Ethan Laidlaw wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Ethan Laidlaw found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Slovacko 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 The request is on a desk at Sigma Olomouc, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Jan Koutný 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slovacko have kept their man, and Sigma Olomouc go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
Jáchym Šíp 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sigma Olomouc they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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 Jáchym Šíp was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Dec 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Lukas Darida to a room that had heard them before.
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.
In brief
The dugoutMatěj Hadaš knocks on the manager's door
Péter Baráth 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 Jan Koutný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hilmir Rafn Mikaelsson, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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.” Lukas Darida, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Zbrojovka Brno spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Péter Baráth 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Jan Koutný 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 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sigma Olomouc has been clear about where Filip Slavíček stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Jáchym Šíp 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sigma Olomouc they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.04 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Michal Beran falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Léo Borges'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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michal Beran was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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 Prodělal 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 dugout22 Nov 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Lukas Darida to a room that had heard them before.
Jan Koutný 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.
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.
Three points for Sigma Olomouc, 1‑0 the final word against Pribram in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Ethan Laidlaw was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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.” Lukas Darida, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sigma Olomouc told Matěj Hadaš something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.24 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Koutný 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jan Kliment. 2‑0 against Jihlava, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.03 — 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.” Tadeáš Stoppen and Sigma Olomouc agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Jan Kliment
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Jan Kliment has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sigma Olomouc have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sigma Olomouc they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.09 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Péter Baráth and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Jan Koutný 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dominik Janošek has his answer from Sigma Olomouc; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Two goals and a mark of 9.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Péter Baráth 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.
A 2‑2 draw with Dukla Prague leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Lukas Darida was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Sigma Olomouc dressing room was either.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sigma Olomouc, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sigma Olomouc have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
8 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.
Péter Baráth 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 Jan Koutný 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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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 Michal Beran was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jan Koutný 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc 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.” Jakub Jezierski and Sigma Olomouc agree another 4 years.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matěj Hadaš will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sigma Olomouc the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michal Beran was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.18 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Jan Koutný falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 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.
5 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.
Péter Baráth 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 21 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Jan Koutný falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Nobody 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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Dominik Janošek was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. 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.
Marked 8.02 — 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 right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
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 Sigma Olomouc 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.” Dario Grgić and Sigma Olomouc agree another 3 years.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Beran 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sigma Olomouc will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matěj Hadaš will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sigma Olomouc the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Sigma Olomouc close the window on a squad of their own making
17 in and 9 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michal Beran was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sigma Olomouc will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Péter Baráth 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.
Jan Kliment scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Zbrojovka Brno, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout30 Aug 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Lukas Darida to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Aug 2027
5 new faces, and Sigma Olomouc 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.
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 Dominik Janošek is on it.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Mlada Boleslav will replay every second of the added time for a week.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sigma Olomouc will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sigma Olomouc have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Sigma Olomouc, and it is not being withdrawn.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Matúš Malý scored, was marked 6.98, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
At 15 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑4 to Slavia Prague, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sigma Olomouc have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ondřej Prodělal has just signed for Sigma Olomouc, and for once the answer mattered.
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Koutný 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.
0‑5 to Sparta Prague, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 33 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matěj Hadaš will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sigma Olomouc the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jan Koutný was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sigma Olomouc will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Péter Baráth 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.
A 1‑0 win over Pribram, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Matěj Radosta 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. 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 easiest signature of my career.” Anthony Pavlešić and Sigma Olomouc agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sigma Olomouc has been clear about where Jiří Spáčil stands, which is more than many ever get.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.18 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Péter Baráth 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 Jul 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Koutný is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sigma Olomouc 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 Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Petr Schick is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Pavel Holes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jan Barak is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Work is signed off on a capacity of 6829. It is the sort of decision a club is judged on twenty years later, by people who were not there when it was taken.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sigma Olomouc is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Sigma Olomouc will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, 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 Péter Baráth signs something — a contract at Sigma Olomouc or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sigma Olomouc will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Sigma Olomouc, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sigma Olomouc have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from Dukla Prague for Anthony Pavlešić 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Sigma Olomouc have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Koutný 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.
Mlada Boleslav pay $72.0K, 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.
Jakub Jezierski 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Lapo Nava is in the works
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Jihlava waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sigma Olomouc is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sigma Olomouc have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
$1.7M was the most the club would pay and Viktoria Plzen were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Everything agreed with Brentford, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
At 29 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.
František Matys 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.
In brief
The dugoutJan Koutný has become a man the manager trusts
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sigma Olomouc people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Sigma Olomouc, and it is not being withdrawn.
$1.7M on the table at Viktoria Plzen. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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 Sigma Olomouc 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. Ajax have kept their man, and Sigma Olomouc go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Filip Slavíček's mistake
The dugoutDominik Janošek has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of David Tkáč
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Cukaricki had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Václav Sejk was one of the reasons people came, and $3.3M does not replace that by itself.
Viktoria Plzen paid $3.0M and Sigma Olomouc took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Sigma Olomouc offered $950.0K; Sparta Prague said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
At 20 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matěj Radosta 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sigma Olomouc have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sigma Olomouc they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer went to Sparta Prague this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Péter Baráth 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.
At 19 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.
Péter Baráth was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
15 appearances and 11 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matěj Radosta 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 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 John Dembe 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 Sigma Olomouc, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Sigma Olomouc, and 10 appearances in 38 say he has earned the hearing.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The 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. Sigma Olomouc know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Sigma Olomouc that is a harder question to answer.
Fabijan Krivak 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.
10 goals in 14 games at Audax Italiano — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sigma Olomouc updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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 Dominik Janošek is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Michal Beran 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 Péter Baráth signs something — a contract at Sigma Olomouc 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.
In brief
BoardroomThe Sigma Olomouc production line keeps running
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Sigma Olomouc
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matúš Malý will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sigma Olomouc the goodbyes have quietly begun.
9 goals in 13 games at Audax Italiano — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sigma Olomouc updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Filip Slavíček'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 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abubakar Ghali signs something — a contract at Sigma Olomouc 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 Sigma Olomouc. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Jan Koutný 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.
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stéphane Noumbissie 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 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 Jan Král is on it.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Sigma Olomouc have no good answer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Sigma Olomouc game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Vaduz runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marián Pišoja was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 goals in 11 games at Audax Italiano — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sigma Olomouc updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sigma Olomouc know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Sigma Olomouc, 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 Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Sigma Olomouc 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Marián Pišoja 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Václav Sejk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Matěj Radosta has written the date down.
10 graduates, from a department now rated 11 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sigma Olomouc they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Péter Baráth 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 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sigma Olomouc, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Péter Baráth 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 Stéphane Noumbissie 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 Filip Slavíček 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 Marko Soldo signs something — a contract at Sigma Olomouc or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Fabijan Krivak 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniel 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. Filip Masopust 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ales Krejci 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ales Coufal 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.
“I watch every Sigma Olomouc game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Vaduz runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
Fabijan Krivak 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 at Sigma Olomouc 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Marián Pišoja 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.
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 Matúš Malý has written the date down.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matúš Malý will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sigma Olomouc the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jan Koutný 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 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marián Pišoja was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Péter Baráth 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Péter Baráth 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 Václav Sejk signs something — a contract at Sigma Olomouc or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutJan Král has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Sigma Olomouc will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“I watch every Sigma Olomouc game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Vaduz runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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 Jan Koutný is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stéphane Noumbissie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Sigma Olomouc, 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 Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Sigma Olomouc game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Slovacko runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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 would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stéphane Noumbissie 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sigma Olomouc have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sigma Olomouc is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Péter Baráth 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Beran 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 did not go to Audax Italiano to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sigma Olomouc and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Filip Slavíček'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 dugoutVáclav Sejk has become a man the manager trusts
Successful dribbles: 40. 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.78 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Legia keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sigma Olomouc have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Beran 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. NK Domzale have kept their man, and Sigma Olomouc go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 39. 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 deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Rodina is saying, and nobody at Sigma Olomouc is enjoying the guessing.
$170.0K on the table at Zbrojovka Brno. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer from FCSB for Jan Koutný 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
Sigma Olomouc had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sparta Prague, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Petr Kaulfus has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Sigma Olomouc have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax have kept their man, and Sigma Olomouc go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sigma Olomouc people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Mlada Boleslav for Jáchym Šíp 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.
Everything agreed with Mlada Boleslav, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Péter Baráth 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. Matěj Hadaš 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matěj Radosta 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 dugoutThe manager makes an example of Matěj Radosta
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Péter Baráth 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sigma Olomouc has been clear about where Filip Slavíček stands, which is more than many ever get.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Jihlava will make the call about Matúš Malý this week. Sigma Olomouc have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
3‑7 against Viktoria Plzen, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Sigma Olomouc, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Jablonec 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 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 Sigma Olomouc 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: Václav Sejk. 1‑0 against Slovacko, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Matěj Radosta 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 earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Lukas Darida on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sigma Olomouc will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Anthony Pavlešić has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Adrian Malovec is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Jan Koutný 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Lukas Darida after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
SquadFrantišek Matys falls out with a teammate over standards
The dugoutMatěj Hadaš has become a man the manager trusts
Successful dribbles: 36. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Marko Soldo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Dominik Janošek was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.42. 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 Matěj Radosta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Fabijan Krivak, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.64
A mark of 7.64 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Jan Koutný and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Matěj Radosta 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.
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Sigma Olomouc have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Filip Slavíček's mistake
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fabijan Krivak did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Václav Sejk on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Sigma Olomouc and Jablonec.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Václav Sejk. 4‑2 against Jablonec, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Sigma Olomouc, and it is not being withdrawn.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A brace, and Václav Sejk takes the afternoon — 9.11
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Václav Sejk provided it, and the 9.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
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.
Péter Baráth 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Péter Baráth 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.
Sparta Prague left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Matěj Radosta 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabijan Krivak, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Lukas Darida to a room that had heard them before.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hilmir Rafn Mikaelsson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
Looking aheadSigma Olomouc take on the side everybody is chasing
Pribram will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Sigma Olomouc were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.74 for the rest of it.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.70 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fabijan Krivak 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: Jan Kliment. 2‑0 against Jihlava, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matěj Radosta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Václav Sejk was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
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.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Banik Ostrava were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matěj Radosta 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sigma Olomouc will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Jan Koutný 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: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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 Lukas Darida left the room before anybody could ask which.
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
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Michal Leibl
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sigma Olomouc will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matěj Radosta 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sigma Olomouc can pretend not to have heard.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matěj Radosta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Filip Slavíček
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Václav Sejk's mistake
“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 Sigma Olomouc, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Péter Baráth 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.
0‑3 against Viktoria Plzen, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Péter Baráth 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.
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Matěj Radosta 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.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Sigma Olomouc dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sigma Olomouc told Václav Sejk something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
Fabijan Krivak 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.
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matěj Radosta 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.” 0‑2, 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Nobody at Sigma Olomouc is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Dominik Janošek’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sigma Olomouc needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Fabijan Krivak 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Fabijan Krivak has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sigma Olomouc have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Louis Lurvink is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Jan Koutný 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.
$260.0K was the most the club would pay and Teplice were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Three points for Sigma Olomouc, 1‑0 the final word against Teplice in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Matěj Radosta 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.
9 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.
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Filip Slavíček'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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. John Dembe did not need any: 8.39, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The offer from Lokeren for John Dembe 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 Sigma Olomouc, and it is not being withdrawn.
Péter Baráth 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 offered $380.0K; Banik Ostrava said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The offer from Slovan Liberec for Jan Koutný 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.
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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 15 actions, 6.67, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Sigma Olomouc offered $350.0K; Slovacko said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
$48.0K on the table at Banik Ostrava. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
$32.0K on the table at Viktoria Plzen. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Teplice have kept their man, and Sigma Olomouc go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Matěj Hadaš
BoardroomNobody left the Sigma Olomouc dressing room in a hurry
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 19 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fabijan Krivak did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Matěj Radosta is living that version at Sigma Olomouc, and it tends to show in the first month.
Sigma Olomouc offered $1.5M; Viktoria Plzen said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
$350.0K on the table at Slovacko. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Péter Baráth was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dominik Janošek and Sigma Olomouc 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 Sigma Olomouc this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sigma Olomouc have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Sigma Olomouc training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Beran 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Dominik Janošek’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Sigma Olomouc are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Lukas Darida to a room that had heard them before.