Marked for Mario Gega
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Metalist
Artem Kozak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Maksym Bahachanskyi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Metalist is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yuriy Kravchuk 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.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Too much change too quickly at Metalist
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yannick Marchand trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Metalist will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
Yehor Abramov gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Yehor Abramov is on it.
Market26 Mar 2029
Metalist shop where it costs nothing
Imanol Alonso signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Feb 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Metalist, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market5 Feb 2029
Bohdan Porokh has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Metalist they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words exchanged at Metalist
Artem Kozak 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.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The terraces5 Feb 2029
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match3 Feb 2029
A 2‑0 win over Kudrivka, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Loan watch5 Feb 2029
19 appearances at Gornik Leczna and the goals keep coming. Metalist are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitaliy Mykhayliv 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
Steady
Market20 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metalist is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Artem Kozak 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.
Looking ahead20 Nov 2028
The big one: Vorskla come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Metalist will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Yuriy Kravchuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad20 Nov 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Metalist are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danylo Kaidalov, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead20 Nov 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Vorskla in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market20 Nov 2028
The name of Petro Lutsiv keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Metalist say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad5 Jun 2028
55 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Metalist
Artem Kozak 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.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Yevhenii Isaienko has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Metalist is pretending otherwise.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Yuriy Kravchuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The numbers do not look good at Metalist
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market5 Jun 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market5 Jun 2028
Metalist have made Cipriano Sampaio available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
Mario Gega knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Metalist, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Bohdan Porokh
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bohdan Porokh will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Artem Kozak 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Metalist
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yuriy Kravchuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Metalist are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Kyrylo Dihtiar
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Kyrylo Dihtiar has come out of that comparison in the side, and Metalist have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yevhenii Isaienko, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Denys Pidruchnyi 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.
Market3 Apr 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metalist is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Artem Kozak 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 Metalist this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Luca Govaers arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luca Govaers has, at Metalist, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Maksym Bahachanskyi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Metalist is pretending otherwise.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Metalist are still strangers to each other
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Maksym Orikhovskyi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market27 Mar 2028
The name of Kyrylo Dihtiar keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Metalist say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“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.