In a lot of ways, 1. FC Slovácko have just endured a season every bit as trying as Baník Ostrava’s. Granted, they are more accustomed to it these days than the Silesians, but it was still a lot. On the pitch, they had to wait until Round 16 for their second victory before concluding the regular season with their first five-game losing streak since 2018 under a different coach, who soon turned things around only to ditch the club weeks later. Off the pitch, even global media picked up the women’s team abuse scandal, while the campaign was bookended by B3 Sector’s open letter demanding answers to some pretty basic questions, and the same fan group’s Instagram post declaring that the club is simply not run by competent people… only for some more blatant incompetence to follow.

There’s hardly been a worse follow-up to a club managerial legend’s departure — the second biggest Czech city might offer up the only real contender. Josef Masopust, not often thought of that way, is actually Zbrojovka Brno’s most celebrated coach; the man who brought the only title to town in 1978 and signed off with two more Top 3 finishes. Once he left, Zbrojovka promptly collapsed from 2nd to 12th and, within three years, dropped out of the top flight altogether for six mournful seasons. Are Slovácko on a similar trajectory after making such an unsure first step into the post-Martin Svědík darkness?