Richard Ludha 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.
1‑3 to Slovan Bratislava, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Ondřej Deml had MFK Skalica level again within 4 minutes, and Slovan Bratislava never got to play with a lead at all.
Position 8, 11 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.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by David Mazuch to a room that had heard them before.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Philip Onyedika decided nobody was going anywhere. AS Trencin had no time left to answer.
“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 The request is on a desk at MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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, David Mazuch could afford to be generous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš 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 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Damián Bariš’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and MFK Skalica needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MFK Skalica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Slavomír Pagáč
Player ratingsA defender's afternoon for Lukáš Šimko
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Jan Knobloch
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Wellington Phoenix waiting with a shirt. Nobody at MFK Skalica is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Patrik Filippov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.01
A mark of 8.01 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Richard Ludha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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 used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Podbrezova in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The clubs have shaken hands with Slovan Bratislava; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Patrik Filippov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.97
A mark of 7.97 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” MFK Skalica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 9 gone
That is the business done at MFK Skalica 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.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Spartak Myjava were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Richard Ludha 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 Oliver Podhorín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
MFK Ruzomberok go through and MFK Skalica go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The clubs have shaken hands with Slovan Bratislava; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Samuel Suľa
BoardroomNobody left the MFK Skalica dressing room in a hurry
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Slovan Bratislava 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by David Mazuch to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutSamuel Suľa knocks on the manager's door
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The deal with Slovan Bratislava 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.
Richard Ludha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
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 David Mazuch to a room that had heard them before.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at MFK Skalica has been clear about where Branislav Sokol stands, which is more than many ever get.
The clubs have shaken hands with Slovan Bratislava; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Patrik Filippov did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Richard Ludha 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.
At 15 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Slavomír Pagáč and MFK Skalica agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Day 12 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Mazuch after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Zlate Moravce in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Patrik Benes clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
0‑5 against DAC Dunajska Streda, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Everything agreed with MFK Ruzomberok, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The offer from Central Coast Mariners for Martin Junas was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Patrik Filippov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Portuguesa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at MFK Skalica is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Everything agreed with Slovan Bratislava, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Richard Ludha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Damián Bariš 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Philip Onyedika is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The deal with MFK Michalovce 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.
Richard Ludha 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.
At 28 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Podbrezova have kept their man, and MFK Skalica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Patrik Benes has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Spartak Trnava for Jan Knobloch was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
At 23 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. MFK Ruzomberok have kept their man, and MFK Skalica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kasper Örtegren has just signed for MFK Skalica, and for once the answer mattered.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Tomas Lobotka has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means MFK Skalica have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The offer from MFK Ruzomberok for Viktor Šimić was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Damián Bariš 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 Patrik Filippov is on it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at MFK Skalica has been clear about where Martin Junas stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MFK Skalica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. MFK Skalica have done the hard part with MFK Ruzomberok, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer from ND Gorica for Martin Junas was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Richard Ludha 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Nonikashvili 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 Petr Pudhorocký is on it.
$760.0K settles it between the clubs for Filip Blažek
DAC Dunajska Streda have accepted the money. What MFK Skalica do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The name of Jan Knobloch has come up in conversations MFK Skalica were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Richard Ludha 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.” Olexandr Voytyuk and MFK Skalica agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damián Bariš 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Philip Onyedika signs something — a contract at MFK Skalica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. MFK Skalica would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
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 Olexandr Voytyuk has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutLukáš Leginus asks for a word with the manager
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at MFK Skalica can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Damián Bariš 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Slavomír Pagáč has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Ondřej Deml is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
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 Lukáš Leginus is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Richard Ludha signs something — a contract at MFK Skalica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Richard Ludha 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.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Nonikashvili 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 MFK Skalica 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.
“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 MFK Skalica, 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 MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš 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 Olexandr Voytyuk has written the date down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damián Bariš 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 Levan Nonikashvili is on 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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Richard Ludha and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Nonikashvili is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Suľa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at MFK Skalica will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Richard Ludha 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica 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 MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš 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 Petr Pudhorocký is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. MFK Skalica would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
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 MFK Skalica 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 Armando Casella and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Richard Ludha 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Damián Bariš 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.
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 Vsevolod Buradjiev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oliver Podhorín and MFK Skalica agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Richard Ludha 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 Petr Pudhorocký was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Patrik Filippov is on 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 MFK Skalica 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.
Nobody at MFK Skalica 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 MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Damián Bariš 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MFK Skalica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Richard Ludha are not good
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Richard Ludha 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 Petr Pudhorocký was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at MFK Skalica 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.
Richard Ludha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
1 appearances, 1 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument MFK Skalica will have this month.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica 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 Damián Bariš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at MFK Skalica 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 MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damián Bariš 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MFK Skalica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
Richard Ludha and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at MFK Skalica 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MFK Skalica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at MFK Skalica 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.
Richard Ludha 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 clock did what DAC Dunajska Streda would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at MFK Skalica, and 0 appearances in 23 say he has earned the hearing.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Slavomír Pagáč is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutPatrik Filippov has become a man the manager trusts
The deal with MFK Ruzomberok 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica 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 Oliver Podhorín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Kapaz have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Damian Čech. The answer from MFK Skalica has not changed — yet.
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 Petr Pudhorocký is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at MFK Skalica, another week without a signature from Vsevolod Buradjiev.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Philip Onyedika and MFK Skalica agree another 4 years.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petr Pudhorocký is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oliver Podhorín trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” MFK Skalica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
MFK Skalica and MFK Ruzomberok have settled on $770.0K. 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.
Richard Ludha 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 Petr Pudhorocký was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Slavomír Pagáč and MFK Skalica agree another 2 years.
Richard Ludha 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 Jan 2029
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš 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 young player of the month award goes to a 16-year-old at MFK Skalica who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
DAC Dunajska Streda have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Patrik Filippov is on it.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Petr Pudhorocký 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.
In brief
The dugoutViktor Šimić knocks on the manager's door
Position 9 on 22 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” MFK Skalica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Richard Ludha and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Richard Ludha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica 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 Petr Pudhorocký was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at MFK Skalica, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
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 Petr Pudhorocký is on 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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” MFK Skalica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Two goals and a mark of 8.06 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Richard Ludha 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Nonikashvili 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 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one MFK Skalica will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
Richard Ludha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about MFK Skalica and MSK Zilina in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
MSK Zilina left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš 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 here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
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 2‑4 Patrik Benes left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” MFK Skalica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Patrik Benes to a room that had heard them before.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Jan Knobloch
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Jan Knobloch has come out of that comparison in the side, and MFK Skalica have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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 MFK Skalica can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Suľa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Viktor Šimić
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Erik Daniel’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and MFK Skalica needing him to play as if none of it matters.
A brace, and Joshua Kayode takes the afternoon — 8.68
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Joshua Kayode provided it, and the 8.68 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
Richard Ludha 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: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damián Bariš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Philip Onyedika has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Joshua Kayode. 2‑0 against Zlate Moravce, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” MFK Skalica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Richard Ludha 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 Oliver Podhorín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Damián Bariš 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 watch every MFK Skalica game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Esteghlal runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
0‑3 against AS Trencin, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Richard Ludha 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Patrik Benes after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. MFK Skalica deserved better, and so did he.
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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Richard Ludha 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Nonikashvili 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.” Michal Gulíšek and MFK Skalica agree another 4 years.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Patrik Benes to a room that had heard them before.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián Bariš 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.
MFK Skalica asked and Dynamo Kyiv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Filip Duris has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrej Rusnak has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Robert Rusnak is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon MFK Skalica had all but put away. FK Senica will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oliver Podhorín and MFK Skalica agree another 2 years.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.87 beside his 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 MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. DAC Dunajska Streda have kept their man, and MFK Skalica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
MFK Skalica ran out of time with Spartak Trnava. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Karol Valjent was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Philip Onyedika has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Richard Ludha: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
1‑4 to MSK Zilina, 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.
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.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Richard Ludha 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Pandurii waiting with a shirt. Nobody at MFK Skalica is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” MFK Skalica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Richard Ludha 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.
At 28 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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 dugout21 Aug 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Damián Bariš's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. MFK Skalica have done the hard part with Zenit, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
At 27 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Levan Nonikashvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.25 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Richard Ludha has improved at 27, which nobody expected
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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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 whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Skalica 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 MFK Skalica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
$700.0K on the table at Spartak Trnava. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
MFK Skalica asked and PAOK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. MFK Skalica 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. 140 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at PAOK is saying, and nobody at MFK Skalica is enjoying the guessing.
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.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. MFK Skalica lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. MFK Skalica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
At 23 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and MFK Skalica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at MFK Skalica 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MFK Skalica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Martin Černek’s negotiating for him
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Spartak Trnava 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 offer from Septemvri for Martin Junas was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 27 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and MFK Skalica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MFK Skalica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MFK Skalica is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartak Trnava have kept their man, and MFK Skalica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Richard Ludha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The name of Martin Junas has come up in conversations MFK Skalica were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Milan Suslov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jakub Mazuch is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Levan Nonikashvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MFK Skalica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
MFK Skalica had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at PAOK, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Richard Ludha 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.
MFK Skalica asked and MSK Zilina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The 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.
MFK Skalica have made the call to Krasnodar. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
MFK Skalica asked and DAC Dunajska Streda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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 did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and MFK Skalica will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MFK Skalica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. MFK Skalica have done the hard part with Spartak Trnava, 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 MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Nonikashvili 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 MFK Skalica are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MFK Skalica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MFK Skalica is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. MFK Skalica will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Something was said to Vsevolod Buradjiev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MFK Skalica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Richard Ludha 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.
Spartak Myjava will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Libor Koníček has pre-agreed a move to MFK Skalica, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad29 May 2028
Martin Mášik 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MFK Skalica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MFK Skalica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Levan Nonikashvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Suľa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica 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 MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MFK Skalica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at MFK Skalica is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Richard Ludha 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 Oliver Podhorín was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. MFK Skalica lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
Richard Ludha 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Viktor Šimić 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; MFK Skalica are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mikkel Boye trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Mášik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at MFK Skalica 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at MFK Skalica. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MFK Skalica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Levan Nonikashvili 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 Martin Mášik 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 Martin Mášik is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joshua Kayode trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MFK Skalica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
88 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. MFK Skalica lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martin Černek will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around MFK Skalica the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Richard Ludha 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 Levan Nonikashvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. MFK Skalica lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Richard Ludha and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Nonikashvili 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Branislav Sokol has his answer from MFK Skalica; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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 here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Martin Mášik 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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 MFK Skalica, 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 MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 116 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 MFK Skalica 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 MFK Skalica they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Richard Ludha 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 Mar 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oliver Podhorín 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MFK Skalica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutMikkel Boye knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 123 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. MFK Skalica will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Damián Bariš commits to MFK Skalica for another 2 years.
Market6 Mar 2028
A year in the wrong dressing room for Martin Junas
He went out to keep goal every week and came back with 0 games and 0 of them shut out. Somebody at MFK Skalica argued for this move last summer; nobody is arguing for it now.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason MFK Skalica will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Joe Andrews 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Nonikashvili 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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. MFK Skalica will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Nobody at MFK Skalica 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 Patrik Filippov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica 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 Roman Potočný 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 Martin Mášik is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MFK Skalica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martin Černek will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around MFK Skalica the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Richard Ludha 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 Roman Potočný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. MFK Skalica know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joshua Kayode trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
MFK Skalica opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Joshua Kayode stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Joe Andrews’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” MFK Skalica may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
MFK Skalica close the window on a squad of their own making
2 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. MFK Skalica have done the hard part with CSKA Moscow, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The deal that would have taken Erik Riška to Podbrezova has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to MFK Skalica with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Richard Ludha and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slavia Prague have kept their man, and MFK Skalica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Nonikashvili 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.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Potočný is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oliver Podhorín trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at MFK Skalica will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at MFK Skalica has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around MFK Skalica people have started saying his name in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Potočný 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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. MFK Skalica will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Nobody at MFK Skalica 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.
In brief
The dugoutMikkel Boye knocks on the manager’s door
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Panathinaikos keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Richard Ludha 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. Michal Masopust has, at MFK Skalica, 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. Fakel have kept their man, and MFK Skalica go back to a list with one name crossed off 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.
Michal Masopust is 18, and MFK Skalica have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Olexandr Voytyuk and MFK Skalica agree another 2 years.
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Potočný 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. CSKA Moscow have kept their man, and MFK Skalica go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 MFK Skalica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Panathinaikos have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
A new face in his position, and Erik Daniel suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. MFK Skalica have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
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 Branislav Sokol has written the date down.
“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 MFK Skalica, and it is not being withdrawn.
Richard Ludha 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 Roman Potočný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Patrik Filippov has come out of that comparison in the side, and MFK Skalica have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Richard Ludha 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Martin 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 MFK Skalica 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 Damian Čech has written the date down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” MFK Skalica have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at MFK Skalica 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 Roman Potočný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Patrik Benes to a room that had heard them before.
A season average of 6.51 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. MFK Skalica know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Richard Ludha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Potočný 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oliver Podhorín trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Slovan Bratislava.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Richard Ludha and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at MFK Skalica, and 0 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Philip Onyedika has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Podbrezova had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Richard Ludha 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 Nov 2027
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Potočný is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Something was said to Damián Bariš and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Philip Onyedika's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Martin Nagy will call it something else in private.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Patrik Benes after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Podbrezova in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It finished 0-5. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mikkel Boye did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Spartak Myjava were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at MFK Skalica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Potočný 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.
Joe Andrews and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Mikkel Boye has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at MFK Skalica, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Spartak Myjava next, and one man in the MFK Skalica dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Richard Ludha signs something — a contract at MFK Skalica or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what MFK Skalica can pretend not to have heard.
Richard Ludha 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.
Spartak Trnava left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Roman Potočný 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 could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad8 Nov 2027
5 new faces, and MFK Skalica are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.