The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mlada Boleslav is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenneth Omeruo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
The dugout29 Sep 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Fernando Oliveira was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Mlada Boleslav dressing room was either.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mlada Boleslav they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
A goalkeeper's career is counted in the games nobody scored in, and Jiří Floder now has 24 of them across 269 appearances. Nothing about that number was luck.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fernando Oliveira after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Adam Jágrik has his answer from Mlada Boleslav; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑2 against Zlin, and it could have been more.
Player ratings15 Sep 2031
A brace, and Michal Kroupa takes the afternoon — 9.71
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Michal Kroupa provided it, and the 9.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mlada Boleslav they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jiří Floder 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Mlada Boleslav and Zlin in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
A brace, and Michal Kroupa takes the afternoon — 9.71
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Michal Kroupa provided it, and the 9.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mlada Boleslav have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martin Šubert will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
Deadline passes with 14 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Mlada Boleslav 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.
The offer from Zlin for Jan Buryán 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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Henry Kasvosve obliged against Jablonec. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Mlada Boleslav.
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.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mlada Boleslav is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mlada Boleslav had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Koper, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Michal Kroupa has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zlin waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mlada Boleslav is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Everything agreed with Dinamo Moscow, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kenneth Omeruo and Mlada Boleslav agree another 2 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 Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Martin Šubert again, and this time the name on the line is Slovacko. Mlada Boleslav are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
SquadDominik Mareš has improved at 29, which nobody expected
Mlada Boleslav asked and Sigma Olomouc said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Mlada Boleslav can tell you which week it ends in.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Radnik Surdulica had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mlada Boleslav they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Štěpán Lelek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mlada Boleslav have made the call to Anorthosis. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mlada Boleslav lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Transfer targets16 Jun 2031
$140.0K settles it between the clubs for Jinřich Musil
Zbrojovka Brno have accepted the money. What Mlada Boleslav do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The offer from Dukla Prague for Filip Černý 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.
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.
Matěj Polidar and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The name of Maxim Kalabus has come up in conversations Mlada Boleslav were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Banik Ostrava pay $110.0K, 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.
Mlada Boleslav asked and Zbrojovka Brno said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek 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.
In brief
The dugoutMatěj Polidar asks for a word with the manager
79 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mlada Boleslav lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jan Buryán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 May 2031
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek 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.
108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mlada Boleslav lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mlada Boleslav they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michal Kroupa and Mlada Boleslav agree another 5 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 Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenneth Omeruo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Matěj Kadlec 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Štěpán Lelek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maxim Kalabus is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Mlada Boleslav. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jan Buryán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Štěpán Lelek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Mlada Boleslav 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.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mlada Boleslav lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from Obolon for Maxim Kalabus 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jan Buryán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Corinthians have kept their man, and Mlada Boleslav go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Štěpán Lelek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aaron Balongo and Mlada Boleslav agree another 4 years.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Matyáš Kodera
The dugoutDaniel Tetour has become a man the manager trusts
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mlada Boleslav lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mlada Boleslav have lost him in all but the paperwork.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Filip Havelka is a Mlada Boleslav player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Maxim Kalabus 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Matěj Polidar
The words a physio says slowly. 54 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Dukla Prague had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Everything agreed with Sparta Prague, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jan Buryán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Matěj Polidar 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 name of Martin Šubert has come up in conversations Mlada Boleslav were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
7 goals and a season average of 7.44 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Štěpán Lelek falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
Player ratingsDavid Pech was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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.
“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 Mlada Boleslav, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ondřej Karafiát and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 45. 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.
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mlada Boleslav lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jan Buryán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Pech. 2‑1 against Sigma Olomouc, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Mlada Boleslav will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
Ondřej Karafiát was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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 shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
Matěj Polidar and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mlada Boleslav, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
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 1‑2 Fernando Oliveira left the room before anybody could ask which.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ondřej Karafiát, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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.” Henry Kasvosve and Mlada Boleslav agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
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 Fernando Oliveira to a room that had heard them before.
Marked 8.42 — 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.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jan Buryán will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Mlada Boleslav and Slavia Prague, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Štěpán Lelek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout21 Oct 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Fernando Oliveira to a room that had heard them before.
Matěj Polidar 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek 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 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 dugout14 Oct 2030
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fernando Oliveira chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Daniel Tetour is on it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Matěj Polidar and Mlada Boleslav agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
0‑1 to Jihlava, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matouš Krulich, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Oct 2030
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Fernando Oliveira left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Mlada Boleslav can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Something was said to Jan Žáček and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Daniel Tetour
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mlada Boleslav they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad30 Sep 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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.” Maxim Kalabus and Mlada Boleslav 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 Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Michal Kroupa. 2‑0 against Dukla Prague, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Pech. 2‑0 against Zlin, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
A performance of 8.60 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Solomon John was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Štěpán Lelek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mlada Boleslav is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
Sigma Olomouc left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek 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 dugout9 Sep 2030
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 1‑2 Fernando Oliveira left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout9 Sep 2030
Somebody else is better right now than Daniel Tetour
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.
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 deal with Slavia Prague is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Michal Kroupa 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tyrese Omotoye and Mlada Boleslav agree another 3 years.
Add another name to the list: Dukla Prague have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Filip Černý. The answer from Mlada Boleslav has not changed — yet.
It finished 1‑0, and it was David Pech’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mlada Boleslav.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Mlada Boleslav did not have in the autumn.
Transfer targets12 Aug 2030
$450.0K settles it between the clubs for Jakub Hastík
Slovacko have accepted the money. What Mlada Boleslav do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The deal with Sigma Olomouc is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
It finished 2‑1, and it was Daniel Langhamer’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mlada Boleslav.
Player ratings12 Aug 2030
Michal Kroupa was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.91. 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Martin Šubert and Mlada Boleslav agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Štěpán Lelek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ittihad had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mlada Boleslav is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Mlada Boleslav, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Langhamer and Mlada Boleslav agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
$110.0K on the table at Dukla Prague. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Tomáš Král has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Mlada Boleslav asked and Bohemians 1905 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mlada Boleslav people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Everything agreed with Dukla Prague, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ondřej Karafiát 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. Senne Van Der Perre is living that version at Mlada Boleslav, and it tends to show in the first month.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dominik Mareš and Mlada Boleslav agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Loukas Stamellos has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Mlada Boleslav have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mlada Boleslav know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Ondřej Karafiát and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 May 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Schořovský 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.
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 Stanislav Hofmann has written the date down.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mlada Boleslav they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
36 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad13 May 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mlada Boleslav know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
“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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Solomon John signs something — a contract at Mlada Boleslav or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on David Pech
SquadThe training reports on Jiří Floder are not good
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mlada Boleslav is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ondřej Karafiát was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Schořovský was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mlada Boleslav know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutMaxim Kalabus has become a man the manager trusts
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Schořovský was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Solomon John signs something — a contract at Mlada Boleslav or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Mlada Boleslav would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
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 Stanislav Hofmann has written the date down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mlada Boleslav have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxim Kalabus will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ondřej Karafiát was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Štěpán Lelek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mlada Boleslav know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maxim Kalabus is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mlada Boleslav will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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.
Squad25 Feb 2030
A muscle injury sidelines Tomáš Franěk for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Mlada Boleslav will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Solomon John signs something — a contract at Mlada Boleslav or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Stanislav Hofmann has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Mlada Boleslav will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Adam Jágrik has just signed for Mlada Boleslav, and for once the answer mattered.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mlada Boleslav have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mlada Boleslav they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Štěpán Lelek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mlada Boleslav know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mlada Boleslav is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matěj Polidar and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The 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.
Jihlava will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Mlada Boleslav were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Jablonec had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Two goals and a mark of 9.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings21 Jan 2030
A brace, and David Pech takes the afternoon — 8.59
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Pech provided it, and the 8.59 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zlin waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mlada Boleslav is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxim Kalabus will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
6 goals in one match, David Pech on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Mlada Boleslav and Jihlava.
In brief
SquadWords at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
SquadDefences have started doubling up on David Pech
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mlada Boleslav people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Mark Hoekstra has, at Mlada Boleslav, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenneth Omeruo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Mlada Boleslav asked and Bayern Munich said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mlada Boleslav have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Tomáš Král and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Štěpán Lelek 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.
Mlada Boleslav have made the call to Bayern Munich. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.17 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jiří Klíma. 2‑0 against Zlin, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Zlin were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Matouš Krulich.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Fernando Oliveira could afford to be generous.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Štěpán Lelek falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Mlada Boleslav, and it is a cruel one.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Dominik Mareš's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
In brief
The dugoutMatěj Polidar knocks on the manager’s door
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.
Tomáš Král 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.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
David Pech was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.49. 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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Štěpán Lelek 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fernando Oliveira after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matěj Škrdla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mlada Boleslav the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.26 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tomáš Schořovský and Mlada Boleslav agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mlada Boleslav have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Ondřej Karafiát 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Mlada Boleslav will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Štěpán Lelek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Mlada Boleslav told David Pech something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“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 Mlada Boleslav, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Ondřej Karafiát and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Štěpán Lelek 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fernando Oliveira after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“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 Mlada Boleslav know it.
Tomáš Král 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.
At 22 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.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Michal Kroupa’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mlada Boleslav.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Solomon John was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.39. 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.
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.
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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mlada Boleslav have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mlada Boleslav 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 Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Štěpán Lelek and Mlada Boleslav agree another 5 years.
At 22 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.