Marked for Dehinde Ibrahim
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 May 2028
Michal Kroupa is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Matúš Rusnák and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 May 2028
Louis Lurvink 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.
Boardroom22 May 2028
121% of the income goes out in wages at Ústí nad Labem
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout22 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dehinde Ibrahim, and the manager let it.
Market22 May 2028
The David Kozel story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Kozel signs something — a contract at Ústí nad Labem or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout22 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ústí nad Labem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad22 May 2028
The language is arriving, the jokes are landing, and there is somebody at the next peg to talk to. None of it appears in a scouting report and all of it shows up on the pitch.
The dugout22 May 2028
Matúš Rusnák keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Matúš Rusnák plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom15 May 2028
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ústí nad Labem is running low.
Squad15 May 2028
Matúš Rusnák in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ústí nad Labem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Louis Lurvink was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 May 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ústí nad Labem can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Boardroom15 May 2028
The numbers do not look good at Ústí nad Labem
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The dugout15 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Ollie Gofford
“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 dugout15 May 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ústí nad Labem told Roel van Zutphen something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad15 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Ústí nad Labem would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ústí nad Labem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 May 2028
David Kozel 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 May 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Louis Lurvink was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 May 2028
David Štěpánek without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. David Štěpánek was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Market1 May 2028
“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.
The dugout1 May 2028
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Ústí nad Labem would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The dugout1 May 2028
Tomáš Kott 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 Ústí nad Labem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market1 May 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ústí nad Labem know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Apr 2028
Roel van Zutphen damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Lukas Sykora has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ústí nad Labem can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market3 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Jáchym Šerák
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jáchym Šerák will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ústí nad Labem the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Matúš Rusnák 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Louis Lurvink was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Dehinde Ibrahim
“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 Apr 2028
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Jakub Hruštinec is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager's exit leaves Owen Moxon exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Owen Moxon is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Market3 Apr 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ústí nad Labem know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ústí nad Labem lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Matúš Rusnák and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Ústí nad Labem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Louis Lurvink 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.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
Wages eat 116% of everything Ústí nad Labem earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcel Złomańczuk, and the manager let it.
Market27 Mar 2028
The David Kozel story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Kozel signs something — a contract at Ústí nad Labem or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager makes Jáchym Šerák a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ústí nad Labem. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Dehinde Ibrahim 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ústí nad Labem is running low.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Nobody could get near Petr Jaroň
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Feb 2028
David Kozel in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ústí nad Labem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Louis Lurvink 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“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 Ústí nad Labem know it.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Jan Peterka
“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 dugout21 Feb 2028
The team sheet said everything about Anthony Pavlešić
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Anthony Pavlešić.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Ústí nad Labem now.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Feb 2028
The unbeaten run reaches 16. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Lukas Sykora has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ústí nad Labem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Ústí nad Labem close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 5 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“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; Ústí nad Labem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad7 Feb 2028
David Kozel 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 Feb 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Louis Lurvink was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sparta Prague have kept their man, and Ústí nad Labem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch7 Feb 2028
The goals keep arriving from Michael Kühnel’s exile
14 goals in 26 games at Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Ústí nad Labem updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Dec 2027
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ústí nad Labem lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“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.
Match18 Dec 2027
Whatever happens, Ústí nad Labem do not lose
9 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.
Squad20 Dec 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 Ústí nad Labem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chinonso Emeka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jan Peterka, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“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 Ústí nad Labem know it.
Loan watch20 Dec 2027
19 appearances away from home and 11 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Dec 2027
Whatever happens, Ústí nad Labem do not lose
7 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ústí nad Labem can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad6 Dec 2027
David Kozel 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Louis Lurvink was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Bassey Bassey
“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 Dec 2027
“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.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ústí nad Labem told Chinonso Emeka something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
Antonín Fantiš damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
The terraces15 Nov 2027
Supporters organise against the Ústí nad Labem board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad15 Nov 2027
David Kozel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Louis Lurvink 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
“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.
Loan watch15 Nov 2027
14 appearances away from home and 8 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
Ústí nad Labem take on the side everybody is chasing
Prostějov arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
Prostějov next, and one man in the Ústí nad Labem dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Bassey Bassey 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 Ústí nad Labem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Nov 2027
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ústí nad Labem lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match6 Nov 2027
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. David Kozel was at the centre of it, Táborsko were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
Market8 Nov 2027
Abba Musa hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ústí nad Labem can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
David Kozel 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.
Match6 Nov 2027
Táborsko made Ústí nad Labem work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ústí nad Labem can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Chinonso Emeka 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 ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
-
Player ratings
A masterclass from David Kozel
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Dehinde Ibrahim
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
Antonín Fantiš damages knee ligaments — 74 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Vicente Nunes: 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.” Ústí nad Labem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Jan Peterka, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad11 Oct 2027
David Kozel 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Louis Lurvink was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market11 Oct 2027
Vicente Nunes is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ústí nad Labem has been clear about where Vicente Nunes stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Jan Peterka 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.
Market11 Oct 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ústí nad Labem, another week without a signature from Marek Červenka.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
The goals keep arriving from Michael Kühnel’s exile
8 goals in 10 games at Tatran Liptovský Mikuláš — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Ústí nad Labem updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2027
111 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ústí nad Labem lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market6 Sep 2027
Vicente Nunes hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ústí nad Labem can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 27 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at Ústí nad Labem until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad6 Sep 2027
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Dantaye Gilbert 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“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; Ústí nad Labem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. MFK Ruzomberok have kept their man, and Ústí nad Labem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
86% of the income goes out in wages at Ústí nad Labem
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Jul 2027
Miroslav Tureček damages knee ligaments — 115 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 115 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Jan Peterka pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Dantaye Gilbert 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Louis Lurvink 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 dugout12 Jul 2027
Jan Čtvrtečka back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Ústí nad Labem has worked with Jan Čtvrtečka before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Vicente Nunes
“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
The terraces31 May 2027
The mood at Ústí nad Labem 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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Ústí nad Labem boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Transfer targets31 May 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad31 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 Ústí nad Labem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Ústí nad Labem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammed Suso 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 dugout31 May 2027
Jan Čtvrtečka back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Ústí nad Labem has worked with Jan Čtvrtečka before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad31 May 2027
“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; Ústí nad Labem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout31 May 2027
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
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Alan Do Marcolino 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
Jan Čtvrtečka back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Ústí nad Labem has worked with Jan Čtvrtečka before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad24 May 2027
Abba Musa 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.
Squad24 May 2027
At 39, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miroslav Tureček, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 May 2027
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
Uneasy
The terraces3 May 2027
Supporters organise against the Ústí nad Labem board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Ústí nad Labem boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
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 Ústí nad Labem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michael Kühnel and Ústí nad Labem agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout3 May 2027
Jan Čtvrtečka back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Ústí nad Labem has worked with Jan Čtvrtečka before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abba Musa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 May 2027
“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; Ústí nad Labem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Bassey Bassey
“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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
$2.4M taken back off the Ústí nad Labem table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
The knee: Vítek Kuta out for 26 days
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ústí nad Labem lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad12 Apr 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 Ústí nad Labem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Jan Čtvrtečka back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Ústí nad Labem has worked with Jan Čtvrtečka before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Ústí nad Labem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abba Musa 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“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 Ústí nad Labem know it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Abba Musa
“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.
Market12 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Jáchym Šerák’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market12 Apr 2027
“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 dugout12 Apr 2027
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
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jan Peterka commits to Ústí nad Labem for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“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 Ústí nad Labem know it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Jáchym Šerák 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 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muhammed Suso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Jan Čtvrtečka back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Ústí nad Labem has worked with Jan Čtvrtečka before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bassey Bassey, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
46 days out for Tomáš Vondrášek after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ústí nad Labem will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Petr Jaroň
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Muhammed Suso 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Jan Čtvrtečka back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Ústí nad Labem has worked with Jan Čtvrtečka before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ústí nad Labem can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Solomon Osaghae and Ústí nad Labem agree another 3 years.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Lukas Sykora left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Jan Čtvrtečka dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.