Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Arsenii Fedorenko. 3‑2 against Karpaty, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
9.13. 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.
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.
Squad6 Sep 2038
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
9 goals in one match, Thomas Jaimes on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Metalist and Zorya.
Squad30 Aug 2038
Nazar Popov 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.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match14 Aug 2038
Nazar Popov wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Nazar Popov found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and LNZ went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings16 Aug 2038
A brace, and Nazar Popov takes the afternoon — 8.89
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nazar Popov provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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.
4 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pavlo Kovalenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist 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 Metalist this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2038
Nazar Popov 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 words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vasyl Lutsiv and Metalist agree another 2 years.
Player ratings9 Aug 2038
Nazar Popov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Metalist and Kolos, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Player ratings2 Aug 2038
A brace, and Nazar Popov takes the afternoon — 8.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nazar Popov provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
13 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ivan Babenko 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Maksym Karavayev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
In brief
SquadNazar Popov falls out with a teammate over standards
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Kryvbas for Artem Marlos 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.
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.
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.
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
Squad14 Jun 2038
Nazar Popov 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.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Metalist could ask drops and the wages Mykhailo Boyko can ask rise.
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Metalist have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
Squad31 May 2038
A season's verdict on Artem Marlos: the best of his age
Metalist have a 19-year-old the division has just voted its finest young footballer. The club's next problem is that everybody else now knows it too.
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 Metalist have had the benefit of it.
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Metalist training over how hard people work
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Vasyl Lutsiv damages knee ligaments — 112 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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.
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.
In brief
SquadNazar Popov falls out with a teammate over standards
Vasyl Lutsiv damages knee ligaments — 119 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 119 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.
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.
Squad26 Apr 2038
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
138 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
In brief
SquadNazar Popov falls out with a teammate over standards
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
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.
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.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Artem Korobchenko 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.
Squad15 Mar 2038
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.90 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikolai Joronen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1‑4 to Karpaty, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Metalist have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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.
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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
26 combined actions and 7.95. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“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.
6 goals in one match, Daniel Nikolic on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Metalist and Shakhtar.
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Taras Zinchenko has agreed terms with Chernihiv for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
Artem Korobchenko 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.
Squad1 Feb 2038
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Metalist will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Player ratings1 Feb 2038
Thomas Jaimes was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.08. 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.
Prykarpattia will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Metalist were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Metalist and Prykarpattia in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Metalist and Rukh in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad18 Jan 2038
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
“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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2038
Nazar Popov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.41. 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.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Metalist dressing room in a hurry
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Vasyl Lutsiv
Two goals and a mark of 8.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mykhailo Boyko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist 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 Metalist this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Metalist and Zorya in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
In brief
SquadNazar Popov falls out with a teammate over standards
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oleksii Khakhliov and Metalist agree another 2 years.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Metalist and Kryvbas in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad28 Dec 2037
Nazar Popov 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.
Marked 8.36 — 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Squad21 Dec 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Dynamo Kyiv tried to reorganise, Metalist did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
In brief
Player ratingsNazar Popov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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.
Artem Korobchenko 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.
Squad7 Dec 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
Arsenii Fedorenko had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and LNZ were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
The shirt still fits. Viktor Shevchuk is back at Metalist, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
2‑4 to LNZ, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Nov 2037
Nazar Popov 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Metalist have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Artem Korobchenko 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.
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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Korobchenko signs something — a contract at Metalist or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
13 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Metalist have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2037
Nazar Popov 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.
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikolay Sukhanov and Metalist agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Nov 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksii Khakhliov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2037
Artem Marlos is the division's best young player this month
At 18 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Metalist will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Metalist have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Artem Korobchenko 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 Oct 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2037
Thomas Jaimes was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. 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.
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.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
6 goals in one match, Thomas Jaimes on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Metalist and Prykarpattia.
Squad12 Oct 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksii Khakhliov 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. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Artem Korobchenko 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.
Squad5 Oct 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
“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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
Squad28 Sep 2037
Nazar Popov 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 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.
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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2037
Nazar Popov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. 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.
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.
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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Prykarpattia moved on, Sviatoslav Barasiuk reports back to Metalist, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad14 Sep 2037
Nazar Popov 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 is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.53 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
291 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Artem Korobchenko 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Prykarpattia will make the call about Volodymyr Yasinskyi this week. Metalist have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad7 Sep 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Popov 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.
2‑3 to Dynamo Kyiv, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings7 Sep 2037
Nazar Popov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The name of Volodymyr Yasinskyi has come up in conversations Metalist were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
6 goals in one match, Nazar Popov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Metalist and Oleksandriya.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Squad17 Aug 2037
Nazar Popov 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There were 6 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.
Squad10 Aug 2037
Thomas Jaimes has improved at 29, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Prykarpattia will make the call about Volodymyr Yasinskyi this week. Metalist have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
8.86. 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2037
Daniel Nikolic was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
221 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Illia Kondratiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Aug 2037
Nazar Popov 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.
“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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mykhailo Boyko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Metalist 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 Metalist this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Jul 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksii Khakhliov 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Artem Korobchenko 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 Jul 2037
Thomas Jaimes has improved at 29, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad13 Jul 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arsenii Fedorenko 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Korobchenko signs something — a contract at Metalist or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Illia Kondratiev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Illia Kondratiev 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Pavlo Kovalenko is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
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.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oleksii Khakhliov and Metalist agree another 2 years.
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.
António Mendes 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleksii Khakhliov signs something — a contract at Metalist or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The shirt still fits. Oleksiy Boyko is back at Metalist, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
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.
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.
Nobody at Metalist will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom4 May 2037
An order from above at Metalist: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
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.
Squad4 May 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Volodymyr Yasinskyi 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ihor Karavayev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist 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 Metalist this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleksii Khakhliov signs something — a contract at Metalist or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleksii Khakhliov signs something — a contract at Metalist or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metalist will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Squad9 Mar 2037
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arsenii Fedorenko 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Metalist know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 84 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.
Player ratings16 Feb 2037
Mykhailo Boyko, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.26
A mark of 8.26 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ihor Karavayev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Mykhailo Boyko has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Metalist lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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.
Boardroom2 Feb 2037
An order from above at Metalist: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 124 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 115 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. 131 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Nikolic provided it, and the 9.75 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.” Metalist have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denys Popov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 138 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 Metalist, and it is not being withdrawn.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Metalist will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Metalist and Inhulets in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings5 Jan 2037
Daniel Nikolic was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.68. 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.
In brief
Player ratingsThomas Jaimes was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Player ratingsVolodymyr Yasinskyi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Player ratingsNazar Popov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 145 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 Metalist, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 152 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
7 goals in one match, Nazar Popov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Metalist and Kryvbas.
Squad22 Dec 2036
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arsenii Fedorenko 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. 15 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Nazar Popov had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Dynamo Kyiv were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denys Popov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metalist the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Metalist will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
7 goals in one match, Daniel Nikolic on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Metalist and Zorya.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Metalist, another week without a signature from António Mendes.
“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.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
6 goals in one match, Daniel Nikolic on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Metalist and Oleksandriya.
It finished 4‑2, and it was Daniel Nikolic’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Metalist.
Squad1 Dec 2036
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksii Khakhliov 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.
Nobody at Metalist will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Nikolic provided it, and the 8.60 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Nov 2036
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arsenii Fedorenko 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.
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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Obolon the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Metalist will enjoy reviewing.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
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.
Squad17 Nov 2036
Words at Metalist training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleksii Khakhliov 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.
Marked 9.08 — 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metalist can pretend not to have heard.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Veres spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.67 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
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 is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Nikolic provided it, and the 7.94 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Artem Korobchenko 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.
9 goals in one match, Daniel Nikolic on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Metalist and Karpaty.
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.
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.
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.
Thomas Jaimes 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Metalist and Shakhtar, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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.