Bartek on Bohemians in the cups, coaching start or farewell to the league: I cry more at movies, but I will never forget this

The first spring in the role of assistant – and immediately a ticket to the second preliminary round of the Conference League. Are they telling you that you are a successful trainer?

(smiles) True, it was a pleasant start. It is clear that you jump into a new role better when things are going well. I appreciate that I can learn from Jarda Veselý and other inspiring people from Realizak, they made it much easier for me. And the cups? Nice bonus.

When did you start to believe that Europe could come out?

When we won in Pilsen in the penultimate round. We had several unsuccessful matches and we knew that it would be a battle with Slovácko until the end, but the victory in Pilsen reassured us. We believed that we would make it in the last match.

You were there too. You got the last minutes when Slovácko was losing to Slavia by three goals and Bohemians were heading to the cups.

I thought that the last time I played for A Bohemka was in the round of 16 of the cup with Hlučín in November, but Jarda Veselý and people from the management told me that I deserved one more farewell. It was quite administratively complicated because I had to sign a monthly player contract, which was completely new to me. I’m happy, it was worth it. Before the full Ďolíček and advancing to the cups. That match wasn’t about me, but I’ll always have it in my head.

I cry more at movies. For example, I care about my daughter, I experience football differently. I took my last league match as a dream come true. I used to go to Ďolíček as a boy and hoped that one day I would achieve great success in the green and white jersey. And it worked, after 36 years we are in Europe. Bohemka last played them in September 87 and I was born half a year after that.

Was it nerves on Saturday? You only had a two-point lead over Slovácko.

Healthy nervousness, that’s how I’d put it. We were close to the cups and we would have been disappointed if it didn’t happen. Our manager Libor Koubek was watching the progress of Slovácko’s match against Slavia on the phone and told us at halftime that it was on the right track. We lost against Olomouc, but luckily it didn’t matter. After last season, when we saved ourselves in the play-off, it still seems unbelievable to me.

Didn’t you regret during the spring that you quit before Christmas and couldn’t experience the spring campaign directly on the field?

Nowhere. I confirmed to myself that I did the right thing. During my time in Bohemka, there was never such a high-quality staff, and at my age I no longer wanted to be a mascot. I can see it firsthand in training when I go to some exercises. Now I’m better as an assistant.

Do you have time to go to the younger students that you trained in the fall?

Unfortunately no, I already knew that. I spend the whole day at the training base in Uhříněvs: in the morning with the A team and in the afternoon with the B team, for which I still sometimes jump in the third league. But now I will have three weeks to visit the boys to see what progress they have made.

Anyway, five years of youth work was a good foundation for the A’s, wasn’t it?

League football is completely different, but I dare say that without the youth experience it would be more challenging for me. And as I mentioned before, I have great teachers.

Aren’t you afraid that the successful coach Jaroslav Veselý will leave for a better address in the summer?

It is clear that there is an interest in good trainers, but Jarda has his work cut out for him in Bohemka. Of course I can’t talk to him, but it would be a shame to leave her.

This is what your former teammate Radek Sňozík told me recently, who still goes to most of Bohemians’ home matches.

I’m not surprised, Snóza and I have always been on the same page. (smiles)

He too praised your cup run. Why did the season go so well for you?

Last year’s draw with Opava already kicked us. And the reinforcements helped us, the team improved. For example, I don’t remember so many strong options for the offensive in Bohemka. We knew we had the quality but it would have been foolish to shout before the season that we were going to go to the cups. That would probably backfire on us quickly. We went step by step.

Exactly. First, we wanted to avoid the worst six and get into a quiet middle group. But then it was drawn towards the group for the title and the cups. We thought it would be a shame not to fight about it. It was also a great satisfaction for me, given the recent history of Bohemka. The threat of the end, rebirth, delayed payments, judgments, uncertainty… And now we’re in cups.

Was it difficult to coach the team to sustain a successful season and not become a victim of its own success?

After the regular season, we were fourth, and in the first two games of the extension, the players could see a somewhat paradoxical nervousness about the fact that it could be successful. I told them: “Be glad that you are not playing for salvation.” Nobody wants to play a Brno vs. Zlín match where there is no possibility of repair. Fortunately for us, it was not about relegation to the second league. At worst, Europe would miss us and we would still have a pleasant season feeling. The boys managed it in their heads, beat Pilsen and we are already looking forward to the qualification of the Conference League.

Don’t you regret not having the reconstructed Ďoliček yet? It would not have to be decided now if you will play at home with a lower capacity than usual, or in an asylum at the Sparta stadium.

It’s a shame that Ďolicek has a lot of flies not only from the point of view of cups. Perhaps, thanks to the promotion to the cups, things will start in the right direction and in a few years we will finally see a new stadium. We could handle Europe even in an asylum, but home is home.