Marked for Jan Haala
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sigma Olomouc is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Abubakar Ghali 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.
Loan watch21 Feb 2028
“I did not go to Wisla Krakow to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sigma Olomouc and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.
Squad21 Feb 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
The Michal Beran story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Michal Beran signs something — a contract at Sigma Olomouc or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yunusa Muritala trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Jul 2027
There were 7 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Vít Beneš 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
Sunday Faleye has left for Slovacko in a $200.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market26 Jul 2027
Matyáš Miška has left for Slovacko in a $120.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Match24 Jul 2027
1‑2 to Sigma Olomouc, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Vít Beneš
“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 ratings26 Jul 2027
Adam Pešek runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Jan Haala 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
Market19 Jul 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 Jihlava, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jul 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market19 Jul 2027
The shirt still fits. Michal Sykora is back at Jihlava, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market19 Jul 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Vít Beneš 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 Jihlava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Jihlava are making the ground bigger
Work is signed off on a capacity of 877. It is the sort of decision a club is judged on twenty years later, by people who were not there when it was taken.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Jul 2027
Jihlava are in real trouble now
Position 15, 16 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.
Market5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jakub Jakubko commits to Jihlava for another 4 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Marián Tvrdoň 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Jakub Jakubko 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 Jihlava, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Jihlava say no — this time
The offer from FC Lorient for Jan Haala 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
The chase for Jakub Jakubko ended with $420.0K changing hands and Teplice out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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 Jihlava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market28 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Matyáš Miška again, and this time the name on the line is Pribram. Jihlava are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 34 days on the sidelines for Alejandro Arrieta, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jihlava is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market14 Jun 2027
Zlin come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Jihlava did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market14 Jun 2027
The chase for Mohamed Touré ended with $450.0K changing hands and Viktoria Plzen out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adam Pešek commits to Jihlava for another 4 years.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 60 days on the sidelines for Miroslav Křehlík, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Jun 2027
Jihlava sink to position 15
16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market7 Jun 2027
Jan Haala puts it in writing
“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 Jihlava, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Marián Tvrdoň 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Damián González Hernández has his answer from Jihlava; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market7 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Zlin have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Matyáš Miška. The answer from Jihlava has not changed — yet.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tomáš Kocour and Jihlava agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 131 days on the sidelines for Marvis Ogiomade, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market22 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jihlava is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Marián Tvrdoň 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Jihlava
26 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.
Match18 Jan 2027
Jihlava sink to position 16
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jihlava have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Damián González Hernández 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
0‑2 to Mlada Boleslav, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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 Damián González Hernández.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Diego Quirós 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
No place for Matúš Lacko in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Matúš Lacko has his answer from Jihlava; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Jihlava
24 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.
Market4 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 Jihlava can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Jihlava may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Damián González Hernández was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad4 Jan 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Jakub Lopatář again, and this time the name on the line is Pribram. Jihlava are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Jihlava needed to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Jihlava's wait for a win
21 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Jihlava has to find a result from somewhere.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Sparta Prague, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad14 Dec 2026
There were 6 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.
Squad14 Dec 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 Jihlava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Simion Michez
“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.
Boardroom14 Dec 2026
Doors closed at Jihlava
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Jihlava lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Squad14 Dec 2026
David Štětka 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 David Štětka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A mark of 5.38 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.