Season has reached the 1/3 mark, and after ten rounds the one thing that can be said for the league is that it is unpredictable. This is the current table: 1. FK Baumit Jablonec 10 6 3 1 21:10 21 2. AC Sparta Praha 10 6 1 3 16:9 19 3. SK Sigma Olomouc 10 5 4 1 14:7 19 4. FC Viktoria Plzeň 10 5 3 2 18:9 18 5. Zbrojovka Brno 10 5 2 3 17:18 17 6. SK Slavia Praha 10 3 5 2 14:10 14 7. 1. FC Slovácko 10 4 2 4 13:13 14 8. FC Vysočina Jihlava 10 3 5 2 17:19 14 9. FC Slovan Liberec 10 3 4 3 15:13 13 10. Dukla Praha 10 2 6 2 15:14 12 11. FK Mladá Boleslav 10 3 2 5 10:15 11 12. FK Teplice 10 2 3 5 9:18 9 13. FC Hradec Králové 10 1 5 4 9:13 8 14. 1. FK Příbram 10 1 5 4 8:14 8 15. Dynamo České Budějovice 10 2 2 6 12:19 8 16. FC Baník Ostrava 10 1 4 5 13:20 7 My favorite, of course, is that Brno has managed to climb to #5 with a good run of form despite still having a -1 goal differential. I'll resume regular updates after the international break, the big story from last weekend was the biggest upset of the season as Příbram managed a 1-0 victory over Plzeň.
While they are doing well in Europa League, Sparta and Plzeň are slowly drifting down the domestic table. Plzeň has 3 draws and a loss in it's last 4 matches and Sparta haven't been much better with 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses in that same stretch. The table after 11 rounds: 1. FK Baumit Jablonec 11 6 4 1 22:11 22 2. SK Sigma Olomouc 11 6 4 1 16:8 22 3. AC Sparta Praha 11 6 2 3 17:10 20 4. FC Viktoria Plzeň 11 5 4 2 19:10 19 5. Zbrojovka Brno 11 5 3 3 18:19 18 6. SK Slavia Praha 11 4 5 2 16:11 17 7. FC Slovan Liberec 11 4 4 3 17:13 16 8. 1. FC Slovácko 11 4 3 4 13:13 15 9. FC Vysočina Jihlava 11 3 6 2 18:20 15 10. Dukla Praha 11 2 6 3 16:16 12 11. FC Hradec Králové 11 2 5 4 11:13 11 12. FK Mladá Boleslav 11 3 2 6 10:17 11 13. Dynamo České Budějovice 11 2 3 6 12:19 9 14. FK Teplice 11 2 3 6 9:20 9 15. FC Baník Ostrava 11 1 5 5 14:21 8 16. 1. FK Příbram 11 1 5 5 9:16 8
Plzen defeats Jihlava 1-0 to close out the fall portion of the Gambrinus Liga season. The season will resume in late February. 1. FC Viktoria Plzeň 16 10 4 2 27:11 34 2. FK Baumit Jablonec 16 9 5 2 29:16 32 3. AC Sparta Praha 16 9 4 3 23:12 31 4. SK Sigma Olomouc 16 7 6 3 24:15 27 5. FK Mladá Boleslav 16 7 3 6 19:20 24 6. Dukla Praha 16 5 7 4 26:22 22 7. Zbrojovka Brno 16 6 3 7 20:27 21 8. 1. FC Slovácko 16 5 5 6 21:20 20 9. FC Slovan Liberec 16 5 4 7 22:25 19 10. FC Vysočina Jihlava 16 4 7 5 21:27 19 11. SK Slavia Praha 16 4 6 6 19:19 18 12. FC Baník Ostrava 16 4 5 7 22:28 17 13. FC Hradec Králové 16 3 7 6 17:20 16 14. FK Teplice 16 4 4 8 17:25 16 15. Dynamo České Budějovice 16 4 3 9 15:23 15 16. 1. FK Příbram 16 2 7 7 12:24 13
Uh, oh, my maternal homeland of Příbram is threatened with relegation. Only 2 wins and 12 goals -- yikes!
They managed a point against Sparta in the last match of fall though, so maybe something to build on... I doubt it though, Příbram have looked dreadful this season and are not in good shape financially. This fall we managed to defeat Plzen 2-3 in Plzen, and then lost our next two matches by a combined score of 9-1. We've had some good results against Liberec, Olomouc, and Slovacko, but then countered that with inexplicable losses to Teplice and Hr. Kralove. I can't complain too much about our league position, but this has been a quintessentially up-and-down Brno season.
A couple of major domestic transfers appear to be taking shape this winter break. Lukáš Vácha (23yo CM) appears to be abandoning the sinking ship that is Slovan Liberec in favor of Sparta, last I read he had agreed to terms, but the clubs still have negotiating to do. Meanwhile, there are reports that Plzen is lining up a €1 million+ offer (which is a lot for a Czech domestic transfer) for Jihlava's Stanislav Tecl (22yo ST), the breakout star of the first half of the season. Tecl scored 10 goals in 11 matches before missing the tail end of Fall with an injury. I think Plzen would be a good next step for his career if it materializes.
Again, forgive the ignorance of someone who stopped following the league closely in the 90s...but how did Plzen become one of the country's biggest clubs?
It's been a remarkable rise considering that Plzen were a 2. Liga side as recently as 2005. I would say that the ascent began in 2008 with the hiring of Pavel Vrba as manager. Vrba was tremendously successful during his two seasons at MSK Zilina in Slovakia, and had a reputation for instilling an entertaining and attacking style of play (In 2007, his team won the Corgon Liga with a +63 GD in 28 matches). His first full season at Plzen they finished top 5 and won the Czech Post Cup, the 2nd full season they won the club's first ever league title, and the third season they played in the Champions League Group Stages. The Success on the field also attracted new ownership in 2010, which improved the clubs financial status (as did playing in CL and net-gains on transfer fees) and allowed their stadium reconstruction. They've lead the league in attendance in part due to their reputation for entertaining play. There were some other factors, most notably the Sparta Prague exodus of 2008, where that club cut several players that would later become the core of Vrba's early Plzen teams (Horvath and Limbersky are still key players). Also, the city of Plzen is a major corporate center within Czech Republic as many of the country's largest companies and industrial works are based there; this perhaps give the club an advantage in attracting sponsorship deals and investors.
Thanks again for the knowledge. I knew it was not a major club when I lived in country back in the 90s, but had no idea just how recent their rises really was!
The Tecl and Vacha transfers that I mentioned above are now official. In addition Sparta signed David Lafata today. Lafata has lead the league in goals for the last 2.5 years. In addition Slavia signed Marcel Gecov from Gent.
The competition resumes next weekend. Banik Ostrava appear set to make biggest name signing of this very eventful winter. http://fotbal.idnes.cz/baros-uzavre...a-d97-/fotbal.aspx?c=A130217_163805_fotbal_vl It looks like Milan Baroš will finish out the season with the club where he began his career. After agreeing to a contract termination with Galatasaray, he is set to sign a six-month deal with Banik on Monday. Will be interesting to see what impact he has in Ostrava this Spring.
So the Baroš signing is official, but the originally reported details were off. It's a 1.5 year contract, he will be with Ostrava until June 2014, and he is donating his salary to Banik's Youth system. As Banik are in a poor financial situation, this is a very significant gesture. His first season with Galatasaray was exceptional, one of the best of his career, his second was decent, but since then it's been a rapid fall in form. Even by last summer it was clear the club viewed him as surplus, and I imagine that when Gala signed Drogba, Milan's chances of seeing the field became essentially nil. Watching him with the national team last year it looked like he had lost quite a bit of his quickness from when he was in his prime, which was surprising as he was only 30-years-old.
Well, I sort of disappeared for a while, and just like that the season is over. This year's champions: Plzeň get their 2nd league title in 3 years, they also lead the league in attendance, further cementing their position as a new power in Czech football. 2nd place went to a very disappointed Sparta, who have now gone 3 years without a domestic title. On the other end of the table, Hradec Kralove and Ceske Budejovice will be relegated. It is not known for sure who will be promoted, as there are licensing issues with top finishers in 2. Liga (which was won by Znojmo). David Lafata was the league's leading goal scorer for the 3rd straight season, this time with 20 goals. The final table: 1. Plzeň 30 20 5 5 54:21 65 2. Sparta 30 19 6 5 55:23 63 3. Liberec 30 16 6 8 46:34 54 4. Jablonec 30 13 10 7 49:41 49 5. Olomouc 30 13 8 9 38:29 47 6. Dukla 30 11 13 6 48:37 46 7. Slavia 30 11 9 10 41:33 42 8. Ml. Boleslav 30 10 8 12 34:43 38 9. Slovácko 30 10 7 13 37:41 37 10. Jihlava 30 7 15 8 36:42 36 11. Teplice 30 8 8 14 36:47 32 12. Příbram 30 7 11 12 27:39 32 13. Brno 30 9 5 16 34:53 32 14. Ostrava 30 7 8 15 34:44 29 15. Č. Budějovice 30 7 5 18 24:49 26 16. Hr. Králové 30 5 10 15 27:44 25
This is the home attendance table. Mužstvo=team, Celkem = total, Průměrně=average, Nejvíce = highest attendance, and Nejméně = lowest attendance. It should be noted Sparta's number includes two matches with a crowd ban. Mužstva seřazená podle celkových návštěv doma Mužstvo Celkem Průměrně Nejvíce Nejméně 1 FC Viktoria Plzeň 150702 10046 11722 8562 2 AC Sparta Praha 131783 8785 19410 0 3 FC Baník Ostrava 117068 7804 14774 4470 4 SK Slavia Praha 104133 6942 15654 5418 5 SK Sigma Olomouc 81412 5427 7970 3137 6 1. FC Slovácko 71857 4790 6532 3876 7 Zbrojovka Brno 66862 4457 8082 1826 8 FC Slovan Liberec 63564 4237 9215 2853 9 FC Hradec Králové 61225 4081 6947 2652 10 FK Teplice 53038 3535 6450 1542 11 FC Vysočina Jihlava 48713 3247 4150 2290 12 FK Mladá Boleslav 44628 2975 4786 847 13 1. FK Příbram 44312 2954 5682 1285 14 FK Baumit Jablonec 41292 2752 5958 1611 15 Dynamo České Budějovice 38003 2533 3652 1825 16 Dukla Praha 32872 2191 4257 1120
Znojmo, who finished first in the 2nd league, have apparently reached an agreement to play in Brno next year.... if their application for the 1st division is approved. A bad situation in my opinion.
Hi mates it seems that Sparta leftback Manuel Pamic has been linked with Chievo. How would you guys rate this player? I look forward to reading your comments...