Radoslav Kováč and Pardubice: A Tale of Trust, Redemption, and Team Mentality

“In the first month, I heard a lot of questions about why the management chose me when I fell out with Opava before. I’m glad that I received the trust,” the 43-year-old international continued. And he repaid the trust. Pardubice started to play attractive football under his baton, and he also won a cabin. “I felt from the players that they had the strength to handle it. They believed in themselves, they didn’t show it stress. They are heroes to me,” Kováč praised his charges.

The most important thing for him was the team’s reaction after the match of the extension part of the Fortuna league with Zlín (1:2), which Pardubice unfortunately lost after a rare miss by goalkeeper Florin Nita, after which Kováč properly abused the press. “It was clearly the most difficult moment, with a bad press. That was a lesson for me. But after the match with Zlín, I came to the cabin and Míša Hlavatý clearly told me that we can do it,” he demonstrated the exemplary mentality of one of the team’s key players.

Nita was just as important as Hlavatý for the team, who, apart from the duel against Zlín, represented complete certainty in goal for Pardubice in the spring. In Brno, for example, he caught two penalties from Jakub Řezníček… But a shoulder injury kept him out until the end of the year, including the shootout. Substitute Jakub Markovič did not disdain the offered chance and showed that the practically zero playing load during the spring did not diminish his quality, he kept two clean sheets against Příbram. “The six months when Florin arrived were the best that could have happened to him in his career. He started working completely differently and reassessed a lot of things, which paid off,” praised the coach.

Unfortunately for Pardubice, however, Markovič, like other loan players in their squad, may well have expressed interest from more famous teams. The defensive four, in which Marek Icha, Robin Hranáč, Tomáš Vlček and Martin Chlumecký played most often, is composed entirely of guests from other league teams. “We know that a few players will leave. We’ll see who they let us have. We have to supplement the team and build it from the ground up,” Kováč realizes.

And how about strengthening the team with the best scorer of the last opponent from Příbram? Thanks to 17 goals, its captain Tomáš Wágner became the king of second division scorers. “Wagi scored 17 goals, a great season. But we have Pavel Černý,” noted Kováč.

It’s time for summer moves, now the people of Pardubice are enjoying themselves. Much like the fans who proved to be a key factor. Since returning to the renovated, home stadium in the winter, the East Bohemians have lost in front of them only three times, moreover, visits with iron regularity exceeded the four thousand mark. “The fans were great. It wouldn’t have been possible without them, we scored a lot of points at home thanks to the atmosphere,” indicated Kováč, who was happy to return their affection. “We also took a few photos. I’m really grateful to them for coming to matches that are not so interesting for people. It wasn’t about the opponent, but about the fact that they were cheering for Pardubice.”