2015-2016 Year in Review

A difficult season ends with a second place finish.

The Hungarian FA introduced a new structure to the league season as the 2015-2016 campaign kicked off. A total of 12 teams competed for the league title with each team facing the other three times over the course of the season. 

Several changes took place over the summer with Joan Carrilo being replaced by Frenchman Bernard Casoni. His coaching team consisted of Rodolphe Duvernet as fitness coach and Tamas Peto. Imre Biro was named goalkeeping coach. Adidas became the kit supplier for the season ahead. 

Plenty of movement with key players leaving

Summer signing included defender Adam Lang, midfielders Mate Patkai and Tamas Koltai, while forward Gergely Rudolf also arriving. There was a season long loan deal for Alhassane Soumah, who came in from Juventus and keeper Branislav Danilovics who arrived from the Puskas Academy. Filipe Oliveira signed a new two year extension, with keeper Filip Pajovic also signing on the dotted line for a further year. 

Further additions included Zsolt Poloskei and Asmir Suljic, while defender Loic Nego and keeper Adam Kovacsik moved to Szekesfehervar. Defender Stopira returned with a new deal and Adrian Szekeres moved up to join the first team squad. Roland Juhasz signed a new three year deal to remain with Videoton. 

There were several departures with keeper Juan Calatayud leaving. He was joined by midfielder Gyorgy Sandor and forwards Nemanja Nikolics and Arturo Alvarez. Tomoas Tujvel moved to DAC on a season long loan deal.

Further departures saw Kees Luijckx and Remi Mareval leave the club. Forward Marko Pajac became a free transfer and Tamas Koltai joined Paks on loan.

Short journey in Europe

The 23 man squad headed for pre-season training at their Austrian training camp. That started on the 15th June and included pre-season friendly matches. The first competitive game of the season was the Super Cup final and a game against Ferencvaros. The Budapest side emerged 3-0 winners. Vidi entered the Champions League at the Q2 stage and a two-legged affair with Welsh side The New Saints. A 1-0 away leg win was followed up with a 1-1 draw at the Sostoi stadium to secure progress into the next round.FK BATE Borisov were next up and the two sides shared out a 1-1 draw in Hungary. The second leg saw the Belarus side go through in the return leg. That meant Europa League football for the red and blues. Vidi suffered a 3-0 loss in Poland against Lech Poznan. The second leg ended in a 1-0 defeat, which meant a 4-0 aggregate win. 

Bad start is followed by a second place finish

The season kicked off at the home of Honved and a single goal defeat. Haladas escaped with all three points after their 1-0 win at the Sostoi. Two late goals in Miskolc saw Vidi come from behind to get their first three points. Ferencvaros won 3-1 at the Sostoi as the difficult start to the season continued. First division newcomers Vasas beat Vidi 2-1 in Budapest to signal major changes to follow. 

Sports Director Gyozo Burcsa left the club, together with manager Bernard Casoni. He was joined by fellow Frenchman Rodolphe Duvernet. New Sports Director Zoltan Kovacs arrived to the club and quickly appointed Tamas Peto as temporary manager. He was to be assisted by Gusztav Vajda.

However, the new coaching team found things difficult early on and a Kanta penalty gave MTK a 1-0 win. That saw Vidi fall further in the league table but a good 1-0 home win over Debrecen halted the decline. There was a 2-0 defeat at the home of Paks to follow but Ujpest were comfortably beaten 3-0 in Szekesfehervar. The inconsistency continued as Vidi lost 2-0 away at Bekescsaba. The month ended with a 3-2 win over the Puskas Academy. 

October saw new manager Ferenc Horvath arrive at the club. He brought Tamas Szamosi with him and Tamas Peto continued to serve on the coaching staff. The new coaching team saw their side beat Honved 3-0 to signal a good start. However, the red and blues went down 1-0 away at Haladas. DVTK were beaten 2-1, with further wins coming against Vasas and MTK. 

Ferencvaros again emerged as winners when the two met at the Groupama Arena. However, a good 2-1 away win at the home of Debrecen brought delight to the travelling supporters. The final match of the autumn season saw Vidi beat Paks 1-0. It was also the final match at the grand old Sostoi stadium before the bulldozers moved in. Krisztian Geresi scored the final goal at the stadium to secure three points. That saw Vidi go into the winter break in a much better third place. December saw the stadium demolished. 

Final eight in the Hungarian cup

The battle in the Hungarian cup began with wins against TARR Andrashida and Haladas. A goal from Istvan Kovacs secured a place in the next round.

Little action in the winter transfer window

The winter transfer window saw Zsolt Haraszti return to Ferencvaros. Patrik Tischler came in on loan from the Puskas Academy for the remainder of the season.

Adam Gyurcso's contract expired in the winter and he left the club. Macedonian forward Mirko Ivanovski also left with the club and player mutually breaking the contract. Midfielder Laszlo Kleinheisler moved to German side Werder Bremen, while defender Adrian Szekeres moved to Gyirmot. Keeper Filip Pajovics moved to the Puskas Academy, with another keeper Tamas Horvath also heading out on loan to Mezokovesd. Forward Gergely Rudolf left the club in March. 

The stadium continued to be demolished into the winter months. The famous old scoreboard and floodlights were brought down to their knees.

Indifferent Spring - but second place finish!

The start to the second half of the season did not go according to plan with a 1-0 defeat at Ujpest. Vidi managed only a point at home to Bekescsaba. That was the first league game at Vidi's temporary new home of the Pancho Arena in Felcsut. A winning goal in the 95th minute secured three points, with a Feczesin header being the difference.  Vidi moved up to the top three after a 2-1 win over Haladas. Disogyőr kept the three points at home in Miskolc after winning 2-1. Another draw with Bekescsaba followed while the month ended with a goaless draw with the Puskas Academy. With seven games left of the season, Vidi suffered a 2-1 defeat away at Honved to slip down to fifth in the table. 

The team then moved up a gear and went on a good run of results to move up the OTP league table. Debrecen were beaten 1-0 at home while Vidi came away with a point against Vasas. The red and blues were 1-0 winners away at Paks and the points were shared when Ferencvaros were the opponents towards the end of the season. That saw Videoton sitting in third place in the league table. 

A big home win against MTK saw five goals being scored in a good 5-0 win. The final league game of the season brought a 3-0 away win at Ujpest. That clinched a good second place finish for Ferenc Horvath's side.

Author: David Rechnitzer

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