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 at Puskas Akademia 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.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Zsolt Nagy 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. Laros Duarte 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dániel Lukács signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Puskas Akademia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Zsolt Nagy 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 Laros Duarte was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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.
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 Imre Antal Széles has written the date down.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Puskas Akademia scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Dániel Lukács 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 Zsolt Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.44 — 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Viktor Lang on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Puskas Akademia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Dániel Lukács 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.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Zsolt Nagy 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Puskas Akademia, another week without a signature from Máté Tuboly.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Palkó Dárdai signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Puskas Akademia would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Szabolcs Dibusz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Máté Tuboly has just signed for Puskas Akademia, and for once the answer mattered.
Zsolt Nagy 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. Laros Duarte 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Puskas Akademia are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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 Zsolt Nagy is on it.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dániel Lukács signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Puskas Akademia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mikael Soisalo and Puskas Akademia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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 club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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 Dániel Lukács is on it.
Dániel Lukács 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 Zsolt Nagy 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 Ádám Varga is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Laros Duarte signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Imre Antal Széles has written the date down.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Puskas Akademia would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Puskas Akademia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
44 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without 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 Puskas Akademia can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chase for Axel Kedvesi ended with $190.0K changing hands and Honved out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. András Németh 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.
Puskas Akademia have made the call to Diosgyor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Puskas Akademia have made the call to CFR Cluj. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Puskas Akademia have done the hard part with Honved, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Metalist is saying, and nobody at Puskas Akademia is enjoying the guessing.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Alpha Kubota-Sawaneh has, at Puskas Akademia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Honved have kept their man, and Puskas Akademia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Puskas Akademia have made the call to Zbrojovka Brno. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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. Puskas Akademia will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Puskas Akademia can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Puskas Akademia have done the hard part with Dynamo Kyiv, 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 Puskas Akademia 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 Zsolt Nagy 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. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Puskas Akademia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Puskas Akademia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. András Németh 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 Ádám Varga is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Laros Duarte signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia 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.
Dániel Lukács 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. Zsolt Nagy 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 makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Puskas Akademia will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Istvan Nagy commits to Puskas Akademia for another 4 years.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
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 0‑3 Viktor Lang left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutPalkó Dárdai has become a man the manager trusts
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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.
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 Mikael Soisalo.
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 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Viktor Lang after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
Looking aheadPuskas Akademia take on the side everybody is chasing
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Zsolt Nagy 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. András Németh 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.
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.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Viktor Lang to a room that had heard them before.
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 Dániel Lukács is on it.
In brief
SquadDefences have started doubling up on Palkó Dárdai
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Szabolcs Dibusz did not need any: 8.24, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Dániel Lukács 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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Zsolt Nagy 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.
Paksi will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Puskas Akademia were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.23 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Dániel Lukács 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. Zsolt Nagy 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.
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Paksi tried to reorganise, Puskas Akademia did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Zsolt Nagy 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.
31 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad18 Nov 2030
András Németh 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 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 Puskas Akademia 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.
Something was said to Tamás Kiss and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Puskas Akademia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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 goal that put Haladas ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Puskas Akademia equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Viktor Lang kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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 words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
A brace, and András Németh takes the afternoon — 9.07
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. András Németh provided it, and the 9.07 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Dániel Lukács 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 Zsolt Nagy 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: András Németh. 3‑1 against MTK Budapest, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Oct 2030
András Németh 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: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Peter Lang, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Viktor Lang to a room that had heard them before.
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 Palkó Dárdai is on it.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Diosgyor will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Puskas Akademia were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.42 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Dániel Lukács 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.
12 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Zsolt Nagy 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: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.76 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Dániel Lukács 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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Zsolt Nagy 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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 7.72 for the rest of it.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Palkó Dárdai and Puskas Akademia agree another 3 years.
Zsolt Nagy 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. András Németh 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.
Position 8, 14 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Boardroom91% of the income goes out in wages at Puskas Akademia
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
7 goals in one match, András Németh on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Puskas Akademia and Honved.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zsolt Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
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 want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Puskas Akademia heard it as anything else.
Dániel Lukács 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 Sep 2030
Zsolt Nagy 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simon Haloian and Puskas Akademia agree another 4 years.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Patrick Iyinbor's mistake
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.25 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
6 goals in one match, Dániel Lukács on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Puskas Akademia and Vasas.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. András Németh 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.
Puskas Akademia asked and Olimpija Ljubljana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
András Németh wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. András Németh found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Paksi went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Puskas Akademia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with PAOK 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zsolt Nagy and Puskas Akademia agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Bonifác Csonka has, at Puskas Akademia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
In brief
Player ratingsMartin Kern beats them one at a time
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is saying, and nobody at Puskas Akademia is enjoying the guessing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zsolt Nagy and Puskas Akademia agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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.
Puskas Akademia asked and Aris said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Paksi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Puskas Akademia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Zenit keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Puskas Akademia 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.
Puskas Akademia asked and Dinamo Zagreb said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
Palkó Dárdai was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.53. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Wojciech Golla 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. Kevin Mondovics is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Zsolt Nagy falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Puskas Akademia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roland Szolnoki will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Puskas Akademia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Teplice keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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. DAC Dunajska Streda have kept their man, and Puskas Akademia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puskas Akademia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Puskas Akademia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Puskas Akademia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dynamo Kyiv, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Zsolt Nagy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Quentin Maceiras and Puskas Akademia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Puskas Akademia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Puskas Akademia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Catania 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 clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: DAC Dunajska Streda keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Wojciech Golla 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.
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Puskas Akademia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Wojciech Golla 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. Kevin Mondovics is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Puskas Akademia asked and Aris said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to DAC Dunajska Streda: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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.
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.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Puskas Akademia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Puskas Akademia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zsolt Nagy 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Imre Antal Széles has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Puskas Akademia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
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 Palkó Dárdai is on it.
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Puskas Akademia have made the call to TSC. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Puskas Akademia 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. 60 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 Puskas Akademia can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Puskas Akademia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Puskas Akademia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Ferencvaros 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Roland Szolnoki 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.
Wojciech Golla 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. Giovanny Jesus de Pina has, at Puskas Akademia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puskas Akademia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Puskas Akademia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wojciech Golla 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. Catania have kept their man, and Puskas Akademia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Puskas Akademia have made the call to Olimpija Ljubljana. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A loan enquiry to Olimpija Ljubljana: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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 Zsolt Nagy is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puskas Akademia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Puskas Akademia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Puskas Akademia, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Puskas Akademia heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zsolt Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Puskas Akademia asked and Zbrojovka Brno said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 Palkó Dárdai is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ferencvaros have kept their man, and Puskas Akademia 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 Zsolt Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Puskas Akademia have made the call to RC Strasbourg. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Samuel Mayoue and Puskas Akademia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A loan enquiry to Zbrojovka Brno: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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 Dániel Lukács is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Botond Baráth will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Puskas Akademia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Botond Baráth 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.
Wojciech Golla 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 Zsolt Nagy 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 Zsolt Nagy is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Laros Duarte signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Zsolt Nagy
SquadThe training reports on Diego Antonini are not good
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 May 2030
Zsolt Nagy 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 Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Puskas Akademia could ask drops and the wages Roland Szolnoki can ask rise.
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.
Zsolt Nagy 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 Wojciech Golla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Urho Nissilä and Puskas Akademia agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Wojciech Golla 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. Zsolt Nagy 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 Dániel Lukács is on it.
A new partner, a signature and a photograph nobody will remember. It funds a fortnight of wages, which is more than most headlines on this page can say for themselves.
Position 5, 34 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Puskas Akademia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Puskas Akademia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Puskas Akademia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Wojciech Golla 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 Zsolt Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Puskas Akademia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 Zsolt Nagy is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puskas Akademia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zsolt Nagy 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. Martin Kern 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 Palkó Dárdai is on it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 140 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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 at Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Puskas Akademia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Martin Kern and Puskas Akademia agree another 3 years.
Wojciech Golla 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 Apr 2030
András Németh 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 Puskas Akademia 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. 154 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Kern 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 Puskas Akademia has been clear about where Martin Kern stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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.
5 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
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.
“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 Puskas Akademia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Dániel Lukács and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Zsolt Nagy 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 Mikael Soisalo is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Szabolcs Dibusz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Zsolt Nagy has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Puskas Akademia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Puskas Akademia 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 Laros Duarte was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Position 5, 34 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
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 Puskas Akademia that is a harder question to answer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luka Drobnjak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Puskas Akademia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Wojciech Golla 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ilia Beriashvili and Puskas Akademia agree another 3 years.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Zsolt Nagy 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 Puskas Akademia 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 Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Zsolt Nagy 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. Wojciech Golla 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Puskas Akademia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wojciech Golla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bence Ötvös trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Fenerbahce keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Wojciech Golla 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. Zsolt Nagy 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. Ferencvaros have kept their man, and Puskas Akademia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Puskas Akademia will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zsolt Nagy signs something — a contract at Puskas Akademia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Puskas Akademia close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 3 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.
Everything agreed with Ferencvaros, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Puskas Akademia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ferencvaros, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zsolt Nagy and Puskas Akademia agree another 2 years.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Andrea Marino has just signed for Puskas Akademia, and for once the answer mattered.
Dániel Lukács 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. Zsolt Nagy 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 clubs have shaken hands with Ferencvaros; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Puskas Akademia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Puskas Akademia have done the hard part with Ferencvaros, 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: OGC Nice keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Zsolt Nagy 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Volodymyr Shvets is living that version at Puskas Akademia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wojciech Golla 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Puskas Akademia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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.
Puskas Akademia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at NK Osijek, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Wojciech Golla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jan 2030
Zsolt Nagy 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.
Puskas Akademia asked and Cosenza said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dániel Lukács 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 Zsolt Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Puskas Akademia asked and Astra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Puskas Akademia, 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Quentin Maceiras and Puskas Akademia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wojciech Golla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Puskas Akademia have made the call to Paris Saint-Germain. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Puskas Akademia 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Zsolt Nagy 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Nobody at Puskas Akademia 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Puskas Akademia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Ferencvaros the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Puskas Akademia will enjoy reviewing.
Two goals and a mark of 9.53 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 Puskas Akademia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Zsolt Nagy 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 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 Puskas Akademia know it.
The match ball belongs to Szabolcs Dibusz, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
Szabolcs Dibusz, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 9.77
A mark of 9.77 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Puskas Akademia and Honved in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Wojciech Golla 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. Zsolt Nagy 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Viktor Lang could afford to be generous.
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.
Vasas will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Puskas Akademia were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Puskas Akademia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
A brace, and András Németh takes the afternoon — 9.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. András Németh provided it, and the 9.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zsolt Nagy 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill and Puskas Akademia agree another 2 years.
Ilia Beriashvili 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.
50 goals for the club, every one of them filed away in the memory of a supporter somewhere.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
Palkó Dárdai was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
1‑3 against Debrecen, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
A brace, and Palkó Dárdai takes the afternoon — 8.48
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Palkó Dárdai provided it, and the 8.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Zsolt Nagy 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 in one match, Palkó Dárdai on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Puskas Akademia and Paksi.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wojciech Golla 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.