“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 The request is on a desk at Slovan Liberec, and it is not being withdrawn.
Tomáš Koubek 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 23 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.
At 24 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.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Marked 8.73 — 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.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Miguel Galinho is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
At 25 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.
Tomáš Koubek 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 21 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aziz Kayondo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slovan Liberec the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vojtěch Stránský and Slovan Liberec agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadJan Bořil falls out with a teammate over standards
Tomáš Koubek 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.
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sigma Olomouc will make the call about Paulin Puel this week. Slovan Liberec have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jamie Newton and Slovan Liberec agree another 4 years.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slovan Liberec they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadJan Bořil falls out with a teammate over standards
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Charlie Warren is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
14 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
In brief
SquadWords at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Tolgay Arslan 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 May 2028
Jan Bořil 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 Slovan Liberec can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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 watch every Slovan Liberec game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Korona runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Slovan Liberec would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slovan Liberec they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Jan Bořil 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Nobody at Slovan Liberec will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
David Simão 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 Apr 2028
Jan Bořil 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Charlie Warren and Slovan Liberec agree another 4 years.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Slovan Liberec, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Slovan Liberec is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Jan Bořil 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad27 Mar 2028
11 new faces, and Slovan Liberec 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.
Matyáš Vojta 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Jan Bořil 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vladimir Jankto has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slovan Liberec have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lukáš Masopust and Slovan Liberec agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Slovan Liberec, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Slovan Liberec is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Tolgay Arslan 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Jan Bořil 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 Koubek 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Hélder Faria is living that version at Slovan Liberec, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Jan Bořil 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.
Hélder Faria is 20, and Slovan Liberec 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Tomáš Koubek 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. Miguel Galinho is living that version at Slovan Liberec, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Miguel Galinho is 18, and Slovan Liberec 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Slovan Liberec is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Jan Bořil 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Petrolul will make the call about Luan Santos this week. Slovan Liberec have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad31 Jan 2028
7 new faces, and Slovan Liberec 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.
7 goals in 17 games at Apollon — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Slovan Liberec updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Jan Bořil 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
David Simão 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Lukáš Mašek 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.
Marked 8.77 — 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slovan Liberec 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 Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Benjamín Zuqui has just signed for Slovan Liberec, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Jan Bořil 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.
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.
Marked 5.66. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Position 14 and 21 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.
He is going to Slovacko, the club has $620.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Teplice pay $340.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Jan Bořil 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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slovan Liberec know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Marked 8.15 — 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Nobody at Slovan Liberec will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
12 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Jan Bořil 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.
Marked 8.49 — 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Raimonds Krollis had Slovan Liberec level again within 1 minutes, and Jablonec never got to play with a lead at all.
Nobody at Slovan Liberec will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomáš Koubek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slovan Liberec know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
11 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.
Jablonec go through and Slovan Liberec go home, 2‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Tomáš Koubek: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
14 points and a position everybody in the ground can do the arithmetic on. The songs have stopped being about the team and started being about surviving, which is a different noise entirely.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Charlie Warren is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Raimonds Krollis and Slovan Liberec agree another 3 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Jan Bořil 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 the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Marked 5.43. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Tomáš Koubek 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 Nov 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Marked 5.57. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Marked 5.61. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Jan Bořil 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.
Nobody at Slovan Liberec will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Tolgay Arslan 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Jan Bořil 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slovan Liberec have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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 touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Bohemians 1905 defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slovan Liberec have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Slovan Liberec now know that too.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Slovan Liberec and Slovacko, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Raimonds Krollis provided it, and the 8.39 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The deal that would have taken Lautaro Agüero to Pribram has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Slovan Liberec with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lukáš Letenay and Slovan Liberec agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The paperwork is done: Matúš Hruška joins from Sigma Olomouc in a deal worth $160.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Jan Bořil 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 accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Ermin Mahmić was one of the reasons people came, and $700.0K does not replace that by itself.
“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 Slovan Liberec, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Šimon Gabriel, marked 7.58, 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.
Jan Bořil 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.
Dukla Prague pay $700.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Teplice left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Aug 2027
David Simão 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Charlie Warren is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Jan Bořil 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.
Josef Koželuh was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.67 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Slovan Liberec and Jablonec in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Slovan Liberec are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
1‑4 against Slavia Prague, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 9 of the 33 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Simão 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Krajčírik and Slovan Liberec agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Slovan Liberec has been clear about where Jan Knapík stands, which is more than many ever get.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Sparta Prague held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Slovan Liberec answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Slovan Liberec has been clear about where Marek Icha stands, which is more than many ever get.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slovan Liberec 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 Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Jan Bořil 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.
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.
Marked 8.74 — 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.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slovan Liberec 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 Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadJan Bořil falls out with a teammate over standards
Tomáš Koubek 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
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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 Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chase for Luan Santos ended with $210.0K changing hands and Jablonec out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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 Jun 2027
Jan Bořil 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 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 Slovan Liberec 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 Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Jan Bořil 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.
16 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Slovan Liberec now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Šimon Gabriel 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 Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Slovan Liberec are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Jan Bořil 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slovan Liberec have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slovan Liberec 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 Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Jan Bořil 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadJan Bořil falls out with a teammate over standards
Loan watchIvan Krajčírik watches his loan from the bench
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovan Liberec can pretend not to have heard.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovan Liberec can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadJan Bořil falls out with a teammate over standards
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Jan Bořil 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Slask will make the call about Paulin Puel this week. Slovan Liberec have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Slovan Liberec opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Vojtěch Sychra stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Slovan Liberec will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Matěj Ryneš 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.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Jablonec pay $220.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Jan Bořil 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. 47 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Jiří Panoš, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.81
A mark of 7.81 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.
The offer from Banik Ostrava for Ivan Krajčírik 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
2‑3 to Sigma Olomouc, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slovan Liberec 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 Slovan Liberec, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Slovan Liberec have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Frýdek 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Slovan Liberec has been clear about where Vojtěch Sychra stands, which is more than many ever get.
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slovan Liberec lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Tomáš Koubek 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 70 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.
Tolgay Arslan 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Jan Bořil 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. 86 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.
David Simão 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Jan Bořil 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 easiest signature of my career.” Vojtěch Stránský and Slovan Liberec agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“For the first time in years I am picked because somebody wants me in the team.” MFK Ruzomberok suits him; the awkward conversation belongs to Slovan Liberec, and the summer will force it.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Qëndrim Zyba’s negotiating for him
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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 Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Tomáš Koubek damages knee ligaments — 100 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
6 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Tomáš Koubek damages knee ligaments — 107 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 107 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 Koubek 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slovan Liberec lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1 for Šimon Gabriel, marked 7.96, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Raimonds Krollis on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Slovan Liberec and Sparta Prague.
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Jan Bořil 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 Koubek damages knee ligaments — 132 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 132 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.
David Simão 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.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Jan Bořil 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 Koubek 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 easiest signature of my career.” Jan Mikula and Slovan Liberec agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Slovan Liberec training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Bořil 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.
Up for the corner, and Šimon Gabriel delivers — 7.93
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Šimon Gabriel scored, was marked 7.93, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovan Liberec this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.