4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Ladislav Krejčí 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček 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.
“Three loans in three years. At some point a club has to decide if I am their player or their asset.” The spell at Táborsko continues; the message travels home.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Ladislav Krejčí and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A point taken on 88 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
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
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Looking aheadTeplice take on the side everybody is chasing
The dugoutMatěj Náprstek has become a man the manager trusts
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Teplice will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Ladislav Krejčí was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jaroslav Harušťák commits to Teplice for another 4 years.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tomáš Vlček falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Teplice, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jaroslav Harušťák trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Banik Ostrava next, and one man in the Teplice dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ladislav Krejčí commits to Teplice for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Stanislav Coufal on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Teplice than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teplice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Teplice heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑1 win over Zbrojovka Brno, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Stanislav Coufal could afford to be generous.
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.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Michal Bílek 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.
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.
“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 Teplice, and 0 appearances in 1 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Lukáš Mareček
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Stanislav Coufal after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sigma Olomouc defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
In brief
Player ratingsThe afternoon ran through Matyáš Kozák
$11.7M on the table at Foolad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Teplice close the window on a squad of their own making
11 in and 15 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $43.5K — a club that wants Bojan Đorđić enough to be asked twice.
Ladislav Krejčí 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.
Teplice offered $39.0K; Vlašim 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Teplice, and 0 appearances in 8 say he has earned the hearing.
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Teplice prefer.
“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 Teplice, and it is not being withdrawn.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.11. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutMarcel Čermák is still being punished for one mistake
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. John Auta did not need any: 8.01, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tomáš Vlček falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 3‑1 win over Viktoria Plzen, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Teplice asked and Dinamo Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Oleksii Hutsuliak in the middle of it, and Viktoria Plzen unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Matyáš Kozák at his very best
Teplice asked and Beroe said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Teplice hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tomáš Vlček commits to Teplice for another 5 years.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stanislav Coufal after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jason Noslin has his answer from Teplice; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutMatěj Náprstek has become a man the manager trusts
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček 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.
Teplice asked and Slavia Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A 1‑0 win over Bohemians 1905, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
19 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.
“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 Teplice, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ladislav Krejčí and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stanislav Coufal after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jaroslav Harušťák has his answer from Teplice; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jakub Jakubko has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Mlada Boleslav wanted more than $42.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tomáš Holý and Teplice agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Marcel Čermák's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Ladislav Krejčí 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.
$42.0K on the table at Mlada Boleslav. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Patrik Stanek has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jakub Vydra has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lukas Vydra is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jakub Vydra has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The fee is $620.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Opava drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Everything agreed with Artis Brno, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ladislav Krejčí 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mlada Boleslav have kept their man, and Teplice go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutMarcel Čermák asks for a word with the manager
“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 targets5 Jul 2027
$620.0K settles it between the clubs for Matouš Babka
Opava have accepted the money. What Teplice do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Zbrojovka Brno wanted more than $490.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
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.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Jihlava had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Teplice can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Zbrojovka Brno 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is going to Mlada Boleslav, the club has $390.0K 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Teplice can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Viktoria Žižkov for Luděk Němeček 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.
Mlada Boleslav pay $390.0K, 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček 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.
Michal Bílek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Teplice has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Sofia have kept their man, and Teplice go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Teplice, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ladislav Krejčí 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.
$100.0K was the most the club would pay and Slovan Liberec 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Teplice can pretend not to have heard.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $113.8K — a club that wants Augustin Drakpe enough to be asked twice.
The offer went to Slovan Liberec 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.
$32.0K on the table at Banik Ostrava. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The phone has started ringing about Luděk Němeček again, and this time the name on the line is Viktoria Žižkov. Teplice are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Teplice know it.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Teplice will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Teplice no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teplice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ladislav Krejčí 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teplice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Petr Kodeš has written the date down.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
Tomáš Vlček 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Teplice. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Teplice will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Tomáš Vlček falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Teplice 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.
48 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Teplice have no good answer.
In brief
The dugoutDenis Halinský asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Marcel Čermák
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Zlatohlávek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Teplice 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Denis Halinský trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody to talk to at the next peg, a few words of the language, and a training ground that has stopped being a foreign country. It never appears in a scouting report and it decides most signings.
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Teplice. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kryštof Lichtenberg trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Tomáš Vlček
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Teplice lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tomáš Vlček 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.
Michal Bílek 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Teplice know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Teplice lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Teplice know it.
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 Matěj Náprstek is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Teplice know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 4 on 48 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jakub Jakubko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jakub Jakubko is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Teplice know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jason Noslin is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teplice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Teplice. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Teplice lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
John Auta 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Teplice know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Teplice. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutOliver Klimpl knocks on the manager’s door
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Teplice know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Petr Kodeš has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Denis Halinský trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Something was said to Mohamed Yasser and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at Teplice will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Teplice know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
48 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ladislav Krejčí and Teplice agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Tomáš Vlček falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teplice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Teplice know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Teplice did not have in the autumn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matěj Pulkrab. 2‑1 against Sigma Olomouc, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nojus Audinis commits to Teplice for another 4 years.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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.” Stanislav Coufal kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Ladislav Krejčí was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček 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.
7.57, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Teplice had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Stanislav Coufal chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Viktoria Plzen? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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.
Slovan Liberec next, and one man in the Teplice dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The offer from Karviná for Jakub Jakubko 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.
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Teplice have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Teplice will try again when the window opens; Zlin may not be selling by then.
That is the business done at Teplice until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Teplice have done the hard part with Zlin, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The name of Jakub Jakubko has come up in conversations Teplice were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tomáš Vlček 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.
Robert Jukl 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marek Beránek. 2‑1 against Karviná, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.29 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
10 combined actions and 6.71. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.42 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tomáš Vlček falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Panathinaikos have kept their man, and Teplice go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Robert Jukl was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.44 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Teplice had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Pribram, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The chase for Marek Richter ended with $200.0K changing hands and Viktoria Žižkov out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
7 goals in one match, Matěj Pulkrab on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Teplice and Zlin.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Moscow have kept their man, and Teplice go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Marek Beránek will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Teplice escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
The deal with Pribram 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Marek Beránek has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It needed Marek Beránek to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Hradec Králové, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
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.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Teplice will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“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 Teplice, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ladislav Krejčí 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Teplice have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tomáš Vlček 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.
Teplice asked and Slovacko said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ladislav Krejčí was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Zlatohlávek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Stanislav Coufal left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Teplice told Lukáš Mareček something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
Slavia Prague next, and one man in the Teplice dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A 2‑0 win over Slovacko, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Daniel Mareček was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Sparta Prague arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Teplice man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Matyáš Kozák was the best thing in any of them.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Matyáš Kozák will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Teplice escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A brace, and Matyáš Kozák takes the afternoon — 8.40
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matyáš Kozák provided it, and the 8.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Stanislav Coufal after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Something was said to Matej Riznič and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stanislav Coufal after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Daniel Mareček has come out of that comparison in the side, and Teplice have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Banik Ostrava next, and one man in the Teplice dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Tomáš Vlček 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.
Michal Bílek 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.
Position 4, 29 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.
“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; Teplice are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Stanislav Coufal to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Lukáš Mareček
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Teplice told Jakub Emmer something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček 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.
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.
Marked 8.30. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Teplice.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Daniel Mareček was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Ladislav Krejčí and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Zlatohlávek 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.
Something was said to Marcel Čermák and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at Teplice 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.
Jablonec next, and one man in the Teplice dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matouš Trmal signs something — a contract at Teplice or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jakub Jakubko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
A side in position 7 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Mareček provided it, and the 8.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Ladislav Krejčí 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomáš Vlček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Daniel Mareček. 2‑0 against Sigma Olomouc, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stanislav Coufal, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teplice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomáš Vlček signs something — a contract at Teplice or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Banik Ostrava ended it 2‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A brace, and Jason Noslin takes the afternoon — 8.14
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jason Noslin provided it, and the 8.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tomáš Vlček falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 7.01, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matěj Pulkrab. 1‑0 against Viktoria Plzen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Something was said to Daniel Mareček and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 7.24, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Stanislav Coufal could afford to be generous.
Tomáš Vlček 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.
Michal Bílek was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Teplice has been clear about where Ladislav Takács stands, which is more than many ever get.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Mlada Boleslav in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomáš Vlček signs something — a contract at Teplice or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Teplice will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Teplice, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Teplice. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Chances created: 11. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Stanislav Coufal was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Teplice dressing room was either.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Lukáš Mareček
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.
A brace, and Marek Beránek takes the afternoon — 8.33
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marek Beránek provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tomáš Vlček falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Teplice can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad28 Sep 2026
11 new faces, and Teplice 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stanislav Coufal, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Mareček provided it, and the 8.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Jakub Emmer reports back to Teplice with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stanislav Coufal, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
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
The dugoutMarcel Čermák knocks on the manager’s door
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Tomáš Zlatohlávek reports back to Teplice with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Zlatohlávek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 2‑1 win over Hradec Králové, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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.” Stanislav Coufal kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomáš Vlček signs something — a contract at Teplice or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Teplice would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Denis Halinský
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Dukla Prague will make the call about Tomáš Zlatohlávek this week. Teplice have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Vlček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Marcel Čermák is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
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.
“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 Teplice, and it is not being withdrawn.
$1.3M 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.
The offer went to Slavia 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $133.1K — a club that wants Jakub Martinec enough to be asked twice.
$130.0K 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.
Add another name to the list: FC Košice have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Pavel Svatek. The answer from Teplice has not changed — yet.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tomáš Vlček 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.
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Teplice scored in the 102th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Pavel Svatek takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Pavel Svatek provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Jan Fortelný was one of the reasons people came, and $830.0K does not replace that by itself.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Olympiacos is saying, and nobody at Teplice is enjoying the guessing.
Teplice have gone to Sparta Prague 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.
Teplice have gone to Slavia Prague 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsNo deal for Divine Teah at that price
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $398.1K — a club that wants Divine Teah enough to be asked twice.
Teplice have gone to Slavia Prague 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.
Teplice offered $370.0K; Slovacko said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Teplice will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Tomáš Vlček was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.2M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
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 offer from Jablonec for Jan Fortelný 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.
$1.2M on the table at Slavia 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.3M — a club that wants Tomáš Vlček enough to be asked twice.
$370.0K on the table at Slovacko. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Teplice this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Antonin Sykora 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.
Ladislav Krejčí was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomáš Zlatohlávek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Still no offer on the table, and Daniel Mareček’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.