The offer from Universitatea Craiova for Evgeny Morozov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“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 The request is on a desk at Slavia Prague B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slavia Prague B they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeny Morozov 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slavia Prague B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Izuchukwu Okonkwo signs something — a contract at Slavia Prague B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Slavia Prague B have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Jan Lacko 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeny Morozov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slavia Prague B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Slavia Prague B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The offer from Nizhniy Novgorod for Evgeny Morozov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The name of Gibril Sosseh has come up in conversations Slavia Prague B were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slavia Prague B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daiki Hashioka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Slavia Prague B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Denis Halinský trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Izuchukwu Okonkwo signs something — a contract at Slavia Prague B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Add another name to the list: Viktoria Žižkov have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Martin Kovář. The answer from Slavia Prague B has not changed — yet.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Slavia Prague B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Slavia Prague B, another week without a signature from Gibril Sosseh.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slavia Prague B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slavia Prague B can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeny Morozov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
28 games, 1 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Slavia Prague B now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Squad29 May 2028
7 new faces, and Slavia Prague B 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jakub Markovič trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slavia Prague B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Slavia Prague B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Slavia Prague B has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Izuchukwu Okonkwo has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Daiki Hashioka 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Slavia Prague B can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daiki Hashioka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Slavia Prague B have no good answer.
“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 Slavia Prague B, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Slavia Prague B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slavia Prague B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Aleks Bozhev is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
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 Aleks Bozhev is on it.
Position 13 on 26 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slavia Prague B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jan Coufal after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Bartosz Szywała is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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 hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Martin Kovář did not need any: 7.60, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 Slavia Prague B know it.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Jan Coufal could afford to be generous.
In brief
Player ratingsJakub Šmiga beats them one at a time
The dugoutOndřej Kolář knocks on the manager's door
The hardest thing about being 16 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vladimir Sima did not need any: 7.86, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Daiki Hashioka 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.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Ondřej Kolář falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 Slavia Prague B know it.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Kolář was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ondřej Kolář has his answer from Slavia Prague B; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Vladimir Sima 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ondřej Kolář trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Vlašim next, and one man in the Slavia Prague B dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Slavia Prague B has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slavia Prague B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slavia Prague B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Slavia Prague B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slavia Prague B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Vladimir Perišić 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jan Coufal after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ondřej Kolář trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Vladimir Sima, 16 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Chances created: 6. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Bartosz Szywała is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Oleksandr Petrenko 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Slavia Prague B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
30 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Jan Lacko 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.
8 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Martin Kovář
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Martin Kovář has come out of that comparison in the side, and Slavia Prague B have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Jan Coufal chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The captaincy has been taken off Oleksandr Petrenko. Slavia Prague B will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slavia Prague B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slavia Prague B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Slavia Prague B that is a harder question to answer.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Slavia Prague B would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Slavia Prague B people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Denis Halinský and Slavia Prague B agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Halinský was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daiki Hashioka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Slavia Prague B have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The name of Ondřej Kolář has come up in conversations Slavia Prague B were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleksandr Petrenko signs something — a contract at Slavia Prague B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrik Horváth trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 16 and 2 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Isife trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Slavia Prague B that is a harder question to answer.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Slavia Prague B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Slavia Prague B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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 Slavia Prague B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slavia Prague B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slavia Prague B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 16 and 2 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.
Oleksandr Petrenko 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slavia Prague B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Slavia Prague B has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Martin Kovář trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Slavia Prague B would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bartosz Szywała trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
26 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Slavia Prague B has to find a result from somewhere.
0‑7 against Viktoria Žižkov, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Slavia Prague B and Viktoria Žižkov, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
3 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.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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 0‑7 defeat, delivered by Jan Coufal to a room that had heard them before.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 30 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
25 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Slavia Prague B has to find a result from somewhere.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Slavia Prague B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match6 Feb 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Slavia Prague B and Opava in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
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 0‑9 defeat, delivered by Jan Coufal to a room that had heard them before.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Slavia Prague B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
23 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Slavia Prague B has to find a result from somewhere.
18 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Slavia Kroměříž waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Slavia Prague B is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Slavia Prague B and Táborsko in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
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 1‑8 defeat, delivered by Jan Coufal to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutSamuel Isife asks for a word with the manager
21 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Slavia Prague B has to find a result from somewhere.
16 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Slavia Prague B and Artis Brno, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Aleks Bozhev 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.
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. Slavia Prague B know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 19 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
17 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
0‑5 to Jihlava, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aleks Bozhev and Slavia Prague B agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
3 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Slavia Prague B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Jan Sirotník 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Slavia Prague B told Jan Sirotník something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slavia Prague B know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slavia Prague B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout9 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 0‑5 Jan Coufal left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
At 24 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.
Matěj Zachoval 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Slavia Prague B will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Martin Kovář signs something — a contract at Slavia Prague B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 27 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Slavia Prague B and Slavia Kroměříž, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Aleks Bozhev 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.
“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 Slavia Prague B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Ústí nad Labem have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Martin Kovář. The answer from Slavia Prague B has not changed — yet.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Slavia Prague B will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.