CZECH OUT THIS LOT
Cerny and Hladky run the rule over the second-string stars facing Scots
THE grounded Tartan Army will miss out on the chance to booze in Olomouc’s famous aeroplane bar but keeper Tomas Cerny doesn’t expect Scotland to crash and burn in his home town this evening.
There is an old jet parked in the Czech Republic outpost that’s been turned in to a late-night drinking den, where locals end up flying on beer that costs about ten bob a pint.
Cerny reckons the Scots will need to settle for toasting a win from afar as he’s convinced Steve Clarke’s side will have too much for the shadow Czech side brought on board following the coronavirus chaos.
The Aberdeen shot-stopper said: “I don’t think Scotland should underestimate this Czech team and there is more pressure on them.
“But if Scotland perform near their best then they should win – because they have by far the better squad.
“There are only a couple of players in the group who have been capped, including my old friend Roman Hubnik, who scored against Scotland 10 years ago.
“But he is 36 now and back at Sigma Olomouc, so I think he has been brought in because he has experience.
“He wouldn’t have expected the shout but the national team have picked up some guys locally who are being tested.
“There will be some young guys and fringe players and no one expects anything of them.
“There is zero pressure on them in terms of the result. The general feeling m.gannon@dailyrecord.co.uk back home is this is just about fulfilling the fixture.”
Cerny reckons Scotland will fare better than the last Scottish side to arrive in town after Aberdeen crashed to a UEFA Cup defeat in 2009.
Mark McGhee’s Dons were thumped 5-1 at Pittodrie in his first game in charge and then 3-0 in the return.
Cerny can’t see a repeat though and said: “I was with Hamilton back them, but was in the stands that night as Olomouc are the club I started with. I think they surprised Aberdeen as no one knew what to expect from Olomouc.
“It will be different this time. Sigma were a solid team then but no one knows what to expect from this new group. Scotland should be too strong.”
Cerny is not confident about his own country but fellow Czech keeper Vaclav Hladky has warned Scotland this could be a chance for some his nation’s stand-ins to soar.
The former St Mirren No.1, now at Salford City, said: “There are some good players in there but we have absolutely no idea how they will do as a team.
“They only got together on Saturday for the first time so no one has a clue how they will look.
“I do know there are some good players, guys like Tomas Malinsky and Stanislav Tecl have a lot of qualities and they will be dangerous. They will have good individuals but it’s tough to organise a team at just two days’ notice.
“They will be very motivated. This is a huge opportunity for all of them. A lot of these guys would have been banging on the door and waiting for their chance in the national team.
“They wouldn’t expect all to get that
They’ll be motivated. It is a stage for them, they can show what they are about VACLAV HLADKY
opportunity at the same time but this is a stage for them. They can show what they are about and maybe prove they should be part of the set-up.
“It would be crazy for Scotland to underestimate them.”
Hladky has played in his homeland as well as in the SPFL and he reckons it’s impossible to draw any comparisons as the leagues are so different.
He said: “It’s difficult to talk about the standard of the Czech league. You have Slavia Prague who are miles above everyone else. They are at a high standard and have done well in the Champions and Europa Leagues.
“Sparta are competitive as well but there’s a gap to the others. The Czech league is very tactical and theree are very good individual players.
“It’s difficult to compare – it’s a totallyotally different mentality. In Scotland there is a battle as well as the skills but when I played in the Czech League there wasn’t so much fire!
“I don’t think you could say one leagueeague is better than the other, the SPFLL has different levels of teams as well.
“The Scotland team looks strongong on paper, as they also have a lot of players in the top league inn England. You’d maybe say they willl be stronger than this Czech teamm – but you never know.”