16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Prostějov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Prostějov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2032
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Kott 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 needed Stefan Duda to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Slavia Kroměříž, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout25 Oct 2032
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Prostějov dressing room was either.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Prostějov will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Sam Schreck 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nikolas Labrou is living that version at Prostějov, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Kott was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Cole Hay 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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2032
Stefan Duda was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.11. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Karl Tankovic is 20, and Prostějov have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Prostějov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑4 to Sparta Prague B, 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.
“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 Prostějov, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout27 Sep 2032
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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Adam Bárta 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.
In brief
BoardroomNobody arrives at Prostějov until somebody leaves
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Prostějov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Hayk Baghyan has agreed terms with Ústí nad Labem for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Prostějov 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 Alessandro Nenna was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Prostějov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
Prostějov close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 18 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.
Viktor Hýsek 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 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.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Nenna 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Stefan Duda’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Prostějov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Everything agreed with Slovan Liberec, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Zbrojovka Brno is saying, and nobody at Prostějov is enjoying the guessing.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Tomáš Kott 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.
Marked 9.86 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Prostějov have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everything agreed with Sparta Prague, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Prostějov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Prostějov 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Prostějov can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Prostějov lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Prostějov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2032
Daniel Hrudka 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.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Prostějov lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Prostějov 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 Alessandro Nenna 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 Jeremiah Olaleke trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Prostějov know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Prostějov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Viktor Hýsek 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.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Nenna 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Prostějov know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutOihan Duran knocks on the manager’s door
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
Viktor Hýsek 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Hrudka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Squad8 Mar 2032
A place in the month's best eleven for Prince Cissé
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Prince Cissé has come out of that comparison in the side, and Prostějov have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Prostějov, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Prostějov can pretend not to have heard.
Viktor Hýsek and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Feb 2032
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Hrudka 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Tomáš Kott
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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Tomáš Kott 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 Daniel Hrudka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Tomáš Kott will call it something else in private.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Prostějov dressing room was either.
He is 21 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.
52 games in 128 appearances where nobody scored at all. A keeper's career is counted in nothing happening, and none of this happened by accident.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Nenna 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Banik Ostrava is saying, and nobody at Prostějov is enjoying the guessing.
The deal that would have taken Vladimir Schick to Zlin has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Prostějov with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Viktor Hýsek 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 Daniel Hrudka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout2 Feb 2032
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 0‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Stefan Duda
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Zlin the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Prostějov will enjoy reviewing.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zlin waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Prostějov is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Prostějov, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Prostějov have done the hard part with Slavia Prague, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Hrudka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A brace, and Stefan Duda takes the afternoon — 8.82
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Stefan Duda provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Everything agreed with Pardubice, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Viktor Hýsek 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.
Prostějov asked and Slavia 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.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Daniel Hrudka 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Prostějov have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Tomáš Kott 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 Daniel Hrudka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 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.
Viktor Hýsek and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Dec 2031
Daniel Hrudka 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.76 for the rest of it.
Tomáš Kott 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
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.
Viktor Hýsek 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Nenna 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 Nduka Elisha trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Prostějov. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Nobody writes a headline about a tutor. Nobody has to be told, either, what happens to a signing who spends two years being the man nobody can talk to at lunch.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Prostějov can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Tomáš Kott 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 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Something was said to Prince Cissé and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout3 Nov 2031
Prince Cissé is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Tomáš Kott and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Hrudka 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody at Prostějov is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Prostějov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Prostějov are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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 Prostějov would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Prostějov, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jeremiah Olaleke has, at Prostějov, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sparta Prague have kept their man, and Prostějov go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Miroslav Hamsik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Vladimir Schick’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Prostějov needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The deal with Sparta Prague 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Slavia Prague keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
He is 21 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 deal with Slavia Prague 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Slavia Prague keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Tomáš Kott 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.
Prostějov asked and Banik Ostrava said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Sparta Prague have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Prostějov will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Manuel Haas 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Prostějov can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Zbrojovka Brno 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.
Viktor Hýsek 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Terrance Joe 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Prostějov know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Prostějov would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Prostějov, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ilias Lazaridis has written the date down.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Prostějov lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Tomáš Kott 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.
Prostějov have made the call to Sigma Olomouc. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A loan enquiry to Zbrojovka Brno: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Haas 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Prostějov are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The terraces16 Jun 2031
Supporters make their feelings known about Stefan Duda
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Prostějov would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Prostějov, another week without a signature from Jakub Szrek.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Prostějov 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 Elonga N'Dri 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 Tomáš Kott 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 Prostějov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Twardzik 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oihan Duran 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 Prostějov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Twardzik 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomáš Kott 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 Stefan Duda signs something — a contract at Prostějov or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 5 on 46 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.
Viktor Hýsek 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 finished 1‑0, and it was Marek Polášek’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Prostějov.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Words at Prostějov training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Twardzik 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout3 Mar 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“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 Prostějov, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Prostějov have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Viktor Hýsek 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Kott was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Prostějov lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1 for Tomáš Kott, marked 7.99, 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.
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.
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Dmytro Sakhno 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.
“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 dugout23 Dec 2030
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.” Interim Coach, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Prostějov lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Stefan Duda did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Viktor Hýsek 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 Tomáš Kott was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Stefan Duda. 1‑0 against Hradec Králové, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Prostějov is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.