The Poltava Herald
Squad7 Dec 2026
Vladyslav Rybak keeps Poltava in it on his own
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market7 Dec 2026
Mykyta Kononov puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Poltava, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Poltava
Vladyslav Vakula 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 2026
Words at Poltava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmytro Plakhtyr 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Hlib Ziniar stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hlib Ziniar and Poltava agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Yevhen Misiura's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A costly moment from Yevhen Misiura
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Poltava, and it is a cruel one.
Match5 Dec 2026
Oleksandr Vivdych rescues a point for Poltava
It needed Oleksandr Vivdych to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Shakhtar, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Vladyslav Danylenko 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.
In brief
- The dugout Kostiantyn Matvienko: “We have to be better”
- Looking ahead A reunion for Aliou Thiaré
- The dugout Oleh Veremiyenko knocks on the manager's door