Marked for Jan Harušťák
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Mar 2027
David Kozel 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 Mlada Boleslav can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Matěj Hybš and Mlada Boleslav agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Kevin Andrade and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Králik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Liepaja to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mlada Boleslav and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jan Harušťák, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
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 Ondřej Karafiát is on it.
Market8 Mar 2027
Nothing to show for Tomáš Horák's season away
0 appearances, 0 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument Mlada Boleslav will have this month.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Filip Špatenka'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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Christophe Kabongo 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 terraces2 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Christophe Kabongo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match31 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Christophe Kabongo. 1‑0 against Slovacko, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Kadlec 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.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I watch every Mlada Boleslav game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Artis Brno runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Marek Havran
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Marek Havran has come out of that comparison in the side, and Mlada Boleslav have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Pavel Sykora, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Jan Harušťák
“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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Sep 2026
1‑1 against Anderlecht, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Daniel Langhamer was at the centre of the description.
Match19 Sep 2026
3‑0, and Jiří Klíma took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Mlada Boleslav tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Both of them Jiří Klíma's — 8.16
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.16, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jan Harušťák is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Martin Králik 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 terraces21 Sep 2026
At 23 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Sigma Olomouc. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Market21 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jakub Coufal is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market21 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Adam Darida has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.