Marcel Čermák 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 Daniel Mareček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Matej Sykora to a room that had heard them before.
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.
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.
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.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Mlada Boleslav were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad16 Nov 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 Tomáš Zlatohlávek was the best thing in any of them.
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.
In brief
The dugoutPetr Kodeš asks for a word with the manager
Matouš Trmal and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ondrej Sykora is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Halinský 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Mareček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Matej Sykora was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Teplice dressing room was either.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Jablonec defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Zbrojovka Brno in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Miroslav Routek has his answer from Teplice; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Something was said to Ladislav Krejčí and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Marcel Čermák and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jiri 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 music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Halinský is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Position 3, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Matouš Trmal 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 Daniel Mareček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sparta Prague next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Marked 8.11. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Teplice.
Squad5 Oct 2026
12 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.
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.
Marked 8.36 — 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Matej Riznič has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 1‑0 win over Banik Ostrava, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Halinský was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Matej Sykora on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Mareček was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vojvodina have kept their man, and Teplice go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tomas Coufal 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vaclav Brabec is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The offer from Slovan Liberec for Tomáš Zlatohlávek was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Hajduk Split moved on, Matouš Trmal reports back to Teplice, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed 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.
Teplice asked and Rodina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Marked 8.39 — 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 offer from Zbrojovka Brno for Matěj Pulkrab was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the 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.
The phone has started ringing about Matouš Trmal again, and this time the name on the line is Hajduk Split. Teplice are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sparta Prague have kept their man, and Teplice go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Michal Bílek and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marcel Čermák was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Matyáš Kozák was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. 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.
Jablonec ended it 1‑4. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Teplice are taken apart by Jablonec — and the town wants answers
It finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
$1.0M was the most the club would pay and Viktoria Plzen were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Rodina keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsMatěj Pulkrab was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10 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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $630.0K sale of Jan Fortelný
He is going to Sparta Prague, the club has $630.0K 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.
Teplice asked and Viktoria Plzen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Matouš Trmal and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Sparta Prague pay $630.0K, 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Teplice people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Sparta Prague for Matouš Trmal 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.
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. Daniel Holes has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Filip Barak is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Mlada Boleslav will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Teplice were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Matouš Trmal 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Teplice have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Teplice training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Mareček is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Matej Riznič has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Matyáš Kozák was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.40. 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.
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.