30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vlašim lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 The request is on a desk at Vlašim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Tobias Boledovič 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 words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vlašim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Bojan Đorđić 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
Position 14 and 29 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.
Tomáš Vaclík 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Vlašim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matouš Nikl 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.
Something was said to Lumír Číž and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Vlašim, and both men came out saying it was fine.
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vlašim lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Tomáš Vaclík 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 Bojan Đorđić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vlašim lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Tomáš Vaclík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Bojan Đorđić 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Vlašim, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Vlašim. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The words a physio says slowly. 104 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.
Tomáš Vaclík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Vlašim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matouš Nikl 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Kaštánek, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
7 new faces, and Vlašim 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.
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vlašim lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Vlašim have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vlašim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Vlašim training over how hard people work
The dugoutMatouš Nikl knocks on the manager's door
132 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vlašim lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Vlašim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bojan Đorđić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutLukáš Lahodný knocks on the manager’s door
139 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vlašim lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Tomáš Vaclík 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Vlašim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bojan Đorđić 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.
146 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Vlašim lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Tomáš Vaclík 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Matouš Nikl 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.
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Tomáš Kocour, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 9.17
A mark of 9.17 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“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 Vlašim know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vlašim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 goals in one match, Bojan Đorđić on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Vlašim and Slavia Prague B.
Marked 9.82 — 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.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vlašim lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Vlašim had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Slovan Liberec, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Tomáš Vaclík 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Leo Black has, at Vlašim, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Bojan Đorđić 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.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Vlašim lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Vlašim have done the hard part with Slavia Prague, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Vlašim had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Slavia Prague, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Václav Jindra has, at Vlašim, and the first month will show what that does to 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 Vlašim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Farouk Salami again, and this time the name on the line is Podbrezova. Vlašim are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bojan Đorđić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Vlašim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matouš Nikl 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Lukáš Penxa 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bojan Đorđić. 1‑0 against Slavia Kroměříž, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Tomáš Vaclík 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 Bojan Đorđić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ondrej Stanek after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Viktoria Žižkov 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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Paul Ndubuisi did not need any: 7.95, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Vlašim had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Slovan Liberec, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Tomáš Vaclík 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.
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.
The chase for Artem Tarasenko ended with $87.0K changing hands and Ústí nad Labem out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bojan Đorđić. 3‑2 against České Budějovice, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 9.51. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Vlašim.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Bojan Đorđić 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.
Tomáš Vaclík 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.
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Matouš Nikl 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vlašim 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 Bojan Đorđić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ondrej Stanek after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Lukáš Penxa
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Lukáš Penxa has come out of that comparison in the side, and Vlašim 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 Vlašim, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Chrudim in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Banik Ostrava B will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Vlašim were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.56 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
7.46, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Filip Hruška 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.
Tomáš Vaclík 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.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Matouš Nikl 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad23 Nov 2026
6 new faces, and Vlašim 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.
Banik Ostrava B next, and one man in the Vlašim dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Efe Lucky has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Vlašim know, and have known for weeks.
6 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Matouš Nikl 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.
Minute 86, against Viktoria Žižkov, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Tomáš Vaclík'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.
In brief
SquadTomáš Vaclík retires from international football
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“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 Vlašim know it.
Bojan Đorđić 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.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Ondrej Stanek to a room that had heard them before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vlašim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Bojan Đorđić 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Vlašim are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Petr Potměšil is 18, and Vlašim 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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.” Ondrej Stanek chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Peter Znamenák