The Banik Ostrava Herald
Match19 Jul 2031
No mercy from Banik Ostrava
Zlin will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Banik Ostrava were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings21 Jul 2031
A brace, and Abdallah Gning takes the afternoon — 9.04
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdallah Gning provided it, and the 9.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad21 Jul 2031
6 saves: Martin Jedlička was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings21 Jul 2031
Age has not caught Srđan Plavšić yet — 7.99
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad21 Jul 2031
A falling-out at Banik Ostrava
Filip Kubala and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jul 2031
A row about effort at Banik Ostrava
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Karel Pojezný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom21 Jul 2031
14 academy players handed senior numbers at Banik Ostrava
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad21 Jul 2031
A late step up for Uriel La Roza
At 26 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.
Market21 Jul 2031
David Darida steps up from the Banik Ostrava academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. David 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.
In brief
- Market Banik Ostrava promote Jan Cerny from within
- Market Banik Ostrava promote Pavel Darida from within
- Market Patrik Sykora steps up from the Banik Ostrava academy