Add another name to the list: Petržalka have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ondřej Pavlík. The answer from Chrudim has not changed — yet.
David Jurčenko 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.
Pardubice wanted more than $16.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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.
Chrudim have made the call to Zbrojovka Brno. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“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 Chrudim will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chrudim 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chrudim asked and Slovacko said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Chrudim than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
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 Jakub Kolář is on it.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Chrudim had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chrudim, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pavel Osmančík signs something — a contract at Chrudim or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 5 on 52 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Chrudim. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Chrudim and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Granečný 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.
Lukáš Holík 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 figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chrudim lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Marek Icha 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 Denis Granečný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Chrudim will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chrudim lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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 Jakub Kolář is on it.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Jambor knocks on the manager's door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chrudim 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.
Pardubice will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Matěj Šimůnek has pre-agreed a move to Chrudim, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pavel Osmančík signs something — a contract at Chrudim or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 5 on 52 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
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 David Březina has written the date down.
Marek Icha 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Granečný 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 club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
David Jurčenko 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 Pavel Osmančík was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adam Jánoš 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 Fortune Bassey signs something — a contract at Chrudim or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Chrudim. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chrudim 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 Denis Granečný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Dollard Wandji'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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Jurčenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Chrudim 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Jambor and Chrudim agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Granečný 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.
5 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 David Jurčenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 5, 52 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Marek Icha 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavel Osmančík 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
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 Dollard Wandji has written the date down.
Marek Icha 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Granečný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chrudim, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fortune Bassey signs something — a contract at Chrudim or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Chrudim 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 Denis Granečný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Denis Granečný and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chrudim has been clear about where Marek Kejř stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Dollard Wandji'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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Chrudim, another week without a signature from Michal Řezáč.
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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Chrudim will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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.
9 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 Ondřej Pavlík trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 5, 52 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
“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 Chrudim know it.
Marek Icha 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 Denis Granečný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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 Brabec to a room that had heard them before.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Martin Toml is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Marek Icha 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 Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Granečný 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.
Abba Adam Oscar is 20, and Chrudim have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
“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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Chrudim will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pavel Osmančík was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chrudim asked and Dinamo Bucharest said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 7.82 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Chrudim close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Marek Icha 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Chrudim and České Budějovice, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Fortune Bassey scored in the 86th minute, Sparta Prague B had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Chrudim took the lot.
3 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Daniel Dřevíkovský has, at Chrudim, 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 Pavel Osmančík was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chrudim asked and Hradec Králové said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The offer from Vihren for Ondřej Pavlík 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.
“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 Chrudim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mlada Boleslav paid $190.0K and Chrudim took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Pavel Osmančík wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Pavel Osmančík found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Jihlava went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“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 Chrudim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The deal with Zbrojovka Brno 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.
Fortune Bassey 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.
“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 Chrudim, and it is not being withdrawn.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Chrudim will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
David Jurčenko 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.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavel Osmančík 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Teplice have kept their man, and Chrudim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A mark of 7.60 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.
David Jurčenko 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Chrudim will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Banik Ostrava B will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Chrudim were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Position 3, 35 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nick Verschuren did not need any: 7.96, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Nick Verschuren 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.
Marked 9.90 — 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dominik Jackl has just signed for Chrudim, and for once the answer mattered.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chrudim will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Jan Lacko 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 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.72 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chrudim will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.27 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fortune Bassey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavel Osmančík 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.
26 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout30 Nov 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 Pavel Brabec to a room that had heard them before.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chrudim will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fortune Bassey 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, Fortune Bassey on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Chrudim and Opava.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chrudim will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Chrudim 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Dollard Wandji'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.
Opava next, and one man in the Chrudim dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Martin Toml trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Chrudim the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chrudim will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
David Jurčenko 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Marked 7.10 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Chrudim, another week without a signature from David Jurčenko.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 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 Chrudim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavel Osmančík is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad2 Nov 2026
8 new faces, and Chrudim 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chrudim will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Position 3, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
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.
Jan Lacko 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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Fortune Bassey was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.65. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chrudim will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Jan Lacko 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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 run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Adam Richter has his answer from Chrudim; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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 Chrudim 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 Pavel Osmančík was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Karel Holes 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Chrudim told Serigne Fallou Mbacké Coly something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Chrudim 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chrudim know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
David Jurčenko 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 Fortune Bassey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chrudim has been clear about where Adam Čičovský stands, which is more than many ever get.
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Adam Jánoš 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 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 20 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 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.
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Pavel Osmančík provided it, and the 9.63 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Jurčenko provided it, and the 9.47 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody 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 Chrudim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavel Osmančík is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Denis Kaulfus 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.
The dugout21 Sep 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 Brabec, on a 4‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Dollard Wandji'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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.95 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fortune Bassey 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. Jablonec have kept their man, and Chrudim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. David Jurčenko 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Antonin Soucek has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Chrudim know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The offer from Táborsko for David Jurčenko 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Chrudim close the window on a squad of their own making
20 in and 12 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The deal with Sparta 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chrudim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fortune Bassey 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.
Chrudim 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Adam Richter 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.
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Jan Lacko 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
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.” Pavel Brabec after 0‑5, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
4 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chrudim can pretend not to have heard.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dollard Wandji is living that version at Chrudim, and it tends to show in the first month.
Fortune Bassey 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 David Březina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 96. Slovan Liberec had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chrudim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Chrudim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Jambor 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slavia Prague have kept their man, and Chrudim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Chrudim will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Michal Řezáč is living that version at Chrudim, and it tends to show in the first month.
The deal with Dukla 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. David Bauer is a Chrudim player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Jan Lacko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bohemians 1905 have kept their man, and Chrudim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 22 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Jan Schick has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Patrik Holes has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chrudim 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 Jan Shejbal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Slavia Prague B scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.