Marked for Daniel Mareček
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lukáš Mareček
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Teplice lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Josef Švanda: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Teplice have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Teplice
Matouš Trmal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Daniel Mareček 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.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I watch every Teplice game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Slovacko runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Karel Soldát is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Karel Soldát has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“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.
Market5 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Teplice know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Michal Jeřábek knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Michal Jeřábek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
The knee: Lukáš Mareček out for 129 days
129 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Teplice lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Matouš Trmal 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 Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Miroslav Routek
“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 dugout22 Mar 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Matěj Náprstek has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Teplice that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Teplice, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Teplice
Matouš Trmal 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Daniel Mareček 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
Lukáš Mareček knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teplice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Lukáš Mareček has moved up it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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 dugout1 Mar 2027
Karel Soldát has been promised minutes
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 Karel Soldát has written the date down.
Market1 Mar 2027
Teplice have made Miroslav Routek available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Teplice would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
Matouš Trmal 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 Feb 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michal Bílek, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Feb 2027
44 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes Matěj Pulkrab a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Teplice. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teplice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Feb 2027
A move Abdullahi Lawal would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Abdullahi Lawal is living that version at Teplice, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dukla Prague is saying, and nobody at Teplice is enjoying the guessing.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matěj Pulkrab. 2‑0 against Jablonec, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad8 Feb 2027
50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jaroslav Harušťák and Teplice agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Marcel Čermák 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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Adam Vydra: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Teplice until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Teplice
Matouš Trmal 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
1‑3 to Slavia Prague, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
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 1‑3 Adam Vydra left the room before anybody could ask which.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan move for Michal Černák is in the works
Teplice have made the call to Dukla Prague. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Petr Kodeš dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Marek Beránek
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match16 Jan 2027
Pribram will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Teplice were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
John Auta, 20, steals the show — 8.40
Marked 8.40 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market18 Jan 2027
Teplice say no — this time
The offer from Zlate Moravce for Abdourahman Badamosi 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Remember the name: John Auta
He is 20, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Daniel Mareček 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Teplice
Michal Bílek and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A season average of 7.24 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The terraces18 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Matěj Náprstek 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 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.56 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A brace, and Tomáš Zlatohlávek takes the afternoon — 9.25
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tomáš Zlatohlávek provided it, and the 9.25 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
No sign of nerves from John Auta at 20 — 8.28
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. John Auta did not need any: 8.28, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dynamo Kyiv keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Teplice
Matouš Trmal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market11 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Teplice have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
A 3‑1 win over Jihlava, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
He is 20 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Matyáš Kozák beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Matouš Trmal 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 Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Daniel Mareček
“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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Dukla Prague left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Adam Vydra after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
A promise honoured at Teplice
Something was said to Petr Kodeš and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The form table has caught Michal Bílek
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Squad28 Dec 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Teplice lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Teplice
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Mareček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Dec 2026
Three points for Teplice, 1‑0 the final word against Zlin in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Matyáš Kozák is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.29 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Adam Vydra on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Michal Bílek
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Petr Kodeš asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
Dukla Prague next, and one man in the Teplice dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Teplice
4 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Teplice cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Match12 Dec 2026
0‑2 to Sigma Olomouc, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Matouš Trmal
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lukas Coufal is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Defences have started doubling up on Matyáš Kozák
7 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Andi Hadroj 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Michal Bílek dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Pavel Svatek in trouble away from the ground
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Michal Bílek 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
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A mark of 7.39, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miroslav Routek, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Adam Vydra: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Karel Soldát
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Marcel Čermák 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Teplice
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Mareček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Adam Vydra after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Michal Bílek
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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.
Match28 Nov 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Viktoria Plzen defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Slovan Liberec in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market30 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomáš Zlatohlávek signs something — a contract at Teplice or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Matouš Trmal in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.09 — 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marcel Čermák was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Teplice
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andi Hadroj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Matyáš Kozák and Teplice agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Teplice
Matouš Trmal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Daniel Mareček 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Three points for Teplice, 2‑0 the final word against Mlada Boleslav in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Matyáš Kozák at his very best
Marked 8.48. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Teplice.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Daniel Mareček was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Karel Soldát
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Matyáš Kozák is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.23 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Adam Vydra on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Teplice
Matouš Trmal 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A move Efa Enabulele would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Efa Enabulele is living that version at Teplice, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vladimir Masopust has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Match7 Nov 2026
Late, late show earns Teplice a point
Minute 93, against Bohemians 1905, 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Michal Bílek gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match9 Nov 2026
Teplice at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 9, 23 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Match7 Nov 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Teplice
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Mareček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Oct 2026
Matyáš Kozák scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Jablonec, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matouš Trmal, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Teplice are still strangers to each other
14 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Market26 Oct 2026
Michal Jeřábek is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Teplice has been clear about where Michal Jeřábek stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Michal Bílek
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Matěj Náprstek has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Teplice 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Teplice
Marcel Čermák 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andi Hadroj and Teplice agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Patrik Brabec is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jakub Soucek is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Andi Hadroj 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Petr Kodeš, and the manager let it.
Match10 Oct 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Sparta Prague leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Adam Vydra was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Teplice dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.26 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
John Auta, 20, steals the show — 8.19
Marked 8.19 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Matouš Trmal 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 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Teplice
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Mareček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Oct 2026
Three points for Teplice, 3‑1 the final word against Pribram in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matěj Pulkrab, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Matyáš Kozák was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.38. 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A season average of 7.22 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Matěj Pulkrab
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
John Auta, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.19
A mark of 8.19 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Matouš Trmal in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 3‑2 win over Jihlava, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Daniel Mareček 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 terraces28 Sep 2026
He is 20 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Matouš Trmal
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Matyáš Kozák was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Teplice
Matouš Trmal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michal Bílek, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Adam Vydra after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
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 terraces21 Sep 2026
Supporters make their feelings known about Tomáš Zlatohlávek
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Teplice would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Market21 Sep 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Michal Jeřábek may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
$39.0K was the most the club would pay and Mlada Boleslav were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Teplice
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Mareček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Matej Riznič 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Marcel Čermák’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Teplice.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. David Coufal has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vladimir Vydra is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Karel Soldát
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Sep 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Abdourahman Badamosi had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 20 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Teplice until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
$240.0K was the most the club would pay and Dukla Prague were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Shammasu Muhammed has just signed for Teplice, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Daniel Mareček 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Marek Beránek 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Three points for Teplice, 2‑0 the final word against Zlin in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Teplice did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A one-man rearguard from Matouš Trmal
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $790.0K sale of Jan Fortelný
He is going to Sparta Prague, the club has $790.0K 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
John Auta, 20, steals the show — 7.77
Marked 7.77 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Teplice asked and Viktoria Plzen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Viktoria Plzen wanted more than $2.7M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Market17 Aug 2026
Sparta Prague pay $790.0K, 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Teplice
Matouš Trmal 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matěj Pulkrab commits to Teplice for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Matouš Trmal 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 Aug 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
John Auta beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match1 Aug 2026
1‑2 to Mlada Boleslav, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Matouš Trmal gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Daniel Mareček’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Teplice 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.
The dugout3 Aug 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 Adam Vydra to a room that had heard them before.