Home » Sport » It was about living for us, coach Páník comments on the Zlín rescue fight

It was about living for us, coach Páník comments on the Zlín rescue fight

“We experienced beautiful times in Zlín. It’s good that we saved ourselves. Not having a league would be very bad, “he says The owner, which thus strengthened its position as the most successful Zlín coach in its recent history.

Can you tell which of the three successes you value the most?
That is debatable. It always depends on the team you have. The team is gradually being formed. Good players came, who eventually moved to great clubs, some home team jumped out. However, it is not only sports success, but also building the club as such. I returned after two years and there is new natural and artificial grass in Vršava (youth center, author’s note). Other projects are also planned. Zlín is a stabilized club that operates.

Promotion to the league, cup triumph, rescue. These are always different emotions, aren’t they?
When you play cups, you can only surprise. Playing for rescue puts tremendous pressure. You wonder what it would be like if you fell into the second league. It would be a completely different football, other opponents, the club would get less resources, it could not reward players so much. They realized it wasn’t funny, and they huddled together. Due to the heavy lottery, we knew it would be difficult to save without a draw. It helped us that Karviná did not score goals and did not score points after the break.

It was about one mistake and Příbram made it, stated the Zlín coach Páník

But that’s not the only way to save yourself. Can you find a turning point?
Probably a home draw with Baník, when we settled in the last minute. And then the opening two home superstructure matches. The players knew they had to, so they were a little tied up. We had a beautiful match with Opava and the first half against Příbram. Although we did not score a goal in it, I praised the team. The second half was more convulsive, but we scored the goal and saved ourselves.

The situation before the restart of the league was not favorable for Zlín. Didn’t you doubt for a moment that it might not work out?
That’s not what I thought. Rather, I calculated that we would be in the barracks. I studied potential rivals – Brno, Dukla Prague … Unpleasant teams with tradition, background, financial coverage. But I believed that we would stay through the barrage. That we saved two laps before the end of the superstructure is a great success and a gift for the club. He is calm and can prepare for the next season.

How hard was it to focus on football in the atmosphere of the corona crisis?
You need to consider what is more important. Football, player health, family health. We discussed a lot with the management and agreed that the health of the players was important at the time. Some teams trained and went crazy somewhere. We gave the players time off because we calculated that it would be a game and that it would be extremely difficult for them. We tried to keep them mentally tired. When a player is tired in the head, you can do whatever you want with him, but it won’t work.

The players and the implementation team agreed to a temporary reduction in salary. What effect did it have?
They saw a smaller number on the account and realized that if they fell into the second league, it could be even smaller. They found out that this was their livelihood. The team could feel the cohesion that they knew what they were playing about.

In the autumn, it will be three years since you played the European League with Zlín. Shouldn’t the club have benefited more from this success?
If you play European Cups, you have good players and you are interested in them. If you hold them strong and don’t let them go, they lose motivation. Such a player is depressed, thinking that he may have been somewhere else, and spreading bad energy around him, which can completely dismantle your cabin. If you let it go, you will lose quality again. But of the two wrong solutions, it’s better to sell it. But it is not easy to replace outgoing players right away. After a great autumn, this happened to us repeatedly and then it was written that the Lord’s Spring was here again. But that’s not true. It takes half a year to replace two key players. Look at Slavia. They left great players in the winter and suddenly lost points in the spring. If they didn’t win one match, Pilsen would catch up even more and they could have bigger problems. They have settled it, they have half a year to good and they will be better again in the new season.

Where do you really see Zlín in the league?
It belongs to the center of the table. If he manages to build a team, he can knock on the door of the upper group. They do not belong to the play group. And the question is whether the superstructure will be preserved. We are not used to it, players or spectators. It was introduced because of the fans, but it missed the point. I am a supporter of the classics. Feel free to play in a league of eighteen cuffs on 34 rounds than sixteen with a superstructure.

Zlín captain Jiráček wishes that the next season is calmer

You already know the team. What is its potential?
I see young players who have the ability to improve. It is not only the players who came to the club, but also very interesting offspring. It can be a mix of players, but we need experienced players for that. Without them, the young player will not grow up. He has to guide them on the field at critical moments. We will not educate young people without the elderly and experienced.

When you finished prematurely in Zlín in February 2018, there were a lot of African players on the team, not a single one left in a year. In the winter, he bought the club of striker Jawa and midfielder Conde. Can they succeed Beauguel or Traoré one day?
I do not rule out anything at all, on the contrary. I believe they will try. It won’t be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, it takes some time. Let’s prepare that they will be in the club for at least two years to play and prove that it is in them and that they have the right to start the match at all. So far, it is unbalanced from them. It has to settle, there are a while in Zlín.

You don’t mind the cosmopolitan cabin, do you?
I like the mix. I worked outside for a long time. I had a lot of foreigners in Poland, there were even more than domestic ones. Two thirds of foreigners, one third of Poles. It happened as in the English league that the team went to the field and there was not a single home player in it. Which is extreme and we will not reach such an extreme in Zlín. If foreigners are common, communicative and want to cooperate, then the boys will take them among themselves. Like players who were in Zlín. When we meet today, they shake hands with everyone, they hug, they are still friends. They know that they passed through Zlín and achieved results, which then catapulted them further.

Back to the current season. What do you say to the decision to complete the rescue superstructure at all costs, even though testing revealed infected players from your opponent from Karviná?
The disease is still around us. I am on holiday in southern Bohemia and it is scary that it will break out again in Austria. It’s extremely tricky. If you have a clean club, this is interpreted better than if you have a few sick players. No one realizes the consequences for players. If he is not 100% healthy, he may have difficulty breathing, his vital capacity will decrease. And in the worst case, it can be final for someone. I would not underestimate it at all. Time will tell. The groups that were fine finished. Good. But ours should be left alone. Someone has said that an exceptional time needs exceptional decisions. Those responsible should be aware of this, and not follow the rules strictly.

Uncertainty continues, in Zlín they preferred to give footballers time off

You gave the players two weeks off. Do you take it by starting de facto summer training next Friday, even though you should then start two overtime?
We mainly need to know whether the start of the league will be postponed or not, because the end of the season will be extended until August. For example, we in Zlín are fine. We are saved, we have a vacation. We will train for a week and go to finish two matches. But take teams that haven’t rested and are going to play. Secondary players who play and will still play in the playoffs. Will it end and the league will start in three weeks? I don’t wish anything bad for anyone, but sometimes after the tenth round they will catch up. At the end of autumn, the organism is tired in terms of condition and mentality. Most injuries come from the head. The player makes bad decisions, eats badly, underestimates something, does not have good regeneration or someone solves something badly for him. It will be deadly for these teams.

How do you react to football now?
We went to Lipno, by bike, there are beautiful routes. Grandchildren catch fish, make sure no catfish pull them. There are tennis courts in Český Krumlov, we are going to play tennis. And my wife sees me for a longer time than usual. So I hope it lasts with me. (smile)


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