Instantly under the microscope, Robbie Keane’s first meeting with the Ferencváros squad at a training camp in Spain this week was posted on YouTube.
“Do not be late,” said Keane, standing beside his assistant coach Rory Delap. “That’s one thing I do not like.
“We play with intensity, so be ready for it. Everyone has to be fit and every day ready to train. If we do that, I promise you, this group will go far.”
Like their title-winning season at Maccabi Tel Aviv, Keane and Delap are expected to bring immediate success to Ferencváros. Capturing a national championship is a non-negotiable demand for the seven-in-a-row chasing Budapest side: the biggest club in Hungary, they have won a record 35 Liga titles.
Progress to the Europa League knockout rounds is also part of the plan, with Keane’s first home match at the Groupama Arena against Troy Parrott’s AZ Alkmaar on January 30th heaping pressure on him and Delap.
Keane’s countries of choice for employment, Israel and now Hungary, have drawn attention due to the actions of each government under the leadership of Binyamin Netanyahu and Viktor Orbán, but the 44-year-old has steadfastly refused to discuss politics.
Perhaps he watched the stuttering managerial careers of his peers such as Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney (recently sacked by Plymouth), before deciding the consequences of failure in the EFL Championship came with too much risk.
Or perhaps he was not offered the opportunities in English football repeatedly granted to Lampard and Rooney. “You have to start somewhere,” he told the Israeli media in June 2023. Ireland’s record goalscorer appears to see big-budget Israeli and Hungarian clubs as a more realistic path.
Do not be late. Because Keane has work to do. The Ferencváros squad reappeared from their winter break with a friendly last night against German side SC Preußen Münster in La Manga, with results demanded by club ultras the Green Monsters, as all the tools are available for this state-sponsored giant of Hungarian football to deliver silverware.
“During the Kubatov era, the Ferencvárosi Torna Club received at least 80 per cent of its revenues, approximately 30 billion forints [€73 million], directly or indirectly thanks to the state between 2011 and 2019,” stated investigative newspaper Atlatszo in 2021.
Gábor Kubatov was elected Ferencváros president in 2011, around the same time he became a leading figure in Orbán’s government. “I have no sponsors behind me, only my integrity, and there is only one way for the FTC; clean, transparent management,” said Kubatov, a vice-president of the ruling Fidesz parliamentary party.
Soccer in Hungary has become part of the culture, something that it hasn’t been for many years because families and children didn’t want to come to the stadiums – and now they do
This prompted Atlatszo to note: “As we pored over the annual reports of the club he leads, it became increasingly clear: Ferencváros’s operations over the past 10 years contradict Kubatov’s promise.”
The article also highlighted his involvement with the club’s notorious 1990s ultra-group Kettes szektor (the 2nd Sector).
Ferencváros is controlled by its members but, under Kubatov’s presidency, the club has received millions of euros from local government bodies since buying out the majority stake of former Sheffield United owner Kevin McCabe in 2011. One nonsensical example is the state-owned Metropolitan Sewerage Works funneling €850,000 into the club.
“We are a Christian country, 1,000 years old,” Kubatov told football writer Jonathan Wilson. “We protect our heritage and history. We look after our culture and beliefs. We stopped migration at the border and we don’t allow gender ideology. As a result, Hungary has become the most secure country in Europe. You can walk safely at night in Hungarian cities.”
When Politico reported last year that Kubatov had brokered a sponsorship deal with Russia oil company Gazprom, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated: “The more international companies that invest in our sport, the better.”
In that sense, the appointment of Keane is a tiny piece in a giant geopolitical puzzle.
Everyone has to be fit and every day ready to train. If we do that, I promise you, this group will go far
“Kubatov is famous in Hungary and not just for football, he is a big politician,” said Bence Borbola, a columnist for Nemzeti Sport. “And he is intelligent, a gentle soul who is trying to build something lasting at Ferencváros.”
In 2016, as Uefa fines and suspensions were racked up due to crowd trouble, Kubatov waded into a dispute with the Green Monsters.
“Until around a decade ago, songs such as ‘The train is going to Auschwitz’ or monkey chants at African players were a regular occurrence in our stands, but then we decided we would declare war,” Kubatov revealed in 2021. “When I heard the racist chants, I gathered our most hardcore fans and tried to talk with them. I asked them, ‘Who really believes in these chants that you shout out at the stadium?’ They all raised their hands. I understood that there was a problem, and that talking wouldn’t achieve much.”
Individual supporters were targeted and banned from games, which led to a larger boycott of the Groupama. Some even turned up at Kubatov’s home and threatened his family.
“In the end, we succeeded, but the process is not yet over, it is one we continue to deal with all the time,” he continued. “Soccer in Hungary has become part of the culture, something that it hasn’t been for many years because families and children didn’t want to come to the stadiums – and now they do.”
We are a Christian country, 1,000 years old. We protect our heritage and history. We look after our culture and beliefs
Ferencváros is not the only club to benefit from Orbán’s football obsession. Their chief rivals for the title Puskás Akadémia play at the 3,800-capacity Pancho Arena in Felcsút, the prime minister’s childhood village of 1,800 people. In November 2023, Orbán invited Israel to host Switzerland in a Euros qualifier at the tiny stadium due to security concerns caused by the war with Hamas.
Hungary’s 9.6 million population continue to benefit from this state-led sporting renaissance: since 2010, 1,590 new pitches have been laid across the country, with another 2,800 refurbished.
The FAI has been seeking €51.2 million to lay a mere 128 new grass pitches and upgrade another 640 over the next 13 years. Using FAI metrics, the Hungarian government spent almost €400 million on pitches. Such figures, on top of the 40 stadiums created or rebuilt since 2013, show what Irish football is up against in the 2020s.
Keane’s challenge is emphasised by the fact that his predecessor, Dutch coach Pascal Jansen, struggled to draw performances from a talented squad before leaving to manage New York FC.
“The team has two faces,” said Borbola. “They are relatively successful in the Europa League, but less so in the Championship. The results are okay but performances at the end of last season were poor. It is still a very strong team, even if players need to be sold from a squad of almost 40.”
The January transfer window could weaken Keane’s hand, especially if Barnabás Varga goes to Torino or another Italian club. Varga also leads the line for the Hungarian national side, and while Matheus Saldanha has 12 goals this season, the Brazilian’s conditioning is questionable.
“The goalkeeper, Dénes Dibusz, is also very important to Keane because everyone at the club listens to him,” added Borbola. “Dibusz is smart, even away from football with his investments and an economics diploma, but on the pitch he is crucial to them winning the title.”
Ferencváros have a history of appointing big-name players like Dejan Stanković and Serhiy Rebrov early in their managerial careers. Keane is similar, essentially trading on the league and cup trophies he won during 53 matches at Maccabi. In Budapest’s ninth district, only silverware will suffice.
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