Mandous: Football, Pardubice & Privacy Struggles

Marbella (from our newsletter) – After some time, Mandous wears red and white colors again, only he changed the star on his heart to a Pardubice half-horse. And no more loans, but a hard transfer from Slavia. “I wanted to belong to someone,” says the 33-year-old goalkeeper.

When we talked about some with Slavia, the teams were not willing to pay the money she imagined. Pardubice was the most specific and I like their project.

I regretted it a year ago, when I had concrete offers from, for example, the second Bundesliga. But that’s football. As soon as I found out that they were interested in Pardubice, it was clear. The new owner set something up that caught my eye. They have ambitions, they don’t want to play for salvation and they are aiming for the top six in the future. This is beautiful and it would be a fairy tale if the vision came true.

Of course, finances often play a role, but now I prioritized the sports side. I want to catch. Pardubice simply appealed to me. At the same time, I didn’t want to host, but to belong to someone. I knew that it would be difficult to get to Slavia at the moment. I had a vision of an engagement where I wouldn’t have to deal with hosting every six months.

If I was in the gate, it will be very special for me. And of course it would be nice if we beat Slavia. (smile)

I think they would have allowed me to start, but I was really injured. In addition, I said that if Slavia pays me, I don’t want to play against them. You can’t win anything in a match like this. Just lose, both ways. Now that I have a valid contract in Pardubice, there is no problem.

Of course I wasn’t told at the beginning that I was going to catch, no coach will tell you that right away. There were four of us, now we wash in three. The competition is great, but at the same time great. We are in the middle of preparation and we will see. Logically, everyone wants to score.

Until now, we lived in Újezd ​​nad Lesy, which is a short distance from Boleslav. But now we are looking for something in Pardubice, because I don’t want to drive an hour there and an hour back every day. My wife Tereza and I decided that it would be best, I intend to devote myself mainly to football and my family. My partner was also sorry that she didn’t get a foreigner a year ago, but when I told her now about Pardubice, that it was my wish, that I could catch more, she was in favor.

I turn it off when I get home. When a little one comes running, it’s a joy. Being a dad is a wonderful thing, my wife and I enjoy parenthood. I don’t bring football home.

I used to watch a lot of different matches. Now less, mainly on our opponents. But that I would turn on, for example, the Italian league? No, we’d rather kick with Tobias.

To tell you the truth, it happened to us twice. Once we didn’t talk about it at all, the wife still didn’t know she was pregnant. The second time it was close to the deadline, so it logically got out. Everything made us very close. We are all the more glad that we have a son who was prayed for. I must say I spoil him. And yes, we really appreciate him. So we know he will be an only child. Furthermore, I would just repeat myself, we are extremely happy.

At all. I got time off in Slavia, they went out of their way to meet me. I could be at home as I wanted. Then came the return to the gate, but the performances were not the same. Our situation affected it a lot. I didn’t feel like playing football at all. The wounds somehow healed over time. In retrospect, I have to thank my family, the people at Slavia and everyone around for supporting us. Now I have to knock, we have a healthy Tobias and we are happy.

Nooo…(laughter) We kick each other every day, but I’ll leave it up to him. Maybe he has tendencies. When he sees some videos, he plays dad. I’ll leave it up to him to decide in the future, but I probably wouldn’t want him catching at all. Better to attack.

From my own experience. (laughter)

Probably not anymore, to be honest, I’d rather go to the hockey one. I enjoy watching it, so if Tobias becomes a hockey player, that will be the best. But I don’t want to give him anything. We would like him to move. He has the prerequisites for it, he is very spontaneous.

He sometimes watches hockey on TV, but he doesn’t even skate yet. Now we were on a frozen pond for the first time, he liked how it was sliding. He likes to fall, so we’ll see. It’s at the beginning.

I caught a single match for A’s in the cup against Hradec, I was seventeen or eighteen. It was a time when titles were starting to be made in Pilsen. The group around Horvi, Franta Rajtoral or Limba. The coaches Pavel Průša and Pavel Vrba pulled me out, I was there with such fighters. Then I went on loan to Bohemians Praha and Most.

I caught a lot of games in the second division and gained a lot of experience. Then I didn’t renew my contract with Pilsen and left for Žilina. So I actually already worked abroad! (laughter) When I was young, I was used to all the comfort from Pilsen, from pupils to A’s. Suddenly we were doing our own laundry and stuff. I started living alone, so it was a great experience for me in terms of football and people. I wouldn’t change. Everyone should probably go through the second or third league before the first league.

Definitely. I myself know very well that when you are young in Slavia, Sparta or Pilsen, you have almost anything. Great regeneration, conditions for everything. But after eating, you will find yourself in a dressing room, where there is perhaps no jacuzzi, where there is only one physiotherapist. Of course, it was earlier, time also moves on, but in short, I’m happy with what I’ve been through in my career.

Everything works great here, so not at all. We have more fitness professionals or physiotherapists than, for example, in Boleslav. From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be gradated, which is great.