anagain

MOL Magyar Kupa Fourth Round Preview And so we finally come to our cup fourth round game with Fehervar. This is a tie from the round that originally took place in late October. As I have said before, I want us to defend our trophy. We have the squad to do so. We have also played Fehervar once and won 4-0. Thatw as before our recent struggles to score many but it could give the lads confidence. Fehervar are a good side that finished 4th last season but they have had a mixed first half of the season this time out. 'Vidi' still play and attacking game and look to specifically aim to get the ball to Pal Dardai on the left wing, or so my scouts are reporting. We can expect our opponents to be direct. MOL Magyar Kupa Fourth Round - MTK Budapest FC vs MOL Fehérvár FC MTK make five changes for this cup game. Bence Somodi gets a chance in goal and Nagy replaces Szalai in central defence, Szalai struggling a little for fitness. On the left of the back four, Zeke replaces Medgyes. In midfield the chosen partnership is Artur Horvath alongside the returning Kongolo. It's as per normal up front though. ~ 8 mins: Mate Krisztian blazes a good opportunity over the bar after MTK carve Fehervar wide open down the left. ~ 15 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Fehervar Mark Kovacsreti MTK take the lead through Kovacsreti although it seems to be a redbound off a Fehervar foot. As the ball is going in the goal will surely be given to the in form MTK man. He deserves it. That goal was all his own work. ~ 24 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-0 Fehervar Mate Kovacs Kongolo finds himself out wide and puts in a cross that lands on the head of Kovacs at the far post. ~ HT: MTK 2-0 Fehervar A very dominant first 45 from MTK and they lead 2-0 at the break. ~ 61 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-0 Fehervar Artur Horvath A screamer from Horvath! The midfielder picks the ball up on the left of the box and decides to have a pop. The ball whistles in to the top right of the goal. You won't see too many better goals than that. ~ 77 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-1 Fehervar Szabolcs Schon An easy tap in for Schon as he finds himself free of his marker in the middle of the box. He puts away Bese's cross to give Fehervar a chance. ~ FT: MTK 3-1 Fehervar A comfortable win for MTK and they go on to face Dorog. That was a very comfortable win. The only time we gave Fehervar a sniff was when they scored. The game was all but over by then. We march on to the Fifth Round. MTK Player of the Match: I shall give the award to Artur Horvath today. 85% pass accuracy, 5 key passes and a wonderful strike to pretty much seal the game. An outstanding performance from the young man. Artur's game time has been a little sparing this season, so to come in and perform so admirably is testament to how good he is. He's still only 20, is Artur. The lads will be off for a break now. Christmas with their families before we come back to a few friendlies and a transfer window. I want to speed through to the transfer window. I have some free time this week and hopefully, sciatica permitting, I can make some progress through this season.

I only have about £4k left in wages - had a few demands for wage boosts this season - but I would like a striker. We might have by far the greatest goal difference but my strikers are unreliable. Nemeth was scoring for fun for a while but he's really fallen off and barely gets above a 6.4. Same for Zsori. Vasvari is really just an impact sub. I have my target. He's foreign but speaks Hungarian. I will need a clear out of the old guys, but not till end of the season. Surely, with the money we earnt from Europe, we can get a wage boost for next season. £4m in the black. I'll have to do a finances review again at some point. Will I get any more players in? Doubtful. Hard enough to balance game time as it is. Players like Stieber and Bognar accepted lowered playtime but the young stars won't.

Monday 11th December 2023 Just spent a lovely day with my love wandering the Christmas market in Vörösmarty Tér. Enjoyed Hungarian honey cookies, mulled wine and had a lunch of stuffed cabbage rolls and paprika sausage. A good time was had. Pandora rather liked this stall...she has a sweet tooth.* I've seen some fan comments about us beating Haladas, some about how bad a season they're having. They must have been buzzing after that opening day win. Pandora says I shouldn't read fan comments. It could just as easily be myself being mocked online. I said it probably is from time to time. I don't read them. She tutted. It was nice to beat Haladas. That's what you get for pipping my late season under achievers. The second half shutdown did concern me though. It was good to see Zsori score...but it was rather set up on a plate. I do still want a striker. We travel to Ukraine this week. We're not doing an extended journey this time, but will travel Thursday by plane. With the situation tense the game will take place in western Ukraine.** I will note that we want to win the game. A win would see us finish in third place in our group and that would be nice. I think we have done ourselves proud to reach this stage though. *Shamelessly borrowed image from a Trip Advisor. They do look nice though. **I prefer to think that the Ukraine conflict was not so devastating in this alternate Football Manager reality. I don't think it's entirely clear how SI handle Ukrainian football in FM23. Teams in Eastern Ukraine seem to play elsewhere until late 2024 and then move back to their home cities. Not so great for Bournemouth, but I thought they did admirably to get a goal and had a go at City. City can make any defence look poor...so no need to feel bad for conceding four. Bournemouth's twitterati are, of course, fuming. I was more annoyed that Liverpool dropped Nunez when I took a chance and brought him into my FPL team. Arsenal next. Have a bad day, maybe? European Matchday 12 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - Preview Dnipro have had a pretty disappointing group stage in all honesty. They drew at our place and then beat Standard before things took a turn for the worse. They will be out to beat us because they'll want to finish third too. Artem Dovbyk is a threat, with 13 goals from 22 starts this season. His tough target man partner is Artem Hromov and he will make himself known amongst our defence with strength and aggression. Domingo Blanco is the man who will provide the creativity in Dnipro's team. European Matchday 12 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - SC Dnipro-1 vs MTK Budapest FC Gabor Szalai returns to the MTK side after suspension and he is partnered today by Zsombor Nagy. Fernando Medeiros is preferred in midfield and Daniel Zsori continues up front. Krisztian Nemeth is back on the bench. The striker scored for MTK II at the weekend but we had questions for Nagain regarding Nemeth. We asked if Krisztian's career was over at MTK. "Come on, you know that's a poor question. You media do like to create news. I think it's no new news that Krisztian's form has hit a downward slope but that doesn't mean he can't get his place back. I'd love him to." ~ KO: It's a cold day in Uzhhorod. Will the conditions suit the Ukrainians best? ~ 25 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Dnipro 1-0 MTK Artem Hromov MTK are caught out on the right of their defence and the cross finds the big target man, Hromov, who blasts the ball in to the back of the net. ~ 45 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Dnipro 1-1 MTK Fernando Medeiros We're level. It's lovely slick football from MTK. The cross comes in from the right, Szabo looks to be fouled but Fernando Medeiros, charging in, fires the ball home. It's a nice goal. ~ HT: Dnipro 1-1 MTK It's been a close first half. MTK have struggled with the physicality of Dnipro at times but the Ukrainians have picked up yellows and have had to calm it down a bit. MTK could capitalise on that with their creativity. ~ 51 mins: Dnipro escape what could have been a calamitous own goal. Yurchuk clears a long ball over the top but hits his own defender. The rebound loops wide, but not too far wide. Corner to MTK. ~ 90 mins: 🟥 RED CARD! Mario Zeke is off. He took one for the team, tackling the Dnipro man who was clear. It's a shame he was on a yellow. ~ 91 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Dnipro 1-2 MTK Balint Szabo Unbelievable Jeff! Ten man MTK take the lead. It was close to a winner for Dnipro, as they hit the post from a corner. The ball was cleared and Stieber turned back the years to drive in to the box before laying off a ball for Szabo to whack home. Don't you just love football? ~ 92 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Dnipro 2-2 MTK Marc Gual It's heartbreak for the ten men. Straight from the kick off, a direct ball and Gual finishes past the depserate Varga. ~ FT: Dnipro 2-2 MTK An admirable effort from MTK. I am happy with the point. Disappointed we couldn't hold on right at the end there, but satisfied that we did our best today against a very physical Dnipro team. We didn't manage to finish third but I am just proud to have gotten to the group stage. Nobody but the most ardent MTK fans had us down to get that far. MTK Player of the Match: I have to give this to Zoltan Stieber, even if he was only on the pitch a short while. Zoltan turned back the clock to run in to the area and set that goal up for Balint. Standard got a credible draw with a Milan side that were likely resting much of their first team. We finish bottom but as I said we did good. No real shocks in the other groups. Maybe Valencia having to go the play off route in Group G. Hungary's other remaining participant in Europe are out too. Ferencvaros managed an admirable six points and two draws with PSV, but West Ham were too strong. Fradi will enter the Conference League Play Off Round though. We have a bit longer of the league favourites being hampered by more games. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 16 Preview With the Budapest Boys European Tour over we can now concentrate fully on the league. Up next is a tough tie against Puskas Akademia in Felcsut, at the wonderfully modern Pancho Arena. Puskas Akademia are an attacking side that run at their opposition and display high levels of creativity in their game, led by Jakub Plsek. Fortune favours us with Plsek having been injured. It is touch and go whether the 14 goal man will be back for the weekend's game. I won't be too fussed about taking a draw. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 16 - Puskás Ferenc Labdarúgó Akadémia vs MTK Budapest FC It's all change again from Nagain. It seems he just can't settle on a striker as Nemeth comes back into the side. Poor and Medgyes both return at full back and Vidnyanszky partners Szalai in the centre. Nagain won't be sorry to not see Plsek in the Puskas squad. ~ 38 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Puskas 0-1 MTK Mark Kovacsreti Another goal in an incredible breakout season for the IF. This time the ball finds him on the left and he finishes sublimely with his left foot. MTK are good value for this lead. They've pretty much bottled Puskas Akademia up. ~ HT: Puskas 0-1 MTK MTK are in control here. Puskas have barely had a sniff for all the control the MTK midfield have put on this game. Lehoczky has been outstanding. ~ 77 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Puskas 1-1 MTK Artem Favorov It is an individual moment that puts Puskas Akademia level. Favorov receives the ball centrally, just outside the box, he then looks up and hits a turf ripper that creeps inside Varga's far post. ~ FT: Puskas 1-1 MTK It wasn't a corker but it's points shared. I should be annoyed that we had three points and lost them but I honestly would have been happy to have taken a point away from that match. We're doing superb for our first season back at this level. Let's not forget that. MTK Player of the Match: Roland Lehoczky was fantastic today and controlled Puskas Akademia throughout. He can't be blamed for the goal we conceded but Roland is causing me one dilemma. He is keeping Kongolo out of the team, although the DR Congan is just coming back from injury. I could have played Kongolo by now but how can I drop Roland on his current form? ZTE kicked off the weekend's games with a 2-1 win to put an end to Honved's recent run of four games unbeaten. On Saturday, Haladas lost again whilst Ujpest got a valuable point against Kisvarda. On to Sunday and Ferencvaros went back three points clear after they won at Debrecen and Puskas Akademia and MTK could only draw. One more game before we break up for the winter break. It's a cup game against Fehervar. It would be nice to defend our trophy, and with the break straight after we may as well go for the win.

OTP Bank Liga Matchday 15 Preview And so we welcome to our place the club sitting bottom of the league that also happen to be the team that pipped us to the Merkantil Bank Liga title last season. I won't lie and say beating them is not a matter of revenge. I definitely want to prove we are the better team. It is a matter of personal pride. We drew 1-1 when we met Haladas earlier this season but I'd like to recreate the 4-0 of last season. My scouting team have been quite blunt in saying that Haladas are a poor team compared to the quality that we possess. I won't be complacent though. Haladas will sit deep and break to the pacey Racz, who has four goals this season, and Misic. Kornel Kulcsar is quality behind Racz too. I was tempted to sign him myself in the summer. Injury Update Matyas Kovacs will miss around 5 weeks with a hamstring strain. Youth Intake Preview I could have done with some real quality coming through at full back. We do produce a lot of midfield talent. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 15 - MTK Budapest FC vs Szombathelyi Haladas A few changes for MTK for the visit of Haladas. Nagy starts on the left of central defence, with Szalai suspended for this one, and Zeke starts on the left. In midfield Szabolcs Mezei gets a start and Mate Kovacs replaces the injured Matyas Kovacs. Daniel Zsori is chosen to start up front, with Krisztian Nemeth not even on the bench. Guiseppe Lauri is rewarded for great form for MTK II with a place on the bench today. Speaking to Nagain, we mentioned there were a few changes today. "Yes, we have a long busy season and I like to reward hard work in training with chances to shine on the field. I suspect you are referring to Szabolcs [Mezei] starting in midfield and Zsori up front. Szabolcs asked if he could have more game time midweek and I suggested he must prove himself. He trained excellently afterwards so I'm giving him his chance. It's not unknown that Krisztian [Nemeth] has been struggling of late and I think he needs a rest from the limelight." ~ 21 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Haladas Daniel Zsori Zsori is presented with a chance he can't miss to get MTK up and running. A delightful defence splitting pass from Mezei finds Szabo and he puts a ball across the line to the unmarked Zsori. ~ 24 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-0 Haladas Mark Kovacsreti Another goal from the in form Kovacsreti and another free kick. Kovacsreti puts the ball over the wall from the edge of the box. ~ HT: MTK 2-0 Haladas A deserved lead for MTK going in to the break. Haladas have not really been in this game at all. ~ 81 mins: ❕ PENALTY! MTK have a late penalty to seal the game. The ball hit a Haladas hand in the box. MTK have been a bit poor in this half but this is their chance to make the points safe. VAR has a look at the decision but decides to stick with the referee. ~ 81 mins: ❌ PENALTY SAVED! Balint Szabo steps up but his penalty is a weak one and Mursits comfortably holds on to the ball. It's still 2-0. ~ 83 mins: ❕ PENALTY! It's another penalty whistled for for MTK. Vasvari is brought down chasing a long ball. VAR will check... And the decision is reversed. NO PENALTY! ~ FT: MTK 2-0 Haladas A nervy second half from MTK but they held on. That was a strange game. We huffed and puffed at the started, then we scored two lovely goals. In the second half we looked nervy and less interested than I would like us to have been. Ultimately, a win is a win and we continue our run. MTK Player of the Match: Mark Kovacsreti scored another wonderful free kick today and that earns his this award. Honved went five points clear of the bottom three with a good 3-0 victory over Ujpest on Friday. The OTP Bank Liga really tightened up on Saturday. MTK and Puskas both won to close the gap on a Ferencvaros team that could only draw at home to ZTE. Off to see if Bournemouth can get any sort of result against City... Anything is possible...right?

Wednesday 29th November 2023 We face the might AC Milan tomorrow night. Whilst we weren't able to replicate the offer Milan made to us and let them train at our state of the art training facilities - we don't have them - the Rossoneri did complete a training session at Hidegkuti Nandor. The Italian giants even put on an hours public training session for the locals, a quite admirable act for them. I took my chance to chat with Luis Enrique and to also watch his methods. I'm hoping for a good game tomorrow. Hopefully we can test the Rossoneri a little. As they have already qualified then perhaps we can surprise them. European Matchday 11 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - Preview I think my board decided to cut costs and have us go with the scouting report for the past game with MIlan. We know what we're up against. One of the best teams in Europe. Milan will pass the ball around with creativity in abundance. They may play a second string team but they will still be a challenge for us. European Matchday 11 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - MTK Budapest FC vs A.C. Milan A number of changes for MTK. With Janos Szepe injured and Gabor Szalai suspended the centre back pairing in Benedek Varju and Zsombor Nagy. Patrik Poor is preferred at right back and Szabolcs Mezei comes in to midfield, replacing Mark Kovacsreti in the team. Balint Szabo moves out wide right. Up front, Zoltan Vasvari gets a start against Milan after his heroics agains Debrecen. Rodney Kongolo is back on the bench today. ~ 7 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 0-1 Milan Lorenzo Colombo Milan open up the MTK defence like a knife through butter. It's Tonali with a sublime defence splitting ball, leaving Colombo with the free run in on goal. ~ 10 mins: Great save from Bence Varga to deny Pobega ~ 22 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 0-2 Milan Lorenzo Colombo A second for the Milan frontman. Theo Hernandez has Poor in knots down the right. The Frenchman gets to the byeline and cuts back for Colombo to finish with his head. MTK look a bit too overawed. ~ 26 mins: Colombo near has his hattrick but his effort hits the outside of the post. ~ 35 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 0-3 Milan Junior Messias Its another poor goal to concede from MTK. It is far too easy for Milan to waltz through the defence and Varga probably shopuld do better. They might be playing a great but if MTK don't buck their ideas up this could be any number of goals. ~ 43 mins: ⚽GOAL! MTK 0-4 Milan Junior Messias Yet another far too easy goal to concede after more neat play from Milan. MTK aren't this bad. ~ 46 mins: That's better from MTK. They test the keeper but Vasvari is called offside as he tries to turn home Mezei's saved shot. ~ HT: MTK 0-4 Milan MTK have not been good enough. They have the ability to play better than this. ~ FT: MTK 0-4 Milan A better second half from MTK but Milan didn't look interested and the game peetered out. That was a pretty woeful performance. The second half was better, but marginally. Yes, Milan are a much better side than we are, that is obvious to anyone. That doesn't mean players don't have to give anything. That is just what my team did in the first half. They were overawed by Milan and caved to them. Did I ever expect to win? Not really, but I do expect effort. MTK Player of the Match: This is a hard one. He only played 30 minutes but I saw effort from this player and so the nod goes to Gergo Szoke today. So we are officially out of the competition. The same is true for Dnipro after they suffered a defeat in Liege. With a game left in the group stages there are qualifiers still to be decided in just three groups. In Group D Luzern have to beat zero percenters Dinamo Tblisi to qualify. Viktoria Plzen would need to beat Sporting to qualify. In Group F I can only assume anyone can still qualify. Shkupi are in pole position and a draw will see them through if Vllaznia can't achieve the hard task of beating AZ. If HJK beat Shkupi then could they go through? I believe it comes down to records agains the opposition. HJK and Shkupi drew their other game so a win for HJK should see them through. Right? Group H is a similar story to F. Midtjylland are comfortably through and Bodo/Glimt will join them with a draw. Hearts have a worse record against the Norwegians, so even if they beat Midtjylland I don't think they could progress. Slask need an away win at Bodo to progress. There are still some deciders for first or second - with second having to enter an extra round - and I will update who progressed after we face Dnipro. Friday 1st December 2023 That was embarassing yesterday. I don't like that we just caved to the bigger side. We played scared and I don't want to see that from my sides. I want us to bounce back with a good win at Mezokovesd on Monday. I really am concerned about my strike options. Maybe I should not have chucked him in against Milan but Zoltan Vasvari looked way out of his depth. Nemeth came on and look a little hungry to impress but I firmly believe that we need a striker in January. November's Monthly Performance Review The board will see results against teams like Milan and Liege as expected. The fans are tougher on us and really didn't like losing to Ferencvaros. The fans really seem to like Roland Lehoczky too. Ultimately, it is the board I need to keep on my side. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 14 Preview Last time out against Mezokovesd we had a stunning 6-0 win and more of the same would be very welcome on Monday. We can expect our opponents to stick to their sensible and tradition 4-4-2. We will have to watch Dmytro Khliobas. The forward has been in reasonable form and scored twice at the start of November. Ultimately, Mezokovesd have failed to win in their last two games and I'd like to see us pile on the pressure. With a performance significantly better than against Milan we can do that. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 14 - Mezokovesd FC vs MTK Budapest FC Krisztian Nemeth returns to the starting lineup for MTK. Kovacsreti and Miknyoczki also return. In central defence Nagain gives a chance to Adam Vidnyanszky and he partners Szalai who returns after suspension in Europe. Marsel Ismajlgeci fills in at left back today, with Medgyes out with flu, and Lehoczky slots in to defensive midfield. ~ 44 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Mezokovesd 0-1 MTK Mark Kovacsreti It's been a game very heavily in favour of MTK and they finallly have the breakthrough. Some lovely decisive passing finds Ferenando Medeiros on the edge of the box. The Brazilian find Kovacsreti with a cute little ball and the IF finishes nicely in to the far side of the goal. ~ HT: Mezokovesd 0-1 MTK MTK had the best of the first half and hold a deserved 1-0 lead. Mezokovesd have had chances and they've put a foot in and been aggressive against MTK. They just need to be more clinical as well as find a better final ball. More of the same with finishing for MTK. ~ 50 mins: Nemeth misses an easy chance for MTK, hitting the lost with just the keeper to beat. His blushes are spared as he's flagged offside. ~ 84 mins: ⚽GOAL! Mezokovesd 0-2 MTK Mark Kovacsreti A second for Kovacsreti and a lovely finish following a perfect lofted ball from sub Horvath. ~ FT: Mezokovesd 0-2 MTK A good win for the Budapestians, and two nice goals. The second goal is something fans will enjoy on the highlights. A good win today and also a good performance that satisfied me after the debacle against Milan. The only thing that did concern me was that we struggled to hit top gear in the second half. It took a bit of a wake up call from me to get the lads back firing. Conversely, it made me happy that as soon as I asked questions the lads answered with a goal. And what a goal it was. The creativity that Horvath showed to loft the ball in to the path of Kovacsreti was very memorable. Not that the decisive finish from Mark wasn't, of course. MTK Player of the Match: I can only give another award to Mark Kovacsreti. Mark is up to three such awards, tied with Szabo and Mate Kovacs. Mark is also up to seven goals now. The weekend kicked off on Friday evening with a six-pointer between Ujpest and Vasas that ended in stalemate. It would find Vasas in the bottom three by the end of the weekend. Saturday saw disaster for leaders Puskas Akademia as the sending off of Patrizio Stronati didn't help the team avoid a loss to ZTE. Elsewhere, Honved's win at Haladas saw them jump Vasas and Kisvarda had a great away win at Debrecen. Sunday's only game was a win for Ferencvaros that sent Fradi top of the league. The defeat for Fehervar saw a four point gap develop between ZTE, in fifth, and Fehervar in sixth. Of course, Monday then saw us move second with a good win. No midweek game for us this week. We face Haladas at home Saturday before we travel to Ukraine midweek and face Puskas Akademia at the weekend. Three days after that it's the last game of 2023 when we welcome Fehervar. Then a nice long winter break until January 27th. The transfer window opens January 15th. Later than much of Europe. I have my eye on a striker but will have to be sure we don't get beaten to the deal by other clubs.

About time I caught up. Congrats on winning the Euros. Love your presentation style. A lot of effort put in to this.

I'm tentatively confident. I wasn't at 60 mins in that last game though. 😁 My goal is at least the last European place. Keep the money coming in. Only played them once but I think Ferencvaros and Puskas are a little ahead. Wish I could find more play time more reliably often. I am enjoying this save.

OTP Bank Liga Matchday 13 Preview Back to the simpler matters of football, and the welcome of 8th placed Debrecen. Loki may be five places below us but they are only three points below us, it is that close in the OTP Bank Liga. Debrecen have only ever been relegated once - they came straight back up - and have won Hungary's top league seven times. That relegation happened as recently as 2020 though, and Debrecen have not been the same side since. We beat Debrecen 5-1 back in September, before we started to struggle to find the net. We also beat them 3-0 last season, on route to our cup triumph. I won't underestimate any team though, even if we do have an 8-1 advantage over them so far. Debrecen have a very mutlinational team and a very experienced team, calling on the vast experience of 36 year old 108 time capped Balsz Dzsudzsak in midfield. Top scoring accolades are held jointly by Peter Barath and Macedonian international Dorian Babunski, but they both have just four goals. It seems to be endemic to many teams in this league that goals are hard to come by. In fact, Debrecen have scored just 13 this season. Debrecen will rely on the height and physicality of Babunski and he will drop deep to link up with a creative midfield. They can be resolute in defence though and, though I say this a lot, we have to be clinical. Anyone else think we may have a tight game? We welcome Milan next week. Do I rotate heavily? Shut up shop and get a draw? To be fair, my best defenders are often the ones who tired fastest. November International Break, Part 2 Artur Horvath had a great game as Hungary U21s beat Bosnia U21s 3-1. Adam Merenyi got an assist in the game. Hungary U19s beat Czech Republic 1-0 with Daniel Toth the best performer from amongst our ranks. Botond Radnoti got his first game as Hungary U18 drew 2-2 with Bulgaria. Botond also had a good game in this fixture. Late November Offerings The club are just happy to stay in the division... I like the wage offer but can't we have some more transfer funds and wages, please, Mr Chairman? Let's have a wage a bit closer to what my players earn...and a bonus should we get to Europe? Secured. I can almost afford Pandora now. I will have to hope for more money to spend at a later date. We are pretty financially secure. I asked for a quick idea of the finances when I met Mr Chairman. November International Break, Part 3 Krisztian Necula had a great game in a 2-1 win for Hungary U19s over Serbia. A loss for Herczeg and Radnoti over Sweden in the European U19 Nations League style competition. Relegation to Preliminary B for the enxt round of matches in March for our national U19s. I have no sure idea how that competition really works...don't even know if it's real or made for the game. Anyone But... Such a key man... OTP Bank Liga Matchday 13 - MTK Budapest FC vs Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club There is just no pressure here... Bence Varga returns to the MTK squad today and Benedek Varju replaces the injured Szepe. Sinan Medgyes is the chosen man at left back and he will work with Matyas Kovacs on that side of the park. On the right side, Mark Kovacsreti is the man chosen to try and boost MTK's recent goalscoring record. We had a question to ask Nagain about his inclusion of Benedek Varju, just his second appearance of the season. Is he included to please the fans that have been calling for him to play? "Cheeky question", Nagain chuckled. "Benedek has done well in training and in friendlies. With Janos [Szepe] out there is a right side of central defence position to fill. This is Benedek's chance." ~ 6 mins: Varju, looking to impress, misses a headed and Debrecen are through on goal. The defender gets back to put in the block though. ~ 6 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 0-1 Debrecen Youssoupha Ndiaye But MTK can't deal with the resulting corner and Ndiaye is there to slot home an easy finish. Terrible start from MTK. ~ 21 mins: Nemeth is free on goal after a sublime pass from Szabo but Megyeri makes a great save. ~ HT: MTK 0-1 Debrecen It has been all MTK since the goal but they just can't put the ball in the net. There have been some heroic blocks from Debrecen though. ~ 72 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-1 Debrecen Zoltan Vasvari The youngster shows Nemeth how to score. Vasvari hasn't been on the park long when he collects Kovacs' through ball and sees his shot dribble over the line. He might consider himself a little lucky but MTK needed that. ~ 75 mins: ❕ PENALTY! Ndiaye brings down Kovacs and the referee points to the spot after a moment's deliberation. VAR checks and...a penalty it is. ~ 76 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-1 Debrecen Adam Miknyoczki Everyone looks on stunned as Adam Miknyoczki takes the ball and steps up to the spot. Great penalty and the turnaround complete for MTK. The right back's first goal of the season too. ~ 85 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-1 Debrecen Zoltan Vasvari The youngster does it again. A quick turnover and MTK break. Kovacsreti turns wonderfully with the ball and lays it off to Vasvari who can't fail to miss. ~ FT: MTK 3-1 Debrecen An incredible turnaround from MTK in the second half. I don't think we're the only media connecting the fact that it was Vasvari coming on that changed that game. So that's 11-2 against Debrecen now. There was a point I thought we'd lose. We were not looking good at the 68th minute, being in a spell of giving the ball away and not looking at all threatening. Nemeth was woeful and I made the decision to give Vasvari a go. What an entrance. He did the same last season, but can he keep that run going this year? MTK Player of the Match: Who else? Zoltan Vasvari changed that game. What a performance from the 19 year old. The weekend started great for Haladas in the OTP Bank Liga. The newcomers beat ZTE to claim their second win and move temporarily off the bottom of the table. Saturday saw Ferencvaros go top with a narrow 1-0 win at Kisvarda, Vukasin Jovanovic with a very late goal. Ujpest upset Haladas by also winning, home to Fehervar. Honved won too, and Haladas are still adrift at the bottom. Sunday saw the final match of the weekend and Puskas Akademia beat Mezokovesd to resecure top spot. Milan Thursday and away to Mezokovesd next Monday. Another two game week the week after that. If we don't beat Milan we're out of Europe. It's been a good journey though...

Tuesday 14th November 2023 And so the preparations begin. As with my trip to Milan I have left instructions with second team manager Igor Nitchenko for what I want to see while I am in Szentgotthard. With a free weekend I have taken the opportunity to get in some fitness improving friendlies. Igor will manage these matches. I will manage my blushes at my parents love in. We're travelling home on Thursday, allow me to at least be present at the first friendly match on Wednesday. I don't plan to get there too early Thursday but Pandora wants to travel up early to give us time to mingle before the event. Rosina will of course be coming with us. Both Rosina and Pandora think I am still being grumpy about the whole thing and that I should lighten up. They said I am just being snobbish in thinking it's an excuse for a drinking session. We shall see. Problems With Albanians Marsel Ismajlgeci's agent contacted me to say his client wasn't happy with a lack of game time. Marsel has played in maybe two thirds of games, but often as a substitute. There is little chance of him surpassing Kongolo, when the DR Congoan returns form injury, so I suggested he see himself more as a squad player from now on. He didn't like that. There's a very good player here. One that is too short for centre back duties, probably not best at left back and sadly kicking up a bit of a fuss at being trained as a ball winning midfielder. To be honest, I thought he might be wanting another Albanian to make him feel more settled here. Maybe I do have to give him a chance at left back. Marsel really would make a cracking defensive minded midfielder though. I could work on his crossing. November International Break, Part 1 Hungary U21s beat Luxembourg U21s 3-0 with Adam Merenyi getting 90 minutes and an assist. Arthur Horvath, Roland Lehoczky and Adam Miknyoczki also got limited time. Norbert Racz got his first goal in a Hungarian shirt as Hungary U19s beat Scotland 1-0. Only Botond Herczeg got game time for the U18s in a 0-2 loss to Iceland. Botond did well, despite the scoreline. Friday 17th November 2023 I couldn't find anything substantial as to whether Hungarians celebrate the tradition of a bachelor party or stag do, as we call them in the UK. All I found most of on Google was information on how to have a stag do in Budapest...because loud, rowdy Brits go there to have a cheap knees up before their wedding. I'm going to go with something. If anyone Hungarian reads this and feels I have completely butchered Hungarian wedding celebrations...I apologise. If anyone Hungarian was going to read this then I suspect they already would have done so. It was 3pm on the day before my parent's wedding when I was invited to the bar in which the celebration will take place. My father wanted a bachelor party. "You're already married", I told him. "You just want an excuse to get drunk." "Nonsense. It's German tradition for the groom to celebrate his last day of freedom." "A, you're Hungarian with only German ancestry. B, you've been married nearly 40 years." "Damn good excuse for a drink then." Then my mother told me to get out the house so she and the ladies present could have some girl time before the big day. I declared she also just wanted to get drunk but relented. I'd get to see the place the wedding would take place and be mentally prepared. I've been there before but it was many years ago. I was somewhat surprised. The bar does indeed have a nice little garden where the vows (father told me I better say 'vows' or my mother will throw things at me) will be read. It's been decorated too. Tacky and cheap banners, but the thought counts. It would seem father's friends are football fans and they think I've done a good job with MTK. We had a nice conversation about football. Don't tell anyone but I went home that evening thinking I'd had a fun few hours. Father was a bit tipsy but we got on well. Father's bachelor party reminded me of the weeks we spent together when mother left him for the first time. We walked in the house to be rapidly shoed outside. I saw a brief glimpse of my mother in red. It's a tradition, but usually when you're not already married. Father fell on his arse as we backed out the door, hurriedly. I laughed and he kicked me. They let us in shortly after. Pandora has gone to sleep. I sit here writing this and thinking 'I bonded with my father today'! I know one thing. He really loves my mother. He became a soppy old soul at one point in the bar. Telling his friends how he was happy to renew his love the next day. A Bizarre Twenty Two Minutes Remind me not to go away again. First Ismajlgeci and now Istvan Bognar. Istvan has decided that he is not good enough any more to challenge for a first team place here. He wants to leave. Istvan is probably right and I told him he could leave in the next window. Twenty two minutes later and I received this news by text from the head physio. I'd spoken to Istvan on the phone and hung up at 13.29. I got the text from Istvan Domok at 13.51. Was he trying that hard to impress any potential bidders that he went in for a careless challenge immediately? Wait until you play a match, Istvan. Sunday 18th November 2023 Yes, I did my research on Hungarian wedding traditions. Even if it wasn't a real wedding. It is 1pm on the day after the day before. I think I am the only person up. Even Pandora is still in bed. I can't recall the last time my love slept past 9am. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was still celebrating at 9am. I fell asleep about 3am. Being an intellectual football manager is tiring work and I need more rest than many. So, how was it? I know people will ask. Mother wore red. She insisted it was Hungarian tradition and she liked the dress. I think technically new brides wear red but mother did seem happy. Father's look told me he certainly liked the dress. The randy old bugger. He just wanted to help her out of it at the midnight change of dress. They disappeared around midnight so no doubt he did. Pandora cried when the vows were read. I must grudgingly admit that it was all rather more tasteful than I had suspected it would be. Father didn't drink until after...and he didn't even sweat. Not noticably. I won't try to repeat the vows they stated but they didn't sound half bad. Rosina said she'd done her research to find vows they could both state that would mean something. When it was suggested that the newlyweds should serve the guests father chose that moment to say he was already married. Pick and chose father. I suggested he buy everyone a drink and he said I was the rich football manager and if anyone was going to buy drinks it should be me. I narrowed my eyes at that one. The drinking began shortly after and carried on till late. Then we moved back to my parent's house in what was a sort of procession through Szentgotthard. I kept my head low. Back at the house and the drinking continued. I did at one point suggest my parents should do a traditional Hungarian coin dance and father asked if he looked like he was made of money. He said I was the footba...but I stopped him and said "yes, I know." I will grudgingly admit that my parents actually arranged a nice day. It was a much more cultured affair than I had suspected it would be. Not Budapest Opera District cultured, of course. More Szentgotthard drinking cultured. We travel home tomorrow. I actually think Pandora will need another night of rest anyway. My love overindulged on some nice German wine my mother decided she wanted. I will narrow my eyes at her later. ~~~ I narrowed my eyes at Pandora...playfully and artfully done, I thought. She punched me. It hurt. I told you, Pandora has pointy knuckles. November Loanees Progress Update I am aware this update has not been majorly football related. This is by far the least football football manager career update post I have ever done. Did I say that once before in this thread? So let's look at our stars that are out on loan. Before I do so I will announce that Mark Kosznovszky, on loan at Lucchese, is not happy with his loan spell. He wants to be played as a defensive midfielder, because Lucchese said he would be. Mark has be utilised mostly as a segundo volante. Damn their manager. The best performer has been Bence Varga (the defensive one), on loan at third tier Bicske. Bence has quickly become a very improtant player for Bicske. Benedek Barkoczi has started to score more goals for Bekescsaba but is yet to equal his stunning form for Veszprem last season. I actually deemed it necessary to speak to Benedek and suggest he might need to improve his performances for Lilak. Credit to the lad because he took my words on board and said I was right. When it comes to players out on loan to impress me then we are talking about Martin Palincsar, Peter Torocsik and the afore-mentioned Kosznovszky. I will give Kosznovszky more time, after our chat, but neither of the other two have really set the world alight with their form. If they can't impress in the second tier then it is doubtful they can improve MTK at top flight level. We shall see. I spoke to both Palincsar and Torocsik. Palincsar took my words well but Peter Torocsik was very offended. I'll leave it there. Saturday 3pm footy starts soon and no lunch yet. Join me again for a return to football. I enjoyed researching and writing that, and letting my creative juices flow. Probably not typical for this forum.

Changing The Subject... I am just going to detour from the MTK Budapest world for a brief moment. I received a news item that I found interesting. This is the GOAL50: Best 50 Players In The World for 2023. Look how Manchester City dominated it is. and Gundogan at 45 and Cancelo at 49. The Premier League after 10 games...they drew with Fulham, Leicester and Southampton. Back on track. I just thought it was interesting. International Call-Ups No Hungarian first team call-ups but more U21 recognition for five players. New call ups for two young players in to Hungary U18s. Botond Herczeg and Boton Radnoti. Botond Herczeg has frequently played the role of Ball Winning Midfielder in the teams of Norvert Kardos (our U19s manager) this season. Aside from scoring once and making one assist, Botond has a pass completion of 83% and 1.54 tackles won per 90 minutes. I am not entirely sure why Norbert Kardos is playing Botond as a ball winning midfielder, though granted alternatives do appear to be on thin ground. I have moved a player not getting much game time in the MTKII team back to the U19s. Maybe that will allow Botond to play a role more to his liking. I must do this analysis more often. I never would have noticed that if Botond had not been called up and forced me to look at him better. With such a good youth set up I really should pay more attention. Botond Radnoti has been the main keeper for our U19s, with three clean sheets. For some reason I can't see better stats for keepers in my U19s. FM doesn't do a wonderful job of showing stats for youth teams, I have just turned up detail for future youth player analysis. Should have done that before but I have a big save. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 12 Preview Honved are struggling in the league this term and I am highlighting this match as a good chance to get back to scoring goals. Honved are the third lowest scorers in the OTP Bank Liga with 10 goals to their name, but have only conceded the tenth highest number of goals, at 15. My theory is that if we remain stable at the back then we can keep our opposition out. Can we find the net though? I am not sure Honved are a bad side though, they're just finding goals hard to come by, much like us currently. Ramon Tribulietx's side play a good passing game. They just need to find an outlet. There are more than a few similiarties between us and Honved, especially in our last few league games. The key here is to be better at that game than Kispest are. Adam Miknyoczki Adam just had one of his best training weeks since my tenure began. I will use this excuse to see how he has fast developed in to one of our best young talents. There was a dip in development progress for Adam, due to injury, but he has since come on in leaps and bounds. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 12 - Budapest Honved Futball Club vs MTK Budapest FC The short turnaround between the European game and this league game has had some effect on the MTK lineup. Bence Somodi is the man chosen in goal today. Miknyoczki is in at right back (presumably as a result of the great training that Nagain spoke about midweek). Nagy replaces Szepe at centre back and Zeke is at left back today. Horvath partners Medeiros in midfield and Mate Kovacs is chosen on the left wing. Up front, Kirsztian Nemeth is back. We asked Nagain how he is going about getting his talisman up front to start scoring goals on a regular basis again. He must admit Krisztian Nemeth's form has been lacking. "I can't argue with that, but Krisztian knows the score and we are trying something different today to try and 'jiggle' things a little. No spoilers." ~ 5 mins: We have had a good look at the MTK set up to see if we can spot Nagain's subtley indicated surprise. Firstly, it would seem Horvath is playing deeper than normal today, but he and Fernando Medeiros are swapping roles. Up front, Balint Szabo seems to be the most advance man today. Krisztian Nemeth is dropping very deep to get the ball. ~ 19 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Honved 1-0 MTK Vidar Ari Jonsson MTK have not had a good start and they are at all sixes and sevens* from a corner. Somodi saves but the rebound comes to Jonsson and he easily heads home. *I do love that phrase. It comes from dice games and reflects that people were considered risky if they tried to throw a six or a seven. ~ 24 mins: 🟥 RED CARD! Maxim Plakushchenko has a moment of madness, going in hard on Fernando Medeiros and being shown a straight red by the referee. Honved are down to ten. ~ 30 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Honved 2-0 MTK Stefan Ilic A mistake from Bence Somodi as he flaps at a tame shot from Ilic and it's two for Honved. MTK are poor today. ~ HT: Honved 2-0 MTK Honved were much the better team for 30 minutes but MTK have come in to the game since. Nagain's team need to be much better in attack ~ 70 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Honved 2-1 MTK Krisztian Nemeth A tap in is just what Nemeth needed and that's just what he had. Excellent work down the left by Szabo and a cross that evaded everyone but MTK's talisman striker. An easy finish. MTK do seem to have ditched Nagain's surprise. ~ 88 mins: Zuigeber hits the join of the bar and the post. It would have been a wonderful goal. ~ 93 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Honved 2-2 MTK Gergo Szoke What a time to score your first ever goal for MTK! It's been all MTK for the last ten minutes and Szoke just seems to tell himself 'go for it'. The young midfielder drives in to the box and lets loose a a shot that thunderbolts in to the top right corner. What a moment! ~ FT: MTK got away with that. What a game though! What a game that was. It had everything. It also very nearly gave me a heart attack. I must confess that my changes didn't help. I had changed Nemeth to a false 9 and sent Szabo out as a shadow striker and our main threat. Nemeth is more than able to play that role but perhaps it just does not suit Szabo to play that way. If truth be told, Balint Szabo drifts in and out of games a great deal. He will often have that one pivotal moment that changes a game though. It was Balint that set up our first goal with just one of those moments. I took Balint off late to replace him with Zoltan Vasvari and be much more attacking. Balint was very tired and I also replaced my midfield, bringing Szoke on, mainly because there was no one else. Injury and tiredness forced my hand today. I'd like to have claimed it was inspired but it wasn't. Gergo took it upon himself to be in a position to score that goal. I had actually put Szoke in the more advanced midfield role too even though I had meant to play him deeper and push Mezei on. These moments define us. MTK Player of the Match: How can I not give Gergo Szoke his first award for my player of the match? I doubt I will ever forget that goal. We possibly didn't deserve a point but thanks to Gergo we got one. Now...breathe... Kisvarda kicked off the OTP Bank Liga weekend with a good win at Mezokovesd that had taken them into third place until Sunday. Saturday saw Haladas and Ujpest lose again, and a good win for ZTE that kept them on the right path. On to Sunday and away from the battle at the Bozsik Arena in Kispest there was another entertaining game closer to the city centre at Groupama Arena. A Jakub Plsek pen in the 76th minute saw Puskas Akademia beat Ferencvaros to go top on goal difference. Sunday 12th November 2023 I wish my lads wouldn't do that to me. Yes, I did have something to do with it. I experimented and we started badly. It may or may not have been my fault, but the buck stops at the football manager. I am a football manager - a fact that make me very proud - and I accept responsibility. I am forever in debt to Gergo. He is a lad that has been around my squads for about a year now. I admire his work rate and his tenacity. Gergo is a lad that wants to perform. Early this season he did wonders for our second string. I am pretty sure I've spoken about that. Today he did wonders for our first eleven. Gergo became a man! Pandora told a joke. I couldn't stop raving about our young star when I got home. She suggested I buy him flowers after I had admittedly been raving for about five minutes. I will have to appreciate him in silence...and with my pen. ~~~ I didn't mean to say 'Pandora told a joke' as if my love is incapable of telling a joke. Pandora actually has a witty mind...and a deadpan one. I just thought I should point that out. My love knows when I have dismissed her talents...even if she doesn't hear or see that dismissal. In fact, I swear she scowled at me as she headed to bed half an hour ago. ~~~ I am having a second cup of tea to calm me down before I sleep. Mint, with extra honey. One day people may see the contents of these diaries. One day I will be as famous as the greatest managers Hungary has ever produced. People will want to know my story then. That made me wonder if people will wonder how no one else ever read my comments. Anyone who reads these diaries would know how much I love my dear Pandora and may also know that should she see some things she may not take too kindly. I am a man who states my feelings loud and proud. The answer to that is that Pandora never reads my diaries. She knows of them. Pandora is an honourable woman though. She respects my thoughts and knows, also, that I am a plain speaker. Sometimes thoughts are of a moment and do not reflect the passion that one feels for another. Pandora knows that and chooses not to read because she doesn't want to influence the firm belief that I adore her. Perhaps you think I overthink things and that Pandora would kill me if she knew some things. I remind you that I am the intellectual... Good night. I feel calm now. ~~~ It's the wedding next week...I was just going to bed and it occured to me. Can't drink any more tea. I'd be up every few hours.

European Matchday 10 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - Preview I can say with honesty that we matched Standard well in our last game. It took the introduction of a player I was worried about to seal the Belgians a win. Aron Dønnum. The Norwegian will be the man to watch again, but hopefully the Belgians don't bring him on until late again. My scouts believe he will start. We will go with a plan to be cautious yet open to attack. I would be happy to nick a point. Tuesday 6th November 2023 I write this entry in dear diary from Nijmegen. Our parent club have kindly given us permission to use their training facilities prior to our trip to Liege. The city of Liege is just a couple of hours along motorways from Nijmegen and so it was decided we base ourselves in the Dutch city and travel to the game on the day. We actually train with the Nijmegen team tomorrow. A little light hearted friendly that will serve both clubs well. Interestingly, NIjmegen played Standard in the Fourth Qualifying Round of the very same competition in which we face them. The Nijmegen squad have been urging us to get one over on their fellow Beneluxians and it has promoted a sense of camaraderie between our two sides. Our hosts booked a local restaurant for a friendly get together this evening. I am stuffed as I write this. The food was very good and all had a fun time. The night only darkened when our chairmen got up and decided to give a drunken speech about how grateful we were to our hosts. I say darkened in unfairness really. It was just that he had had a bit too much local beer and his jokes just weren't all that good. I'm looking forward to the friendly training tomorrow. We only really met the Nijmegen team briefly but we did strike up a friendship. Our lads were tired, despite our flight being a short one, and we only trained a short time. I am interested to see how Roger Meijer and his coaching team go about training. It is always useful to watch and learn from other manager. Roger's job at Nijmegen is his first and he has held that role since 2019. He had the honour of leading Nijmegen to promotion to the top flight in 2021, all be it via the play offs. Their finishes in the Eredivisie have been steadily getting better. Well, I need sleep. ~~~~~~ Congratulations Marsel. ~~~~~~ European Matchday 10 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - R Standard de Liège vs MTK Budapest FC Roland Lehoczky's recent good performances have earned him a starting place for the side to face Liege. Patrik Poor replaces Miknyoczki at right back and Mezei is preferred in a deeper central midfield than against ZTE. Szabo moves to right wing, replacing Kovacsreti. The biggest shock to the MTK lineup is that Zsori starts up front and Nemeth is only on the bench. We asked Nagain, "Does Zsori start because of Krisztian Nemeth's well known lack of goals of late?" Nagain was coy with his answer. "Krisztian needs time and patience to get back to scoring and I have every faith it will happen before long for him. However, Daniel [Zsori] came on late against ZTE and he impressed me enough that I have decided to give Krisztian a rest and start Daniel tonight." ~ 20 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Standard 1-0 MTK Denis Dragus A free kick is swung in to the box by Donnum from the right and DRagus rises at the far post to head home the opener. ~ 26 mins: ❕ PENALTY! Standard have a spot kick after Medgyes is adjudged to have handled the ball. MTK's players protest but the ruling has been made. ~ 26 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Standard 2-0 MTK Mathieu Cafaro Cafaro slots the penalty home with confidence and MTK have a mountain to climb. ~ HT: Standard 2-0 MTK MTK have been rather average up to now. Nagain will surely expect better from his charges after the break. ~ 49 mins: 🟥 RED CARD! Gabor Szalai receives his marching orders for what is deemed preventing of a goal scoring opportunity. It looked more like hustle and bustle with the opposition. The ref gives him just a yellow but it's his second. ~ 50 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Standard 3-0 MTK Mathieu Cafaro Cafaro beautifully puts away the free kick resulting from Szalai's red card foul and surely that's it for MTK. ~ 57 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Standard 4-0 MTK Denis Dragus Donnum charges into the area and his cutback finds Amallah. Amallah's shot cannons off Dragus to further MTK's woes. ~ 76 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Standard 4-1 MTK Roland Lehoczky A ripper of a goal from Lehoczky as he lets one fly from the edge of the box. It looks like Nagain was bringing him off too. ~ FT: Standard 4-1 MTK It was a bad day for us in Belgium. We never looked in that game and after Szalai's red card it became even harder for us. A thorough lesson about how tough European football is. MTK Player of the Match: In a team full of non shows there was one MTK player that looked up for it today. Matyas Kovacs worked hard and tried to provide for someone. Thanks for the effort, Matyas. Milan well and truly stuffed Dnipro in tonight's other Group A game and the Italians have qualified for the next round. We are not out yet, but we would have to beat Milan and Dnipro, hope Standard and Dnipro draw and also hope for a huge goal swing. I think that is true anyway. I can't see it happening. Actually, the group sorting rules decide orders. I suppose technically we can qualify by beating Milan and Dnipro and hoping Dnipro beat Standard. We would qualify because we had a better record against the Ukrainians. I still can't see it happening. Just the one game today. Weekend's game against Honved later.

Thanks. I do think the top half of the 2nd tier and the bottom half of the top tier appear to be qute similar in Hungary. Also seems to be an 'anyone can beat anyone' feel to the top flight. It's a bit like the Aussie league that I watch on TV here. Should be able to qualify for Europe again. Fingers crossed.

Sunday 29th October 2023 That was no fun, losing late like that, and what makes it even less fun is that it was two games in a row. I don't like blame, so I'm not going to throw the rag at Gabor Szalai or Bence Varga for their mistakes. The pressure of this game make things like that happen, and, to be honest, we win and lose as a team. We have had some tough games though recently. Hopefully we can thump Ujpest this week and then have a good result against a strong ZTE team. ZTE were always my team growing up, well the team I picked because they were close to my home town. I class myself firmly an MTK fan now though. It's a shame you can't easily change the teams you support in the game. At least, I don't believe you can. Not without an editor. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 10 Preview Ujpest are former Hungarian champions that are having a poor season. Lilak have won just one game this season - against fellow relegation candidates Haladas - and are conceding plenty of goals. This is a club that were predicted midtable though, so I have no doubt they will come good at some stage. Ujpest play a traditional 4-4-2 with a target man and will look to get forward down the wings before crossing in to find that target man. Junior Tallo is that target man and the Ivorian is a bulk of a man, good in the air and strong. Tallo will be a threat. If we can shut down Ujpest's creative ability - notably Dionisi and Croizet - then we can stop the ball getting to Tallo. Szepe and Szalai do need a rest, and my thinking was to make that so against Ujpest. I am concerned about the Tallo threat though. Monthly Performance Review And there was me worried about the recent results. The board know we have to force our way into the pack in this league. Games against Ferencvaros and Puskas are going to be tough. The fans will always want wins. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 10 - MTK Budapest FC vs Újpest Football Club MTK have chosen to rest a number of players for today's match against struggling Ujpest. Those taking a breather are Varga, Szalai and Medgyes. Janos Szepe starts and will be key against Ujpest's big frontman, Tallo. Lehoczky gets a rare start in central midfield, with Kongolo still out, and Bognar has been chosen as MTK's main creative influence with Medeiros returning from injury to support Bognar. Somodi gets a start in goal and Zsombor Nagy gets a chance to impress on the left of the center back pairing. ~ HT: MTK 0-0 Ujpest This is not a classic by any means. MTK have had the lion's share of the ball but have failed to do much with it, not testing the Ujpest goal too much. ~ 56 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Ujpest Fernando Medeiros MTK are finally able to put some real creativity in to their game and step up the pressure on Ujpest. Great work down the right from Szabo and he sends a good ball across the box that Medeiros is first to get to. The Brazilian's effort nearly breaks the net! ~ 72 mins: Nemeth has had two great efforts in the last 10 minutes, both of which were superbly blocked. The MTK frontman is getting chances. ~ 93 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-1 Ujpest Zsombor Kalnoki-Kis Frustrating for a dominant MTK team. A quick break down the left and a wonderful cross met by the left foot of substitute Kalnoki-Kis. It's a nice goal but Nagain will be furious his team allowed that. ~ FT: MTK 1-1 Ujpest Well, that was disappointing. We were so dominant in that game that to lose two points to such a late goal was infuriating. Krisztian Nemeth had enough chances to have won that game. I will excuse Krisztian a little because Ujpest's defending was at times last ditch and heroic, but we need to be scoring those chances. MTK Player of the Match: I am going to give this award to Roland Lehoczky. Starts have been rare for Roland and he was our best player on the pitch for the majority of the game. True, Szabo and Medeiros turned it on for the spell that got us our goal, but Roland was resolute throughout. Ferencvaros were also held today, by Vasas, but Puskas Akademia's win over Haladas moves them three clear of us. ZTE condeded two late strikes to drop two points and keep them level with us in the European places. Kisvarda were the big movers, beating Honved to move up to 5th. Thursday 2nd November 2023 This habit of conceding late goals is becoming infuriating and Pandora shouted at me this evening about being in a grump. I'd only been home an hour and was making a noise in the kitchen whilst grabbing some food. It is now an hour on from that and I have had some food and am sitting down to a nice cup of fruity tea. Pandora is in bed and I will apologise to my love tomorrow. Some flowers, perhaps. We're out of honey too. I'd fancied some mint tea but always have honey in it. How do we run out of honey? Alexa, why did you forget the honey? My god, I'm blaming the AI now! ~~~~~~ I can't take the credit for this...not really. There are some players currently at MTK further down that list...trust me. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 11 Preview ZTE are going good guns this season, currently finding themselves in 4th place after ten games. Zete are a team that score a lot of goals, and they create a lot too. ZTE are also the most clinical of finishers in the OTP Bank Liga, converting almost 18% of efforts on goal. We will want to keep this team at arm's length. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 11 - MTK Budapest FC vs ZTE Football Club Miknyoczki and Kovacsreti return from injury for MTK today. Varga, Szalai and Medgyes also return after being rested last game and Balint Szabo gets the nod behind Nemeth, ahead of Bognar. ~ HT: MTK 0-0 ZTE It's a similar story for MTK. They have dominated possession in this game but failed to make a real chance of note. ~ 60 mins: Balint Szabo misses a sitter, his effort creeping past the outside of the post. ~ 93 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 ZTE Balint Szabo It's MTK's turn to score late in the day. Some intricate football from the Budapest side to feed Szabo, who tucks home the ball confidently. ZTE are furious the referee didn't stop the game, with their man on the deck further up the field. ~ FT: MTK 1-0 ZTE Finally! It was our turn to score late today. I really thought we would have to settle for a stalemate until Balint stepped up and turned home Sinan Medgyes' cute little ball into the area. Another poor game from Nemeth though. MTK Player of the Match: I'm giving the award to Roland Lehoczky again. There was a moment at the end there that will have boosted the ratings of a number of my players in the eyes of the media. Roland was class throughout again though and he helped keep ZTE at bay throughout the match. Our opponents barely had a shot at goal. Ferencvaros got back to winning ways with a tight win over bottom of the pile Haladas, and with Puskas drawing Fradi's result takes them three points clear. Mezokovesd moved in to the top four after we beat ZTE and Mezo beat Ujpest. One more busy week before we have a nice break from fixtures. Whether I get a break, with us having to travel to Szentgotthard for the social event of the year, is another matter. We are on our travels this week. Off to Belgium Tuesday and an away tie just up the road on Sunday when we face Honved.

European Matchday 9 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - Preview Standard's start to their Group A campaign has been poor, suffering defeats to Dnipro and Milan. This is therefore the battle of the bottom two sides and will take place at Puskas Arena. Standard are second in the Jupiler Pro League despite losing three games already, including a 0-1 loss at Charleroi this Sunday just gone. Les Rouches play an attacking game with inside forwards cutting in from both flanks. They score a lot of goals per game from a slightly asbove average shot count, for the Belgian league. Defensively, the team are a little more suspect and this might be our key to unlocking them. Against Charleroi, Standard had an xG of 1.74, further highlighting their defence, but also making me think they don't always take their chances. Aron Dønnum is a man we have to watch on Thursday. The Norwegian is Standard's second highest scorer with five goals, and will be very direct from the right. Top scorer for Les Roches is Croatian Stipe Perica but he missed the Charleroi game. Tuesday 24th October 2023 Pandora says she is fed up of me looking nervous and 'not knowing what to do with my hands'. I am feeling it this week. If we want any chance of progressing in Europe we need to beat Standard. It's the Ferencvaros game concerning me though. That game is the true test of where we are at in Hungarian football. Rosina, who has been quiet since she moved in, said she is staying at a friend's until I calm down. She did also suggest I stick 'Szab' in midfield because he'll always do a job. She says her ex respects me and is thankful for all I have done for him. "I didn't know that," I told her, and Rosina said I gave Szab his big chance in football, so of course he does. I thought he wanted to go to Poland. Maybe Szab...Szabolcs...deserves his chance. He will be a more robust face in midfield. Ideal would be Artur coming on late to score a winner...after Szabolcs has kept Standard quiet. I mustn't call him Szab at work. And Rosina has been putting a lot of effort in to her fashion design. That's why she is quiet. Not because she is a changed girl. She still goes dancing and wears far too little on nights out. No men at our place, but she does come home Sunday afternoon often. ~~~~~~ Well, that puts a dampner on our season... ~~~~~~ European Matchday 9 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - MTK Budapest FC vs R Standard De Liège Just two changes for MTK from the match against Vasas. Nemeth is back up front, after recovering from injury, and Ismajlgeci replaces the injured Kongolo. There are rumours that the new Albanian signing isn't enjoying training as a defensive midfielder but he's shown ability there when he's played. This is now his chance to shine. We asked Nagain about this situation. "I'm not prepared to go in to detail on our training sessions but I do believe in Marsel's ability to perform in this position." ~ HT: MTK 0-0 Standard It's all square at half time, though Standard have had the best chance, Varga tipping over. ~ 91 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 0-1 Standard Aron Donnum Gabor Szalai looks like he wants the ground to open up. The center back dwells on the ball too long and Aron Donnum steals it before knocking it past Varga. ~ FT: MTK 0-1 Standard Disappointment for MTK. Maybe we shouldn't put it all on Szalai though. MTK didn't play all that well. We looked like we had a point today, despite not playing all that well. We just didn't fire in attack, although Ismajlgeci and Mezei looked solid in midfield. It was disaster at the end however. Szalai will want to hide after the error that saw him lose the ball in the box. MTK were right to be worried about Donnum. The inside forward didn't start but he came on and made a difference. MTK Player of the Match: Marsel Ismajlgeci was the best player for us today. Marsel is still learning the full ropes of his new position but he barely put a foot wrong today and kept Standard quiet for much of the game. Milan dominated in their game at Dnipro, winning 3-0, to stay top of the group and be pretty much qualified. ~~~~~~ There was also defeat for OTP Bank Liga sides Mozokovesd (losing 1-0 to Paks) and Haladas (losing 2-0 to Szeged). ~~~~~~ The injuries mount up for MTK. ~~~~~~ The draw for the fourth round of the Kupa has taken place. If MTK beat Fehervar next Wednesday then they will face Dorog. Lower league Salgotarjan's reward for progressing is to welcome ZTE to their north Hungarian home. ~~~~~~ OTP Bank Liga Matchday 9 Preview Ferencvaros play a very attacking 4-2-3-1 with rangy wing backs support their forward wide players. Fradi play with much creativity from Mercier or Zazhariassen, in the middle, and Nguen or Auzqui wide right. They are deadly too. Mercier has 7 goals this season, Ryan Mmaee has 6 and Traore and Auzqui have 5 goals. Where Ferencvaros may be suspect is defensively, with a less than average tackling record. Of course, with the way they score one could argue there is a 'we'll score more than you' mentality at the club. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 9 - Ferencvarosi Torna Club vs MTK Budapest MTK appear to have set up a little more defensively minded than usual for this big derby match. Medeiros is back in the squad and Mate Krisztian Kovacs is preferred on the left. ~ 25 mins: We're a quarter of the way through this match and it's been very much Ferencvaros on the front foot here. A goal ruled out by goal line technology and the width of the post have been the difference. ~ 30 mins: VAR have a look at a possible spot kick for the homeside...but it's not given. ~ 43 mins: 🟥 RED CARD! Idrissa Toure is sent off for a two-footed lunge on Medeiros. Disaster for Fradi. ~ HT: Ferencvaros 0-0 MTK ~ 87 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Ferencvaros 1-0 MTK Carlos Auzqui Bence Varga comes out to meet a ball over the top from Laidouni but Auzqui gets there first and tucks the ball under the keeper for it to roll into an empty net. It's another late goal against MTK. ~ FT: Ferencvaros 1-0 MTK I thought we were a little disappointing today, especially in an attacking sense again, but we have jumped up a level and should be happy to have taken it close with a young team. I still can't help but have wished for more considering Ferencvaros had a man sent off for what was a nasty foul. MTK Player of the Match: Patrik Poor did what I wanted and he had a good game today at right back. It was hard to pick a stand out man today though. We drop down to third after Puskas Akademia's draw at home to Honved. Haladas look in real trouble as they suffered a humiliating defeat to Vasas; the team that struggle to score. They, Ujpest and Honved are starting to get detached. Early days though. Not a great October. It started great, with a 6-0 drubbing of Mezokovesd, but two European defeats and two defeats to, all be it, strong domestic sides make things look bad. I am most worried that we haven't found it easy to score since the 6-0 and Nemeth looks very devoid of form. We don't have a lot of attacking prowess in reserve either. That is something I need to rectify in the next transfer window. We have two more two game weeks in a row now. Ujpest and then ZTE this coming week. Standard and Honved the week after. Then it's the 'wedding'.

Time to play, or desire to play, has been limited lately. Time to get some games done today - I hope. Fell asleep ten minuts after loading up yesterday afternoon so will hopefully fare better today. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 8 Preview Vasas have struggled to score goals this season and the club just north of Budapest city center find themselves in 9th place in the OTP Bank Liga. Vasas have actually scored just four goals so far, although a 1-5 drubbing to ZTE is the only time they have conceded more than a goal. Vasas defend deep with two dynamic midfielders in the center and a target man up front but performances have generally been poor for the men in blue and maroon stripes. Pace may be the key. If we can force our way past a tough tackling team we can get shots on Vasas' goal. But, beating Kudimbana in the Vasas goal could be the decisive factor. Looking at the 1-5 drubbing, ZTE played high up the pitch and centrally in a 4-4-2. ZTE's wide men attackd direct and with pace. It could just be that ZTE had a very good day and Vasas a very bad day. We will be aggressive with our attacking play though. ~~~~~~ Performances needed from Patrik Poor. International Round-Up, Part 2 Artur Horvath and Adam Miknyoczki were involved as Hungary U21s lost 1-4 to Spain U21s. Artur did well when he cam on with 19 minutes to go, but Adam was forced off injured at half time. Hungary U19s lost 0-1 to Netherland U19s and Kristof Lepo was the best performer of our five participants. Norbert Racz had another promising 14 minutes up front though. ~~~~~~ Fernando had been performing great too. More chances for Horvath and/or Mezei. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 8 - Vasas Futball Club vs MTK Budapest FC Today's lineup finds Miknyoczki, Medeiros and Nemeth missing from the starting lineup do to injuries. In come Poor, Horvath and Akos Zuigeber. Nemeth is available from the bench but there are concerns over his fitness. Mate Balogh is also given a slot on the bench today, being preferred to Daniel Zsori. We asked Nagain if he worried by the fitness concerns of Krisztian Nemeth. "Not at all. Krisztian has had a slight niggle this week and it's a chance to try something new with Akos up front. It's a bit of a roles reversed situation really, as Balint will probably be the focus of attacks today. We do believe Vasas may be vulnerable to pace so it's a new way of trying things." ~ 44 secs: ⚽ GOAL! Vasas 1-0 MTK Soma Novothny It's a very direct start from Vasas and they have taken MTK by surprise very early in the days affairs. The MTK defence has struggle to deal with crosses and a ball across the box finds Novothny who finishes a simple chance. ~ 22 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Vasas 1-1 MTK Mark Kovacsreti Balint Szabo plays a lovely little ball in behind the defence and Kovacsreti does weel to run on to it and knock the ball past Kudimbana. ~ 41 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Vasas 1-2 MTK Mark Kovacsreti A wonderful left footed free kick from Kovacsreti to put MTK ahead. Did it go in off the wall though? Kudimbana did look outfoxed by the flight of the ball. ~ HT: Vasas 1-2 MTK A good start from Vasas but MTK have come in to the game to lead at the break. ~ 61 mins: Vargas gets a hand out to make a reflex save against Berecz' fierce shot. ~ 87 mins: Vargas tips over Hidi's looping header as Vasas are trying to get back in the game. ~ FT: Vasas 1-2 MTK MTK have done enough in the second half to hold on to their narrow 2-1 lead. That was concerning to concede so early in the game but we rectified our lapses to Vasas' direct game and ended the first half on the front foot. The second half rather peetered out as we controlled the game well. Bence Vargas made two good saves to keep the score at 2-1. MTK Player of the Match: This award can only go to Mark Kovacsreti today. Another brace for the inside forward. It seems that once Mark scores a goal he goes on to bag at least another. ~~~~~~ You know our lads deserve a chance, Marco. ~~~~~~ ZTE missed an early penalty at home to Ferencvaros and the league favourites punished them by banging in three goals in a great first half to put Cherchesov's side back top. Puskas Akademia showed how topsy turvy this league can be as they lost at home to Debrecen and they drop below us. A busy week now. We welcome Liege to Budapest on Thursday and face Ferencvaros at their place at the weekend. They have a Thursday game, in the Europa League Group Stage, too. They welcome another Benelux club, in PSV.

Wednesday 11th October 2023 I surprised my love today with a Chinese takeaway and two plane tickets to Milan this weekend. Pandora loves a nice Chinese and I know she has a weekend free because I enquired to make sure. I have my ways. She squealed with delight but immediately composed herself. Pandora is not one for squealing. Not in a cultural hub such as one in which we have our appartment. We fly out Friday morning and return Monday afternoon. I'm back to training on Tuesday and will hopefully be well fed on lovely Italian food. Relaxed, too. Youth Teams Progress It is about time we looked at how our youth sides are doing this season. MTK II - Merkantil Bank Liga The form of our B squad has improved of late, after a mixed start to the season. Akos Zuigeber has been the key man in recent weeks, scoring five goals at the start of October. Gergo Szoke continues to impress also, with the young striker one of the best players in the second tier this seaon. Without Zuigeber goals have been a bit of a problem. Vasvari started his career with a spike but has since tailed off and he can't seem to hit the heights he did in those few games last season. Mate Balogh is currently the most promising striker at that level for us, but even he has just one goal. The reason for the upturn in form is perhaps that I gave Igor Nitchenko more freedom in how he sets up his team. As much as I would like to test our youngsters in the formations I utilise, our squads may not be perfectly set up for that. Nitchenko has shown his ability since. MTK U19s Our youngest stars are doing great this season and are unbeaten in five games so far. Norbert Racz has been the star of the show, hitting six goals but there have been great showings throughout. Loans Stars Progress Mate Tuboly has been our star performer out on loan. In 11 games for Gyor, Mate has 3 goals and 4 assists and is starting to look a real player for the future. Benedek Barkoczi has not hit the heights he hit last season but has three goals for Bekescsaba. I must also note Bence Varga (the defender version, not our number one) on loan at third tier Bicske who has had a great eight games at center back. Mark Kosznovszky spoke to me to say he was not happy with the differing positions he was being utilised in whilst on loan at Lucchese. I told him it was all part of learning and that he should get his head down and gain the experience of different roles to improve his overall game. He listened to me and I was very impressed with that attitude. International Round-Up, Part 1 Adam Miknyoczky and Artur Horvath had reasonable games as Hungary U21s thrashed Malta 5-1. Adam got 74 minutes. I didn't watch it as we're away from Hungary on a luxury weekend in Milan, and Pandora would kill me. Hungary won 1-0 in Macedonia. What I know of Daniel Salloi of Sporting Kansas. Hungary's scorer. We can't afford him. Don't get ideas. ~ In the U19s, Hungary drew 1-1 with Serbia and all our callups got minutes on the pitch. Kristof Lepo got 90 minutes and an assist. Monday 16th October 2023 We are back from our weekend away and we had a great time. An expensive time, but a great time. We wondered Milan, had that great food I promised myself and did some shopping. Pandora did most of the shopping but she picked me out an outfit for the 'wedding'. As I may have said, I am not a fashion concious man, but I do quite like what Pandora suggested for me. We will be the talk of Szentgotthard in November. Especially my love. She looked divine in her outfit. I am rather tired. I am having some tea and will be off to bed. Pandora is already asleep. Back to the daily grind tomorrow and a meeting with Igor to see how the weekend friendly went.

Saturday 7th October 2023 Pandora says that us losing 4-0 to Milan being a good result is very true, at least she believes so, and it almost makes up for hearing that it was suggested she wear a hat from the crowd. Pandora knows little about the world of football. To her, Milan is a fashion house, or a city of impeccable fashionista and cultural highlights. I have had to promise we visit since my love was unable to join me in the city this past week. Pandora thinks she may just model her look on a famous face from the world of fashion and royalty for the 'wedding'. I say 'wedding' because we all know it's a day in a pub. I have since heard that the 'ceremony' will be performed by the landlord of my father's favourite bar. Pandora says it's not a strict ceremony but a gathering to proclaim their adoration for one another. I want to be sick. Pandora likes this look that she saw in a magazine. "That's the queen of England, isn't it?" I asked her, innocently. She playfully punched me and said it was Meghan. A haunted woman, but a very stylistic woman. My love will look wonderful whatever she chooses to wear. She will shine in a room full of drink and cheap food. Probably a lot of ashtrays, too. That punchhurt. Either Pandora has pointy knuckles or I have soft arms. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 7 Preview Puskas Akademia are an attacking team who find themselves third at this early stage of the OTP Bank Liga and have lost just once, to leaders Ferencvaros. The danger man for this match is Jakub Plsek, whose 7 strikes leads the competition for the golden boot. Puskas play with a striker that likes to sit deep and their main scoring threat is from getting the attack minded men behind into a position to score. Otherwise, they sit deep and soak up pressure before breaking. Their two wing backs will be a focus of their attack. My scout team like to show me how clinical a team is, and the second diagram shows how attacking a team Puskas are. They highlight the fact that our opposition move well with the ball and will run at defenders, but do not ignore their ability to cross. International Callups Norbert Racz gets a deserved callup to the national U19s, following 6 goals in 7 starts, and it is great to see the massively improved Adam Miknyoczki in the U21s again. I still believe the Hungary managers ignore some great players in my teams. Matyas Kovacs especially. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 7 - MTK Budapest FC vs Puskás Ferenc Labdarúgó Akadémia Four changes for a more attacking set up MTK today. Miknyoczki and Medgyes are preferred in the right and left back slots, Szabo comes back in to his role behind Nemeth and Matyas Kovacs is chosen over Mate Kovacs today. We asked Nagain why he chose Matyas when Mate has done so well of late? "Just a feeling at the last moment really. Matyas has had to sit back of late and I did have some questions as to whether Mate was looking tired in the Milan game. It's been just a few days since then so I felt Matyas deserved a chance to show what he can do." ~ 20 mins: Twenty minutes in and MTK have perhaps been the slightly better team, winning the 50-50s and creating the best chances. Nemeth missed a great chance following disastrous pass across the back four from Puskas. Puskas are coming in to the game though. ~ HT: MTK 0-0 Puskas It's all square at the break and an even game; very congested in midfield and maybe just needs a moment of brilliance to decide a winner. ~ 71 mins: Varga with a great save after a lovely reverse ball puts Baluta clean through on goal. Puskas have stepped up the pressure and Nagain looks to be readying changes. ~ 92 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 0-1 Puskas Alexandru Baluta What a goal to decide the match! Puskas have been having some pressure right at the end and Baluta cuts inside and lets loose a thunderbolt that Varga can't get to. The moment of brilliance we predicted this game might need at half time. Nagain looks stunned. ~ 94 mins: There is a late goal mouth scramble that MTK can't quite turn home. A late flurry from the Budapest side is in action here. ~ FT: MTK 0-1 Puskas Akademia It's all over. An entertaining game decided by a fantastic moment of brilliance from Baluta. I think we were unforetunate today beause that was a fantastic goal to win the contest. It was a goal I could watch all day and it gave Varga no chance. Nemeth wasn't at the races today and my entire attacking line up were a bit lacklustre. So much so that I change the lot of them at one stage or another. MTK Player of the Match: Rodney Kongolo was excellent throughout and controlled the tempo of the game. Another day and he would have been the one to thread the decisive ball through that set up a winner for us, not them. Puskas Akademia have gone top of the OTP Bank Liga after that late winner and Ferencvaros' first defeat of the season at home to Fehervar. Honved may be the team to provide the most Hungary stars but they're struggling this season and lost to an impressive ZTE side on Saturday. The Friday game was a win for Debrecen over an Ujpest side still in the bottom two. We have some time off of football now for the international break. The national team have Euro qualifiers against North Macedonia and Iceland. Something to watch on the box this week. We are back in action in thirteen days at Vasas. After two defeats we need to win that game. Monday 9th October 2023 With no game next weekend I have asked the B team management to test the players in a little local friendly, possibly against REAC II. Igor Nitchenko will put the fringe players through their paces well enough. Me? I have decided to surprise Pandora with a little weekend trip to Milan. The boss has given me permision. He is happy enough with how we're doing and told me to go have a break. He said he has a demanding wife too, and she had wanted to travel to Milan. She actually did, but that's not the point. The boss doesn't line up on the pitch. Let's find Pandora a cracking outfit for my parent's do. She will shine greater than the paint job in the bar. Most definitely better than the glasses probably do. I think the italics for the diary entries looks a little better. As you will have probably noticed I chop and change, add new stuff and take old stuff away. I don't know if landlord is the correct word for the owner of a bar in Hungary. I did look but I don't think google saw my meaning. I am not even sure if Hungarians say pub or bar. Is pub a very British thing? I haven't gotten half as far as I'd have hoped to at what is now already February. I've not found the time to put in to it this weekend either. I am enjoying this save though, and actually the pace of things. I'd like to get a few more seasons in though. Speed up, me.

Monday 2nd October 2023 We're off to Milan tomorrow. Our chairman has done us proud and bargained with the Rossoneri for us to train in northern Italy at the Milanello Sports Center. We will base ourselves in Varese and spend what's left of Tuesday relaxing before we have a day and a half of training at the MIlanello on Wednesday and then Thursday morning. We travel to MIlan later on Thursday. Hats off to those at the top of our club, but they were gracious enough to thank the team for doing bits and getting to this money-making stage. This is players and staff only though. Pandora did express an interest in coming to MIlan but I have made the decision that we need to switch on to football for our time in MIlan. I'll make it up to my love later, though I know she understood. She's busy at work anyway. I am so looking forward to this game. I really don't know if this sort of thing happens in football. I am sure there are arrangements that can be made for training sessions at the homes of the biggest clubs. I'd find it bizarre if AC Milan train daily at a center 50km from MIlan. The center is huge though. Room for both sides to train. ~~~~~~ I get so many mixed messages from my coaching team. In a meeting I was told that Janos Szepe could do with extra work on strength, jumping and aerial reach. I covered this before. Janos is the elading light for us when it comes to heade clearances. Do we pay these guys? If it makes him even better at this, I suppose I'll follow the advice. ~~~~~~ European Matchday 8 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - Preview And so the Budapest Boys European tour moves on to northern Italy. AC Milan - the Rossoneri - are undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in Europe. They have won the top European competion 7 times and Serie A 19 times. Their manager is Luis Enrique, a man with 62 Spain caps. Their key player is Italy international Sandro Tonali and they have the world reknowned Olivier Giroud on their books. It is safe to say my scouts rate the team we are likely to face on Thursday, citing Theo Hernandez, Davide Calabria and Mike Maignan as other players to watch. This is a team way above the average stats in Serie A; they attack often and clinically. We are going to have to pressure the Rossoneri defence if we hope to get anything. The passing ability of Milan's defenders is some of the best in Serie A. Our big hope is at the other end of MIlan's team. We can hope their shooting is wasteful. Not that only Milan's strikers are capable of scoring. We have to be at our very best to get anything from this game. We will hold our heads high though. Hungary National Team Production Honved are pulling away... European Matchday 8 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - A.C. Milan vs MTK Budapest The big news ffrom MTK's selection is that Balint Szabo misses out today. Patrik Poor is chosen at right back and Zeke at left back. In the center are Szepe and Szalai. MTK's midfield is made up of Kongolo sitting, Szabolcs Mezei doing the grunt work and Medeiros providing the creativity. Out wide are Kovacsreti and Mate Kovacs and up front is Nemeth. So, what was Nagain's thinking? "I want to condense the pitch and that means three in the center. Balint [Szabo] is not really that sort of player and Mark [Kovacsreti] doesn't deserve to be dropped after the Mezokovesd performance. It is unforetunate for Balint but we're a squad and tough decisions have to be made." The San Siro is buzzing! 20 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Milan 1-0 MTK Lorenzo Colombo Milan have had a lot of pressure. As the Rossoneri attack again through Arcanjo, Colombo stays in an offside position. The MTK defence fail to pick Colombo up as he moves back in the middle and he easily finishes off Arcanjo's quick pass across the box. Nagain looks to be suggesting Colombo was offside, but he wasn't when the ball was played. ~ 23 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Milan 2-0 MTK Sandro Tonali MTK give away a free kick on the edge of the D. Tonali steps up and fires a beautiful effort in to the corner of the goal. You can't give set pieces away against that ability. ~ 32 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Milan 3-0 MTK Tommaso Pobega It's a long range effort from Pobega that Varga can't hold on it. The ball bobbles in to the goal. The MTK keeper looks furious with himself but that shot did have some power behind it. Nagain just looks resigned in the technical area. ~ 45 mins: ❕ PENALTY! Szalai attempts to tackle Sanchez in the area and the ref points to the spot. Szalai is adamant that it was fair but the ref won't hear a word of it. ~ 46 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Milan 4-0 MTK Federico Dimarco Dimarco makes no mistake from the spot. This first half has been harsh on MTK but they've made too many mistakes. Whether it was a penalty, or not, mistakes have cost Nagain's side. ~ HT: Milan 4-0 MTK ~ 87 mins: Coming to the end of a much quieter second half and MTK have their first great effort on goal. A lovely ball over the top from Ismajlgeci and Szabo gets the break on the defence. His effort is well palmed away by Maignan though. This came a few minutes after Nagain was furious on the touchline for a foul not given on Poor. The right back is limping a bit and MTK have used all their subs. ~ FT: Milan 4-0 MTK Well played the Rossoneri. The boys in red and black were much the better team tonight and MTK couldn't handle them in the first half. Thatw as a tough result to take but I know we did our best. We were just outclassed by a much better team and we have done ourselves proud to reach this stage of the competition. I wasn't overly happy with some of the mistakes we made in the first half but Milan were quick to put the pressure on us and our players lacked the time to think that we might have in the OTP Liga. When we got the ball forward we perhaps weren't as clinical with the final pass I'd like us to be. Krisztian Nemeth was isolated much of the game. MTK Player of the Match: It is hard to pick a standout player in a match we were unashamably outclassed in. I was impressed with Marsel Ismajlgeci when he came on for the injured Kongolo though. Our Albanian is learning a new role but if he plays like that in further matches he'll do great at that role. Dnipro beat Standard in Uzhorod to move in to second in the group. Elsewhere, Armenians Pyunik stunned Basel by taking a point at St. Jakob Park and HJK beat AZ in Helsinki. Friday 5th October 2023 We're home from our Italian trip and we now have to reflect on a 4-0 defeat. I don't think we were terrible but it was a result that will hurt. It is the media that annoy me. They've been quite damning about the loss, especially singling out Nemeth. We played one of the best teams in Europe and we have probably defied odds to get to the group stage. This is another level for both us and modern Hungarian teams. I stand by my team. I'm an MTK man. That took me ages to play through that match today. With the afternoon's footy coming up, and me not having had any lunch yet, I'll get to the Puskas Akademia match later.

Congrats on promotion. Salford just a bit too strong. Some big wows there. Signing Walcott to L2 showed grabbing power, even if he didn't play a lot. Liverpool and City as parent clubs...though a bit greedy😜 That Glatzel form in January and February! Good luck in L1.

Karrikaburu and Suso certainly took their chance to impress. Easy qualification. Have to agree that being able to rest players is the glaring miss in international management in FM. Been a while since I last did international though. Central African Republic about 15 year ago. This is making me think about it.

OTP Bank Liga Matchday 6 Preview From the northeastern plains of Hungary, Mezokovesd find themselves in 6th in the OTP Bank Liga after 5 games. When Mezokovesd win they don't concede and when they lose they don't score. Along with those two contrasting facts, Kovesd go into the game against us having drawn 3-3 with Ferencvaros. They will be no pushovers. Attila Kuttor prefers a 4-4-2 that sits right in the middle when compared with the attacking efficiency of OTP Bank Liga teams. Kovesd score more than the average, but do also seem to concede a few, and have a good record from set pieces. Key on the creative front for Kovesd is Gabor Molnar, playing a similar role to either Kovacs in my squad. Molnar is the instigator of much of Kovesd's attacking play. He will have to be watched closely. We did, of course, beat Mezokovesd 4-0 in the Kupa final last season. Monthly Performance Analyst Report - Daniel Vajkai (Head Performance Analyst) Here we highlight our tendency to build from deep but dominate the midfield. This I don't get. Janos has a tackle completion ration of 57% overall this season. It is clearing with his head that Janos excels at, with a whopping 18.93 headers won per 90 minutes this season. Monthly Performance Review OTP Bank Liga Matchday 6 - MTK Budapest FC vs Mezőkövesd FC A few changes for MTK for the visit of Mezokovesd. Kovacsreti is preferred to Stieber and Miknyoczki to Poor. Horvath comes in for Medeiros and Zeke is chosen over Medgyes. We asked Nagain for any insight on these choices. "It is mostly just rotation. We have two games next week, Milan and Puskas Akademia, and it is my job to keep the squad fresh. I would like to see more chances taken up front though. Mark [Kovacsreti] can be more direct than Zoltan [Stieber] and Adam [Miknyoczki] will get forward often. There is some tactical thought in there too." For our own part, it is our thought that Mezokovesd are most creative on the left and maybe Nagain wants to target that side and utilise any space left by the influential Molnar. ~ 0 mins: Nearly a fantastic start for MTK. Straight from the kick off a ball is played over the top and Nemeth races on to to fire a shot that hits the upright. The MTK front man looks up for this. ~ 9 mins: MTK hit the post again. This time it's the head of Szabo. ~ 18 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Mezokovesd Mark Kovacsreti Mate Kovacs plays a simple ball out wide to Kovacsreti and the inside forward races in to the box to open the scoring and his account for the season. ~ 28 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 2-0 Mezokovesd Mark Kovacsreti Second of the game for Kovacsreti as he capialises on a defensive error to run in and score a near identical goal to his first. If Kovesd are to get anything from this game they need to improve. ~ 36 mins: Wonder save from Varga as he acrobatically tips Besirovic's shot wide. That's as good as a goal! ~ 46 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 3-0 Mezokovesd Krisztian Nemeth Played in by a superb Szabo through ball, Nemeth can't miss as he slides his shot udner the advancing goalkeeper. ~ Half Time: MTK 3-0 Mezokovesd MTK are dominant at the break. They have been great but have also been presented with great chances by poor Mezokovesd play. ~ 58 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 4-0 Mezokovesd Janos Szepe Szepe powers home a header from Kovacsreti's free kick to surely seal the game for MTK. It would take a miracle for Mezokovesd to come back now. VAR have a look but the goal is given. ~ 75 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 5-0 Mezokovesd Krisztian Nemeth Second goal of the game for Nemeth has he capitalises on a poor clearance to fire home at the near post. ~ 92 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 6-0 Mezokovesd Mark Kovacsreti And that's six! Mark Kovacsreti caps a phenomenal display with a cracking free kick from the edge of the D. That's his hattrick! A truly dominant display from us, and especially from Mark Kovacsreti. I challenge the team to go out and dominate and we did just that. We were first to every second ball today and our finishing was top draw. Bence Varga's wonder save at 2-0 was important too though and Szepe was crucially defensively. MTK Player of the Match: Who else can be my chosen today but Mark Kovacsreti. The IF has certainly pushed Zoltan Stieber down the pecking order. We stay in 2nd after that dominant win whilst another late win keeps Ferencevaros top and still unbeaten. Haladas move bottom after a big defeat to the former bottom club, Ujpest. And now we go in to another European week...and a trip to the San Siro.

I do believe there is a tick box that says you can apply for jobs. I don't have the game open but I wonder if it might specify nations allowed to manage in. Off the top of my head I can't think where it is for certain. I think it's in game status.

Monday 25th September 2023 Myself and Pandora had our first Monday together for some weeks today. We enjoyed a nice relaxing, and common fare, lunch at a small place we know near the river. We then decided that something we hadn't done before, since we arrived in Budapest, was to travel on the river. The weather is nice still in September so we jumped on one of the tourist boats that travel up the river. We knew the sights but it was nice to see them from a different angle. Pandora, for some reason, got a little buzz from pretending we were German tourists. She has been diving headlong into her work of late and I put it down to that. Although, maybe she is dizzy with joy still at my parent's vow renewing. As we were stood there, watching the river go by, a question popped in to my head. I don't know what possessed me. "Do you want to get married, my love?" "You're supposed to be German," she laughed. "Willst du heiraten, meine liebe?*" I bowed slightly and she blushed. What had come over me? My love giggled. Was there something in the tea? Neither of us are normally like this. "No. Not really." "I thought not", I said. "Why spend money to know you love someone? My parents haven't, unless you count the drinks and the cheap bar food." "It's their way." Pandora said. "It means a lot to your parents. Be happy for them." She paused for a moment. "You only asked that because your mother suggested it, didn't you?" Do women have a sixth sense? She was okay about it though. Just says I'm easily teased. Why do people think that? "Well..." I hestitated. We were good. *If that is not correct German I apologise. I used google. I, unlike Anton, am not polyglotic. MOL Magyar Kupa Draw We have drawn big in the cup, in a season we'd rather have it easier. Fehervar. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 5 Preview Revenge time. This is a different Haladas than we faced last season though, and they beat us in that last game as well. Haladas recruited well in the summer and bought in some very good players. They are struggling down in 7th with just the one win though. A win in the cup at the weekend will have given our opponents a brief motivational boost but I would suspect we are favourites in the eyes of the media. Haladas have been a little more defensive than attacking or creative this season and, against the league average, have a better record for tackles and passes. Haladas are clinical when they do reach the goal but they do that less than almost all teams. OTP Bank Liga Matchday 5 - Szombathelyi Haladas vs MTK Budapest FC MTK revert back to a full strength side. Mate Kovacs is chosen on the left after his great performance in the cup and Janos Szepe is back in defence. Patrik Poor makes his first appearance of the season at right back after recovering from injury. HT: Haladas 0-0 MTK MTK have been on top but it's been a game of relatively few good chances. 48 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Haladas 1-0 MTK Zoltan Derekas A poor goal to concede for MTK. Haladas have a free kick just outside the left side of the box. A quick ball is fired in to the poorly marked Derekas. He turns and fires home. A sluggish start to the second half for MTK. 62 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Haladas 1-1 MTK Balint Szabo Determined play from Mate Kovacs as he fights his way to the byeline and plays a perfect ball back for Balint Szabo to smash home. FT: Haladas 1-1 MTK That was a game that we should have won. We had so much more of the play and so many more efforts than Haladas. The goal we conceded was very poor and we were let down by a few subpar performances today. Nemeth can be great when on his game but we lack options when he is not. I am sorry to say that Daniel Zsori is not good enough back up. MTK Player of the Match: Mate Kovacs is again my choice. He set up the goal for Szabo with determined work and was dangerous throughout. Ferencvaros were 3-1 down at Mezokovesd today but rescued a point in the dieing minutes to preserve their unbeaten start to the season. Our point keeps us second as Ujpest held Puskas Akademia. All but Vasas beating Fehervar 1-0 was a draw today. I had hoped to do two games today but I shall have to leave it there for now. I hope the slightly more serious diary entry is enjoyed. That conversation came suddenly to me and I thought I'd go with it. Thanks to all who read. I have suddenly wondered if people would have recognised Anton wandering Budapest with his lover. To be fair though, if I were to recognise my favourite players about town I would leave them be to enjoy their day. Maybe Hungarians are more reserved than the many Brits who probably would pester the player or manager.

European Matchday 7 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - Preview Dnipro-1 are an organised team currently 7th in the Vbet Liha of Ukraine. My scouts think they will utilise a 4-4-2 against us and be strongest on the right. This means Sinan Medgyes could be busy and whichever Kovacs gets the nod here may be required to do more defending. We will face pace too and have to be switched on for a game I have seen the media suggest may be our toughest of the group. I'm not sure that's true but we'll go out and do our best. Magyar Kupa Draw I didn't mention that we had the draw for the Third Round of the Magyar Kupa. The match takes place a few days after the Dnipro game and we will face Kisujszallasi of the Hungarian Lower Leagues. Kisujszallasi are based in a tiny village about 90 miles east of Budapest and will provide us a chance to really test our youth. Wednesday 20th September 2023 I have gleaned the details of my parent's wedding from Rosina. For some reason my parents are being coy about the details to me. I don't know what they think I can do. It's not a wedding, as such. Not really. It will be just a gathering at which my parents renew their vows. There won't even be a priest. They're still married. They don't need a priest. Rosina thinks it is lovely, the soppy little mare. If it makes people happy then what's so bad about it though? It will be held at a local bar my father frequents. A wedding in a bar. Only my parents. European Matchday 7 - UEFA Europa Conference League - Group A - MTK Budapest vs Dnipro-1 Welcome to the Puskas Arena, the rearranged venue for this Europa Conference League game. Just the one change for MTK from the Debrecen game. Janos Szepe is struggling for fitness and has been replaced by Varju. 19 seconds: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-0 Dnipro-1 Sinan Medgyes What a start from MTK! Kovacs collects a ball over the top and lays it off to Medgyes who charges in on goal and fires in to the corner of the net. Medgyes was meant to be preoccupied with defending. That is his first goal for MTK. 15 mins: Dnipro are piling on the pressure now and have force Somodi in to two good saves. HT: MTK 1-0 Dnipro-1 A pretty even first half with the sides going in to just the one early MTK goal. Both keepers have made good saves to keep the game at 1-0. 66 mins: The game is still very even, with Somodi being forced in to another good save and MTK reverting to a little deeper a formation to hold to what they have. 68 mins: ⚽ GOAL! MTK 1-1 Dnipro-1 Felipe Pires Equaliser for Dnipro. Nazarenko beats Miles through sheer endeavour and plays a pass in to the unmarked Pires to slot home easily. Not the best defending from MTK. Nagain will be wondering why Pires was allowed so much freedom. 81 mins: Dnipro miss a sitter! Dovbyk, in acres of space, puts his shot wide of Somodi's goal. FT: MTK 1-1 Dnipro-1 I'll take that point. Dnipro did indeed show their quality in that game and only fine saves from Somodi and a missed sitter kept the scores level. It's small steps at this level. MTK Player of the Match: I'll give this to left back Sinan Medgyes today. His early goal just about seals the award over the dangerous Matyas Kovacs. Magyar Kupa Round Three Preview In to the unknown, then, as we travel to Kisujszallas. I have firmly decided fringe players and our most promising youth prospects will get a run out for this game. If we lose this then I'd be a little unhappy. There will be fans here, then? MOL Magyar Kupa Third Round - Kisújszállási SE vs MTK Budapest FC Mass changes and a brand new look for MTK. Senior players, Varga, Horvath and Stieber will look to make the difference. We asked Nagain if he was udnerestimating Kisujszallas. "Of course not", he said. "We will still have to be at our best to progress today. Our opposition will be up for this game but I do expect a win." 22 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Kisujszallas 0-1 MTK Zoltan Stieber It hs been all MTK, and there is the breakthrough. A lovely ball played through the defence by Mate Kovacs and Stieber is first to react. The keeper gets a hand to the ball but it bobbles over the line. 35 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Kisujszallas 0-2 MTK Daniel Zsori Kovacs finds Zsori with a quick ball over the top and the young forward dinks the keeper. 37 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Kisujszallas 0-3 MTK Artur Horvath Horvath breaks in to the box and slides the ball past the keeper and in to the back of the net. It's a hattrick of assists for Mate Kovacs. HT: Kisujszallas 0-3 MTK 82 mins: ⚽ GOAL! Kisujszallas 0-4 MTK Mate Balogh The substitutes team up for MTK. Barnabas Biben sets up Mate Balogh and the young striker makes no mistake with the finish. FT: Kisujszallas 0-4 MTK Budapest No mistake today. We got the goals we needed to secure the win and didn't give our opposition a sniff. A professional job. MTK Player of the Match: Mate Kovacs was simply outstanding on the left, getting a hattrick of assists to give us a dominant position at half time. Third teir Mako provided the shock of the round with goals from Vladul and Babolek giving them a great win over Kisvarda. Non league Lombard-Papa Termal FC stunned Merkantil Bank Liga side Mosonmagyarovar to progress. Another busy week on the horizon with OTP Bank Liga games against Haladas and Mezokovesd this coming week. A week later we have Standard and Honved. A lot of games to pack in to a short space of time. A lot of travel, too, with the Standard game in Belgium. I think Pandora would be shocked to hear you suggest she wear a hat plucked out of the crowd to her lover's parent's vow renewals. Pandora is a bohemian and a lady of impeccable fashion sense. Her words, you understand, but I fully endorse my love's position in Budapest circles as a woman of style and culture. Hats from the crowd!? Indeed. I'd do anything for my love, but not at the expense of my ears, you understand. Give her a fan's hat and my ears would melt. I couldn't even get her to wear what I thought was a rather chic MTK Ladies shirt. Not even in support of my team... ...She always said my fashion sense was lacking.

I feel I always learn something reading your tales. I like the way you narrow down the choices. Looking to the players of the future with PIno there. I'm not sure why I think it, but I always think of Deulofeu as a bit of a moody, temperamental player. I was always impressed with him in the PL. I can't recall if he left on bad terms and maybe something I read has influenced me. Might need to utilise the Pyrenees to stop Mbappe. Good luck.