Marked for Sol Sidibé
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2032
The phone has started ringing about Franco Déboli again, and this time the name on the line is Barracas Central. Jablonec are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2032
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Feyenoord keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Jiří Sláma 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.
Squad21 Jun 2032
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Tekijaški was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sporting CP have kept their man, and Jablonec go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2032
A loan move for Mouad Gounfissi is in the works
Jablonec have made the call to LOSC Lille. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2032
Barcelona have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout21 Jun 2032
Sol Sidibé asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market21 Jun 2032
The name of Ebrima Singhateh keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Jablonec say nothing, which says plenty.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2032
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Jablonec have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
Jablonec and Bohemians 1905 have settled on $390.0K. 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
No thanks: Adam Ševínský rejects the move
Jablonec had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sparta Prague, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market14 Jun 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jablonec can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 2032
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ondřej Kolář commits to Jablonec for another 1 years.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Words exchanged at Jablonec
Sebastian Nebyla 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.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Sobol 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
Jablonec have made the call to VfB Stuttgart. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout3 May 2032
Ebrima Singhateh: 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.
Market3 May 2032
“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.
Squad3 May 2032
Vakhtang Chanturishvili 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.
Squad3 May 2032
Eduard Sobol 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 dugout3 May 2032
The manager makes an example of Sol Sidibé
“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.
Squad3 May 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Souček and Jablonec agree another 2 years.
The dugout3 May 2032
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jablonec, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market3 May 2032
Still no offer on the table, and Daniel Souček’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The dugout3 May 2032
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 Michal Kukučka is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout15 Mar 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Jablonec may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Mar 2032
Boubou Diallo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jablonec they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Mar 2032
Vakhtang Chanturishvili 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.
Squad15 Mar 2032
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Tekijaški was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Mar 2032
25 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sol Sidibé, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
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.
Market15 Mar 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ebrima Singhateh signs something — a contract at Jablonec or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jablonec. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Mar 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jablonec can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Mar 2032
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Saidou Alioum commits to Jablonec for another 4 years.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Sebastian Nebyla 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.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nemanja Tekijaški 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 dugout8 Mar 2032
Sol Sidibé asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout8 Mar 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomas Masopust, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jan 2032
A season average of 7.54 with 25 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match24 Jan 2032
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Jablonec scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Market26 Jan 2032
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jablonec people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market26 Jan 2032
“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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Words exchanged at Jablonec
Vakhtang Chanturishvili 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.
Transfer targets26 Jan 2032
$170.0K was the most the club would pay and Viktoria Plzen were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad26 Jan 2032
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.
The dugout26 Jan 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sol Sidibé, and the manager let it.
Match24 Jan 2032
Bohemians 1905 made Jablonec work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Dec 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jablonec can pretend not to have heard.
Match6 Dec 2031
5 matches without a win for Jablonec
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Jablonec are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings8 Dec 2031
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad8 Dec 2031
A falling-out at Jablonec
Vakhtang Chanturishvili and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Eduard Sobol 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 dugout8 Dec 2031
“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.
Squad8 Dec 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Giulio Scuderi and Jablonec agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout8 Dec 2031
Somebody else is better right now than Eduard Sobol
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
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The dugout
Robert Mizo has become a man the manager trusts
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The dugout
Sol Sidibé knocks on the manager’s door
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Match
Point won or two lost for Jablonec?
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match8 Nov 2031
6‑1, and Ebrima Singhateh took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Jablonec tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad10 Nov 2031
The match ball belongs to Ebrima Singhateh, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Ebrima Singhateh
18 goals and a season average of 7.47 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad10 Nov 2031
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.
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.92, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match8 Nov 2031
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Jablonec and Slovacko, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad10 Nov 2031
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Tekijaški was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings10 Nov 2031
Ninety minutes of Sol Sidibé at his very best
Marked 8.26. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Jablonec.
In brief
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Player ratings
Ninety minutes of Saidou Alioum at his very best
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Robert Mizo gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Sep 2031
Stanislav Holes damages knee ligaments — 73 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.
Player ratings8 Sep 2031
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout8 Sep 2031
“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.
Market8 Sep 2031
Only the photograph left for Boubou Diallo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boubou Diallo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jablonec the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets8 Sep 2031
No thanks: Michal Kroupa rejects the move
Jablonec had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mlada Boleslav, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Saidou Alioum 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.
Squad8 Sep 2031
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.
Squad8 Sep 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Miloš Kratochvíl and Jablonec agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings8 Sep 2031
Marked 7.79 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
Steady
Squad1 Sep 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Stanislav Holes
80 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.
Transfer targets1 Sep 2031
No thanks: Václav Sejk rejects the move
Jablonec had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Viktoria Plzen, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Player ratings1 Sep 2031
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
Jablonec close the window on a squad of their own making
22 in and 15 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad1 Sep 2031
Words exchanged at Jablonec
Saidou Alioum 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.
Squad1 Sep 2031
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Tekijaški was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Sep 2031
8 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings1 Sep 2031
Marked 7.73. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Transfer targets1 Sep 2031
A loan enquiry to Cesena: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Aug 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Stanislav Holes
103 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 Aug 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jablonec is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
The clubs have shaken hands with Zbrojovka Brno; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Saidou Alioum 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 Aug 2031
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.
Squad11 Aug 2031
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Jablonec asked and Lokomotiv Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout11 Aug 2031
The manager makes an example of Dušan Pavlović
“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.
Match9 Aug 2031
Slovan Liberec left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Aug 2031
Stanislav Holes damages knee ligaments — 111 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 111 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.
Player ratings4 Aug 2031
Two goals and a mark of 9.53 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market4 Aug 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jablonec can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Aug 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jiří Sláma commits to Jablonec for another 3 years.
Squad4 Aug 2031
Words exchanged at Jablonec
Saidou Alioum 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.
Match2 Aug 2031
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ebrima Singhateh. 4‑3 against Viktoria Plzen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Transfer targets4 Aug 2031
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.
Squad4 Aug 2031
Eduard Sobol 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
Steady
Squad14 Jul 2031
A fracture rules Alexandr Bárta out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jablonec will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Viktoria Plzen is saying, and nobody at Jablonec is enjoying the guessing.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Antonio Almeida is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad14 Jul 2031
A falling-out at Jablonec
Sebastian Nebyla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Sobol 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.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
A loan move for Yann Gboua is in the works
Jablonec have made the call to Standard Liege. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
A loan enquiry to Slavia Prague: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market14 Jul 2031
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Matteo Colombo has his answer from Jablonec; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
Ebrima Singhateh has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Jablonec will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Slavia Prague keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad9 Jun 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eduard Sobol and Jablonec agree another 2 years.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Saidou Alioum 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 Jun 2031
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.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
Jablonec asked and Slavia Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets9 Jun 2031
Spartak Trnava have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
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.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
Richard Sedláček is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Jun 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Eduard Sobol and Jablonec agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Ofek Melika 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. Ofek Melika has, at Jablonec, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad2 Jun 2031
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.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jiří Sláma 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.
Transfer targets2 Jun 2031
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.
Market2 Jun 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Antonin Krejci has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market2 Jun 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vaclav Brabec has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market2 Jun 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ales Darida has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market2 Jun 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Adam Krejci has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Apr 2031
Saidou Alioum 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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
A last season at home is what Abidemi Alli is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
Boubou Diallo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Jablonec will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Richard Sedláček's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market14 Apr 2031
The name of Ebrima Singhateh keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Jablonec say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Apr 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vakhtang Chanturishvili and Jablonec agree another 2 years.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Words exchanged at Jablonec
Sebastian Nebyla 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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Tekijaški was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market7 Apr 2031
“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.
The dugout7 Apr 2031
Sol Sidibé 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 Jablonec, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
A $241.0K-a-year partner for Jablonec
A signature, a photograph, and a line in the accounts. Nobody sings about it and everything else on this page is paid for by it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout17 Mar 2031
Daniel Souček: 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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Saidou Alioum 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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Tekijaški was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
Boubou Diallo 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 Boubou Diallo is on it.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
Richard Sedláček is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market17 Mar 2031
The name of Ebrima Singhateh keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Jablonec say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Feb 2031
Words exchanged at Jablonec
Saidou Alioum 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.
Squad24 Feb 2031
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Tekijaški was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
The manager makes an example of Sol Sidibé
“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 dugout24 Feb 2031
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.
Market24 Feb 2031
The name of Sebastian Nebyla keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Jablonec say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
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 Dušan Pavlović has written the date down.
The dugout24 Feb 2031
Boubou Diallo asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad24 Feb 2031
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Jablonec would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market24 Feb 2031
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Jacob Green leaves Jablonec the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout17 Feb 2031
Giulio Scuderi: 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.
Squad17 Feb 2031
A falling-out at Jablonec
Sebastian Nebyla and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Feb 2031
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jiří Sláma was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 Feb 2031
“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.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Richard Sedláček's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market17 Feb 2031
The name of Ebrima Singhateh keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Jablonec say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
Boubou Diallo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Jablonec will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
Sol Sidibé 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 Jablonec, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 Feb 2031
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Jablonec, another week without a signature from Alexandr Bárta.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Feb 2031
Full time on the season at Jablonec
Position 7 on 47 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Words exchanged at Jablonec
Sebastian Nebyla 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.
Match8 Feb 2031
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Jablonec and Teplice in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Transfer targets10 Feb 2031
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Jablonec will try again when the window opens; Viktoria Plzen may not be selling by then.
Match8 Feb 2031
2‑4 to Teplice, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Words at Jablonec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nemanja Tekijaški 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.
Transfer targets10 Feb 2031
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.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuel Lavrinčík, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings3 Feb 2031
Two goals and a mark of 8.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
The paperwork begins on Václav Sejk
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jablonec have done the hard part with Viktoria Plzen, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Window shuts: 3 in, 6 out at Jablonec
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Sebastian Nebyla 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 ratings3 Feb 2031
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Feb 2031
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Tekijaški was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Feb 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sol Sidibé and Jablonec agree another 4 years.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Jablonec will try again when the window opens; Sparta Prague may not be selling by then.
Transfer targets3 Feb 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Teplice have kept their man, and Jablonec go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings6 Jan 2031
At 37 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.92, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad6 Jan 2031
A muscle injury sidelines Dušan Pavlović for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Jablonec will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
Everything agreed with Teplice, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad6 Jan 2031
A falling-out at Jablonec
Saidou Alioum and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Jan 2031
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Sobol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Utrecht have kept their man, and Jablonec go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match4 Jan 2031
A 2‑0 win over Pribram, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings6 Jan 2031
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings6 Jan 2031
Marked 8.11 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Dec 2030
16 goals and a season average of 7.39. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Words exchanged at Jablonec
Sebastian Nebyla 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.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Eduard Sobol 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.
Match14 Dec 2030
A 2‑1 win over Dukla Prague, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces16 Dec 2030
Jablonec supporters have found a favourite in Sol Sidibé
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Sol Sidibé has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings16 Dec 2030
Marked 8.62 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings16 Dec 2030
Ninety minutes of Ebrima Singhateh at his very best
Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Jablonec.
Squad16 Dec 2030
The medical room confirms 56 days on the sidelines for Lukas Barak, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout16 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Zorvan, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Dec 2030
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Dec 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nemanja Tekijaški and Jablonec agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Sebastian Nebyla 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 Dec 2030
A row about effort at Jablonec
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Tekijaški was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
The manager makes an example of Klemen Mihelak
“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.
Match7 Dec 2030
A bad afternoon for Jablonec against Zlin
0‑1 to Zlin, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Dec 2030
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martin Barak after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
Robert Mizo 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 Robert Mizo is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Sep 2030
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad30 Sep 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 Jablonec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Sep 2030
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.
Match28 Sep 2030
1‑3 to Sparta Prague, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
Eduard Sobol 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.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Marked 8.19 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout30 Sep 2030
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Martin Barak after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Market30 Sep 2030
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Looking ahead30 Sep 2030
The leaders are next for Jablonec
Slavia Prague top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.