Winter rumblings in Slovakia

By Stanislav Hlavácek

Slovakian football is deep into its winter break but most of the clubs have already begun their preparations for the restart on 5 March.

New coach
Several clubs will be training in the Slovak mountains before heading to warmer climes abroad. One man who will be particularly hard at work during the closed-season is FK Dukla Banská Bystrica's new coach Václav Danek, the former Czechoslovakia player who has taken charge of the team as expected.

Bukač caught
Danek, who scored more than 100 league goals during his playing career, made FK Pardubice forward Radek Bukač his first signing. While Banská Bystrica are seventh in the table, they are only nine points behind league leaders FC Artmedia Bratislava, and could yet challenge for a top spot in 2005.

Suchánek moves
Artmedia have also been busy in the transfer market and they are expected to announce the signing of four young players from relegated local rivals ŠK Slovan Bratislava soon. Meanwhile, the club have allowed forward Ladislav Suchánek to join sixth-placed FK AS Trencín.

Trencín trialists
Suchánek is unlikely to be the only new boy at Trencín this winter as the club have a handful of young players on trial with a view to signing. Meanwhile, the return of full-back Alexander Homér from a loan spell with Czech club 1. FC Slovácko will provide further competition within the squad.

Dubnica old boys
In second place at the winter break, FK ZTS Dubnica have also brought back some familiar faces. Striker Peter Kiška is back in the fold following a brief spell with Moldova's FC Sheriff Tiraspol, while midfield player Juraj Dovicovic has returned following a sojourn in Sweden with Djurgårdens IF.

Žilina changes
Third-placed MŠK Žilina have also been busy with Jozef Šuran stepping down as the club's assistant coach to be replaced by Milan Nemec. Two decades ago, Nemec was a team-mate of Žilina coach Ladislav Jurkemik at Banská Bystrica. His 19-year-old son Adam Nemec, a promising striker, is also at Žilina.

Durica comeback
Nemec is not to be the only newcomer at the club during the winter break, as Žilina have already announced the return of midfield player Tomáš Durica, following a spell in Russia and at Dubnica, and are also set to sign another midfield man, Ivan Belák, from FK Púchov.

Sninský to leave
However, Žilina's dreams of winning a fourth successive Slovakian title may yet be hampered by the departure of defender Dušan Sninský, who is expected to join Polish Ekstraklasa side Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski during the winter transfer window.