“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 The request is on a desk at Kudrivka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kudrivka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kudrivka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words at Kudrivka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jair Collahuazo 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.
“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 dugout6 Jan 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Anton Shakhov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Gleiker Mendoza decided nobody was going anywhere. Chornomorets had no time left to answer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kudrivka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Oleksandr Bieliaiev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Kozik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gleiker Mendoza. 2‑1 against Chornomorets, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kudrivka can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boycho Velichkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kudrivka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kudrivka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Kozik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Kudrivka are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kudrivka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Oleksandr Bieliaiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Eduard Kozik 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gleiker Mendoza provided it, and the 9.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boycho Velichkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kudrivka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kudrivka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It finished 3‑2, and it was Gleiker Mendoza’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Kudrivka.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Words at Kudrivka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Kozik 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kudrivka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kudrivka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
Gleiker Mendoza was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.69. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gleiker Mendoza. 3‑1 against Metalist, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boycho Velichkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kudrivka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Kudrivka hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Eduard Kozik 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.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kudrivka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadym Stashkiv will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kudrivka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Boycho Velichkov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Eduard Kozik 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.
51 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kudrivka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kudrivka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Oleksandr Abramchuk has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Oleksandr Bieliaiev 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Volodymyr Kvikvinia is living that version at Kudrivka, and it tends to show in the first month.
65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kudrivka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Boycho Velichkov obliged against Bukovyna. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Kudrivka.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kudrivka can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kudrivka have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
Andriy Nazarenko could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.44
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.44, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Kryvbas is saying, and nobody at Kudrivka is enjoying the guessing.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kudrivka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Prykarpattia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kudrivka is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Kudrivka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Boycho Velichkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kudrivka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sporting CP is saying, and nobody at Kudrivka is enjoying the guessing.
Oleksandr Bieliaiev 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.
Kudrivka have gone to Probiy with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kudrivka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gleiker Mendoza provided it, and the 8.90 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zorya waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kudrivka is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danylo Tuzenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kudrivka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Eduard Kozik 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Illia Sosnytskyi is living that version at Kudrivka, and it tends to show in the first month.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
The words a physio says slowly. 54 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kudrivka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Eduard Kozik 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.
Kudrivka asked and Barcelona said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kudrivka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rukh waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kudrivka is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Giana Erminio for Daouda Fofana 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.
Veres will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Vladyslav Saichyshyn has pre-agreed a move to Kudrivka, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Words at Kudrivka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jair Collahuazo 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Yaroslav Shevchenko has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Maksym Shevchenko has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Kudrivka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Hrabilin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kudrivka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Yuriy Dudnyk has written the date down.
“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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kudrivka will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kostiantyn Bychek provided it, and the 9.73 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gleiker Mendoza provided it, and the 9.42 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kudrivka can pretend not to have heard.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Kudrivka and Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kostiantyn Bychek. 4‑2 against Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
9 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gleiker Mendoza provided it, and the 9.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kudrivka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kudrivka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Oct 2029
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Kudrivka. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsOleksandr Bieliaiev was on a different afternoon to everybody else