Britski Belasi

Fresh from a 6-0 win over Pezinok, Slovan Bratislava travelled over the border and an hour down the highway to Hungary’s sixth city for their second friendly of this winter break.  This fixture paired both Slovakia & Hungary’s 2nd-placed teams, but had very much the feel of a mid-week training ground run-out, with the exception of a brief caffufle 5 minutes from time, involving-for Slovan’s part Radek Dousoudil & Momodou Bagayoko.

Slovan take the field in their white 'friendly' kit

Slovan started with a more experimental XI than against Pezinok, notably young striker Karol Meszároš appearing up-front alongside Juraj Halenar.  Meszároš looked as accomplished a player as many of his colleagues, and was a good example of the ‘close pass-and-move’ style teams try to adopt on the artificial surfaces used for these winter-friendly matches.  Unfortunately you fear come Spring back on the grass and with the physical nature of many of the Corgon Liga defences, we’ll be back to more of a long ball style game.

Slovan had the best of the opening exchanges, once again Marko Milinkovic and Erik Grendel standing out in midfield.  There was no real threat on goal though, perhaps Slovan’s play was rather too intricate to produce any real moments of danger.  Milinkovic did test the keeper with a curler from outside the box, apart from that Győr’s defence were relatively comfortable throughout.  It took a mix-up between Meszároš and Jánošík on the right of midfield to leave Slovan’s defence totally out of position, and a quick counter attack saw the hosts take the lead mid-way through the half.

vantage points at a premium

I would like to say more about the hosts, but unfortunately it seems like these friendly games are really not geared up with the spectator in mind.  OK it’s free, but decent vantage points are impossible to come by when forced to stand on the outside of a netted training pitch.  No tannoy announcements, no team-sheets, and no score-board – information is not easy to come by.  Győr’s facilities are impressive, today’s match took place in the shadow of their 16,000 capacity stadium, presumably being better used now the team are performing well at the top of the Hungarian league.  Győr are subject of a UEFA ban up to the 2013/14 season due to a breach of licensing regulations, but it’s not hard to imagine Champions League football at this venue.  Today however, they looked distinctly average, presumably just starting out in their mid-season preparations as their first competitive match is not until 3rd March against Szombathely Haladazs.

ETO Park

Slovan rang the changes at half time.  Filip Šebo joined Ondrej Smetana up front, in what could become the new strike-partnership preferred by Weiss (but not necessarily by me!)  Smetana, discussed in James’ transfer update and my Pezinok report, has his qualities, but somehow I struggle to see him becoming a prolific goalscorer for Slovan this Spring.  He may create chances for Šebo, but I can only see this partnership adding to the fans’ frustrations by conceding numerous needless fouls and offside offences.

Győr’s Slovak left-back Otto Szabó (formerly of Slovan, DAC and Petrzalka) clearly enjoyed playing against his former club.   Szabó marked Šebo on the whole without too many problems, although Šebo’s run through and shot-come-cross deflected off Szabó’s hand and into the path of Halenar who tapped in the equaliser with ease.  Czech-Hungarian Marek Střeštík on loan from Zbrojovko Brno also caught the eye in the second half.  The Hungarian outfit certainly have an eclectic mix of nationalities – English apparently the language of choice for several of the squad.

Bagayoko, Dousoudil and Cikos were all introduced by Slovan in the second half, the latter apparently picking up an elbow injury.  This also wasn’t Bagayoko’s day, after his single-handed destruction of Pezinok, he seemed to be on a totally different wavelength to the players he linked so well with last weekend.  Continuous gesticulating in the direction of Milinkovic and Šebo and petty arguments with the opposition didn’t help his or Slovan’s cause, and he even received a yellow card for backchat to the ref.   Then there was his contribution the needless fracas at the end, I hope Momo cools off and puts his weekend boots back on for next Saturday’s visit of Slavia Prague.

After 65 minutes, we also saw the introduction of Niku Piliev, a 20-year-old CSKA Moscow midfielder trialing with Slovan this winter.  Apparently Piliev was highly rated as he came through in Russia, but his career seems to have stalled in the last couple of years.  He has Champions League experience, but failed to impress the scouts at Slavia Prague and doesn’t seem to be making the grade in the Russian Premier League.  He showed some good touches, an aggressive run down the wing, so this one could go either way.  I understand Slovan will make a decision on whether to take him to Spain after Saturday’s match with Slavia.

1-1 it finished, both teams satisfied I suppose with the outcome of a match that really I can only justify my attendance at by the fact I was driving past Győr today anyway.

150-hardy souls?

Finally, continuing the Slovak-Hungarian theme, a quick mention of Filip Kiss, on loan at Cardiff City from Slovan this season. Kiss is celebrating reaching a Wembley final in his first season in ‘England’ (Wales).  Kiss was leading the celebrations at Cardiff knocked out Crystal Palace last night on penalties.  Although usually used from the bench, Kiss is something of a cult-hero at Cardiff already, and I can only assume will be signing on a permanent deal this summer.  Congratulations!

The winter seems to be dragging on and the restart of the Corgoň Liga season feels as far away as ever but there at least one or two more pieces of transfer news to round up.

MŠK Žilina are understandably pleased with the capture of Togolese centre-back Serge Ognadon Akakpo from Slovenian club NK CM Celje. Akakpo has also played for French side Auxerre (where he made 33 Ligue 1 appearances) and FC Vaslui of Romania and Žilina will surely be hoping that he will help solidify a defence that looked shaky at times last autumn. Akakpo is the current captain of the Togo national team and his career has already been touched by tragedy – he was on the team-bus which was ambushed  prior to the start of the 2010 African Nations Cup in Angola.

Slovan Bratislava finally said their goodbyes to Freiburg-bound Karim Guédé last week. According to the player, they did so in a friendly fashion, despite the club’s anger when he didn’t turn up for their first winter training session. Guédé and his new team-mates, who include Slovakia international Erik Jendrišek, have a big task on their hands this spring if they are to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga, but a 1-0 win over Augsburg last weekend – Guédé wasn’t included in the squad for that game – was a step in the right direction.

Slovan quickly found a near like-for-like replacement for Guédé, in the shape of international midfielder Kamil Kopúnek. Kopúnek is best remembered for the delicate chip, just seconds after coming on as a substitute, which gave Slovakia a 3-1 lead over Italy in the last World Cup, but his career has taken a couple of unfortunate turns since then. Immediately the tournament was over, he left Spartak Trnava for Saturn Moscow, who soon lost their place in the Russian league due to bankruptcy. Then came an 18-month spell at Italian club Bari, but they too now face financial collapse, with Kopúnek among the players to have his contract ‘terminated by mutual consent’. Still, provided economic ruin really isn’t stalking the clubs he signs for, Kopúnek ought to be one of those who, like Miroslav Karhan, proves far too good for most Corgoň Liga opponents.

Another Slovan signing is Czech striker Ondřej Smetana. He has arrived on loan from Belgian club Sint Truiden, for whom he played just seven games last autumn following his move from Senica. Slovan will hope Smetana rediscovers the prolific form he showed during Senica’s fantastic run last spring. Tall, strong and awkward, he certainly makes the long-ball game a viable option.

Other noteworthy moves include Ivan Hodúr’s from Nitra to Polish club Zaglebie Lubin and Marek Janečka’s from Vion Zlaté Moravce to German second tier side Hansa Rostok. Hodúr, a former Slovak international and a very tidy midfielder, will be missed in the Corgoň Liga but his transfer is certainly no surprise, especially considering that he’d fallen out with the management at Nitra and that Pavel Hapal, a former Nitra (and Žilina) coach, is in charge at Lubin. Like Guédé, Hodúr is joining a relegation battle as Lubin are rooted to the foot of the Ekstraklasa

Janečka, meanwhile, is teaming up with compatriot Marek Mintál in northern Germany. His new employers will hope he’s brought his defensive assurance with him from Slovakia. A goal or two like the one he put away in Žilina back in September – a clinical finish following an improbably mazy run from the halfway line – would help as well because, having scored just 13 goals in their 19 matches so far this season, Rostok find themselves second from bottom of their league.

Obviously we don’t know yet whether Akakpo, Kopúnek or Smetana will have club success to celebrate come May, or whether Guédé, Hodúr or Janečka will help their new sides avoid relegation. But good luck to all of them in their new challenges.

James Baxter

Slovan Bratislava made light work of their first friendly assignment of the year with a Saturday morning stroll against Pezinok of Division 2 West.  Pezinok aren’t regular opponents for Slovan, and I wonder if this match was organised after the friendly relationship struck up between the two clubs when they met in the 3rd round of the cup back in September.  That day Pezinok made Slovan work hard for a 0-1 victory, Filip Sebo scoring the only goal in front of a packed stadium.  Sebo was nowhere to be seen today, but Slovan coach Vladimir Weiss started the match with what must be considered not far short of a full-strength XI.

New signings Kamil Kopunek and Andrej Smetana both started, along with Dosoudil and Kladrubsky in defence, Bagayoko and Jánošík, Pauschek on the flanks, Milinkovic and Grendel in midfield and Juraj Halenar loosely accompanying Smetana up front.  Kopunek joined Slovan this week as a free agent after a brief and fairly unspectacular spell with AS Bari in Italy following his rise to fame at the 2010 World Cup.  Kopunek was born in Trnava and made 196 appearances for his home-town club between 2002-2011.  Spartak fans say he will face ‘hell’ when Slovan face Trnava and obviously don’t accept lightly his decision to join their bitter rivals from the capital.  Kopunek becomes just the 10th player in over 60 years to join Slovan after playing for Trnava.

Smetana joined Slovan on loan from little known Belgian outfit Sint-Truiden.  He was a regular scorer in the Corgon Liga for FK Senica a couple of years ago but struggled to make an impact in Belgium.  At 6’6″ he adds height to the Slovan front-line especially alongside Halenar, but that’s about all I can say for him after this performance.  He did score a deflected goal but missed numerous chances, worryingly most of them with his head after Momodou Bagayoko repeatedly skinned the Pezinok left back and delivered quality service into the box.

Slovan hit the field running and while this was only the first friendly match in a full program leading up to the Corgon Liga restart on 25-Feb they played with an impressive focus and intent.  Kopunek, Milinkovic and Grendel were too strong for the Pezinok midfield and repeatedly brought Bagayoko into the game distributing to his flank from all areas.  Bagayoko was simply way too good for the opposition and created havoc down the right wing.  At least 3 of the 4 first half goals were a direct result of his contribution.  The fourth was an impressive curling shot from outside the box from Bagayoko’s opposite full-back Lukas Pauschek.

Around 350 spectators showed up on a bright but cold Saturday morning, far more than this artificial pitch is designed to host.  Vantage points were best found standing on rolled up astro-turf and I do hope they play next week’s more attractive fixture against Slavia Prague at a more appropriate venue.

It was 4-0 to Slovan at HT and after a quick turn-around it was almost straight from the restart that another wing-back, Peter Štepanovský added the 5th.  Obviously there were several substitutions in the second half with appearances for the little known Čermák, Meszáros and Szarka and Slovan’s dominance rescinded as the match wore on and the wind got colder.  Szarka added the 6th in the 80th minute to close out a job well done for Slovan.

Credit to Pezinok who came into the match a bit more in the second half, but they really didn’t trouble Hrosso in Slovan’s goal.  The gulf in class was no more evident than by looking at the two substitutes benches.  Slovan had a whole army of substitutes, trainers and coaches all kitted out in the Adidas training gear, while Pezinok had arrived in a mini-bus, only had 2 subs and played in a kit which doesn’t even display their club badge.

Interesting points for me today were that Kladrubsky was playing in defence, possibly a sign of Weiss’ intentions to better make use of Slovan’s most expensive signing in the second half of the season.  Secondly, If Smetana can only perform like this on his debut against a very mediocre opposition, he won’t add anything to Slovan’s front-line this Spring.  Finally, although hard to judge at this early stage, Kamil Kopunek could possibly be a very good signing – one capable of filling the gap left by Karim Guede’s departure.

Next up for Slovan, Gyor away and Slavia at home, before they depart for sunnier, warmer climes out in Valencia.  A promising start, but plenty of work to be done.

Eleven Corgoň Liga clubs are now in the midst of their preparations for this season’s spring phase. Potential new signings have been given trials and, in some cases, contracts, players have been released, training is in full-swing and the first winter friendlies are being anticipated.

At the 12th club, however, none of this has happened. The players and staff of DAC Dunajská Streda have not reported back for duty and it is, at present, far from certain that the club will be able to fulfil its remaining league fixtures. The reasons for this state of affairs are complex but essentially come down to a dispute between the club’s board, headed by  president  Khashayar Mohseni, and the town authority, a minority shareholder in the club, led by mayor Zoltan Hájos.

From Mohseni’s perspective, the authority is at fault for reneging on a contract signed by him and former mayor Peter Pázmány in 2008. Under the terms agreed then, Mohseni effectively moved FC Senec to Dunajská Streda, a town where ethnic Hungarians form the majority of the population. Pázmány, meanwhile, committed the local government to providing financial support to the club for the following 50 years. In the eight months since Hájos became mayor, however, funds have not been forthcoming. The resulting shortfall, Mohseni claims, has meant that financial commitments to players cannot be met, essential work on the stadium cannot be undertaken and winter training cannot begin on time.

Hájos, naturally, takes a different view. He insists that whenever a local authority agrees to provide financial assistance to a private enterprise such as a football club, it also has the right to scrutinise the ways in which the funding is used. He is also demanding to know whether DAC’s majority shareholders are meeting their own commitments and claims that fans, and the people of Dunajská Streda in general, have lost all faith in Mohseni’s running of the club.

There is no question that the fans are unhappy. A huge poster recently put up near the DAC ground shows a man, who may or may not have been intended to resemble Mohseni, wearing sunglasses and smoking a fat cigar. The Hungarian text next to the picture reads ‘don’t let our club fall prey to fraudsters‘. Crowds have fallen dramatically over the last two years – from around 5,000 to just 1,500 or so – and several matches have been boycotted. 

Mohseni and Hájos appear to agree on one thing ; both say that their wish is for the people of Dunajská Streda to be able to enjoy Corgon Liga football for the foreseeable future. But Hájos has reacted badly to an ultimatum set by Mohseni for the authority to make an agreement with him on a resolution of the crisis by January 17th (next Tuesday). He also strongly refutes Mohseni’s suggestion that the club has become a victim of local political infighting, suggesting that the parties running the town-hall have acted far more professionally than the people in charge at DAC.

Sympathy for DAC will be limited among those who despise franchises. The switch from Senec was, after all, made purely for reasons of finance, convenience and a ready-made fan-base. But the club has given the league a bit of variety over the last three years or so, as well as showcasing some interesting playing talents, notably Leonard Kweuke, now of Sparta Prague, and Michal Gašparík, who went to Gornik Zabrze last year and is now on loan at Trnava. If, and it is a big ‘if‘, DAC are still intact by the time spring comes around, they can start tackling their next challenge – climbing off the bottom of the Corgoň Liga.

 James Baxter

No doubt most football fans in the Czech and Slovak Republics will know that the annual indoor tournament, Fortuna Víkend Šampionov, due to be held in Bratislava this Sunday, has been cancelled at the request of the mayor of  Nové Mesto, the district of the city where Štadión Ondreja Nepelu, the venue for the championship, is located. Rudolf Kusý says that his priority is the safety of people and their property and that UFA Slovakia, the tournament organisers, had failed to put in place certain conditions which would have guaranteed this.

The tournament, held in Prague in previous years, was to involve Slovak clubs Slovan Bratislava, Spartak Trnava and MŠK Žilina along with three sides from the Czech capital in Sparta, Slavia and Bohemians. In truth, sensible people were raising eyebrows at such a guest-list from the very start. Trnava fans caused serious disorder at matches in the Tipsport League, another supposedly ‘friendly’ cross-border tournament, last January and the club‘s bitter rivalry with Slovan, as well as the fact that Žilina fans were involved in trouble at their team’s Corgoň Liga match at Trnava in November, never augured well.

The organisers are accused of breaking a law which states that standing tickets must not be sold for an event deemed a ‘security risk’ at which more than 5,000 spectators are expected to be present. In fact, 7,200 tickets had already been sold, including for standing areas of the stadium. Furthermore, according to the head of the Bratislava police, Trnava themselves had already sold over 1,200 tickets, including an estimated 200 to people believed to represent a particular risk. The police also say they had been monitoring internet discussions between Trnava and Slovan fans and felt these gave rise to the belief that fights were being planned to take place in the city on the day of the tournament.

Kusý and the police maintain too that other aspects of tournament preparation were inadequate. They say that properly segregated areas for fans of each of the six competing sides had not been provided for and that, despite warnings of potential public order problems in and around the venue, the numbers of stewards and other security staff had not been increased.

Technically, the organisers could appeal against Kusý’s decision but, with just three days to go before the tournament was due to take place and tomorrow a public holiday in Slovakia, such a prospect would appear remote.

Reaction from the competing clubs is varied.  Sparta’s Head of Communication, Ondřej Kasík, says that his biggest priority is ensuring that all the club’s fans who were planning to travel are properly informed of what is to happen. Slovan are concerned by the fact that those players selected for the tournament were due to report for training duty tomorrow, four days before the rest of the squad. Presumably, the entire squad will not now start their pre-season preparations until next week. Pavel Hoftych, Trnava’s coach is sanguine, saying that he understands the security concerns and that the cancellation won’t disrupt his team’s training plan too much. The angriest reaction comes from Žilina, where Director of Football Karol Belaník talks of  ‘another national embarrassment’. Those who recall the fiasco of the cancelled Deaf Winter Olympics, due to be held in Slovakia last year, will know what Belaník means.

If I can be allowed a personal opinion, I’m with Kusý and the police on this. There might have been mistakes in the process by which they reached their decision but the decision itself, given the evidence we have and without anything resembling a satisfactory response from the organisers, looks like a sensible one – far more sensible than the idea of bringing Slovan, Trnava, Žilina and others together for a ‘friendly’ tournament without seriously attempting to make it difficult for the undesirables amongst their followings to be present.   

James Baxter