From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Jun 2029
Roman Slyva 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 Ahrobiznes can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Jun 2029
Roman Hahun has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ahrobiznes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market25 Jun 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Ahrobiznes will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“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.
Market25 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ahrobiznes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Apr 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad30 Apr 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.
Market30 Apr 2029
The name of Serhii Paliukh keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ahrobiznes say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
182% of the income goes out in wages at Ahrobiznes
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
No signings allowed at Ahrobiznes
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
The Ahrobiznes debt reaches $15.2M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Market19 Mar 2029
Gennaro Villa is 19, and Ahrobiznes have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“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.
Market19 Mar 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ahrobiznes know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Kevin Torena has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Kevin Torena keeps the shirt for now, at Ahrobiznes's convenience rather than his own.
Market19 Mar 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Martín Ramírez may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Roman Hahun 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Mar 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market12 Mar 2029
Foma Belousov 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 Ahrobiznes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Somebody is after Kevin Torena’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Kevin Torena suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Ahrobiznes have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market12 Mar 2029
Ahrobiznes have made Andrii Borovskyi available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market12 Mar 2029
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Martin Sappinen arrives at Ahrobiznes with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jul 2028
Ahrobiznes are in real trouble now
Position 15, 27 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market3 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ahrobiznes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jul 2028
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
91 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market3 Jul 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Bohdan Vekliak may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad3 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Martín Ramírez
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Apr 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market24 Apr 2028
Oleh Len linked with a move away
The name of Oleh Len keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ahrobiznes say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Martín Ramírez 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 Ahrobiznes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Apr 2028
Nazarii Nych: 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.” Ahrobiznes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market17 Apr 2028
Steven Depay 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 Ahrobiznes can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
105% of the income goes out in wages at Ahrobiznes
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“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.
Market17 Apr 2028
The name of Roman Pidkivka keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ahrobiznes say nothing, which says plenty.
Market17 Apr 2028
7 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ahrobiznes could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Mar 2028
Steven Depay 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 Ahrobiznes can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
111% of the income goes out in wages at Ahrobiznes
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“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
Match13 Mar 2028
Ahrobiznes are in real trouble now
Position 15, 27 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Martín Ramírez: 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.” Ahrobiznes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market13 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ahrobiznes can pretend not to have heard.
Market13 Mar 2028
Francesco Catino is 19, and Ahrobiznes have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Roman Kuzmyn has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Roman Kuzmyn keeps the shirt for now, at Ahrobiznes's convenience rather than his own.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ahrobiznes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Oct 2027
5 matches without a win for Ahrobiznes
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Ahrobiznes are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Ahrobiznes
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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Martín Ramírez
“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.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Roman Pidkivka
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Match16 Oct 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Livyi Bereh came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market18 Oct 2027
The name of Serhii Paliukh keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ahrobiznes say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Sep 2027
Three points for Ahrobiznes, 2-1 the final word against Inhulets in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Ignacio Sáez gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 19 days on the sidelines for Ihor Potimkov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Ahrobiznes's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ahrobiznes has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad23 Aug 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.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
The numbers do not look good at Ahrobiznes
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.
Match21 Aug 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Poltava defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Martín Ramírez 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 Ahrobiznes, and both men came out saying it was fine.