České Budějovice go through and Mlada Boleslav go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
8 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.
5 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.
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.
“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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mlada Boleslav has been clear about where Filip Matoušek stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutOndřej Karafiát has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: Pavel Sykora on the draw
Looking aheadMlada Boleslav take on the side everybody is chasing
“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 The request is on a desk at Mlada Boleslav, and it is not being withdrawn.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Michal Fukala 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.
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 words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michal Fukala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
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 David Pech is on it.
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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
České Budějovice next, and one man in the Mlada Boleslav dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
Mlada Boleslav had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Gil Vicente, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The offer from Bohemians 1905 for Solomon John 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 18 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.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
“I did not go to Vlašim to sit and watch. I want to come back to Mlada Boleslav and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikuláš Bakaľa 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 have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Mlada Boleslav will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“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.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Teplice were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Králik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Mlada Boleslav are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mlada Boleslav this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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.
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 Christophe Kabongo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The name of Filip Černý has come up in conversations Mlada Boleslav were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Solomon John is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Králik is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Solomon John trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Filip Špatenka'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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Pech signs something — a contract at Mlada Boleslav or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Mlada Boleslav would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mlada Boleslav can pretend not to have heard.
Kevin Andrade 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 May 2027
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christophe Kabongo 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 Jiří Klíma, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Vojtěch Vorel'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.
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 Lukáš Letenay is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Martin Králik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adam Ševínský signs something — a contract at Mlada Boleslav or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Králik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Vojtěch Vorel is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Lukáš Letenay is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mikuláš Bakaľa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Mlada Boleslav and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
Martin Králik and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christophe Kabongo 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.
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 David Pech is on it.
“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.
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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Mlada Boleslav would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Hamdi Akujobi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marián Tvrdoň 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at České Budějovice, another week without a signature from Pavel Osmančík.
Something was said to Solomon John and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
6 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Filip Vecheta trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Bammens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
André Alves was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at České Budějovice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at České Budějovice would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at České Budějovice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Simon Bammens falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and České Budějovice know it.
The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Zbrojovka Brno; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at České Budějovice pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason České Budějovice will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Mick van Buren and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Bammens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Akhmat Grozny have kept their man, and České Budějovice go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Solomon John had České Budějovice level again within 1 minutes, and Pribram never got to play with a lead at all.
In brief
Squad7 new faces, and České Budějovice are still learning each other
Jihlava will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. České Budějovice were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. České Budějovice will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Carlos Zambrano has, at České Budějovice, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mick van Buren provided it, and the 9.06 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 17 combined actions and a mark of 7.33, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Bammens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Panathinaikos have kept their man, and České Budějovice go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mick van Buren. 2‑1 against Ústí nad Labem, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The fee is $380.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Viktoria Plzen drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Hamdi Akujobi 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Marián Tvrdoň from Viktoria Plzen for $380.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Bammens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ústí nad Labem have kept their man, and České Budějovice go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
15 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.
“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.
Add another name to the list: Sparta Prague have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Solomon John. The answer from Mlada Boleslav has not changed — yet.
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 Martin Králik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mlada Boleslav asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Mlada Boleslav, and 6 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and České Budějovice have had the benefit of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at České Budějovice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
15 combined actions and 6.94. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Bammens 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 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.
1‑0 against NK Celje, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. David Kozel was at the centre of the description.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Christophe Kabongo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Martin Králik falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every Mlada Boleslav game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Táborsko runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
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.
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christophe Kabongo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is David Pech’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Mlada Boleslav needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
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.
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.
Christophe Kabongo 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Christophe Kabongo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Christophe Kabongo. 1‑0 against Slovacko, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Kadlec is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Mlada Boleslav game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Artis Brno runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Marek Havran
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Marek Havran has come out of that comparison in the side, and Mlada Boleslav have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Pavel Sykora, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
0‑1 against Red Bull Salzburg. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Mlada Boleslav training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martin Králik 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.
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.
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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Pavel Sykora to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutNo place for Solomon John on the big day
The dugoutDavid Pech has become a man the manager trusts
Two goals and a mark of 7.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Lukáš Letenay 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Mlada Boleslav are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Martin Králik falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.