Košice Football: Fašek Exit & League Struggles | Denník N

Imagine a club that represents Slovakia in the European cup, even in the first match of the qualification of the Conference League, they are leading 2-0 after a quarter of an hour.

Then the club, which is at the bottom of the league table throughout the autumn and has only 7 points after 15 autumn rounds out of 18.

And a club that during the first half of the season changes two sports directors, three head coaches, and one of its leading representatives leaves after the steps of the management.

This is the half-year story of one club. Despite everything, FC Košice finished the league autumn in penultimate place, one point ahead of Skalica.

They were eliminated from Europe after a fight with the Belarusian club Neman Grodno, but in the last home match they beat Slovan Bratislava and ended the season with a win in Komárno.

“In the line-up with Michal Fašek, I think Košice would advance through Grodno and today they would not be in danger of relegation,” Šport.sk editor Daniel Dedina tells Denník N.

The departure of Fašek – today the leader of Žilina, the best scorer and the most productive player in the league (12 goals, 7 assists), a member of the wider national team – foreshadowed the events at the Košice club. The way it happened and the weak reaction to his replacement.

“The extension of Fašk’s contract came down to matters of principle,” adds Andrej Zvolenský, a commentator and one of the members of the Bavme sa o league podcast, for Denník N.

In the text you will read:

• where they made the biggest mistakes in the construction of the staff in Košice;
• why coaches Roman Skuhravý and František Straka had to quit;
• about management disputes with sports director Marek Sapar;
• what players they need to sign in the spring if they want to save themselves.

What happened in the summer

The Košice squad underwent a relatively large restructuring after a successful last season. In it, the team led by Roman Skuhravý played in a group for the title. Finally, after the expulsion of Dunajská Streda from the Conference League, they were also given the opportunity to start in cup Europe under controversial circumstances.

The management signed up to 11 new players between seasons:

• the Senegalese Amadou Aidara (who has not yet played a single minute), the Spaniard Erlantz Palacín and Matej Madleňák came to the defense;
• in reserve Milan Dimun, Austrian Mario Pejazic, player from Sierra Leone Osman Kakay, Austrian Emilian Metu and Hungarian Mátyás Kovács;
• Adam Goljan, Milan Rehuš and Montenegrin Vladimir Perišić in attack.

“On paper, the reinforcements didn’t look bad at all. They were overwhelmingly young and dynamic footballers with an interesting resume,” says Dedina, mentioning by name:

“Kovács, who was very productive at the beginning, jumped in very well. Even Perišić did not look bad in the premiere. Rehuš has been showing himself in a good light in the last few games, and there is also goalkeeper Dabrowski, who started with a caught penalty.”

To clarify: Pole Maciej Dabrowski only strengthened the club at the end of November after the arrival of the new sports director. He came from the Scottish Premier League club Raith, where he did not catch a single game during the current season.

Commentator Andrej Zvolenský was much more critical of Košice’s reinforcements: “As the classic said, let’s not call those players reinforcements – they are