Vajgar & Richard Florián: Team & Location Benefits

I got a decent offer, even though it came at the last minute. I like that the Jindřichov Hradec team is made up of young players and the club has ambitions to fight for a return to the division next season. I am glad that I got the opportunity to work with young guys who have great potential.

Will Jindřichův Hradec try to return to the division until next season? Won’t they try this in the spring?

Sure, the goals should always be as high as possible. Anything can happen, but Strakonice probably won’t let it go in the spring. They have an experienced staff and a sufficient head start from the autumn. This year we will try to attack as high as possible, we would probably try to return to the division only next season. I and the club management agree that the division belongs to Hradec.

In Jindřichův Hradec, you had the opportunity to watch Soběslav as a coach in the division. Why do you think Jindřichhoradeč did not retain the fourth league?

The team underwent a rebuild. There were a lot of young players in it, and their inexperience certainly played a role. On the other hand, even falling from the division could have been beneficial for the team, although I don’t want to downplay it in any way. The boys are skilled and now their potential needs to be developed. Everything needs its time.

Even in the 5th league, it wasn’t a hit parade in the fall, although at the end of the season, Jindřichův Hradec performed as expected from an ex-division team. But didn’t you expect a better position of the Jindřichohradek team after the autumn?

Even the regional competition has its specifics. Some players left Jindřichov Hradec after the relegation, and for those who stayed it was probably difficult to enter the competition. However, the previous implementation team managed to start the team in the course of the fall and move the performance a step forward. Except for the last loss in Tábor, the Jindřichohradec team was in excellent form at the end of autumn. If this quality can be maintained, it will be the path to success.

Your predecessor Miroslav Zeman often wished for a sad ending. It is said that Hradec lost a lot of otherwise balanced matches due to not converting chances. Was that also one of the main reasons for relegation from the 4th league?

Exactly, the bad ending resulted from that inexperience. It was also shown in the mentioned last match in Tábor, which I had the opportunity to watch. The Jindřichohradec boys were excellent in possession and had excellent control of the game, but Tábor worked well in defense and made the decision from the break. That’s how it goes sometimes. However, we would like to follow up on the performances from the end of autumn and present ourselves with a similar game in the spring. In other words, to play offensively and get the most out of the players, what they have in them.

Will it be enough?

We also need to improve our cooperation in defense so that we don’t lose when the opponent breaks, as it happened at Meteora. It’s about not losing points unnecessarily in matches in which we outplay our opponents.

Will you also focus on this in the winter preparation?

We are in the middle of the fourth training week and at the beginning of preparation we are working on fitness. That is the basis. But mainly we need to get the team together, because two players have decided to quit, another two players are currently injured and three guys are on trial in other teams. Two are trying it out in Béčka Táborsk and one in Český Krumlov. If they don’t succeed, they come back to us. We are also trying to supplement the staff with teenagers. The advantage is that these guys play in the third youth league, so they have their quality.

Which players left?

Martin Slavík left for Soběslav and Jonáš Madar became a player for Trhový Svinů. Štěpán Zeman can play another six months for the youth team and will therefore try to fight for a place in the youth team of Tábor. We have agreed that he should play with us again from next fall. If he is interested, we will be happy to welcome him back.

You talked about the players at the test in Táborsk, respectively in Český Krumlov. Who exactly are we talking about?

Tadeáš Hájek is on trial in Český Krumlov until mid-February, and in Táborsk B we have Roman Mischnik and Filip Waník. They are the key players who formed the team’s attacking skeleton. It would be a great loss for us if they did not return to Jindřichov Hradec. But we definitely don’t want to prevent guys who have proven their quality from playing in a higher competition. We’ll see how it goes with them, we’ll be wiser after mid-February.

Will any reinforcements come to Vajgar?

We have selected three players, we are discussing their arrival, but I would keep the names to myself for now. They could potentially replace players who are currently on trial. Táborsko could release two footballers as compensation for Mischnik and Waník. Otherwise, I am in contact with the youth coach Aleš Kříž and our cooperation works perfectly.

Are potential reinforcements already training with you?

Not yet. We are still watching how the trio of our players who are trying it out in Táborsk and Český Krumlov will turn out. Potential new players could join our training up to a week from now, depending on how the situation with Mischnik, Waník and Hájko develops.

Of course, friendly matches also await you as part of the preparation. Who will you face in the winter?

We are already starting this Saturday at the artists in Pelhřimov. Next, we play with Žirovnica, which is a participant of the 5th league in the Vysočina region. This is followed by a showdown with Bedřichov, the leading team of the Vysočina regional championship, and at the end we will face divisional Speřice.

Will the duel with Speřice be a general?

It was supposed to be a general game, but we already know that the first championship match in Mirovice will be postponed. The opponent asked us for a postponement because he assumes that the terrain in Mirovice will not be suitable at that time and the artist is not there. So we will have time off in the first spring round, and it is possible that we will fill it with a friendly match, which will be a real warm-up for us. But it is also possible that we will let the boys rest in order to prepare for the home duel against Semici.

What do you think about the quality of the 5th league?

I see a big difference between the teams from the top and the bottom of the table. Some teams focus on defense and wait for their opportunity in the form of fast breaks. The teams from the upper levels of the table, on the other hand, want to play football and prefer an attacking game. In addition to Strakonic, who have the quality even for the division and will probably keep an eye on progress, they include Olešník, Roudné or Třeboň. We would like to fight with these rivals for second place.

Will commuting to Jindřichov Hradec be a problem?

So far it does not appear to be a problem, the journey from Tábor to Jindřichov Hradec takes a little over thirty minutes. That’s about fifteen minutes more than when I was commuting to Soběslav. I decided for Hradec not only because there is a promising and ambitious team there that wants to fight for promotion, but also because the driving distance is ideal for me.