Marked for Michal Cupák
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces28 Jun 2027
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.
Market28 Jun 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Zlin, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout28 Jun 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.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tomáš Hellebrand is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Jun 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 Zlin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lukáš Bránecký and Zlin agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Cupák 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 targets28 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Viktoria Plzen have kept their man, and Zlin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Zlin
Position 14 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Zlin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Zlin have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Zlin
Michael Krmenčík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Zakhar Chushkin 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. Zakhar Chushkin has, at Zlin, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Lukáš Neufus has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Zlin have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad7 Jun 2027
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.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Michal Fukala
“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.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zlin has been clear about where Zvonimir Katalinić stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
The knee: Sven Köhler out for 103 days
103 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zlin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout17 May 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Zlin
Sven Köhler 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 May 2027
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.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Tom Ulbrich
“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 watch17 May 2027
“I watch every Zlin game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Viktoria Plzen runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zlin can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Zlin
Sven Köhler 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Adam Gaži 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Jakub Kolář 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes Cletus Nombil a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Zlin. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Apr 2027
Every point is an argument now for Zlin
Position 14 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market12 Apr 2027
Jakub Černín 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 Zlin can pretend not to have heard.
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 Zlin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Cupák 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Antonín Křapka, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
When it matters, Jakub Jugas plays
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
19 seasons and 333 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Market5 Apr 2027
Joss Didiba 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 Zlin can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Sven Köhler 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 Zlin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
7 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 dugout5 Apr 2027
Ivan Schranz knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Schranz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Zlin
Sven Köhler 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Zlin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antonín Křapka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Ivan Schranz 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 dugout29 Mar 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
The name of Cletus Nombil keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zlin say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Mar 2027
Zlin sink to position 14
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zlin may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Zlin
Sven Köhler and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Cupák 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 dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Nathaniel Nwosu
“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
Squad22 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Michael Krmenčík
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zlin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Zlin
Michael Krmenčík 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Cupák 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
“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.
Market22 Feb 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Štěpán Bachůrek is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zlin has been clear about where Štěpán Bachůrek stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market22 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Prince Mbatshi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zlin 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Stanislav Dostál has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Zlin that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zlin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match6 Feb 2027
12 matches without a win for Zlin
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Zlin are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Jakub Pira, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.84
A mark of 7.84 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Štěpán Bachůrek: 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Sven Köhler 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 Zlin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Cupák 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 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Schranz, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Zlin
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zlin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match16 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Zlin's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zlin has to find a result from somewhere.
Match16 Jan 2027
Zlin cannot find the net
9 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Match18 Jan 2027
Zlin are in real trouble now
Position 14, 11 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Slavia Prague; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zlin can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Olympiacos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Zlin
Sven Köhler and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
In brief
-
Match
Zlin are shipping goals every week
-
Squad
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
-
Transfer targets
Door shut on Tomislav Kovacevic
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Michael Krmenčík
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zlin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market11 Jan 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zlin have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match9 Jan 2027
Nowhere to hide for Zlin
0‑3 against Viktoria Plzen, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match9 Jan 2027
8 matches without a win for Zlin
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Zlin are no longer polite ones.
Match9 Jan 2027
8 matches without a goal for Zlin
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market11 Jan 2027
Tomáš Poznar 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 Zlin can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Jakub Jugas: 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 targets11 Jan 2027
The deal with Volos NPS is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Dec 2026
Michael Krmenčík damages knee ligaments — 109 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Nowhere to hide for Zlin
0‑3 against Jablonec, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Zlin
Sven Köhler 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 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cletus Nombil and Zlin agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Zlin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michal Cupák was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Zlin
3 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.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Zlin dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Michal Fukala'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.
The dugout7 Dec 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 0‑3 Vladimir Soucek left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zlin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad30 Nov 2026
7 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Zlin
Sven Köhler 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cletus Nombil, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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 Stanislav Dostál is on it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Vladimir Soucek after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Michael Krmenčík damages knee ligaments — 132 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 132 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
“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.
Match14 Nov 2026
The drought breaks for Zlin
10 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Pribram were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Václav Ondřejka, 38, rolls back the years — 7.85
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.85 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Zlin
Michael Krmenčík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Zlin get the job done against Pribram
A 1‑0 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 ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market16 Nov 2026
No place for Jakub Jugas in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jakub Jugas has his answer from Zlin; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
Looking ahead
A test against the best for Zlin
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The dugout
Jakub Jugas gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
139 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zlin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match7 Nov 2026
10 matches without a win for Zlin
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Zlin are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.85, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Zlin
Michael Krmenčík 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
Match7 Nov 2026
A bad afternoon for Zlin against Jihlava
1‑2 to Jihlava, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Looking ahead9 Nov 2026
Everything rides on Pribram
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Zlin know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match9 Nov 2026
Halfway: Zlin sit in position 15
7 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Oct 2026
Tomáš Poznar 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 Zlin can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Sven Köhler 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 Zlin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Cupák 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑2 to Bohemians 1905, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stanislav Dostál, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Zlin are still strangers to each other
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Vladimir Soucek to a room that had heard them before.
Market19 Oct 2026
Joss Didiba is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zlin has been clear about where Joss Didiba stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Joss Didiba: 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Zlin
Michael Krmenčík 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
1‑3 to Slovan Liberec, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Cupák 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Vladimir Soucek after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jakub Černín, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
No place in the plan for Sven Köhler
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for Zlin
Position 14 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market28 Sep 2026
Cletus Nombil 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Zlin's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zlin has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
2‑3 to Viktoria Plzen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Zlin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michal Cupák was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Cletus Nombil
“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 dugout28 Sep 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 2‑3 Vladimir Soucek left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Zlin close the window on a squad of their own making
11 in and 1 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The phone has started ringing about Cletus Nombil again, and this time the name on the line is Slavia Prague. Zlin are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Zlin
Sven Köhler 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 Sep 2026
Words at Zlin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Cupák 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 targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Match5 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Zlin against Teplice
0‑2 to Teplice, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Tom Ulbrich beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Zvonimir Katalinić commits to Zlin for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market24 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zbrojovka Brno waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zlin is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match19 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Zlin
0‑0 against Viktoria Plzen, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Zlin's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zlin has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Zlin
Michael Krmenčík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
Jablonec left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Zlin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michal Cupák was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Zlin
A 1‑5 beating by Slavia Prague was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Cletus Nombil again, and this time the name on the line is Zbrojovka Brno. Zlin are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Haladas keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Zlin
Michael Krmenčík 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zlin and Slavia Prague, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Zlin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michal Cupák was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
50 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tom Ulbrich, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Zlin dressing room in a hurry
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Zlin
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
There were 11 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Haladas is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Michal Fukala and Zlin agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Zlin asked and Portsmouth said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match8 Aug 2026
Sparta Prague left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Michal Fukala
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Michal Darida has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
19 seasons and 307 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Zlin — 7.44
1 for Michal Fukala, marked 7.44, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Antonín Křapka and Zlin agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Zlin
Michael Krmenčík 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 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Zlin asked and Sparta 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.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Level with 86 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Zlin had all but put away. Pribram will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.