Slovacko U20

14 Sep 2027
Tuesday
Process
59 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Slovacko's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Slovacko has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

36 days out for David Štěpánek after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

7 saves: Milan Heča was the team

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.

Market

Gigli Ndefe’s move to Viktoria Plzen falls through

The deal that would have taken Gigli Ndefe to Viktoria Plzen has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Slovacko with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Squad

Real improvement from Adrien Thibaut at Slovacko

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Adrien Thibaut is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Slovan Liberec take the points off Slovacko

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Lukáš Vorlický

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

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 Jan Sima left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

Back issues
58 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

14 saves: Milan Heča was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 14 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

43 days out for David Štěpánek after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

No end in sight to Slovacko's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Slovacko has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

20 seasons of Petr Reinberk

421 appearances across 20 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Slovacko know what they have.

The dugout

Petr Reinberk keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Slovacko may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Age has not caught David Puškáč yet — 7.95

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 22 in, 7 out at Slovacko

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 22 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for Slovacko against Viktoria Plzen

1‑3 to Viktoria Plzen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

57 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

50 days out for David Štěpánek after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

No end in sight to Slovacko's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Slovacko has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

8 saves: Milan Heča was the team

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.

Market

Andrej Stojčevski puts it in writing

“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 Slovacko, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Herculano Nabian will not be coming to Slovacko

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Empoli is saying, and nobody at Slovacko is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Transfer targets

Slovacko rebuffed over Abdourahman Badamosi

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Teplice have kept their man, and Slovacko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Player ratings

Andrej Stojčevski was immovable

20 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Squad

200 appearances for Tihomir Kostadinov

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

In brief

56 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

David Štěpánek breaks a bone — 60 days out

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.

Match

Slovacko bow out of the cup

Slovan Liberec go through and Slovacko go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

No end in sight to Slovacko's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Slovacko has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Milan Heča keeps Slovacko in it on his own

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 dugout

Ousman Ceesay: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slovacko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Michal Trávník pops up at the right end — 7.68

7.68, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Market

Pavel Vandas is a Slovacko player

The fee is $110.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Pribram drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

In brief

55 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 38. 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.

Squad

A fracture rules David Štěpánek out for 67 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slovacko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Transfer targets

Slovacko agree $110.0K for Pavel Vandas

The clubs have shaken hands with Pribram; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Match

5 matches without a win for Slovacko

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Slovacko are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Real improvement from Adrien Thibaut at Slovacko

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Adrien Thibaut is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Slovacko are shipping goals every week

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.

Transfer targets

Slovacko rebuffed over Malek El Mala

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Köln have kept their man, and Slovacko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

A bad afternoon for Slovacko against Teplice

0‑2 to Teplice, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

54 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Milan Heča

There were 12 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

David Štěpánek breaks a bone — 77 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

4 matches without a win for Slovacko

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Slovacko are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A move Matej Dula would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Matej Dula is living that version at Slovacko, and it tends to show in the first month.

Match

Slovacko come up short against Zbrojovka Brno

Zbrojovka Brno left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Transfer targets

Slovacko rebuffed over Panagiotis Tsantilas

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atromitos have kept their man, and Slovacko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Slovacko are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 16. 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.

In brief

53 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

David Štěpánek breaks a bone — 84 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Both of them David Puškáč's — 8.97

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.97, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Andrej Stojčevski hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovacko can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Lukáš Vorlický 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.

Match

Jablonec take the points off Slovacko

Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Transfer targets

Slovacko rebuffed over Alessandro Selvini

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Frosinone have kept their man, and Slovacko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Milan Heča

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Milan Heča, and the manager let it.

Squad

Petr Reinberk signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Petr Reinberk commits to Slovacko for another 2 years.

The dugout

Jan Sima faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jan Sima after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

52 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Milan Heča stands alone

12 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

A fracture rules David Štěpánek out for 92 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slovacko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Milan Rundić keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Slovacko may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

A bad afternoon for Slovacko against Slavia Prague

5‑6 to Slavia Prague, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Match

11 goals as Slovacko and Slavia Prague go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 11 goals between Slovacko and Slavia Prague, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Boardroom

Slovacko beat the market to Geraldo Bajrami from Slovan Liberec

Slovan Liberec will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Geraldo Bajrami has pre-agreed a move to Slovacko, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

Hajduk Split tell Slovacko: Stefan Vukić is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

In brief

51 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

David Štěpánek breaks a bone — 99 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Stephen Wisdom asks to leave Slovacko

“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.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Benjamin Nyarko rejects the move

Slovacko had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Admira Wacker, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

5 academy graduates step up at Slovacko

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.

Market

Artūr Dolžnikov moves on

Jihlava pay $55.0K, 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.

Transfer targets

Slovacko rebuffed over Aleksa Maraš

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Sofia have kept their man, and Slovacko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Antonin Vydra steps up from the Slovacko academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Antonin Vydra 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.

Market

One of our own: Michal Holes joins the Slovacko first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Michal Holes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

In brief

50 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Olawale Olajide out for 43 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slovacko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Artūr Dolžnikov hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovacko can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Michal Trávník for 14 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Slovacko will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Jihlava join the queue for Artūr Dolžnikov

Add another name to the list: Jihlava have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Artūr Dolžnikov. The answer from Slovacko has not changed — yet.

Transfer targets

Slovacko rebuffed over Komnen Andrić

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Rijeka have kept their man, and Slovacko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Martin Uhrovič signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Martin Uhrovič commits to Slovacko for another 3 years.

Transfer targets

Slovacko ask about Stefan Vukić

A loan enquiry to Hajduk Split: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

Slovacko ask about Benjamin Nyarko

A loan enquiry to Admira Wacker: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

49 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

51 days out for Olawale Olajide after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Andrej Stojčevski puts it in writing

“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 Slovacko, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Slovacko

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Slovacko is running low.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Furkan Dursun rejects the move

Slovacko had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Thun, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Alexandr Urban is a better footballer than he was

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Hisham Al-Dubais

Slovacko asked and Cibalia 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 dugout

Daniel Tetour gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Jonathan Mulder signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jonathan Mulder commits to Slovacko for another 3 years.

In brief

48 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Gigli Ndefe puts it in writing

“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 Slovacko, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

58 days out for Olawale Olajide after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Transfer targets

Stefan Vukić turns down Slovacko

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Hajduk Split keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

Real improvement from Marek Lašák at Slovacko

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marek Lašák is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

A late step up for Lukáš Vorlický

At 25 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.

Boardroom

Samuel Klieštik will join Slovacko for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Samuel Klieštik has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Slovacko have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Transfer targets

Egnatia Rrogozhinë tell Slovacko: Soumaïla Bakayoko is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jan Suchan

“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.

In brief

47 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Olawale Olajide breaks a bone — 66 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Štěpán Beran asks to leave Slovacko

“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.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The step up is real for Bradley Grant

At 22 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.

Squad

A late step up for Kolawole Oladipo

At 27 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.

Transfer targets

Botev Vratsa tell Slovacko: Boris Dimitrov is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Stefan Vukić is in the works

Slovacko have made the call to Hajduk Split. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Furkan Dursun is in the works

Slovacko have made the call to Thun. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

Tomáš Král gets picked when it counts

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 Tomáš Král is on it.

In brief

46 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Olawale Olajide out for 73 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slovacko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Tihomir Kostadinov hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovacko can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Trofim Melnichenko will not be coming to Slovacko

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Porto is saying, and nobody at Slovacko is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Lukáš Vorlický and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Slovacko baulk at the price for Filip Lehký

Mlada Boleslav wanted more than $420.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

Real improvement from Štěpán Beran at Slovacko

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Štěpán Beran is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

The dugout

Isaiah Ejeh gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Olawale Olajide wants one last season at home

Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Slovacko know now that the thought has arrived.

The dugout

When it matters, Bryan Ouanda plays

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

45 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Slovacko turn down Bohemians 1905 for David Puškáč

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

80 days out for Olawale Olajide after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Andrej Stojčevski asks to leave Slovacko

“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.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Slovacko

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Slovacko is running low.

Transfer targets

An offer of $420.0K for Filip Lehký

Slovacko have gone to Mlada Boleslav with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines David Štěpánek for 15 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Slovacko will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Boardroom

Slovacko agree a free transfer for Abdullahi Shehu

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.

Market

No place for Gigli Ndefe in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Gigli Ndefe has his answer from Slovacko; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

44 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

87 days out for Olawale Olajide after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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 dugout

No hiding place for Jan Suchan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jan Suchan, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Petr Reinberk has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slovacko 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.

Market

The Lukáš Vorlický talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slovacko know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

Alexandr Urban wants out of the dugout

“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Slovacko will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.

In brief

43 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Olawale Olajide breaks a bone — 95 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 95 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Alexandr Urban signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Urban and Slovacko agree another 4 years.

Squad

Home is on Olawale Olajide's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Slovacko are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Tihomir Kostadinov

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

When it matters, Tomáš Král plays

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

42 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Olawale Olajide out for 103 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slovacko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Petr Reinberk

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Petr Reinberk, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Bryan Ouanda has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slovacko 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 dugout

Stephen Wisdom is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

The manager makes Milan Rundić a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Slovacko. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

41 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Olawale Olajide out for 110 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slovacko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Andrej Stojčevski hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovacko can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

Bryan Ouanda is the real thing at 21

A season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Slovacko know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

Loan watch

Ousman Ceesay has seen enough of Banik Ostrava

“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 Slovacko, and 1 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.

The dugout

When it matters, Milan Heča plays

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 dugout

Nazar Domchak knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nazar Domchak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

No hiding place for Filip Hruška

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Hruška, and the manager let it.

Squad

Tomáš Král has settled at Slovacko

The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.

In brief

40 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

118 days out for Olawale Olajide after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Gigli Ndefe asks to leave Slovacko

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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 dugout

Daniel Tetour asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

Still no ink between Slovacko and Kolawole Oladipo

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Slovacko, another week without a signature from Kolawole Oladipo.

Squad

Nazar Domchak moves up the pecking order

Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Slovacko than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.

In brief

39 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

125 days out for Olawale Olajide after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Lukáš Vorlický in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Daniel Tetour knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Tetour trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

When it matters, Tomáš Král plays

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 dugout

The manager makes Jan Suchan a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Slovacko. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Squad

Kolawole Oladipo is settling

A few words of the language, a friend at the next peg, and a training ground that has stopped feeling foreign. Nothing measurable, and everything visible on Saturdays.

In brief

38 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Štěpán Beran

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Štěpán Beran, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Bryan Ouanda gets picked when it counts

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 Bryan Ouanda is on it.

The dugout

Tomáš Huk asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout

Stephen Wisdom is still paying for one afternoon at Slovacko

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.

Market

Kolawole Oladipo joins Slovacko to strengthen the squad

Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Slovacko have gone and got theirs early.

In brief

37 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

Bryan Ouanda is the real thing at 21

A season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Slovacko know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

Loan watch

Ousman Ceesay wants to come home

“I did not go to Banik Ostrava to sit and watch. I want to come back to Slovacko and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

Squad

6 new faces, and Slovacko 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 dugout

Milan Heča has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slovacko 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 dugout

Tomáš Huk knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slovacko, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

36 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Andrej Stojčevski hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovacko can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

The armband comes off Daniel Tetour

Slovacko will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.

The dugout

Petr Reinberk has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slovacko 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.

Market

The Lukáš Vorlický question follows Slovacko around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Lukáš Vorlický’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

The manager makes Jan Suchan a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Slovacko. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

35 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Tihomir Kostadinov keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Slovacko may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

No place for Tihomir Kostadinov in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Tihomir Kostadinov has his answer from Slovacko; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

The dugout

Tomáš Král gets picked when it counts

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 Tomáš Král is on it.

Squad

“I want to play”: Alexandr Urban speaks

“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.

Squad

Abdourahman Badamosi finally belongs at Slovacko

The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.

In brief

34 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Milan Rundić puts it in writing

“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 Slovacko, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Olawale Olajide wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Slovacko can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Petr Reinberk

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

David Puškáč knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slovacko, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Bryan Ouanda has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slovacko 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.

In brief

33 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Nazar Domchak says Slovacko went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

At 21, Bryan Ouanda is already the best thing here

An average of 7.02 in a first team he is several years too young for. Slovacko have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniel Tetour

“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.

Loan watch

Ousman Ceesay wants to come home

“I did not go to Banik Ostrava to sit and watch. I want to come back to Slovacko and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

Squad

Slovacko are still strangers to each other

6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief

32 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jan Fiala

19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slovacko lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Andrej Stojčevski hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovacko can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A career in one shirt: Marek Havlík

14 seasons and 453 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.

Squad

Michal Trávník signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Michal Trávník commits to Slovacko for another 2 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Lukáš Vorlický 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 dugout

No hiding place for Isaiah Ejeh

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Isaiah Ejeh, and the manager let it.

In brief

31 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Jan Fiala out for 27 days

27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Slovacko lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Gigli Ndefe puts it in writing

“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 Slovacko, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Isaiah Ejeh: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slovacko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Marek Havlík: 14 seasons and counting

453 appearances across 14 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Slovacko know exactly what they have.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Michal Trávník falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

30 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

11 saves: Nazar Domchak was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jan Fiala

36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slovacko lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Slovacko out of the cup

Slavia Prague ended it 0‑8. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Market

Milan Rundić puts it in writing

“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 Slovacko, and it is not being withdrawn.

The terraces

A cup hiding at Slavia Prague leaves Slovacko explaining themselves

0-8, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

8 goals as Slovacko and Slavia Prague go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Slovacko and Slavia Prague, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words at Slovacko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Trávník 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

29 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jan Fiala

44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Slovacko lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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 dugout

Filip Hruška gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Slovacko

8 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.

The dugout

Milan Heča has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slovacko 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.

Squad

The formation has left Abdourahman Badamosi behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Slovacko will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

The dugout

Michal Trávník knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slovacko, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Stephen Wisdom is still paying for one afternoon at Slovacko

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.

Market

The window shut and Milan Rundić is still in the building

Slovacko spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.

In brief

28 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Jan Fiala out for 52 days

52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Slovacko lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Bryan Ouanda, 21, steals the show — 7.87

Marked 7.87 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.

Transfer targets

Malek El Mala turns down Slovacko

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Köln keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

At 21, Bryan Ouanda is already the best thing here

An average of 7.02 in a first team he is several years too young for. Slovacko have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.

Transfer targets

Dukla Prague tell Slovacko: Boubou Diallo is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Match

Tihomir Kostadinov the difference as Slovacko beat Sparta Prague

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tihomir Kostadinov. 2‑1 against Sparta Prague, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

Slovacko supporters have found a favourite in Abdourahman Badamosi

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdourahman Badamosi 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 dugout

Gigli Ndefe gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

27 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Jan Fiala out for 61 days

61 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Slovacko lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

No mercy from Slovacko

Pribram will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Slovacko were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Market

Andrej Stojčevski hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovacko can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Bryan Ouanda, 21, steals the show — 8.57

Marked 8.57 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.

Player ratings

Age has not caught David Puškáč yet — 7.94

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.94 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Player ratings

Michal Trávník pops up at the right end — 7.94

7.94, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 5 in, 1 out at Slovacko

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

A move James Rowswell would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. James Rowswell is living that version at Slovacko, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

26 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Jan Fiala out for 69 days

69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Slovacko lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Bryan Ouanda, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.10

A mark of 8.10 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.

Squad

6 saves: Nazar Domchak was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Lukáš Vorlický

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Michal Trávník falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Rafał Adamski

Slovacko asked and Legia 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniel Tetour

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Milan Heča left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Milan Heča will call it something else in private.

In brief

25 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Jan Fiala out for 77 days

77 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Slovacko lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

Slovacko taken apart

0‑3 to Banik Ostrava, 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.

Market

Ousman Ceesay has said yes to Mlada Boleslav

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Slovacko have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Boardroom

Ousman Ceesay has agreed to leave Slovacko for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

Michal Trávník falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Transfer targets

Slovacko rebuffed over Javohir Esonqulov

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Merani have kept their man, and Slovacko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Milan Heča

“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.

In brief

  • Boardroom Inquest at Slovacko
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Transfer targets A loan move for Boubou Diallo is in the works
24 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Jan Fiala damages knee ligaments — 86 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 86 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Slovacko say no — this time

The offer from Banik Ostrava for David Puškáč 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.

Transfer targets

Nazar Domchak is a medical away from Slovacko

The deal with Slavia Prague is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Market

Filip Vaško moves on

Sparta Prague pay $320.0K, 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.

Squad

Words at Slovacko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Trávník 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.

Match

David Puškáč’s goal not enough for Slovacko

David Puškáč scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Dukla Prague, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Market

Mlada Boleslav join the queue for Ousman Ceesay

Add another name to the list: Mlada Boleslav have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ousman Ceesay. The answer from Slovacko has not changed — yet.

In brief

23 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Jan Fiala damages knee ligaments — 93 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 93 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Slovacko tear Zlin apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Zlin, and it could have been more.

Squad

19 seasons of Petr Reinberk

410 appearances across 19 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Slovacko know what they have.

Market

Milan Rundić puts it in writing

“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 Slovacko, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Slovacko turn down Banik Ostrava for Filip Vaško

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

Bryan Ouanda, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93

A mark of 7.93 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.

Player ratings

David Puškáč, 33, rolls back the years — 8.58

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.58 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Player ratings

Michal Trávník goes up and wins it — 7.93

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 7.93 for the rest of it.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

22 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Jan Fiala out for 101 days

101 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Slovacko lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Peter Holič hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slovacko can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

David Puškáč’s goal not enough for Slovacko

David Puškáč scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Sigma Olomouc, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

Lukáš Vorlický is still paying for one afternoon at Slovacko

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.

The dugout

Jan Sima: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický will replay that one

1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Tihomir Kostadinov

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Milan Heča has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slovacko 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.

In brief

21 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Jan Fiala out for 108 days

108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Slovacko lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Words at Slovacko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Trávník 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Slovacko against Slovan Liberec

1‑3 to Slovan Liberec, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Milan Rundić 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 dugout

Marek Havlík gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Jan Sima to a room that had heard them before.

Squad

Stephen Wisdom wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Slovacko can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

The dugout

Michal Trávník does not fit this one

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.

In brief

20 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Milan Heča stands alone

11 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

A move Jess Degenaers would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jess Degenaers is living that version at Slovacko, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Words at Slovacko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Trávník 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Slovacko against Viktoria Plzen

1‑2 to Viktoria Plzen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Milan Rundić gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Jan Sima faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jan Sima after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Player ratings

Tomáš Král's mistake decides it

Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Slovacko needed to.

In brief

19 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Both of them David Puškáč's — 8.72

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.72, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Slovacko lose Gigli Ndefe

14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Match

Slovacko see off Bohemians 1905

Three points for Slovacko, 2‑1 the final word against Bohemians 1905 in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Match

Another one collected away from home

3 on the bounce on the road for Slovacko. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Lukáš Vorlický

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

No hiding place for Filip Vaško

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Vaško, and the manager let it.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Ousman Ceesay

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ousman Ceesay has come out of that comparison in the side, and Slovacko have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Jan Sima kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

In brief

18 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Peter Holič puts it in writing

“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 Slovacko, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Vintage David Puškáč — 7.96

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.96, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Michal Trávník 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 dugout

Daniel Tetour gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Late, late show earns Slovacko a point

Minute 90, against Mlada Boleslav, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

The dugout

Slovacko keep their word to David Puškáč

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.

Match

Honours even between Slovacko and Mlada Boleslav

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

When it matters, Milan Heča plays

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

17 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Cup progress for Slovacko

A 2‑1 win over Sparta Prague, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Squad

Milan Heča stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Bryan Ouanda, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.31

A mark of 8.31 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.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Michal Trávník delivers — 7.53

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Michal Trávník scored, was marked 7.53, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

Michal Trávník 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.

Match

Michal Trávník the difference as Slovacko beat Teplice

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Michal Trávník. 2‑1 against Teplice, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

One of their own: Moustapha Djimet

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.

In brief

16 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

4 matches without a win for Slovacko

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Slovacko are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Match

Slovacko are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jan Suchan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jan Suchan, and the manager let it.

Match

Honours even between Slovacko and Zbrojovka Brno

2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

Michal Trávník knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slovacko, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Jan Sima on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Petr Reinberk

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.

In brief

15 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Slovacko

0‑3 against Jablonec, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Gigli Ndefe out for 46 days

The medical room confirms 46 days on the sidelines for Gigli Ndefe, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Michal Trávník 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.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Match

The half-term report on Slovacko

Position 12, 13 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Slovacko 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.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Jan Sima to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Moustapha Djimet

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Slovacko told Moustapha Djimet something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

14 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Slovacko taken apart

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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Milan Heča

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

A row about effort at Slovacko

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michal Trávník was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for David Štěpánek

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Štěpánek, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Slovacko 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Martin Šviderský and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Jan Sima faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jan Sima after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Slovacko keep their word to Tomáš Huk

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.

Squad

Slovacko take the armband off Milan Heča

It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.

In brief

13 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Milan Heča keeps Slovacko in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

Sparta Prague take the points off Slovacko

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Jan Suchan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Milan Heča gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Slovacko are still strangers to each other

11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

Jan Sima: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 15. 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 dugout

Milan Heča has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slovacko 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.

Looking ahead

The leaders are next for Slovacko

Slavia Prague top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.

In brief

12 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Vintage David Puškáč — 8.40

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.40, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

Words at Slovacko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Trávník 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.

Match

Slovacko find a way past Pribram

Pribram made Slovacko work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

One of those days for Daniel Tetour

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

No hiding place for Isaiah Ejeh

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Isaiah Ejeh, and the manager let it.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Jan Sima kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Gigli Ndefe

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.

In brief

11 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Stephen Wisdom gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Stephen Wisdom has just signed for Slovacko, and for once the answer mattered.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Štěpán Beran

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Slovacko end the wait against Jihlava

It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Squad

Words at Slovacko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Trávník 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.

Match

Slovacko see off Jihlava

Three points for Slovacko, 2‑1 the final word against Jihlava in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The terraces

One of their own: Moustapha Djimet

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 dugout

No hiding place for David Puškáč

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Puškáč, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Moustapha Djimet

A mark of 7.92, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

In brief

10 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Milan Heča keeps Slovacko in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

The wait goes on for Slovacko

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.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Slovacko against Banik Ostrava

1‑2 to Banik Ostrava, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for Filip Vaško

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Vaško, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Jan Sima answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Lukáš Vorlický

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Bryan Ouanda

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Bryan Ouanda has come out of that comparison in the side, and Slovacko have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

The dugout

Slovacko pick somebody else ahead of Gigli Ndefe

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

9 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Filip Vaško: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slovacko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jan Suchan

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

5 matches without a win for Slovacko

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Slovacko are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

Words at Slovacko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Trávník 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.

Market

Filip Vaško is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Slovacko has been clear about where Filip Vaško stands, which is more than many ever get.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Slovacko

10 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.

The dugout

Tihomir Kostadinov gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Slovacko share the spoils with Dukla Prague

A 1‑1 draw with Dukla Prague leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

8 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

4 matches without a win for Slovacko

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Slovacko are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniel Tetour

“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.

Squad

Filip Vaško 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 dugout

Slovacko keep their word to Gigli Ndefe

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Jan Sima on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

Squad

“I want to play”: Moustapha Djimet speaks

“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Petr Reinberk

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.

In brief

7 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Viktoria Plzen come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Slovacko did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Match

A bad afternoon for Slovacko against Sigma Olomouc

1‑3 to Sigma Olomouc, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Nicholas Gioacchini

Slovacko asked and Asteras said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický in the eights

A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jan Suchan

“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.

Squad

Martin Šviderský in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Jan Sima left the room before anybody could ask which.

Squad

No place for Moustapha Djimet in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Slovacko are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

The dugout

Tomáš Král has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Slovacko 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.

In brief

6 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

10 saves: Milan Heča was the team

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.

Player ratings

A brace, and Bryan Ouanda takes the afternoon — 8.66

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bryan Ouanda provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 16 in, 3 out at Slovacko

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Market

Viktoria Plzen watching Filip Vaško

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Slovacko have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Match

Bryan Ouanda among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Bryan Ouanda on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Slovacko and Slovan Liberec.

Match

Slovacko come up short against Slovan Liberec

Slovan Liberec left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words at Slovacko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Trávník 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Michalis Kosidis

Slovacko asked and Gornik Zabrze said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Milan Rundić in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

  • The terraces The crowd has taken to Bryan Ouanda
  • The dugout Milan Heča gets it from the manager
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
5 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Transfer targets

Jakub Świerczok turns down Slovacko

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Pogon keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Lukáš Vorlický 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.

Squad

Michal Trávník falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Transfer targets

Rodina tell Slovacko: Kerfala Cissoko is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Match

Slovacko come up short against Viktoria Plzen

Viktoria Plzen left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Filip Vaško

“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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Slovacko

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.

The dugout

Jan Sima faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jan Sima after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

4 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

12 saves: Milan Heča was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Lukáš Vodička breaks a bone — 17 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Slovacko through in the cup

A 1‑0 win over Slovan Liberec, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Match

Slovacko win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 121th minute. Slovan Liberec will replay every second of the added time for a week.

Player ratings

Tomáš Král, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.74

A mark of 7.74 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.

Transfer targets

Jakub Świerczok due for a Slovacko medical

Everything agreed with Pogon, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Words exchanged at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Transfer targets

No deal for Serigne Fallou Mbacké Coly at that price

Slovacko offered $140.0K; Dukla 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Daniel Man

Slovacko asked and Astra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

3 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

25 days out for Lukáš Vodička after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Slovacko say no — this time

The offer from Bohemians 1905 for Filip Vaško 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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Milan Heča

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $860.0K sale of Pavel Juroška

He is going to Dukla Prague, the club has $860.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Slovacko walk away from Matyáš Vojta

$2.7M was the most the club would pay and Sparta Prague were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Lukáš Vorlický

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Pavel Juroška moves on

Dukla Prague pay $860.0K, 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Slovacko

Marek Havlík and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Slovacko bid $140.0K for Serigne Fallou Mbacké Coly

The offer went to Dukla 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.

In brief

2 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

32 days out for Lukáš Vodička after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slovacko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Pavel Juroška

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

Slovacko make their move for Matyáš Vojta

$2.7M on the table at Sparta Prague. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Player ratings

David Puškáč, 33, rolls back the years — 7.83

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Market

Eyes on Alan Marinelli again

The phone has started ringing about Alan Marinelli again, and this time the name on the line is Banik Ostrava. Slovacko are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Marek Havlík signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marek Havlík and Slovacko agree another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Slovacko

Marek Havlík 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.

Squad

Words at Slovacko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michal Trávník 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.

Transfer targets

Slovacko rebuffed over Serigne Fallou Mbacké Coly

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dukla Prague have kept their man, and Slovacko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

In brief

1 Edition

The Slovacko Sentinel

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A career in one shirt: Petr Reinberk

19 seasons and 403 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.

Player ratings

Lukáš Vorlický runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

7 saves: Milan Heča was the team

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.

Squad

David Puškáč stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” David Puškáč and Slovacko agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Marek Havlík in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slovacko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Soumaïla Bakayoko

Slovacko asked and Egnatia Rrogozhinë said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Slovacko had all but put away. Zbrojovka Brno will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

Market

Nobody at Slovacko has picked up the phone to Lukáš Vorlický

49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

Match

Slovacko share the spoils with Zbrojovka Brno

A 1‑1 draw with Zbrojovka Brno leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief