Marked for Henrique Devens
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Nov 2027
Simón Ramírez breaks a bone — 45 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Jablonec may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match13 Nov 2027
The run at home goes on for Jablonec
12 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jablonec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Cedidla is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Oct 2027
Damjan Đoković damages knee ligaments — 57 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 57 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match16 Oct 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation CFR Cluj did not have in the autumn.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” CFR Cluj may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CFR Cluj this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Meriton Korenica falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
Simón Ramírez breaks a bone — 77 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match16 Oct 2027
Whatever happens, Jablonec do not lose
12 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Simón Ramírez: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jablonec have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match16 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Jablonec's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Jablonec has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jablonec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Cedidla is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match16 Oct 2027
The goals have deserted Jablonec
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jablonec can tell you which week it ends in.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Marked 7.10 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Jablonec had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Damjan Đoković
138 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CFR Cluj lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match7 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for CFR Cluj
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CFR Cluj this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Henrique Devens has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at CFR Cluj training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrian Păun is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Damjan Đoković
145 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CFR Cluj lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market2 Aug 2027
CFR Cluj say no — this time
The offer from Pandurii for Simão Rocha was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match31 Jul 2027
5 matches without a win for CFR Cluj
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around CFR Cluj are no longer polite ones.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Sheriff Sinyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Alin Fică runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Aug 2027
32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at CFR Cluj training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Meriton Korenica is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market2 Aug 2027
Tidiane Keita is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at CFR Cluj has been clear about where Tidiane Keita stands, which is more than many ever get.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Marked 7.85 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, CFR Cluj had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Aug 2027
Nicolás Millán damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad2 Aug 2027
325 appearances across 9 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Jablonec know what they have.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Jan Chramosta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexis Alégué is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match31 Jul 2027
Slovacko left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jul 2027
Nicolás Millán damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jablonec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 39 days on the sidelines for Henrique Devens, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match24 Jul 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Filip Zorvan. 2‑0 against Mlada Boleslav, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jul 2027
Nicolás Millán damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jul 2027
Jablonec say no — this time
The offer from Dinamo Bucharest for Henrique Devens was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market19 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Jan Chramosta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Graduation day at Jablonec
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
Nicolás Millán damages knee ligaments — 114 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 114 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jablonec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Nemanja Tekijaški falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Henrique Devens
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. TSC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what TSC can pretend not to have heard.
Match6 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for TSC
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Nikola Simić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match6 Feb 2027
3 matches without a goal for TSC
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Henrique Devens
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. TSC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match30 Jan 2027
5 matches without a win for TSC
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around TSC are no longer polite ones.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at TSC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Capan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at TSC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nemanja Žunić, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Henrique Devens
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. TSC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match23 Jan 2027
4 matches without a win for TSC
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around TSC are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at TSC
Slobodan Urošević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Nikola Simić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Milan Radin gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market25 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. TSC will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Marked 6.97. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Henrique Devens
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jablonec lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jablonec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Alexis Alégué falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Tomáš Wiesner
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
The afternoon belonged to Filip Zorvan
A mark of 7.80, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match16 Jan 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Marked 5.13, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Loan watch18 Jan 2027
15 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Henrique Devens
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Jablonec lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market11 Jan 2027
Jablonec say no — this time
The offer from Banik Ostrava for Ebrima Singhateh was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. David Nykrín has agreed terms with Bohemians 1905 for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Jan Chramosta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A move Josh Briggs would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Josh Briggs is living that version at Jablonec, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market11 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Henrique Devens again, and this time the name on the line is TSC. Jablonec are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexis Alégué is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match9 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
Daniel Tetour damages knee ligaments — 95 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 95 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Slavia Prague, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Jan Chramosta was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexis Alégué is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Jablonec are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Jablonec dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.