Marked for Thomas Tognoni
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jun 2027
23 days out for Mykola Haiduchok after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Inhulets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 60 days on the sidelines for Yuriy Kravchuk, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market14 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yaroslav Riazantsev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Inhulets the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Vitalii Dubilei was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Thomas Tognoni is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inhulets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Artem Benediuk
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Benediuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Inhulets the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Inhulets
Illia Ukhan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Inhulets
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bohdan Mohylnyi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oleh Manastyrnyi, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Inhulets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market3 May 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Thomas Tognoni may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Inhulets have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Inhulets
Vitalii Dubilei and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Inhulets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Illia Ukhan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Inhulets is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inhulets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Thomas Tognoni gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Thomas Tognoni has just signed for Inhulets, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Inhulets
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Illia Ukhan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thomas Tognoni commits to Inhulets for another 3 years.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Inhulets, and both men came out saying it was fine.