Harsh winter for Czech coaches

By Ladislav Josef

The dismissal of Karel Jarolím at 1. FC Slovácko made them the ninth of the 16 Czech first division sides to change coach since the start of the season. The business consortium which bought Slovácko from previous owner Ivo Valenta dismissed Jarolím within days of taking over and replaced him with former Slovakia goalkeeper Ladislav Molnár.

Sparta situation
Jaroslav Hrebík will arguably have an easier task than Molnár in the spring, having taken over from František Straka at the helm of an AC Sparta Praha side who are nine points clear at the top and who, despite dire predictions, have not seen an exodus of players during the winter break.

Koubský trial
All but one Sparta squad member flew out to the team's winter training camp in the Canary Islands and among the party was Petr Johana, newly recovered from a serious knee injury. The missing man was defender Jirí Koubský, on trial at Norwegian champions Rosenborg BK after completing a loan spell at FC Zlín.

Lafata affair
Second-placed FK Teplice are busy trying to sign promising striker David Lafata who has been training alone at SK Dynamo Ceské Budéjovice after refusing to extend his contract, which is due to expire in June. Meanwhile, FC Slovan Liberec have welcomed back midfield player Martin Hasek, who has returned from an unsuccessful spell in Russia with FC Dinamo Moskva.

Signing ban
Meanwhile, SK Slavia Praha are hoping to sign Adam Petrous, who is training with the club after leaving Russian side FC Rubin Kazan. However, Slavia are currently banned from making any signings until they have resolved issues surrounding the non-payment of a transfer fee to Slovan for playmaker Václav Kolousek.

Kolousek news
Kolousek joined the club last January but was unable to play during the whole of the autumn after undergoing treatment for leukaemia. He has featured in recent friendly games, however, and is expected back in action in the spring in what will be a major boost for the Slavia squad.

Baník stations
Finally, reigning champions FC Baník Ostrava will restart the campaign in eighth place in the table and without goalkeeper Miroslav König who has joined Slovakian club MŠK Žilina. Sparta are said to be interested in two other Baník players, Miroslav Matusovic and Zdenek Pospech, while Baník have made one reinforcement by signing Slovakian defender Maros Klimpl from second division FK Viktoria Zizkov.