On Thursday, the Pardubice striker Pavel Černý celebrated his younger 36th birthday, he has been crossing the line of a sports veteran for a year now. However, without the experience of a member of the famous football family, the praised newcomer to Fortuna: League would not have been able to reshape the game. Černý is the team leader on the field and in the locker room.
How do you manage to run among young wolfhounds, whether teammates or opponents?
I still manage it quite well, even though it costs strength and sometimes it hurts. But I’d say it’s not so bad for me not to catch up. As long as I have enough, I would like to stay on the field even much younger.
Do you get together for a week after the match, or is it just a few days enough?
It’s no longer like twenty, when the next day after the match you feel like there is no match. I need it for a while now, fatigue is there for a while, but fortunately my body regenerates quite well. I don’t have much trouble with that yet.
You certainly won’t be offended when I ask about the weight. At your height of 185 centimeters, 87 kilograms are officially stated. On difficult winter terrains, it is very difficult to pull it. Am I wrong?
I will honestly admit that I have reached the age of 90.… It is known when light flies fly around you. I have to use my body and its advantages differently so as not to let them hit the ball.
According to Petr Švancara, the short winter break was in favor of eaters who did not manage to gain so much over the holidays. Is this your case too?
I welcomed the short break and testified to me. It’s much better to play than run, kor in the winter, when it started in late January and the second league even later. You just run, scratch and rub, it’s nothing for me anymore. That’s why I’m glad for a short break. Over the holidays, you can indulge in more time than in the current season, but now I really didn’t overdo it.
Pavel Horváth hid all available scales after Christmas during his playing career. Do you have similar methods to face any fines for gaining pounds?
No, fortunately my Christmas is going down fast and it’s not such a problem. But I understand him.
Are you already a more advanced veteran in sports terminology, as you now like the nickname “Young Rum”, which refers to your father’s nickname of the same first name?
To tell you the truth, no one ever told me that. So with that “Young”. I just read somewhere on the internet that I have it, but in fact I never heard it. They call me “Rum” after my dad, I don’t deny it, or on behalf of Paul.
And do you mind?
Anyway, I’ve heard it from a teenager and over the years, that’s about twenty years, I’ve gotten used to it. I definitely don’t take it as an insult, he refers to Dad, who did something in football. (former Czechoslovak national team member, two-time champion with Sparta – author’s note) She fell on me automatically and I never resisted her.
Does Dad still come and look at you?
He watches every match I missed in Pardubice, if he could, if he could. Now the stadiums are closed, so he looks comfortably from the living room from the couch.
The rivalry between Pardubice and Hradec Králové, where you come from, is great. Did your father forgive you for kicking for the “Gingerbread Man” now? In addition, your grandfather was a member of the memorable 1960s championship team.
I wouldn’t look for anything wrong with that. My contract expired in Hradec in June 2017, I was not offered an extension. I was free and started looking for a place to continue my career. I still didn’t feel old enough to retire. Pardubice called. They acted quickly, they were serious. I take it as a professional, I didn’t say I was going to the biggest rival. It was a work shift.
Didn’t anyone blame you?
I got a little bit from the fans, they said something about it. But it’s the same as if you were fired from the Hyundai factory and you received an offer from Škoda. If the club wasn’t interested in me, it’s different than if I didn’t want to continue in Hradec. I would stay, but the club management and coach Havlíček were of a different opinion.
Was it a disappointment for you?
It was especially disappointing for me that we came down. We had a great team, we also played quite decent football, I believed it wouldn’t happen. Unfortunately… And I also thought that the team will get another year a chance to come back again. However, the staff began to clean up, the older ones slowly left, the younger ones got a chance.
Pardubice is a newcomer to the league, and in the process there were concerns whether they would be enough for the highest competition. How did you perceive them?
Above all, we enjoyed the process, from a club point of view, historical. We enjoyed what we all did. They didn’t trust us much before the league, they prophesied to us that we could attack the balance of the worst teams that made it to the league. If we get at least nine points at all. This motivated the man to try even harder. I was not worried about the team. In the three years that I was in Pardubice, I met him, I knew how he works, what his quality is. I was not afraid that we would do a disgrace, I was convinced that Pardubice would play a dignified role.
But the performances and position in the table are a pleasant surprise for you as well, aren’t they?
I am glad that we confirm everything and move in the quiet center of the table. Even though I know that only half of the season is behind us, the spring will show what we have for it. Every match will be a fight. However, we started well and that helped us a lot. It would be nice to keep it up and avoid the fear of rescue.
Which result do you value the most so far?
I repeat, the biggest experience for me was the procedure, it is already a historical record. Definitely the next is the first victory. Right at the beginning, we lost a bit unlucky in Jablonec, then beat Teplice at home and then drew with the defending champion Slavia. We will see what the entry will be after the end of the year. I believe we are successful and we will not fall.
The Pardubice team is said to be a group of fighters and runners and a clever Rum. Do you agree with this classification?
I would definitely add Honza Jeřábek to that. He is a year worse than me, he is fourteen years old in Pardubice and he has experienced all the procedures in them. Honza is a very important article in the cabin and on the field, everything revolves around him. Mainly working backwards, in front of the young boys running around me. And how many times it is a pleasure to play with them.
Will they give your word?
This is probably how it works in all clubs, that older players have a slightly different status than younger ones. Mainly responsible. Fortunately, there are two of us with Honza Jeřábek, and it’s always better in two.
Is it very uncomfortable for you not to play in Pardubice and use the Bohemians playground?
It’s not optimal, but we knew it in advance and it was time to prepare for it. Unfortunately, there is no suitable stadium in Pardubice. When I learned that we would eventually be a guest in Prague’s Dolíček, I was very happy. It is a cozy stadium similar to our Vinici. The spectators are close, just two thousand and the atmosphere is great. It’s quite something different on the large ones. Bohemka met our needs and we really liked it there.
Can you imagine playing in Hradec Králové?
It didn’t work. The stadium in Hradec does not look attractive, but it meets the conditions for the first league. The variant was there. But Hradec, like Pardubice, is also dealing with the reconstruction, they are waiting for it to work, maybe it will start during the spring. They could not guarantee that the competition would be over for their team, let alone welcome another team. Another option was Mladá Boleslav. Also a small cozy stadium, but the fans do not walk much. Plus, it’s more complicated to travel. In Prague you are fast on the highway, by train, you are right there. And Prague has a lot of football fans who go to watch everything. Well, not now, it’s not working now.
What is the share of coach Jiří Krejčí in the solid results, who does not yet have such a resounding name in Czech football?
Each coach tries to imprint his handwriting on the team. He wants us to play football, no kicking, so he definitely has his share of the game. He also manages to complete the staff well, no big missteps in transfers happened in Pardubice. We are a small family club, we all know each other well, a lot of boys spend their free time together. The coach also manages the role of a psychologist. So far, this is working out for us, and I hope that it will continue anyway.
Sports Pardubice always represent hockey in social life. Can football penetrate it?
I don’t know if we can endanger hockey in any way, it has a huge tradition in the city. Even though it didn’t work out, the winter was always full. But we would like to get to the level so that football is perceived in such a way that people will come to us. And when a new stadium was built, it was also full. If all goes well, it could happen in two years.
Will Pavel Černý Jr. be involved?
I believe that I will see it in my active career and not just behind the old guard.
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