Marked for Fabiano
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 May 2028
Xeber Alkain in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karpaty this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch22 May 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Karpaty, and 12 appearances in 44 say he has earned the hearing.
Market22 May 2028
The name of Illia Kvasnytsia keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Karpaty say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad22 May 2028
Diego asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market22 May 2028
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Karpaty could get for him.
Squad22 May 2028
A wage question at Karpaty
Fabiano has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
In brief
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Boardroom
The Karpaty production line keeps running
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Squad
The manager plants his flag on Tymur Stetskov
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Boardroom
The Karpaty board put their names to it
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Feb 2028
Karpaty say no — this time
The offer from Inter Miami CF for Igor Neves was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Fabiano runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Karpaty may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match19 Feb 2028
Whatever happens, Karpaty do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Xeber Alkain 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Edoardo Sadotti and Karpaty agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad21 Feb 2028
10 goals and a season average of 7.32. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market21 Feb 2028
Fabiano attracts admirers
The name of Fabiano has come up in conversations Karpaty were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Karpaty may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market14 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Eiler Aponzá
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eiler Aponzá will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karpaty the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Xeber Alkain in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karpaty this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Feb 2028
7 unbeaten for Karpaty
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Karpaty did not have in the autumn.
Loan watch14 Feb 2028
“I watch every Karpaty game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Livyi Bereh runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad14 Feb 2028
No hiding place for Diego
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.41, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 Feb 2028
9 goals and a season average of 7.28. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Jan 2028
Karpaty say no — this time
The offer from Hapoel Beer Sheva for Igor Neves was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Oleksii Hromiak: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karpaty have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Xeber Alkain in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karpaty this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Jan 2028
Shakhtar pay $740.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market31 Jan 2028
Fabiano attracts admirers
The name of Fabiano has come up in conversations Karpaty were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
A mark of 7.63, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Market31 Jan 2028
Prykarpattia are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Karpaty will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad31 Jan 2028
2 goals and a season average of 7.24. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2027
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market6 Sep 2027
Jorge Gaitán hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karpaty can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Sep 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Xeber Alkain in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karpaty this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 43 days on the sidelines for Oleksii Sych, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Igor Neves, and the manager let it.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Marked 8.39 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match25 Aug 2027
Cup progress for Karpaty
A 1‑0 win over Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad30 Aug 2027
Jorge Gaitán: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karpaty have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market30 Aug 2027
Veres come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Karpaty did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Nobody could get near Fabiano
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Aug 2027
Karpaty cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Vitalii Kholod 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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Moha shuts the door
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match28 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Xeber Alkain. 2‑0 against Rukh, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Fabiano signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fabiano commits to Karpaty for another 4 years.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Poltava to sit and watch. I want to come back to Karpaty and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 33 matches say the rest.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
24 appearances at Rukh and the goals keep coming. Karpaty are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market19 Apr 2027
Moha linked with a move away
The name of Moha keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Karpaty say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tymur Stetskov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tymur Stetskov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
The name of Xeber Alkain has come up in conversations Karpaty were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market8 Feb 2027
Karpaty say no — this time
The offer from Metalist for Andrii Klishchuk was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Xeber Alkain 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match6 Feb 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
One of those days for Fabiano
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladyslav Babohlo, and the manager let it.
Loan watch8 Feb 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Karpaty, and 2 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Every debut is a small story about the future: Andrii Ivasii, 20 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
Eiler Aponzá: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karpaty have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Jan 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Karpaty have had the benefit of it.
Squad4 Jan 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 Karpaty this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I did not go to LNZ to sit and watch. I want to come back to Karpaty and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
Match2 Jan 2027
Shakhtar left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Volodymyr Adamiuk, and the manager let it.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A mark of 5.69 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
21 appearances at Rukh and the goals keep coming. Karpaty are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.