Marked for Maksym Dykyi
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Jul 2030
14 matches without a win for Zlin
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Zlin are no longer polite ones.
Market29 Jul 2030
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zlin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
The offer went to Teplice this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
Fee done, terms next for Din Sula
Zlin and Zbrojovka Brno have settled on $350.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match27 Jul 2030
The goals have deserted Zlin
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zlin can tell you which week it ends in.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
Slovacko wanted more than $5.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Patrik Vydra 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 May 2030
Vladimir Soucek has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Zlin can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market6 May 2030
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zlin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 May 2030
A fracture rules Michael Brázda out for 87 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zlin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad6 May 2030
“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; Zlin are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad6 May 2030
A falling-out at Zlin
Antonín Křapka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 May 2030
Patrik Vydra 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.
The dugout6 May 2030
The manager's exit leaves Patrik Vydra exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Patrik Vydra is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout6 May 2030
The manager makes an example of Charlie Hall
“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.
Market6 May 2030
Zlin and Charlie Hall are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Apr 2030
The mood at Zlin has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match29 Apr 2030
Zlin are in real trouble now
Position 16, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad29 Apr 2030
A fracture rules Michael Brázda out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zlin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market29 Apr 2030
Jakub Kolář has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zlin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom29 Apr 2030
Pressure builds in the Zlin boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout29 Apr 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad29 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zlin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Patrik Vydra 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.
The dugout29 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jakub Jankto, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Apr 2030
117 days out for Michael Brázda after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zlin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad8 Apr 2030
A falling-out at Zlin
Antonín Křapka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patrik Vydra 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.
Squad8 Apr 2030
5 new faces, and Zlin are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
A promise honoured at Zlin
Something was said to Michal Leibl and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout8 Apr 2030
The manager makes an example of Charlie Hall
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Mar 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zlin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
Maksym Dykyi: 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.” Zlin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Words exchanged at Zlin
Antonín Křapka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad18 Mar 2030
A row about effort at Zlin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Patrik Vydra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad18 Mar 2030
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Zlin know it.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Nathaniel Nwosu is on it.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jiri Brabec, and the manager let it.
Market18 Mar 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nathaniel Nwosu signs something — a contract at Zlin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
Jakub Kolář has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Jakub Kolář has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Dec 2029
12 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match22 Dec 2029
5 matches without a win for Zlin
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Zlin are no longer polite ones.
Squad24 Dec 2029
The medical room confirms 20 days on the sidelines for David Machalík, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Tempers go at Zlin
Antonín Křapka 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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Jakub Kolář 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.
Match22 Dec 2029
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Prince Mbatshi is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces28 May 2029
Anger at Zlin spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match28 May 2029
Zlin sink to position 16
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Boardroom28 May 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Zlin
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market28 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zlin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market28 May 2029
Rio Owen puts it in writing
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zlin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom28 May 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. David Machalík has agreed terms with Banik Ostrava for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad28 May 2029
Words exchanged at Zlin
Antonín Křapka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 May 2029
Marcelo Camargo arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Marcelo Camargo has, at Zlin, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patrik Vydra 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
Crisis
Boardroom7 May 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vladimir Soucek has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad7 May 2029
Tempers go at Zlin
Antonín Křapka 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.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patrik Vydra 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.
The dugout7 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jakub Kolář, and the manager let it.
Squad7 May 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zakhar Chushkin and Zlin agree another 5 years.
Loan watch7 May 2029
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zlin, and 5 appearances in 38 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout7 May 2029
Patrik Vydra loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Patrik Vydra's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Market7 May 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zlin, another week without a signature from Jakub Kolář.
The dugout7 May 2029
Filip Dorňák gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Filip Dorňák is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Radek Křivánek
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Radek Křivánek will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zlin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market9 Apr 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zlin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Zlin
Antonín Křapka 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Michal Cupák 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
36 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Loan watch9 Apr 2029
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zlin, and 5 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Maksym Dykyi
“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.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market9 Apr 2029
4 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Zlin money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Mar 2029
Only the photograph left for Jakub Jugas
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jakub Jugas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zlin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market19 Mar 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zlin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zlin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Zlin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Patrik Vydra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jakub Kolář, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Jakub Jugas gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jakub Jugas is on it.
Market19 Mar 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zlin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market19 Mar 2029
Tom Ulbrich runs his contract down
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Zlin money.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Jan 2029
52 days out for Williams Wonah after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zlin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market29 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zlin people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market29 Jan 2029
“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.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
Maksym Dykyi: 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.” Zlin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad29 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Zlin
Antonín Křapka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match27 Jan 2029
Sigma Olomouc left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakub Kolář 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.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Jakub Kolář
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Jan 2029
A fracture rules Williams Wonah out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zlin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match30 Dec 2028
7 matches without a win for Zlin
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Zlin are no longer polite ones.
Market1 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zlin can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Zlin
Antonín Křapka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patrik Vydra 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 ratings1 Jan 2029
Marked 7.96 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Zlin had the best player on the pitch.
Match30 Dec 2028
It needed Stanley Kanu to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Mlada Boleslav, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Zlin will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
Antonín Křapka knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zlin, and both men came out saying it was fine.