Marked for Vadym Merva
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 May 2030
Words exchanged at Epicentr
Vladyslav Kabaiev 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.
Squad20 May 2030
Valeriy Luchkevych 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.
The dugout20 May 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oleksandr Naumov, and the manager let it.
Market20 May 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Epicentr know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout20 May 2030
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The dugout20 May 2030
Pavlo Savitskyi 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces13 May 2030
The mood at Epicentr has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom13 May 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Epicentr
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad13 May 2030
Vladyslav Kabaiev 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.
Squad13 May 2030
Words at Epicentr training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valeriy Luchkevych 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 dugout13 May 2030
A promise honoured at Epicentr
Something was said to Vladyslav Rybak and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market13 May 2030
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Epicentr, another week without a signature from Kyrylo Malynovskyi.
The dugout13 May 2030
The manager makes an example of Vadym Merva
“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.
Market13 May 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Epicentr know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout13 May 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kyrylo Malynovskyi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Mar 2030
Words exchanged at Epicentr
Vladyslav Kabaiev 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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Words at Epicentr training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valeriy Luchkevych 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 dugout25 Mar 2030
Vadym Merva 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.
Market25 Mar 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Epicentr know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad25 Mar 2030
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Epicentr will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
Oleksandr Naumov 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
The terraces18 Mar 2030
Supporters organise against the Epicentr board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom18 Mar 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Epicentr
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Epicentr is running low.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Vladyslav Kabaiev 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.
Squad18 Mar 2030
A row about effort at Epicentr
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valeriy Luchkevych was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
“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.
Market18 Mar 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Epicentr know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout18 Mar 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Epicentr, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market18 Mar 2030
The clock does Yevhen Zaporozhets’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Epicentr could ask drops and the wages Yevhen Zaporozhets can ask rise.
Squad18 Mar 2030
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout25 Feb 2030
“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.
Boardroom25 Feb 2030
Window shuts: 0 in, 3 out at Epicentr
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Words exchanged at Epicentr
Vladyslav Kabaiev 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.
Squad25 Feb 2030
A row about effort at Epicentr
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valeriy Luchkevych was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets25 Feb 2030
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.
Transfer targets25 Feb 2030
The window shuts on the Arsenii Foina deal
Epicentr ran out of time with Karpaty. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Transfer targets25 Feb 2030
Dynamo Kyiv have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets25 Feb 2030
A loan enquiry to Karpaty: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vadym Merva, and the manager let it.