Pešán’s culture shock. The Swiss did not understand motivational vulgarisms

After the end in Switzerland, you said you were considering more offers. Why are you taking Liberec for the fourth time?

First of all, I am basically returning home, to familiar surroundings. After the previous years, I have already traveled a bit. The White Tigers organization is at a point where it needs a bit of a refresh. From the perspective of the owner and mine, our paths converged. And last but not least, I wanted to return home also because of the family situation. The three-quarters of a year I spent alone in Switzerland without children was rough. The family situation also contributed to this.

Will your fourth engagement under Ještěd be different after an engagement with the national team or abroad?

It’s definitely different from what I’ve experienced in recent years. Either in the national team, where I spent a few weeks a year on the ice. Or in Switzerland, where I conducted training sessions in English and throughout my tenure I got to know the team and another culture. I’m back home now. It’s definitely different.

Can it be easier with the experience gained?

We’ll see. The Czech league is extremely high-quality thanks to sponsors, and it has improved even more with the arrival of guys from Russia. I watched the games and some in the playoffs were really amazing and the strength of the teams is huge. We will see how we compete with financially stronger competitors. The experience can certainly help me, because whatever it is, making a name for yourself abroad is no fun. Although I only partially succeeded.

Or, on the contrary, will it be more difficult from the point of view that you achieved great success with Liberec and it will not be easy to follow up on them?

It will certainly be more difficult than when I started in a position where the team hovered around the eleventh place for several seasons in a row. Of course, it was a little easier back then. On the other hand, I have to say that we are planning some restructuring of the team, so there are also steps towards that, so that maybe more inexperienced players will play. But that’s no alibi. I am looking forward to the season and I think that I will probably have the biggest expectations on myself.

What squad did you start training with?

We took a lot of young guys who have been in the first league or junior league in recent years. We want to get to know them a little with Boris Žabka and Kudrnka in order to give everyone the same starting line and educate them a little. So that they know what to work on in their first league or junior teams when they don’t become part of the first team. The environment is the same and you can see that a lot of work has been done here, because the playing habits are good, which can also be seen in the newly arrived guys like Oscar Flynn.

Is some continuity an advantage? You are taking over the team from Patrik August, who was your assistant during your previous engagement.

Certainly. Patrik and I are close both personally and professionally. Of course, small details were and will be visible in the work, but the basis is the same and there is something to build on.

You chose Boris Žabka as your new assistant. Why his?

I have a good personal experience with him as a person, which is very important to me. The same decision was made with Karel Mlejenko or Patrik Augusta. Boris is a great person and has done a great job lately, whether with the defenders in the Slovak national team project or in Olomouc. I have only good feedback, mainly from the players. It was one of the first choices for me and I’m glad we agreed.

How much does the Liberec squad need to be rejuvenated, which is one of your tasks?

It’s already calling for it a bit. Therefore, one of the first steps was the end of Petr Jelínek. Unfortunately, an unpopular but necessary step, because Liberec has to go through some reconstruction. And even Boris Žabka should be the one who should help it among the defenders. Yes, we will bet on younger players.

Did the playoff, in which experienced players such as Birner, Filippi and Bulíř fell short of expectations, contribute to this?

It’s a combination of everything. It was a raised finger, on the other hand, it can happen that the playoffs don’t work out. I will definitely be happy if the youngsters start pushing these players. They already showed it in the playoffs, we have a lot to build on, but it might be harder for them to defend that position now. Sometimes it will be possible to shoot, but defending and holding on, as Filippi, Birner, Bulíř and others have proven for many years, will not be so easy. I expect them to continue to be valid players and build on the previous season.

How much more will you add to the current staff?

There are still one or two places between defenders and forwards. And we are still dealing with the position of substitute goalkeeper. Because I still don’t know if it’s too risky to enter the season with an extremely young goalkeeper pair.

There was speculation about an interest in Lukáš or Machovský, in the end Dávid Hrenák came to the King.

I made an honest round with all possible adepts in the Czech Extraliga, but it is not easy to agree not only on finances, but also on the separation from our competitors. That is why we left these negotiations. Dávid is a goalkeeper who is ambitious and at an age where he is already experienced. And if we look at the past, Roman Will or Petr Kváča could also seem like a risk, and in the end it worked out. I hope that this step with Dávid Hrenák will also be successful.

Why is Michael Frolík leaving the club after a year?

To be completely honest, I’m sorry I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Michael. Because immediately after the playoffs, when you let the players breathe for a day and “celebrate” the bitter end, Michael traveled to North America. Then we didn’t have any talk about whether there would be an effort from any side to continue. Michael was a relatively expensive player and I want to fill the place with someone younger.

Let’s go back to your previous engagement in Switzerland. What did you get?

It was a great experience. I knew in advance what I was getting into, we talked beforehand with the general manager that the season could be very complicated, just like the one before my arrival. At the beginning, we had decent results and I think that the people and the management got a little carried away and the road, which we knew would be difficult, was abandoned a little. They were reacting to a series of losses and wanted to keep the fans in some faith that the situation would improve, which did not happen dramatically even after my departure. But it was a great experience for me, I met great people and a great competition.

Was it different in terms of ambition? In Liberec you played for the title, but here you played for salvation.

It was also for this reason, but mainly for the cultural reason. One not only trained in English, although not all Swiss were fluent in English. There were also Italians, Germans and especially French people who somehow don’t take English very well. The language barrier was a bit of a problem. And from the Czech environment, a person is used to using motivational vulgarism here and there, which a Swiss player is definitely not ready for. So I then explained hot and hard that I didn’t mean something the way I said it. There were a bit of cultural struggles and clashes. But then the situation calmed down a bit. And the team’s ambitions were to save themselves from the first goal, so it wasn’t easy either, because you’re playing against really great teams and you’re fighting for every puck so you don’t leave with a debacle.

Is the Swiss competition much better than the Czech one?

I wouldn’t say better quality, but different. Players who are brought to the club from abroad get a huge space and they play in all situations. The top teams clearly go beyond the Czech extra league, but then there were also teams, like us, which would have a lot of problems even in the Czech league.